This is a dramatic and highly satisfying novel, building on themes introduced in the first two books and brilliantly drawing the reader deeply into the story. The translation by Neil Smith (who has also translated novels by Lars Kepler and Liza Marklund) is nimble and idiomatic, perfectly conveying Backman’s love of language and his wonderful sense of humor. If this really is the last Beartown novel, it’s a hell of a conclusion to an outstanding series.
... satisfying if overlong ... Backman’s narration often feels heavy-handed, and his aphorisms alternate from opaque to obvious ... Moreover, many of the chapter-length asides are entirely too aside and lead nowhere. The tension, however, remains palpable after a former hockey player returns to Beartown and everyone assumes he’s out to settle a score, and a series of threats escalate into explosive violence and a painful resolution. This will do the trick for insatiable Beartown fans, though others can take a pass.
Beloved characters return, new ones are introduced, tragedy is promised. Backman repeatedly tells the reader about his characters’ overwhelming love for each other, but their ability to actually care for one another comes and goes with the demands of the unwieldy plot. He wants to assure readers that this makes his characters complex, but it really renders them pawns. To stoke the conflict between the towns, he includes not only the pregnancy-ending factory accident of a nameless woman (ushering in a suspiciously out-of-place anti-abortion sentiment), but also the murder of a beloved dog. These machinations are not alone in being soppy and unearned. The book is almost 700 pages long and covers only a two-week span. Backman writes with wit and sincerity and is a talented web-spinner, but with a tale this long, the lack of nuance becomes grating. There’s also a brief 'not all men' message that, given the toxic nature of the narrative, is hard to ignore ... A moralistic noir masquerading as a heart-warmer.
... a big-hearted, epic novel, bouncing between hope and tragedy as smoothly as a puck flying down the rink ... Backman brings his saga to an often brutal but ultimately heartwarming and hopeful conclusion.
