Sad to give this three stars: so far, I would rate the series a four star. But I had some complaints with this one. Much as I enjoyed Marco's street savviness, it got a little tiring by the end. One or two narrow escapes pump up the adrenaline but seven or eight made me tone deaf to the danger. I wasn't too crazy about the intersection of the two plots, either. The ersatz gypsy gang would be fine or the bank fraud (complicated enough by the Foreign Aid element) but to sew them together made for a lot of sewing things together and I didn't feel that the sewing was delicate enough: quite possibly it could not be. It was, in short, not a happy marriage. As always, the sidekicks are wonderful and it was fun to add quite a few camel parables to the store but again, as with the main plots, I felt that the police station background had far too many disjointed stories marching forward: the retirement, the reveals about Assad, Gordon, the restructuring. It felt like a lot of work tracking all of the details and I do not read these books for work. The ending was entirely too contrived on every front and felt "smug": aren't we all the good guys, really, after all? I enjoy a series as much as the next person but am getting bummed out by what seems to be the need to publish frequently versus waiting until the book is actually ready to be published. This one was not. I daresay if he had waited a bit this easily could have been two books and both would have been the better for it. ( )

Almost 600 pages finished in a day or two. Well written, nice story, no lengths or boring stuff.

Can be read without reading the previous ones in the series, though it wouldn't hurt. ( )

Another great book in the Dept. Q series, maybe even the best one yet. Highly recommended. ( )

2.5*

For some reason, this 5th book in the Dept. Q series didn't appeal to me. I had started this once before a few years ago and couldn't get into it & returned it to the library unfinished. This time, I tried an audiobook edition. Graeme Malcolm did a good narration but I still found this entry in the series disappointing. Carl Mørck just irritated me in most of the book... ( )

Another fun story about the gang of Dept Q. Pretty typical of the series, with lots of mystery made up of oddly connected events and humorous dialog among the likable characters in the gang. Some parts were more unbelievable than the other stories I've read, but I've really had no experience with young African killers, so what do I know?

If you've read any of the books in the series, you already know pretty much what to expect, and if you haven't, you should probably start with an earlier book in the series. ( )

this is just a great series. assad steals the show and I look forward to his camel analogies and find myself laughing out loud ( )

Like the Butterfly Effect, Marco does a thing and everything changes!
Marco is a boy who doesn’t like what’s going on in his “family.” He runs after being threatened and hides in a hole . . . with a corpse.

This is a book full of characters with quirks and multiple story lines. What is the best thing about Adler-Olsen's writing is that he only gives you a snapshot of the person--all the vital information for that situation in that picture, but nothing more. Then he moves on. He'll build on it later if you need to know.

So in the end you find out bad guys do really bad things, good guys did bad things, good guys decide to let the dead stay dead . . . and somewhere in South America a weak bad guy who thinks he's a tough guy gets murdered because he didn't tell a robber he had a cell phone. Gotta read this one.
( )

While a lot of this book is filled with descriptions of Marco running through the back alleys of the city, I cared for him deeply and was most anxious that he survived and found the life he desired and deserved. ( )

Not as good as the earlier books, the root of evil in this novel is financial greed as some bankers decide to steal foreign aid to Cameroon to keep a Danish bank in business. The disappearance of a banker named Stark sets off a series of events, resulting in a young gypsy alien (Marco) being _targeted for death. His Uncle Zola cannot risk his band of beggars and pickpockets being jeopardized and neither can the bank shareholders. Marco, who wants nothing more than a normal life, cleverly draws in Carl Morck, Assad (still recovering from his near death experience in the last book), and Rose. I liked the involvement of Stark's girlfriend and her daughter, Tilde. Sadly, Marco's repeated escapes from stone cold killers (African boy soldiers, Albanians, etc.) was not credible, and detracted from the story. ( )

Long but good - missed out some in the series? Will try to catch up

I found this book dragging on for too long -- while the story of corruption at the cost of small African tribes is an important story to tell, the focus on the teenager trying to help and trying to escape his life detracts too much from the corruption. ( )

Like the others in the series - I really enjoyed this one. ( )

U

Good as always. The mix of humour and suspence is still there. ( )

Unbelievable how Department Q books just keeps getting better and better! With a very sympathetic protagonist, a fifteen year old escapee from a gang of thieves, even Carl Morck's cold cold heart melts a bit. Assad and Hardy continue their recovery and there's a way twisted plot originating in Cameroon. In each book, the author's deep dives into the Danish psyche reveal more about the people and their attitudes towards the immigrants who are reshaping their country. As usual, there's plenty of humor, Morck's bumbling efforts with women, and even a new Dept Q colleague. Don't start here - begin properly at the beginning with The Keeper Of Lost Causes. This is my favorite so far. ( )

The story was interesting and engaging.

