I am trying to think of good things about this book, and all I can think is that 2 stars is being nice and this would really deserve just 1.5 stars. Because oh my god, I don't remember when was the last time I've read something so poorly written. The main plot with the head of immigration office getting murdered and children and human trafficking being part of it was interesting, and pretty much the only thing I liked about this whole story. However, what I mostly remember are the painfully detailed descriptions of what people are wearing, what their homes and offices look life, what they are wearing again, and did I mention you get very detailed descriptions of what the female main character has on her? On top of that there's a ton of characters, all of them referred to by their full name most of the time, doing things which are never explained and which bring no depth to their character and which I guess should make us want to know more but just made me annoyed. Don't even make me talk about the scene that was written like it's supposed to be full of suspense, but which was so obvious I wanted to laugh because it was so bad. Hell, the writing in this book was so bad I kept translating parts back to Swedish in my head just to try and see if it would improve even a little. (It did not.) There was hype, but no one should buy into it.

Jana Berzelius är framgångsrik åklagare och får uppdraget att leda förundersökningen på mordet på Hans Juhlén, verksamhetschef på Migrationsverket i Norrköping. Men fler mord gör att Jana börjar med en egen utredning, och hon tänker inte berätta något för polisen.

Spännande jullovsläsning, kommer att kolla nästa bok i serien också.

This was a great first installment in the Jana Berzelius trilogy. It kept my attention the whole time. So many different plot lines that all lead to the same source. Schepp does a great job of tying everything together. There are a lot of heavy triggers in this book, so steer clear if you don't care for that kind of subject matter. However, I don't want to disclose what those are for fear of spoiling. Let's just say like any trigger, they aren't particularly pleasant. But, it doesn't go into such detail that it's as offensive as some other titles I have read. I look forward to the next book in the installment!

Thanks to the author, NetGalley and HQ for the chance to review this.

Marked for Life is the first book in the noir trilogy featuring public prosecutor Jana Berzelius – a trilogy I look forward to continuing.

Jana is such a complex and interesting character. I love that Schepp didn’t create your typical main protagonist – Jana is not likeable, in fact, one could argue she’s the opposite, cold, distance, rude and I loved every part of her character. While she wasn’t likeable, her complex character and her will to do whatever she felt was necessary to survive made this novel a layered and interesting read. Schepp not only gives us an insight into the life of the main protagonist but also of her colleagues too, I really like this as it made them come across as real people struggling with the same issues you and me could be struggling with (eg. marriage and money). Schepp has clearly put a lot of thought into her character development and I hope these characters feature alongside Jana in book two. Especially Henrik, his backstory (bar Jana’s) was my favourite, his wife was so controlling – he couldn’t even join the gym without her permission, not even go out jogging without her say so – I mean, what is that all about!

Marked for Life certainly has the cold climate Nordic Noir is so well known for, it doesn’t, however, have the moody atmosphere, that beautiful darkness and I attribute that to Jana being so standoffish, her “programmed” way of life prevented that connection. Don’t miss understand me, the plot is dark, extremely dark, and features disturbing content of rape, violence and child trafficking but it just didn’t have that ‘x-factor’ I yearn for in Noir. However, Schepp did go some way to make up for this in the complexity of the case, it started off as your expected police procedural and then focused more on the rouge actions of Jana conducting her own investigation, making the latter half read like a thriller. Child trafficking cases are common in crime fiction so I appreciate Schepp changing the tempo of this one to keep the reader engaged.

While some elements of the plot were predictable, I didn’t mind because Jana is such a fascinating character due to her cold-hearted nature, and I can’t wait to explore her character further in book two.

*My thanks to the publisher (HQ) for granting me access to a digital copy of this book via Netgalley*

Thank you Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

3.5 stars

This is the first installment in a trilogy introducing us to public prosecutor Jane Berzelius. She is fairly young and detached from her job; her father was also a prosectutor and taught her how to distance herself to be the best at her job that she can be. A high profile death draws us in at the beginning of this story; everyone is a suspect and Jane must remain impartial to even the grieving widow. Then things ramp up when a small, child sized handprint is found in the home, yet the couple had no children. Later, the boy is found dead on the beach with the murder weapon that killed both him and the man found shot in his home. This is an extremely dark tale with many triggers for others involving rape, extreme violence, and child trafficking. There is a bit of a cliff hanger as there are two more books to follow.

I felt this was a fairly strong beginning and the story was certainly gripping and held my attention; however, I had a difficult time connecting with any of the characters and really found myself not able to stand the character of Jane. The darkness of the novel was not a turn off for me but might be for some people. I'm interested to see where this one goes in the future.

Näääääh

Öde, vorhersehbar, kein einziger Charakter, der irgendwie glaubwürdig oder sogar sympathisch erscheint
Absolute Zeitverschwendung

UPDATE: ABANDONED

I'm sad to say that this wasn't at all what I was expecting. This would've been amazing in its native language-- I'm assuming it's been translated-- but the English lacks colour, relatability. Writing is cold and often redundant, as if language-specific expressions and terms aren't taken into account. It's as if someone tried to translate a joke from Swedish to English, literally. It just doesn't work. The investigative work feels childish, the characters seem caricaturesque. If my book shelf wasn't so full, I would give it a second chance and read on. But I just don't have the luxury of time right now, so I'm moving on.

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Received from Giveaway! It got me at "fast-paced thriller". The reviews seem mixed, which makes me want to read it all the more! This will definitely be read soon. Full review to come!

This book was recommended to me many years ago and it has taking me quite some time to pick it up. The story in it self wasn't bad but for some reason it didn't really wow me. I still think I am going to read the 2nd book and hope that I find it more captivating than this one.

A real pageturner!

Marked For Life is the first book in a trilogy featuring public prosecutor Jana Berzelius. The head of the Migration Board has been found dead in his home. With o shortage of suspects, the last thing the investigators expected to find was a child’s fingerprint, especially as the deceased doesn’t have any children.

Berzelius is brought in on the case, and the normally calm and cold prosecutor is left reeling when a young boy is found dead a few days after the first murder. Dredging up memories long forgotten, Berzelius is dragged into an investigation for more dangerous and close to home than she was expecting.

Marked For Life is an interesting start to this trilogy. It introduces the reader to Jana, but it also sets the scene for a much larger story. In Marked For Life, they deal with the horrendous subject of human trafficking, and the repercussions of the investigation are numerous and far-reaching.

I really enjoyed Marked For Life. I do love books that are set in Scandinavian countries. This one has a great storyline, interesting characters and it kept my attention while I was reading. It also leaves the door open for the next book in the series. I am looking forward to seeing where the author goes with it.

Recommended.