The Hurricane Party

A celebrated Swedish screenwriter, Östergren (Gentlemen) fills this near-future dystopian tale with beautiful sentences that lack any greater narrative cohesion. Former government investigator Hanck Orn, now a typewriter repairman, lives in the City Under the Roof with his 20-year-old son, Toby, whose mother was a member of a religious cult and believed that the act of sneezing is mankind’s greatest opportunity for divine communion. When Toby dies suddenly and city officials claim the cause was a heart attack, Hanck embarks on a journey to the islands of the Archipelago, where he confronts Norse deities and uncovers the truth of his son’s death. Unfortunately, it takes more than 100 pages for the plot to get started, and the setting and characterization are so vague and abstract that readers will struggle to stay engaged. (July)