This is a return to Department Q for me. I liked the first book. The second was too violent for me. Then in the third book, there was a new translator and it seemed that characters, personalities all changed and for the worse.

I tried this one as reviews were positive and I agree. It seems that the personalities established in the first book are back. ( )

Loved this one... Carl is like a Danish Detective Columbo. ( )

Detective Mørck and his assistant Assad must save a gypsy boy from the boy’s own family in yet another Danish murder mystery. Assad is such a funny and mysterious and valuable character. I've enjoyed how his own mystery grows through the series. ( )

THE MARCO EFFECT (2014) by Jussi Adler-Olsen is the fifth of his Department Q novels. Dept. Q is the Copenhagen police’s cold case section. Each of the previous outings has developed the characters of Carl, Rose and Assad, but this time Rose and Assad start to really begin to open up, so kudos there.
There is some banking shenanigans going on which entangle people in Cameroon as well as Danish government personnel, and of course shady bankers. When one person gets too nosy, he must be bumped off and so the plot thickens.
Marco is a young Gypsy boy and is part of a troupe of beggars plaguing the city. His uncle Zola leads the band. When Marco discovers Zola may have killed the banker, and is planning to increase Marco’s earning potential by having him maimed, he has to run. What follows is a series of pursuits and escapes with Marco trying to do the right thing. When he manages to get Department Q interested in a missing person flyer, the story shapes into a race against time.
Adler-Olsen has constructed a series of fine tales and this one fits the form rightly. The story is complex upon its opening, drawing the reader into a labyrinth of evil. The characters, especially Carl’s assistants, grow with each story but herein we discover a lot about Assad we didn’t yet know. Rose’s past growth broadens here also.
I would go back and start with the first tale because the main characters are worth getting to know in the long term, and each story is a wonderful stand alone in it’s own right. ( )

Nok en fantastisk historie om Carl, Assad og Rose! De ble litt satt til side i denne boken synes jeg, Marco fikk mest plass. Men det gjorde ikke noe.
Synes derimot den siste delen (ca 30 sider kanskje) var litt forvirrende. Skjønte ikke helt poenget med den delen. Kanskje jeg får vite mer i neste bok? ( )

Nok en fantastisk historie om Carl, Assad og Rose! De ble litt satt til side i denne boken synes jeg, Marco fikk mest plass. Men det gjorde ikke noe.
Synes derimot den siste delen (ca 30 sider kanskje) var litt forvirrende. Skjønte ikke helt poenget med den delen. Kanskje jeg får vite mer i neste bok? ( )

For some reason, this 4th book in the Dept. Q series didn't appeal to me. I had started this once before a few years ago and couldn't get into it & returned it to the library unfinished. This time, I tried an audiobook edition. Graeme Malcolm did a good narration but I still found this entry in the series disappointing. Carl Mørck just irritated me in most of the book... ( )

Jussi Adler-Olsen consistently provides fully-developed, interesting characters in complex plots that maintain audience engagement throughout. ( )

Carl Morck of Department Q is back, along with the rest of Jussi Adler-Olsen's cast of characters in another lengthy and satisfying tale that reaches across continents.

The main theme here is as the cover photograph suggests - a pebble tossed into water results in waves that land elsewhere.

Marco is a street-smart petty thief in a Gypsy clan and soon finds himself hunted by unknown quarries for reasons he's not sure of.

As with other Adler-Olsen Department Q novels, Morck seems to stumble into the larger tale that at first goes undefined and while the story takes a bit to get there, once Adler-Olsen gets there, it's very much worth it.

There is one chase sequence in the novel done much better than found in other thriller novels and I think why Adler-Olsen is successful at these types of sequences is he makes them believable.

I was hoping for a bit more resolution regarding Carl Morck's shooting from the first book, however, that part is yet to be fully divulged.

Assad, Morck's Arabic, mystery assistant is as cunning and wily as ever and Adler-Olsen introduces additional characters that seem to be promising developments for future novels.

A good, solid crime thriller, recommended to others. ( )

Taas Adler-Olsenin kirjassa on parisataa sivua liikaa tekstiä. Tarina ei kestä tätä jaarittelua. Henkilöt hajoavat epäkiinnostaviksi. Liian paljon merkityksettömiä sivupolkuja. Kirjoittaminen on tainnut olla työtä, ei ilo tekijälle.

Short resume: slightly boring, too many words, side plots irrelevant. ( )