A tense and very gripping political thriller that confidently uses the genre requirements to explore serious ideas in an sharp and thoughtful way. Chief Inspector Jensen , from an unnamed country, is set abroad for a liver transplant and when he is released from hospital finds that his country has closed its borders with rumours of a terrible epidemic taking place. He is sent into the country to investigate. The country is gripped by confusion and panic and large numbers of people have died, he discovers that there was an increasing degree of public disruption and violence and mass deaths and that a medical crisis is ongoing. The reveals are carefully staged as the investigation continues and information is steadily uncovered right up to the bleak and utterly logical conclusion.
Per Wahloo has created a very interesting context for the story, the partial unraveling of a highly structured and controlled society that does not unleash chaos, rather it creates confusion, fear and incomprehension in the survivors. People are trying to live by the old rules and understand the new ones, when Jensen, a figure of authority meets them they respond as they always did. As Jensen moves through the country and tries to understand the collapse that took place over the moths he was away it becomes clear that there was a steady disruption and that it was not random.
Jensen is a great character, quiet and with a detached view of the proceedings, he moves through the chaos with care and attention to detail. He is a professional police officer and he brings all of the attributes of that role to his work. He is methodical and careful, asking questions, investigating leads and analysing information. His calm responses keep the reader focussed on the main thread of the story, the way the structure of the society has imploded.It is not about the chaos, it is about why the chaos arose in the first place.
As the investigation proceeds the dark heart of the story is revealed and the all too believable arrogance and entitlement that created the problems that had to be solved by even more arrogant and entitled means become clear. This is a very angry story that keeps the anger under severe restraint and has a calm acceptance that there are no good solutions.
Sara Death’s translation is wholly transparent, the whole political and social construction of the story is clearly not Anglophone in origin, there is a very Scandinavian feel to the story. All of the nuances of the story emerge as does Per Wahloo’s very distinct authorial voice. He is not an invisible author he is clearly present in the book and that adds greatly to the pleasure and texture of the story.
Written in 1968 this story has sharp observations that are relevant in today’s context, a superb structure that brings in the reader and presents an argument with ferocious clarity and force. A wonderful stimulating read.
