Locked In is the first novel in a while that I could not put down until I could not stay awake. For me, I am certain, it was extra rich reading because I have always been a huge fan of Olsen’s Department Q novels, even when the villains do things so far out of any human being’s comfort zone that I question my humanity for enjoying them. Carl Morck is 55. Department Q, made up of Carl, Rose, Gordon and Assad is now tasked with solving its worst case ever, except it’s self assigned. You see, through all of the Department Q series, there are references to a case that tore apart an earlier team Carl was on, a group of dear friends who were blindsided at a crime scene by people there to kill them. Ankar died. Hardy was permanently paralyzed. In fact, through much of the series, Hardy lives with Carl and has caretakers. We know that Carl has always blamed himself for Hardy’s condition, because he never pulled his gun when they were ambushed. Over time, he’s tried to piece together the case they were working on at the time and how things went so wrong.
If you have read the series, the case that led to the shooting at three police officers involved a lot of deaths by use of a nail gun. It creeps in and out of Carl’s mind, into conversations and so on through many of the novels and maybe all of them. But you never can put together the whole story and make sense of it. Because Carl cannot make sense of it. So, in Locked In, things come to a head and when it is over, you will understand the nail gun case. We know already that In the course of the active nail gun investigation, Ankar asked Carl to store a suitcase for him in his attic. This was many years ago, now and Ankar is, of course, dead. Carl didn’t even remember the suitcase existed, but it’s been located in his house and it contains bundles of money, illegal drugs and Carl’s and Ankar’s fingerprints on items inside. And now, Carl is in jail and people are trying to kill him. The media is having a heyday. His boss, Marcus has turned on him, feeling devastated, angry and betrayed by Carl’s involvement in crimes where people were getting murdered and drugs were being smuggled by police officers.
Marcus orders Department Q staff to stay away from the case and not to go see Carl in jail. Even though there are attempts on Carl’s life, Marcus refuses to get involved, even to help get Carl away from the general population and into protective custody. Eventually, Carl, along with a man who saved him from another attempt on his life, gets moved to a prison that is supposed to be safer. But it plainly is not safer for a guy with a price on his head. Meanwhile, Department Q and Carl’s wife Mona are actively involved and taking volunteers to help with Carl’s case. As usual, Olsen brings back many familiar characters and introduces more, always giving them enough dimension to be memorable.
Department Q novels have given us the complex stories of each member’s lives over the years. Assad is unusually gifted at certain kinds of field work, having been trained and involved in some sort of violence and intrigue in the Middle East, possibly Syria. His wife, two daughters and sone were held in his homeland for many years after he escaped. In Locked In, Assad is deeply involved in the attempts to protect Carl’s life and seek more information on the villains as the story unfolds. People who have read all the books will take more than one trip down memory lane when folks show up in the Carl Morck volunteer brigade.
There are villains I don’t think I’ve met pulling the strings. You will recognize some problematic people from past novels. Among other things, helping Carl becomes a messy and chaotic matter of seat of the pants after careful planning work with communications lapsing and suspicions growing. People Carl has helped start to pitch in. There are several great side-trips as the criminal organization itself begins to self-destruct and eat its own. There is a moving piece on Assad’s teenaged son who was so traumatized by his years of imprisonment that he cannot communicate but has begun screaming a lot due to pain from an injury. While his mother and sisters are adjusting to Denmark, he is not able to begin a recovery, to feel safe. He may have been brain damaged. Something is very wrong. It’s a short part of the book, but memorable when Assad takes his son out with him to look for someone in order to give his family a break from all the yelling.
I cannot go into a lot of details and it sure looks like this is the last book of the series. Every single entry was a 4-5 star marvel and the characters and settings in Denmark, the writing and the translating were all superb. You absolutely can read Locked in as a stand alone book and you will not believe you are missing anything important at all. But if you can make yourself read these in order, the depth the characters take on will make you appreciate Locked In even more. Highly recommend and very distressed if there will truly be no more Department Q.
They Called me Bookworm 