A cold night in Antwerp.
Roel Verstraeten steps off the train and is taken hostage by two men, boys really, who take him to Borgerhout. Nobody sees it, nobody helps him. The streets are deserted, the rain won't stop. They drag him from cash machine to cash machine, forcing him to withdraw money.
When the rain stops, the mist crawls out of the holes and caves where he had been hiding and brings with it the ghosts of the past.
One of the boys is Eric Vanderlaenen. He has gambling debts, and they have threatened him if he doesn't pay them tomorrow. Eric wished he weren't called Eric but Mohammed. His father mocked his mother's faith, faith in the Merciful. Once his debts are paid, he can start a new life.
Zidan says: if you have no honour, then you have nothing.
Together the three of them wander through the city, but there is a fourth with them. Death silently follows behind them.
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ISBN /EAN: 9789462661417
Price: € 16,95
Review from Thriller Lovers
A name (new to me) in the Flemish thriller landscape: Herman De Jonghe. The author already has several books to his name. After a long career in education, his debut appeared in 2008. Now, 8 years later, his newest book Hardnekkige Mist has been published.
Antwerp, a bleak and cold night. When Roel Verstraeten arrives at the station after his train journey, he is quickly taken hostage by 2 young men. They are after money, and drag their victim along to various cash machines. It becomes a long night!
The author soon has you in his grip with this book. I have read several Flemish authors before, but De Jonghe stands out with his beautiful and powerful writing style, which is also brimming with suspense. You would say: what can all happen in one night? Well, through a combination of circumstances this is more than you would initially expect. The author gives a lot of background information on both the victim and the perpetrators, who have all received their just deserts, and gives a good picture of the how and why of their actions. A strong point I found was that not only is the victim portrayed as a vulnerable person, but also the perpetrators, who have to deal with their fears in multicultural Antwerp.
Hardnekkige Mist is for me a very pleasant introduction to this author, who has managed to fit a very grand story into a relatively thin book. A tremendously exciting story about us humans and the choices we (sometimes have to) make in this often harsh society of 2016.
Moreover, it also contains a strong and original plot, with twists you would not at first glance expect.
Recommended!
★★★★
Review by Prof. dr. K.A.D. Smelik
Flemish thriller. The story takes place on a cold night in Antwerp. Political staffer Roel Verstraeten gets off the train and is then taken hostage by two Moroccan young men from Mechelen. One of the boys is Eric Vanderlaenen, born from a mixed marriage and determined to become a devout Muslim under a new name: Mohammed. The other is his Moroccan friend Zidan, who has promised to help him pay off his gambling debts. And how? Through robbery. They force Verstraeten to withdraw money at several ATMs in Borgerhout, but due to their inexperience, more and more goes wrong. A thick fog also rolls in, and instead of Verstraeten, now his two captors are in danger. Verstraeten himself is increasingly seized by the demons of his past. The ambivalent integration of Moroccan youth is a recurring theme in the story, which is reminiscent of 'Het dwaallicht' by Willem Elsschot. The chapters alternate between the perspectives of Verstraeten and of Eric/Mohammed. Surprising ending. The author (born 1941) debuted in 2008 with 'Koppenbergblues'*.
© NBD Biblion
