Readre's review - Christian Jungersen (The Exception)

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I just read one of the most miserable books in a long time. 'The Exception' was downloaded by chance as an audiobook from DR audiobook file. I knew neither the author's name or the book's content. It was free, so off cause I would give it a try...

I must admit that it was reckless of me, but sometimes I am overwhelmed by an irresistible urge to give a new author a chance to get a place in my literary universe. Let me say it right away: Christian Jungersen will not be one of those new stars.

As I said, I knew neither the author's name or gender, but after coming well into the book, I was convinced that I was the victim of a female writer's pathetic attempt to write a femi-crime. I supported this assumption on the writing style and the plot. The book describes mainly the conflicts and power struggles between four women in an office. You follow their more or less failed relationships, their complexes and the intense hatred that can only exist between rival women. The book describes women's individual ambitions about their work and their confused emotions of witch they let each other suffer, together with everyone who accidentally happen to cross their path. Far below these main features lurks a real threat. This part of the plot could have made an intense and exciting story. Unfortunately, it seems that Christian Jungersen are not interested in that part of the story, since it just takes up a few pages in the book.

There is no doubt that Christian Jungersen has a message. He wants to draw a parallel from organized genocide to the changing atmosphere that takes place between four relatively ordinary women. From a psychological aspect, the book can have both relevance and interest. I realize that I am going against the grain with this criticism, but the book was never even close to catching me. The writing style is unattractive and sometimes directly inconsistent. The plot is thin and leaves more questions than answers. Endings with no conclusion are extremely interesting if the story is well told. Unfortunately is not going to happen in 'The Exception'. If this is the kind of authors Danish publishing rates on, I think that we are going to wait for a long time for a Danish Stieg Larsson.