Sorry [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

There's a saying that applies here: "Nothing good ever comes for free." Zoran Drvenkar's thriller novel 'Sorry' is a nearly ideal illustration of this idea.

It's a deceptively simple yet compelling idea...the sort of thing that sounds brilliant when you're drunk and hanging out with your friends. And that's exactly what happens at the outset of 'Sorry.' Old friends Kris, Frauke, Wolf, and Tamara each seem lost on their own, but one night they have an idea. Just a spark, but it catches and within a few weeks they're running an agency that provides the service of apology - the need is guilt, and the product is forgiveness.

And for a while, it's great. The business is a success and the four friends are making plenty of money, more than they've ever had before. Until someone hires them to apologize for a murder - and to dispose of the body when they're done.

What follows unfolds quickly and intelligently. Drvenkar uses a constantly-shifting narrative perspective to weave a tale of violence and deep-seated trauma that is at times shocking, at times sad, and at all times keeps the pages turning. The multiple perspectives really work here, as the story jumps forward and back in time and from place to place, dropping hints along the way but keeping this reader guessing all the way to the end.

'Sorry' is more than a thriller too. The multiple characters, each with their own history and their reasons for what they do, present a rich tapestry of motivations and impulses. No black and white answers to be found here, nor even shades of grey, but many colors all coming together to make you question what is good and what is evil, and to wonder if maybe that changes in the right circumstances.

If you prefer simple, neatly-wrapped mysteries then 'Sorry' may not be for you. But for a story that presents the rich and messy complexities of life through believable characters and an original concept, it doesn't get much better than this.

'Sorry' is that rarest of mysteries, a puzzle where even if you think you know who the killer is, there's still so much more of the story to uncover that you can't help but keep going until all the pieces are in place. It's a story about how even good intentions, poorly thought through, can come at an unbearable price.

When four friends come up with the brilliant idea of starting their own business making apologies for others, they think they've managed to strike gold. In truth, they do very well... in the beginning. When a dead body is discovered and they're ordered to complete their task, make the apology and then hide her body, the four end up part of something that seems like it will never end. And they don't know the half of it. Now the killer has a hold over them all.

Originally published in German, SORRY is an pretty good translation. The author's unique style seems to come through clearly. Drvenkar plays with point of view in a way I've not seen before, moving from character to character and changing from third person to second. While the main plot is pretty shocking, it's built well and is an interesting read, to say the least.

Translated from the German, the writing feels well translated. The use of P.O.V. is certainly unique, and unfortunately, but the time I became accustomed to it, the book was nearly over. The premise interested me - though I suppose there are some fundamental gaps in plausibility, after all consultants are not a new thing, but typically they have more experience than this odd bunch. And as the plot brings together one coincidence after another, the overall believability drops a bit more... But in all of its strange glory, there is something absolutely arresting about the entire novel. It deals with some very dark topics (like child abuse), but it is definitely the type of book that would spark some very interesting conversation, making it the perfect choice for some "edgier" book clubs.