Book Review: The Snowman

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Snowman     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Jörg Fauser
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller   Hard Boiled
Bitter Lemon Press, Feb 2005, $13.95, 190 pp.

Malta Police Inspector Cassar takes Mr. Blum in for questioning because the “tourist” has quite a record according to Interpol. Blum hides his tourist vacation of not finding a buyer for his illegally obtained collection of Danish pornography. Though his one month visa expires in three days, Cassar informs Blum to leave before the expiration for one hour past will lead to his becoming a guest of the island’s civil prison Kordin.

Through an Aussie friend, Blum meets fellow illegal dealer Rossi, who likes his women more girly that adult. Blum offers his classic collection from the late 1960s for sale, but soon after attending a party on Rossi’s boat, Blum ends up with a train station luggage ticket that leads him to five pounds of Peruvian cocaine inside the suitcase he picks up. However, instead of easily selling the flakes, Blum’s luck remains bad as the German police, drug traffickers, and cocaine users want what he possesses gratis. If killing him is needed so be it.

THE SNOWMAN is an excellent wild crime thriller starring an unlikable hardboiled anti-heroic con artist who lands in one increasingly more difficult scenario after another. The police procedural story line is told mostly from the perspective of the pursued making for an intriguing upside down twist to they sub-genre. Fans will appreciate this terrific action-packed look at those beneath the German societal food chain by a talented deceased author who apparently observed much of his cast first hand as THE SNOWMAN feels in some ways autobiographic fiction.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner