Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller

Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller tells the story of a grumpy octogenarian American who finds himself running for his freedom in the wilds of Norway while protecting a young boy.  It was our book club book for this month.

I really liked the grumpy protagonist, Sheldon. He was really fun. His family was sort of on the fence about whether or not he suffered from dementia and you get to kind of go back and forth on whether or not he was an unreliable narrator or not. He had a super interesting back story and I generally enjoyed hanging out with him.

It was the rest of the novel I didn't exactly love. I didn't love hanging out with Sheldon's granddaughter or the Norwegian police detective. I really didn't love hanging out with the evil villain from the Balkans. So are all people from the Balkans evil or is that just an easy stereotype?  I'll never know, I guess, but I didn't like that guy.

The last twenty pages or so seemed like they were written by another author and I didn't understand it the first time I read it. Or the second. After that, it seemed like maybe I just wasn't meant to get it.  It's ambiguous on purpose, I guess.

Anyway, this book was fine. It wasn't one I would recommend to everyone, but if you like a coming of age narrative or even a mystery, it might suit you. It's definitely good enough for a rainy Saturday afternoon, but it's not good enough to give up a sunny Saturday afternoon.