He will not admit it to Rhea and Lars - never, of course not - but Sheldon can't help but wonder what it is he's doing here...
Eighty-two years old, and recently widowed, Sheldon Horowitz has grudgingly moved to Oslo, with his grand-daughter and her Norwegian husband. An ex-Marine, he talks often to the ghosts of his past - the friends he lost in the Pacific and the son who followed him into the US Army, and to his death in Vietnam.
When Sheldon witnesses the murder of a woman in his apartment complex, he rescues her six-year-old son and decides to run. Pursued by both the Balkan gang responsible for the murder, and the Norwegian police, he has to rely on training from over half a century before to try and keep the boy safe. Against a strange and foreign landscape, this unlikely couple, who can't speak the same language, start to form a bond that may just save them both.
An extraordinary debut, featuring a memorable hero, Norwegian by Night is the last adventure of a man still trying to come to terms with the tragedies of his life. Compelling and sophisticated, it is both a chase through the woods thriller and an emotionally haunting novel about ageing and regret.
One of the funniest books I've read in years. And it's a thriller! Sheldon is a Jewish grandfather and ex-Marine sniper in his 80s who goes to live with his granddaughter and her Norwegian husband in Norway. Witnessing a brutal attack by a Balkan immigrant warlord, he becomes the caretaker of small Balkan boy who doesn't speak, and whom the attacker wants back. Sheldon may or may not be suffering from dementia, but he's still got moves, and he and the boy go on the run. The humor is sardonic and laugh-out-loud funny, especially if you're "of a certain age". The ruminations on age, family, memory and dementia, cultural assimilation and the evolution of Europe are the icing on the cake of this funny and literary thriller. I've loved the cover of this book for years and glad I finally read it. You will be to.
