Peter Hoeg displays some original insights during the reflective moments of this novel, however, this is neither a 'thriller' nor is it purposeful. As is often the case with poor storytellers, you never get a feel for where this story is going, and that alone makes for evenings of masochism with this book. I rate this as the worst book I read in 1997; Joseph Heller's 'Something Happened' was a close second