(Reviewed by JD Jung)
“His methods are unconventional at best and border on illegal at times. And his opinion of women, well, I won’t go into that topic.”
This is what AIVD Chief inspector Alexandra Dewaal has to deal with when she inherits Belgian Chief Inspector Walter Eekhaut. The widower made a lot of enemies in his own country; so he was reassigned to Amsterdam to work for the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service.
The task at hand is to investigate Russian influence in the Dutch banking sector, namely Adam Keretsky, who purchased a considerable minority share in a Dutch bank. “Russian henchmen” are replacing Dutch board members in numerous industries ,so why did Keretsky refuse a seat on the board of directors for the bank?
There’s more to this though. Keretsy’s involvement in other areas surfaces when a seemingly unrelated crime is committed. A young leftist Pieter Van Boer, is found murdered due to allegedly stealing a list of contributors from an extreme right-wing organization founded by Dutch former minister of justice Hendrika Va Tillo.
Yes, there’s a lot going on here with more murders on the horizon. There are also so many central characters that I had to start writing them down. Among them are Van Boer’s girlfriend who’s on the run, a Russian hit-man, Keretsy’s representative in Amsterdam, Dewaal’s nephew who is also on the force, and the dark, mysterious woman who Eekhaut meets at the Absinthe.
That said, their histories are fascinating and the story keeps the reader engaged on so many levels. We experience the seedy side of Amsterdam which sets the dark mood for this contemporary police procedural/political thriller. Even though there are a lot of elements, the pace is quick.
Ultimately we are reminded of the continual Russian interference in Western democracies. This hits close to home for all of us, which helps to make Absinthe a relevant and captivating read.
