• The Purity of Vengeance

  • A Department Q Novel
  • By: Jussi Adler-Olsen
  • Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
  • Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (2,582 ratings)

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The Purity of Vengeance  By  cover art

The Purity of Vengeance

By: Jussi Adler-Olsen
Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
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Publisher's summary

International superstar Jussi Adler-Olsen, with more than fourteen million copies of his books sold worldwide, returns with the fourth book in his New York Times best-selling Department Q series, about a perplexing cold case with sinister modern-day consequences.

In 1987, Nete Hermansen plans revenge on those who abused her in her youth, including Curt Wad, a charismatic surgeon who was part of a movement to sterilize wayward girls in 1950s Denmark.

More than twenty years later, Detective Carl Mørck already has plenty on his mind when he is presented with the case of a brothel owner, a woman named Rita, who went missing in the eighties: New evidence has emerged in the case that destroyed the lives of his two partners - the case that sent Carl to Department Q.

But when Carl's assistants, Assad and Rose, learn that numerous other people disappeared around the same weekend as Rita, Carl takes notice. As they sift through the disappearances, they get closer and closer to Curt Wad, who is more determined than ever to see the vision of his youth take hold and whose brutal treatment of Nete and others like her is only one small part of his capacity for evil.

With The Purity of Vengeance, Jussi Adler-Olsen delivers a thrilling and shocking addition to his best-selling Department Q series.

©2013 Jussi Adler-Olsen (P)2013 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"This installment of the Department Q series excels in audio and literary talent." (AudioFile Magazine)

"Another accomplished exercise in three-decker suspense" (Kirkus Reviews)

"Adler-Olsen merges story lines...with ingenious aplomb, effortlessly mixing hilarities with horrors...This crime fiction tour de force could only have been devised by an author who can even turn stomach flu into a belly laugh." (Publisher’s Weekly, starred review)

What listeners say about The Purity of Vengeance

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

It's a 5 Star Story of Revenge

Revenge is a personal favorite in mystery novels. The abuses this particular woman suffered through had me crying out for justice. But unlike many revenge stories this one has some real twists that makes for an emotional roller coaster throughout the novel.

Department Q is simply great entertainment. Carl Mork and Assad have a charisma and synergy that makes you want see them go at it for years to come. I've yet to find anyone close to Nesbo's Harry Hole series, but Department Q is still a 5 star listen in my book.rr

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24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Love the Department Q series!

This is a great series, I thoroughly enjoy the humor, the characters and of course the carefully crafted thrilling plots. Carl, cynical, sardonic and oh so human, the mysterious and totally lovable Assad, loopy Rose and her alter egos, tortured Hardy and all the regular cast are here … and they dive into the ugly and shocking world of eugenics - past and present. Yes about two thirds of the way through the foreshadowing of 'whodunnit' is there - but that does not take anything away from the story. I can hardly wait for the next time we visit Carl et al - because Adler-olsen makes you care about them all!

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Dark mystery with humor, though twisted I luv it!

More Department Q, full of flawed characters like myself. Very interesting combination of mystery/thriller with elements humor. I refer to the series as a darker Danish Barney Miller. Looking forward to the next installment from Adler Olsen.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good continuation of series set in Copenhagen

If you like mystery/thrillers this is quite a good series. In my reviews I compare it to the Harry Hole series (John Nesbo). I actually think the writing is much better than many American popular novels in this genre such as Harlan Coben. Again. it is slightly dark as most of these Norwegian/Danish novels are. So if you like John Nesbo, Or Girl with Dragon Tattoo series you will most likely like this. You don't have to listen to series in order, but it is easier if you do so.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Quirky but great

Who was your favorite character and why?

All three, Carl, Assad and Rose have to be some of the most memorable characters in Detective Fiction.

Any additional comments?

A very complex plot, and in a mild criticism, some of the plot details and descriptions are above and beyond, especially with the evil characters and plot lines….as indeed in the former Dept Q books, but the scenes with Carl, Assad and Rose more than make up, they are dark, funny, and very entertaining.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Dept. Q series best in a while

"Dept Q" better than most detective series of the day. The lead character, indeed all of the series characters are developing nicely. I would recommend that anyone starting the series' begin with what I think is the first translation "The Keeper of Lost Causes". Very enjoyable.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Unsettling. Is That A Good Thing? Hmmmm.....

This is my fourth Adler-Olsen listen from Audio Books. Like most series, this saga is best told in sequence, so start with the first and work your way to "The Purity of Vengeance." If you have kept going through the gathering murk of these stories, then you'll probably be satisfied with this one as well.

The thing for me is that cold-case detective Carl Mork is burnt-out as a month old matchstick under the Danish snow. And his attitude both invites and is reinforced by a life that approaches Old-Testament Job. He walks and works through a world dark and cold as the North-country winters. I wish that Jussi Adler-Olsen would, just once, relieve his burden of icy misery.

And yet... I've already downloaded book 5 in the Department Q series, "The Marco Effect". Why? Don't know, but if you've read your way this far into the books, then "The Purity Of Vengeance" will encourage you to do the same thing, maybe just to listen to the frigid-heat that Graeme Malcolm brings to the ensemble cast?

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A truly outstanding whodunit

If you could sum up The Purity of Vengeance in three words, what would they be?

Original, complex but also funny

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Purity of Vengeance?

The flashbacks to the 1980s when a group of right wing eugenicists imprisoned and operated upon so-called "fallen" women are disturbing and well written.
Also, the quirky relationship between the Danish Inspector and his Syrian assistant, Hafez al Assad (the name of the previous Syrian president!) is weird, funny, and an extremely important part of the investigative process.

What about Graeme Malcolm’s performance did you like?

His tone and his capacity to shift voices among different males and females make for a lovely listening experience.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It's too long for that but it's certainly thrilling enough to want to gobble it up in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

I think Jussi Adler-Olsen is proving to be a better writer with each new novel.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love the characters!

What did you love best about The Purity of Vengeance?

I love the play between Carl and Assad, Rosa, Ursa. Lots of humor along with the mystery to be solved.

Have you listened to any of Graeme Malcolm’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Narrator is excellent, his reading makes the characters come alive.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laughed a lot especially at the stuff Assad comes up with.

Any additional comments?

Have listened to all available audio Q Department books, can't wait for another one.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Okay. I'm hooked.

I'm not sure where the writing ends and the narration begins, but together Adler-Olsen and Malcolm are simply terrific. Malcolm has a way of delivering the wry asides and frustration Carl Mørck has with Assad's language mangling that makes me laugh out loud. It gives me the feeling that I'm along for the ride and observing all of this from the back seat. And what a ride it is.

I never quite know where Adler-Olsen is going to take the plot and just when I think I've got it figured out, I find out just how wrong I am. I love how cleverly the characters work off each other. He manages to write about daily life events (and body functions) with such wit. Stomach flu? Who knew it could be hilarious.

This series is a little twisted, sometimes dark and very quirky. (There's always an "ewww!" factor.) It's also first-rate entertainment if you want to bury yourself in a mystery and take a trip into a Denmark you never knew was there.

I hope Graeme Malcolm is called back to narrate the first two books in the series. Carl Mørck just isn't the same without him.

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