The Last Good Man by A.J. Kazinski

I read this book for Nordic FINDS hosted by AnnaBookBel. Kazinski is a pseudonym of Anders Rønnow Klarlund and Jacob Weinreich, two Danish authors. It is the first in a series involving detective Niels Bentzon.  I have read Sömnen och döden (The Sleep and the Death (my translation), I don't think it has been translated to English), which is the second one in the series. Both books are excellent, and something above the ordinary detective/thriller novel. 

"In Jewish scripture, there is a legend: There are thirty-six righteous people on earth. The thirty-six protect us. Without them, humanity would perish. But the thirty-six do not know they are the chosen ones.

In Beijing, a monk collapses in his chamber, dead. A fiery mark—a tattoo? a burn?—spreads across his back and down his spine. In Mumbai, a beloved economist, a man who served the poor, dies suddenly. His corpse reveals the same symbol. Similar deaths are reported around the world—the victims all humanitarians, all with the same death mark. In Venice, an enterprising Italian policeman links the deaths, tracing the evidence. Who is killing good people around the world?

In Copenhagen, police are preparing for a world climate summit when they receive the Interpol alert. The task falls to veteran detective Niels Bentzon: Find the “good people” of Denmark and warn them. But Bentzon is a man who is trained to see the worst in humanity, not the good. One by one, people are crossed off his list. He senses their secrets and wrongdoings.

Just as Bentzon is ready to give up, he meets Hannah Lund, a brilliant astrophysicist mourning the death of her son and the implosion of her marriage. With Hannah’s help, Bentzon begins to piece together the puzzle of these far-flung deaths. A pattern emerges. It is, they realise, a perfectly executed plan of murder. There have been thirty-four deaths—two more to come if the legend is true. According to the pattern, Bentzon and Hannah can predict the time and place of the final two murders. The deaths will occur in Venice and Copenhagen. And the time is now."

You are stuck to this story from the very beginning. First of all the peculiar murders. Or are they murders? Nobody knows, and nobody suspects them until an Italian policeman puts two and two together. Once the ball is passed on to detective Bentzon, the case, and chase, intensifies. With the help of astrophysicist Hannah Lund, Bentzon makes a break through in his investigation. Hannah sees matters from a research and theoretical point of view, while Bentzon's way of working is more practical and spot on. The two complement each other perfectly, and it is so interesting following their different ways of arguing the case. 

“You're only two handshakes away from evil.... Maybe it's the same thing with goodness. We're never far from what's good.... It doesn't seem like such a far-fetched idea that it takes only 36 people to keep evil at bay. Just remember that all of the upheavals in world history, both good and bad, were initiated by individuals.”

It is a fascinating story, and the novel has several interesting turns and side plots making it into an extraordinarily thrilling read. Near death experiences, religion, terrorism and the digital world, sometimes turns this book almost into a nonfiction. But it is so well incorporated into the story, making it a novel you cannot let go of. 

It is exciting to the very end, and a surprising end as well. After having finished you can really ask yourself; who was guilty of the crime? Who killed all these good people? What was the connection? So many questions and not so many answers. But, if you like thrilling stories this is one you have to read. Furthermore, I have to look into the thirty-six righteous people.