If I have to explain in one sentence about this book then I would say that it talks about human relations, breakage of family system, loneliness, the fallacy of the modern financial system and the psychological impacts on account of one or multiple of these issues. And yes, the black humour which envelopes it and makes it so bearable for these vivid characters as well as for the readers.
The story takes place in a small town in present day Sweden. The story begins with the news of a bank robbery or rather an attempted bank robbery taking place in this nondescript town. Pretty soon, this aforementioned bank robbery turns into a full scale hostage drama when the supposed bank robber enters an apartment building. From there on, the story spirals into many twists and turns till it reaches its penultimate climax with the fireworks; of course fireworks as it is second last day of the year.
Well, such an eventful story has its own quirky characters. To begin with, there is Zara who happens to be a wealthy banker with rather wry sense of humour. Then there are two couples- both distinct and remarkable from each other in terms of their relationships as well as their lives. First one of them is Roger and Anna-Lena; both of whom are retired and have taken up a common project of fixing up houses as they can’t seem to find a home within each other. The other couple is Julia and Ro who are every bit anxious to begin their journey to parenthood since Julia is pregnant and unsure about future of their child, not to mention her worries about their marriage. And finally, there is Estelle. Estelle is old, widowed and lonely with an empty nest problem. Of course, there is going to be a rabbit; but maybe that is for the readers to find out who that rabbit is and why he pops up in this entire apartment viewing plus hostage drama.
There enters the masked bank robber who rather reluctantly takes these people hostage and thus becomes the most wanted perpetrator in the eyes of the local police. The said local police is short staffed and totally unprepared for such kind of unfolding drama. The father-son duo of Jim and Jack are the main ones here who are fumbling without proper resources to handle such an unexpected crime on the day before New Year’s Eve.
What binds all these people is the thread of human emotions. The author presents a nuanced yet succinct narrative of each of these main characters. That helps us in understanding their backgrounds and also to comprehend how they are going to make those overdue decisions. The bittersweet endings of each of these sub stories come as a rather pleasant surprise.
Indeed, this is the second book by this author that I have read and I am really pleased with his writing style which doesn’t disappoint. Just like his other books, here also he successfully manages to captivate the reader’s attention with such an unusual perspective on heartbreaking stories. Definitely a good one to read for the seekers of good stories.