Audiobook Review/Blog Tour: The Boy in the Suitcase + Giveaway

The Boy in the Suitcase (Nina Borg, 1) by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friss, read by Katherine Kellgren, 2011. 8 hr 41 min (7 discs). Published by AudioGo. Source: Publisher for Review.

Nina Borg, a Red Cross nurse, wife, and mother of two, is a compulsive do-gooder who can't say no when someone asks for help—even when she knows better. When her estranged friend Karin leaves her a key to a public locker in the Copenhagen train station, Nina gets suckered into her most dangerous project yet. Inside the locker is a suitcase, and inside the suitcase is a three-year-old boy, naked and drugged, but alive. Is the boy a victim of child trafficking? Can he be turned over to authorities, or will they only return him to whoever sold him? When Karin is discovered brutally murdered, Nina realizes that her life and the boy's are in jeopardy, too. In an increasingly desperate trek across Denmark, Nina tries to figure out who the boy is, where he belongs, and who exactly is trying to hunt him down.

First Sentence:

Holding the glass door open with her hip, she dragged the suitcase into the stairwell leading down to the underground parking lot.

Story:

Goodness, this has to be one of the best thrillers I have read in a LONG time. I was literally holding my breath at certain points throughout The Boy in the Suitcase because things were absolutely stressful and just so good.

One of the things that made The Boy in the Suitcase so good, besides the reader, would have to be the writing and the many webbed story in it. I was immediately drawn in the the story because from pretty much the beginning of the book you you are lead on a wild ride across various countries that left me breathless throughout the majority of the book as the dire situation that Nina got involved in became even more intense.
The only draw back I had while listening to this one was that for the longest time I could not remember any of the male characters names-or differentiate between them-or what their role was in the book. While that was a minor frustrating, it didn't take away any of my enjoyment of the book and the story therein.

The end was absolutely brilliantly done. I loved the fact that everything was resolved and nothing was left wide open. I also thought it ended just the way it needed to and that it set up for more 'adventures' for Nina to be a part of.

Okay, since The Boy in the Suitcase was the audio version, I do not have the slightest idea how to spell some of the characters names.That being said, I think the three main female characters were some of the best written characters that I have read in an adult novel in a very long time. I loved the ferociousness of the mother of the kidnapped boy, and how she refused to give up the search for her son. I thought she was by far the strongest of the three because she had the most to lose and not many people were willing to assist her in her search.
As for Nina, the protagonist of the series, I thought she was interesting in that she could not resist helping others, but was at times unable to deal with the chaos that was her own family. I liked her because it was nice to see such a flawed character.
The Boy in the Suitcase has one of the best-or should I say worst- baddies ever.The main antagonist of the book was truly frightful, especially since you did not find out his true identity until close to the end of the book. He was pretty much straight out of a nightmare scary.

Favorite part, well, that would have to be the mystery of why the boy was in the suitcase and how the whole thing came to be. Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis definitely spun one seriously complex spider-web of a plot line into The Boy in the Suitcase, and the fact that they brought about the conclusion in what seemed like an effortless fashion was just incredible. For once, I had not the slightest idea who was behind the plot and what the motive was, and for that alone I am seriously impressed. Because it isn't often that I cannot unravel the plot of a book. Nicely done.
         While I did love The Boy in the Suitcase, there are a couple of points that I did not like (and that's just because I do not care to read/listen to books with it). The language and sexual content was a bit much for me int his book. I've explained below in my content rating the what and why, so if you would like to see that you'll understand what to expect content wise in this book.

Narration:

I have just found another favorite reader, Katherine Kellgren. She did a phenomenal job on the entire audiobook; she absolutely blew me away with all the various accents and languages that she portrayed while reading for The Boy in the Suitcase.

That book was one of the most thrilling I have read in ages, but had the reader been unable to capture the essence of the various characters and their respective difference in language and outlook the audio version mayn't have been as engrossing it was.

I think that Ms. Kellgren was an absolute perfect fit and would definitely listen to another book featuring her as the reader. In short, I cannot say enough good things about her reading.

Content (will contain spoilers; highlight to see):
While The Boy in the Suitcase is one incredible audiobook, the content was pretty severe at certain points and actually had me turning down the volume and checking back to see if certain parts had ended.
Language-wise- The language on this one was kinda of like listening to an R rated movie. Lots of use of  f***, s**t, d***, b***H and the like. Kind of made my ears burn from all the profanity, especially since a lot of time it was directed at someone and not used in a exclamatory fashion.
Sexual content- There were a few tracks that I turned the volume all the way down and just let it run on because I did NOT want to hear what was going on.
All in all, I would recommend-based on content-that only those over, say, seventeen listen/read this one.

Final Verdict: The Boy in the Suitcase is definitely one book that you NEED to listen to. So good.

The Boy in the Suitcase earns 4.5 out of 5 pineapples.
More stops on the tour can be found:

12/12/11 – Reflections of a Book Addict http://lifeand100books.com/

12/13/11 – The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia http://hauntedorchid.blogspot.com/
12/14/11 - Teresa's Reading Corner http://teresasreadingcorner.com/
12/15/11 - The Literate Housewife http://literatehousewife.com/
12/16/11 - Devourer of Books http://www.jensbookthoughts.com/

Thanks to the awesome people at AudioGo I have two copies of The Boy in the Suitcase audiobook to giveaway. There was supposed to be an audio clip, but I couldn't get it onto my blog (Tech Fail on my part).

Want to hear a clip from The Boy in the Suitcase, well, you are in luck. AudioGo has posted an audio clip on their FB page. You can listen to it ->HERE<- and trust you do want to hear it.

Rules:
Can be found at the bottom of the form.

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