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The Killing

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The Killing

By: David Hewson
Narrated by: Christian Rodska
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About this listen

Shortlisted for: Audiobook of the Year – Specsavers National Book Awards 2012

Who killed Nanna Birk Larsen? Through the dark wood where the dead trees give no shelter, Nanna Birk Larsen runs…. There is a bright monocular eye that follows, like a hunter after a wounded deer. It moves in a slow approaching zigzag, marching through the Pineseskoven wasteland, through the Pentecost Forest. The chill water, the fear, his presence not so far away... There is one torchlight on her now, the single blazing eye. And it is here....

Sarah Lund is looking forward to her last day as a detective with the Copenhagen Police department before moving to Sweden. But everything changes when a 19-year-old student, Nanna Birk Larsen, is found raped and brutally murdered in the woods outside the city. Lund’s plans to relocate are put on hold as she leads the investigation, along with fellow detective Jan Meyer.

While Nanna’s family struggles to cope with their loss, local politician Troels Hartmann is in the middle of an election campaign to become the new mayor of Copenhagen. When links between City Hall and the murder suddenly come to light, the case takes an entirely different turn. Over the course of 20 days, suspect upon suspect emerges as violence and political intrigue cast their shadows over the hunt for the killer.

©2012 David Hewson (P)2012 Macmillan Digital Audio Crime Thrillers Detective Fiction Genre Fiction International Mystery & Crime Movie, TV & Video Game Tie-Ins Mystery Police Procedural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Thriller Crime Exciting Scary Murder

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Critic reviews

"This adaption of 'The Killing' is a huge success…. So how does it survive this possibly awkward transmutation? The answer, in short, is extremely well. David Hewson - the author of more than a dozen detective novels set in Italy and with no need to stoop to anything too hurriedly commercial - has taken what was television gold and turned it into literary gold." ( Guardian)
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I so enjoyed this book. But I did not actually watch the tv series, so this could make a difference. I listened to this book after hearing all of the hype and very favorable reviews of the TV series. I liked the narration, it had a tone which was appropriate to the book and the story line. I was really interested in the characters and geniunely 'needed' to know the ending!

Great book! Heard a lot about the TV drama

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A real page turner.....hard to keep track of the twists ...but could have been so simple in its plot....definitely recommended.

Good book

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The good news is that this is a properly written story and not just a hash of the TV script. The storyline works well. Plenty of twists and turns, and interesting lead characters.



The bad? The narration. I thought with a name like Christian Rodska we would have a Nordic voice, capable of regional variations of the same. What we get though is a selection of regional British accents. This is disconcerting and offputting, but if you stick with it and train your ear to accept it, he is not a bad narrator at all. However, the minor characters pretty much all have drippy, brainless voices: this seems to be the only trick left that allows differentiation.



The Killing 2, narrated by the same chap, is better, by the way. Same problems as before - for example a rural Swede with a Geordie accent - but far less of the gormless secondary characters. Give it a go.

With some reservations, a pretty good book...

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I haven't seen the series on TV so this is new to me. I think, from some comments from friends, there are some differences between the two versions and I know the TV series has a huge following - but as this was all new to me, I loved it. If you are a devotee of the programme, you might not like it as much.



The story IS long (this is a bonus for me as I like slow-burn long stories) and it does meander a bit. Tense and exciting, it also took plenty of time to draw an atmospheric picture. I was totally hooked - the end was a tiny bit of a let down as I certainly could never have guessed the outcome, because we weren't really given the facts! But it didn't lose a star for this.



Good narration too.



The Killing 2 has just been released by Audible, by the way - not listened yet.

Have not seen the TV series - but loved this

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Allthough The Killing is the longest book I have listened to it held me riverted to my computer.

2 stories running side by side one of political intreuge the other the murder of a young teenage girl.

With them both being conected by the various dark characters Politicians and not so ordinary Danish people.including the Law. A brilliant read and narrated pefectly.Well done audible for adding it to your list.

What a Book

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Sarah Lund is not your natural hero!

This intelligent woman, has many difficulties with her own personality traits, which make relationships difficult. Her dogged & solid detective works a pleasure to follow.

I loved the relationship she had with Jan Meyer. The end of the book was therefore painful.

It is hard to appreciate that the book, so well written, came after the series!

It is also hard to appreciate that this case only took 20 days to solve!

Well read!

Rushed straight on to Book 2!

The Killing 1

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I have read / heard loads of books and this is BY FAR the best yet!



The story is 'Simple' who killed the girl, the end is not what I expected nor had I predicted.



There are more twists and turns in this book than a Formula 1 season.

The Narrator does a good job of keeping the characters realistic and individual, even with the Danish names.

But be aware that, at times, its hard going to keep track, with some of the political wrangling and jumps in time. But the end is well worth it.



This is one book I can strongly recommend

WOW! Best book yet!

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I read some of the other comments about the narration, but decided to try it anyway. I've been hooked on Jo Nesbo, read by the wonderful Sean Barrett, and while waiting for a new one to appear, I thought I'd try David Hewson.

So far, I've enjoyed a couple of short stories, but I like the longer books, so was determined to get this.

Christian Rodska has a wonderful voice when he does "normal" characters. When he tries to give every single character a distinctly different voice, he falls flat, in my opinion.

All the young people sounded like sullen rebellious teenagers, better suited to a comedy show and the number of regional accents was just ridiculous.

Having said that, I enjoyed it and it kept me gripped to end, despite too many twists. I will try another Hewson, but not by this narrator.

Too many twists and annoying narration

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What amazing acting by Christian Rodska; another genius audiobook reader. Great story; generally gripping and occasionally frustrating - you sometimes know what mistake Lund will make and she does and someone else gets hurt. It's basically a rollercoaster of jumping to wrong conclusion after wrong conclusion based on the skimpiest of evidence impacting masses of lives; 1 murder, then umteen deaths follow. But it kept me engaged from the beginning although I prefer not to abhor my heroine!

Danish murder inquiry with lots of plots

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Is there anything you would change about this book?

Edit it by a third! Its the only audiobook I've almost given up on. It would have been better losing a few hours.

Would you recommend The Killing to your friends? Why or why not?

I'd recommend it to the right person. It wouldn't be a universal recommendation. Its just to slow for some people I know.

Which character – as performed by Christian Rodska – was your favourite?

The narration was superb! I know people will complain because Rodska chose to use British regional dailects but I prefer that to 40 odd version of the Swedish chef from the Muppet show! Theiss Birk Larsen sounds like Ray Winstone with his Landahn growl!

If this book were a film would you go see it?

It was a TV show but to be honest this book wouldn't make me seek it out. A film couldn't do this book justice its far to intricate.

Any additional comments?

I didn't watch the TV show but I was intrigued by the hype, so I took the plunge. I love Nesbo, Larrson, Lackberg and other Scandi Noir authors but I just thought The Killing was too drawn out. Too many council meetings and squabbling. The story of how their daughters death affects the Birk Larsen family was moving and the resolution was satisfying. I'm sorry but the political story lines left be cold by the end. Ididn't really care for a bunch of self serving politicos.

As long as a cold Scandinavian winters night!

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