Review: An intelligent thriller
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 18, 2013
Chasing the Strom is an international thriller based on a true story.Martin Molsted picked up real-life events and turned them into an action-packed, relentless story. The plot is jam-packed full of conflict. Clash after clash, the tension builds until you feel like screaming ‘watch your back’ or ‘no, don’t do that’, like I did.The locations are varied and very well-described. You’ll get a clear picture, whether in Cairo or rural Russia, in a Hamburg café or in an old propeller plane. Imaginative and original, crammed with authentic detail, Chasing the Storm gets the concept of well-organised corruption spot-on.The dialogue is intelligent, lively and peppered with expressions befitting each character’s place of origin, but they are all explained, so you won’t feel like you need a degree in linguistics to understand them.I left characterization ‘till last because it is one of the deepest I’ve read in the last couple of years. I’m talking about the layers upon layers of understanding that come from not missing one beat to add to the characters’ dimensions. In addition to the usual physical and emotional tiers, you get the ethnic diversity, and within it the class, origin, background, and all these elements are beautifully interwoven.Overall, the complete package is that of a very well-written book, definitely good value in terms of both time and money. This is a novel I would like to read again.There is a degree of violence, so I wouldn’t recommend it for teens, but if you like a good read, the kind that won’t let you eat or sleep until you’ve seen the last line, this book is just the thing for you. Five shiny stars from me.