Norwegian by Night

March 25, 2013
Miller’s first novel features an unlikely hero, Sheldon Horowitz, an 82-year-old widower suffering from dementia. Haunted by his Korean War experiences and his son’s death in Vietnam, Sheldon has moved to Norway to live with his granddaughter and her husband. On hearing a violent argument outside his family’s Oslo apartment, Sheldon opens his door to a Slavic-looking woman and her small son to offer them refuge from an assailant. The assailant kills the mother, but Sheldon manages to protect the boy. While Sheldon tries to keep the child safe, the police investigate the murder. Moments of humor, such as the time Sheldon bluffs his way into a fancy hotel room, enliven the narrative, but Sheldon’s philosophical musings can wear (e.g., “Sanity is the thick soup of distraction that we immerse ourselves in to keep from remembering that we’re gonna bite it”). This works better as a study in character than a crime novel. Agent: Rebecca Carter, Janklow & Nesbit.

February 15, 2013

Sheldon Horowitz is 82 years old and sliding into dementia, one symptom of which is that he talks to the dead. His granddaughter is concerned; Sheldon lives in Oslo with her and her husband because he can no longer care for himself unaided. One day the man witnesses a horrific murder outside the front door of their flat. He runs off with a small boy to save him from the killer, a Kosovo war criminal. Pursued by both the killer and the police, Sheldon revives his military skills from his sniper days during the Korean War. VERDICT In this fiction debut, Miller (senior fellow, UN Institute for Disarmament Research) has written both an exciting chase thriller and a poignant story about a man who comes into his own again in his dotage. The book occasionally verges on schmaltz, but it's bigger and better than this minor failing. The many admirers of Scandinavian crime novels will enjoy this big-hearted first novel, which embeds social commentary although it doesn't wear its political persuasions on its sleeve.--David Keymer, Modesto, CA

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