Fallen Angels – Gunner Staalesen
Exploring his own dark memories may be the only way to find a killer…
When Bergen PI Varg Veum finds himself at the funeral of a former classmate on a sleet-grey December afternoon, he’s unexpectedly reunited with his old friend Jakob – guitarist of the once-famous 1960s rock band The Harpers – and his estranged wife, Rebecca, Veum’s first love.
Their rekindled friendship is thrown into jeopardy by the discovery of a horrific murder, and Veum is forced to dig deep into his own adolescence and his darkest memories, to find a motive … and a killer.
My thanks to Orenda Books for the review copy I received and to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for the opportunity to join the Fallen Angels tour.
Fans of Varg Veum may find they learn more about our hero in Fallen Angels than in any of his other outings. In Fallen Angels Veum is very much looking to the past – his childhood, friends he grew up with and he must come to accept that people will change over time and he may not like the result.
Fallen Angels begins with an ending – at a funeral for an old friend and where one old friend can be found it is not unexpected for a few familiar faces from yester-year also to put in an appearance. Soon Veum is back in the company of people he thought we knew well but it is clear something significant took place in 1975 and along with the immediate impact it had among his friends there is still fallout taking place.
Fallen Angels is set in the mid to late 1980s so the events of 1975 are not too far removed from when the action takes place. Other than a lack of mobile phones it is not immediately obvious Fallen Angels is not set in present day. But it really doesn’t need to be, the story is expertly told and Varg Veum is an imminently enjoyable and complex character who will always keep me engaged.
At the end of the opening quarter of the book we have a murder and a good understanding of Veum’s friends. While it may not have felt relevant at the time the scenes Veum spends catching up with old acquaintances and hearing of the days they spent as a band are seeding important clues as to what may lie ahead. Obviously I totally missed the important ones so when we head into the end game of Fallen Angels there were more than a few dark and unpleasant shocks to be revealed.
Tackling some difficult themes I found Fallen Angels to be thoroughly absorbing. Nostalgia and melancholy moments, regrets for lost opportunities but also an awareness that time doesn’t always heal – anger can grow if left to fester. Veum has to get people he once knew well to open up to him and share stories they wanted to keep secret. Staalesen has written this one superbly – Veum picking his way through half truths and faded memories to then bring everything together with such devastating effect.
Translation duties are handled by Don Bartlett who has done an amazing job with this lyrical prose. I intend the pun on lyrical – Staalesen’s writing is poetic in places and there are many musical references and comparisions through Fallen Angels. Bartlett has captured the musical feel of these poetic interchanges and the story is hugely enriched by it.
What seems to begin as a slow burn novel soon ignites into a cracking crime thriller. Veum is plunged back to his past and sees old friends dying, can he save his childhood chum or is there someone out there lurking and waiting for the opportunity to avenge an incident which took place several years ago?
Another gem from the Orenda collection.
Fallen Angels is published by Orenda Books and is available in paperback and digital versions. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B081QZ3NYS/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0