Review - Norwegian by night by Derek B. Miller

I was at first quite annoyed by Sheldon, the 82 year old slightly demented hero of this book but he surely grows on you. Sheldon has come to Norway to live with his grand daughter after his wife died. He has only been here a couple of weeks when there is a murder in their apartment and he goes on the run with a small boy because he isn't sure who may try to hurt him. We learn of Sheldon's war history and how he lost his son in the Vietnam war. He had wanted to fight for America because although European countries were based on tribes, America was based on an idea – an idea for all who came to the country to share regardless of their origin. The strands of family and belonging that cloud his remembrance as he navigates an unfamiliar land are built into an absorbing tale of love and loss. He is hunted by the police and by the killers but the journey also gives him a new view of his adopted country and its beauty of land and of people. There is a dramatic conclusion when all the strands come together. By the end, Sheldon has become exactly the romantic warrior hero he always pretended he wasn't albeit with arthritis and much reduced eye sight. It's worth persevering until he gets you under his spell. Wendy