The Absent One

By: Jussi Adler-Olsen

Narrated by: Steven Pacey

In The Keeper of Lost Causes, Jussi Adler-Olsen introduced Detective Carl Mørck, a deeply flawed, brilliant detective newly assigned to run Department Q, the home of Copenhagen’s coldest cases. The result wasn’t what Mørck - or readers - expected, but by the opening of Adler-Olsen’s shocking, fast-paced follow-up, Mørck is satisfied with the notion of picking up long-cold leads. So he’s naturally intrigued when a closed case lands on his desk: A brother and sister were brutally murdered two decades earlier, and one of the suspects - part of a group of privileged boarding-school students - confessed and was convicted.

But once Mørck reopens the files, it becomes clear that all is not what it seems. Looking into the supposedly solved case leads him to Kimmie, a woman living on the streets, stealing to survive. Kimmie has mastered evading the police, but now they aren’t the only ones looking for her. Because Kimmie has secrets that certain influential individuals would kill to keep buried... as well as one of her own that could turn everything on its head.

Every bit as pulse-pounding as the book that launched the series, The Absent One delivers further proof that Jussi Adler-Olsen is one of the world's premier thriller writers.

©2012 Jussi Adler-Olsen (P)2012 Penguin Audio

Great story, great characters, wrong narrator

What made the experience of listening to The Absent One the most enjoyable?

The story was very original and dark. There was no formula.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes. By being different than the typical crime novel in making the despicable protagonist a sympathetic character

How could the performance have been better?

The first book was narrated by a guy with an accent from the area where the story takes place. This narrator was doing some sort of bad Eliza Doolittle impression. If a book is based in another country, the narrator should be striving to put us in that country. This narrator put us in 19th century London.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not so much.

Any additional comments?

I like this author a lot. I like these characters a lot.

Thoroughly Enjoyable Listen

Book 2 of this new series was an entertaining listen. The main character was more fully developed in this book and the interactions between Carl and his assistants, Assad and Rose, (in Dept.Q) made for a lot of humor in an otherwise depressing case. The premise was a bit out there but it made no difference as I followed the sequence of events to the final conclusion. The end was inevitable and well written making me long for another book and a few more hours with this cast of characters. Really enjoyed the reader as well.
I gave this book 5 stars as it kept me hooked into listening and finishing it in a couple of days!!

Carl Mørck is the next best thing to Joona Linna

What did you love best about The Absent One?

The plot was spectacular.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Absent One?

Kimmie's every display of TLC when she was with her most treasured possession.

What about Steven Pacey’s performance did you like?

He did a very good job making the voices sound different.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me feel sad for Kimmie. I knew full well what she was, but it was largely the fault of the people who'd damaged her throughout her life. A pitiful creature who did AND didn't deserve her fate.

Any additional comments?

Really looking forward to the next book!

Don't give up on Department Q

If you could sum up The Absent One in three words, what would they be?

Hang in there. If you listened to the first story and became involved with the characters, the new narrator was a shock. An English accent just did not work here. But if you stick with it for a while, the story more than makes up for it.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character was Rose. She is the latest addition to this team of cast offs that demonstrates the whole is better than the sum of the parts. She seems to be a scatter brain that finds a way to produce results. She is just fun.

What didn’t you like about Steven Pacey’s performance?

English accent is not suited for Nordic Noir

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Kimmie and her package make you realize just how disturbed a soul can be. Even under circumstances she helped create.

Y Q #2?

I don't know what possessed me to return to this series after my review of book one was lukewarm at best. However, I'm pleased to have returned to Department Q. This book is gruesome and sad but despite the mystery being pretty much revealed from the start it is engrossing to listen to the detectives figure it out and find redemption. This time around the characters are more enjoyable and there is hidden humor in this dark story. On to Q #3.

Narration ok

As always a great story, but I would have liked the "voice" of the characters less British. It helps me to get into the story

Lots of Trigger Warnings

Typical of Dept Q, great characters and interesting plot. However, I had to FF through too much of this book to rate it any higher. Multiple descriptions of child abuse, severe animal abuse, and one brutally graphic rape scene made it difficult to say this is a book I "enjoyed". I don't even want to be the person who is comfortable reading about gang rape and animal torture. Steven Pacey's narration was fabulous as usual.

Are we in england now????

What made the experience of listening to The Absent One the most enjoyable?

I so enjoyed the first book on audible and couldnt wait to listen to this one, however the narrator changed and instead of someone speaking very good English but able to pronounce Danish names and places with correct pronunciation i got a very strong english accent ! Suddendly i had to keep remembering i was in Denmark not London england. It was so off putting after the wonderful narration of the first book that i almost gave up and just bought the book to read myself. i did listen to the end but it was a jarring and un enjoyable experience which was too bad as the book was just as fast paced and well written as the first one. i'll check for narrators before i buy any more books for sure

How did the narrator detract from the book?

already mentioned this, its was the worst part of the book

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

loved the character development but had a hard time as i was ussed to hearing their voices so differently

Enjoyed the book, did not like the narration

What did you like best about this story?

I think Jussi Adler-Olsen writes an interesting thriller. Gritty and witty at the same time. The first book of Dept Q, The Keeper of Lost Causes, had me fully engaged. The narrator was perfect in that he mixed English with the Danish pronunciation and character voices wonderfully. With The Absent One, the British narrator was never believeable as Carl Morck. I really had a tough time with it until half way through the book I just had to get over it, but never fully like it.

Would you be willing to try another one of Steven Pacey’s performances?

Yes, if he were narrating a British novel. He has a great voice for an audible book, he just needs to be in an appropriate venue.

Any additional comments?

Can't wait for the next in the series. I so miss Steig Larsson.

I made a big mistake...

While some readers complained about the narrator, I think the real problem was choosing a British narrator to interpret a Danish detective. Makes no sense, and didn't work well. That was the producer's fault. The reader was fine, but with all the fine alternative readers, Pacey was a crummy and distracting choice.

My big mistake was reading this book after recently reading the Louise Penny novels... All eight of them! She may arguably be the finest living author of the modern detective genre and frankly, this author is not close.

This is a C level book. Not sorry I read it... But I am not at all motivated to buy another. I also found the interaction between the protagonist and his "staff of 2" to be just weird. His staff were far better detectives than the detective who, quite frankly, detected little.

In fact, I could not connect with Merck at any level, neither professionally nor personally. Found him to be boring and not overly bright. Hard to build a series around that.

Still, as you can see, my three star rating is in the minority, so give the book a try and if you agree with my analysis, you'll know to consider my other reviews when you see them.

But if you REALLY want something special, check out Inspector Gamache by Louise Perry.