Norwegian by Night

Derek B. Miller

'Norwegian by Night would make an exceptional film, one which would be funny, gripping and touching by turn.'

Canberra Times

'To say this is an enigmatic read would be the understatement of the season.'

Courier Mail

View all reviews

'Norwegian by Night explores loss and regret, war and ethnic conflict against a backdrop of whimsy. Gripping and sophisticated, it avoids the ghoulish horrors that thrillers often revel in.'

Dominion Post

'Humane, blackly funny, heartbreaking, full of believable people and with a touching, magnificent hero in Sheldon, this is one of the best books I've read this year. Verdict: brilliant'

Herald Sun

'Utterly compelling.'

Sunday Age

'An enthralling thriller that goes far beyond the genre, to leave the reader emotionally exhausted. Absolutely brilliant.'

Sunday Examiner

'[Norwegian by Night] may just be the Australian publishing coup of the decade, for this is a very powerful novel indeed, and Sheldon Horowitz is an absolutely unforgettable hero … a novel that will last and, soon enough, will be added to that canon of those finer works that transcend mere genre.'

Jonathan Dawson, Sunday Tasmanian

'Thoughtful, complex, gripping and funny.'

The Age

'A deep and remarkably good novel.'

The Listener

'An arresting hybrid of serious intent and popular form … Miller combines Sheldon's memories of love and guilt, his reveries and periods of confusion, with a gripping and at times very funny account of the journey to the showdown.'

Times Literary Supplement

'It's suspenseful, intriguing and populated with characters you care about.'

Adelaide Advertiser

Sheldon Horowitz — 82 years old, impatient, and unreasonable — is staying with his granddaughter’s family in Norway when he disappears with a stranger’s child. Sheldon is an ex-Marine, and he feels responsible for his son’s death in Vietnam. Recently widowed and bereft, he talks to the ghosts of his past constantly.

To Norway’s cops, Sheldon is just an old man who is coming undone at the end of a long and hard life. But Sheldon is clear in his own mind. He’d heard the boy’s eastern European mother being murdered, and he’s determined to protect the child from the killer and his Balkan gang. With an endearing combination of dexterity and daring, Sheldon manages to elude the police in what is hostile, foreign territory for him. But what he doesn’t know is that the police and the gang both know where he’s heading.

Norwegian by Night is the last adventure of a man coming to terms with the tragedy of his own life as he tries to save another’s. It combines laconic, deadpan humour, moral seriousness, visceral grief, and narrative tension in a remarkable way. An extraordinary debut, featuring a memorable hero.

'Norwegian by Night would make an exceptional film, one which would be funny, gripping and touching by turn.'

Canberra Times

'To say this is an enigmatic read would be the understatement of the season.'

Courier Mail

View all reviews

'Norwegian by Night explores loss and regret, war and ethnic conflict against a backdrop of whimsy. Gripping and sophisticated, it avoids the ghoulish horrors that thrillers often revel in.'

Dominion Post

'Humane, blackly funny, heartbreaking, full of believable people and with a touching, magnificent hero in Sheldon, this is one of the best books I've read this year. Verdict: brilliant'

Herald Sun

'Utterly compelling.'

Sunday Age

'An enthralling thriller that goes far beyond the genre, to leave the reader emotionally exhausted. Absolutely brilliant.'

Sunday Examiner

Jonathan Dawson, Sunday Tasmanian

'Thoughtful, complex, gripping and funny.'

The Age

'A deep and remarkably good novel.'

The Listener

Times Literary Supplement

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Details

Format:Paperback

Size: 198mm × 128mm

Extent:320pp

ISBN (13):9781922070425

RRP:$24.99

Pub date:29 Apr 2013

Rights Held: ANZ

High-res cover:Download Image

AWARDS

2013 CWA John Creasey Dagger for best new crime writer of the year - Winner

CATEGORIES / tags

AUTHOR

Derek B. Miller

Derek B. Miller was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, and has lived abroad for over fifteen years in Israel, England, Hungary, Switzerland, and Norway. His interest in fiction began a few years after graduating from Sarah Lawrence College. Currently, Derek is the director of The Policy Lab and a senior fellow with the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research. He has a PhD in international relations from the University of Geneva, and an MA in national security studies from Georgetown University, in cooperation with St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford. He lives in Oslo with his wife and children.

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