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Book Summary and Reviews of The Marco Effect by Jussi Adler-Olsen

The Marco Effect by Jussi Adler-Olsen

The Marco Effect

A Department Q Novel

by Jussi Adler-Olsen

  • Critics' Consensus (5):
  • Published:
  • Sep 2014, 496 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

All fifteen-year-old Marco Jameson wants is to become a Danish citizen and go to school like a normal teenager. But his uncle Zola rules his former gypsy clan with an iron fist. Revered as a god and feared as a devil, Zola forces the children of the clan to beg and steal for his personal gain. When Marco discovers a dead body - proving the true extent of Zola's criminal activities - he goes on the run. But his family members aren't the only ones who'll go to any lengths to keep Marco silent... forever.

Meanwhile, the last thing Detective Carl Mørck needs is for his assistants, Assad and Rose, to pick up a missing persons case on a whim: Carl's nemesis is his new boss, and he's saddled Department Q with an unwelcome addition. But when they learn that a mysterious teen named Marco may have as much insight into the case as he has fear of the police, Carl is determined to solve the mystery and save the boy. Carl's actions propel the trio into a case that extends from Denmark to Africa, from embezzlers to child soldiers, from seemingly petty crime rings to the very darkest of cover-ups.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Engrossing...a roller coaster ride through Copenhagen's seedy underbelly." - Publishers Weekly

"The Marco Effect works, because Marco is a compelling hero, the villains are truly odious, and Mork and his quirky, savvy subordinates ultimately carry the day." - Booklist

"If a scene works, Adler-Olsen never minds reprising it two or three times with minor variations. The result is a tale as big and sprawling as Carl's first four cases (The Purity of Vengeance, 2013, etc.) but more diffuse, more like a TV miniseries than a feature film." - Kirkus

"This series goes from triumph to triumph…This is the best book I've read in 2014 so far. Highly recommended." - Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine

This information about The Marco Effect was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Jussi Adler-Olsen Author Biography

Photo: Phillip Drago Joergensen

Jussi Adler-Olsen was born in Copenhagen and worked as a magazine editor and publisher before starting to write. Redemption is the third novel in the Department Q series, following on from Disgrace and Mercy. Jussi Adler-Olsen holds the prestigious Glass Key Award, given annually for a crime novel by a Scandinavian author, and is also winner of the Golden Laurels, Denmark's highest literary accolade.

Link to Jussi Adler-Olsen's Website

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