In the Harry Quebert series, closed with this case of Alaska Sanders, there is a diabolical balance, a dilemma (I understand that especially for the author himself). Because in the three books the plots of the cases to be investigated coexist in parallel with that vision of the writer, Marcus Goldman, who plays at being himself Joel dicker within each of his novels.
And it happens that, for a series of suspense novels: "The Harry Quebert Affair" "The Baltimore Book" and "The Alaska Sanders Affair", the most brilliant one ends up being the one that most adheres to the intrigue itself in around the life of Marcus, that is "The book of the Baltimore". I think Joel Dicker knows that. Dicker knows that the ins and outs of the budding writer's life and his evolution into the world-renowned author engage the reader to a greater extent. Because echoes resonate, ripples spread in the waters between reality and fiction, between the Marcus that is presented to us and the real author who seems to leave much of his soul and learning about him as the extraordinary narrator that he is.
And of course, that more personal line had to continue advancing in this new installment on the fatalities of Alaska Sanders... We thus returned to a greater closeness with the original work, with that poor girl murdered in the Harry Quebert case. And then Harry Quebert had to be brought back to the cause, too. From the beginning of the plot you can already sense that good old Harry is going to make an appearance at any moment...
The thing is that for fans of Joel Dicker (myself included) it is difficult to enjoy that game between reality and fiction of the author and his alter ego to the same or greater extent than when the Baltimore drama takes place. Because as the author himself mentions, the reparation is always pending and it is what moves the most introspective part of the writer-turned-investigator. But the high levels of emotion (understood in narrative tension and pure more personal emotion when empathizing with Marcus or Joel) do not reach in this case of Alaska Sanders what was achieved with the delivery of the Baltimore Goldman. I insist that even so, everything Dicker writes about Marcus in his own mirror is pure magic, but knowing the above, it seems that a little more intensity is longed for.
As for the plot that supposedly justifies the novel, the investigation of the death of Alaska Sanders, what is expected of a virtuoso, sophisticated turns that hook and deceive us. Perfectly outlined characters capable of justifying in their natural creation any reaction to the different changes of direction that events take.
The typical "nothing is what it seems" charges in the case of Dicker and for his Alaska Sanders elemental substance. The author brings us closer to the psyche of each character to talk about daily survival that ends in catastrophe. Because beyond the aforementioned appearances, each one escapes their hells or gets carried away by them. Underground passions and wicked versions of the best neighbor. Everything conspires in a perfect storm that outlines the perfect murder as a game of masks where each one transfigures his misery.
In the end, as with the Baltimores, it can be understood that the Alaska Sanders case survives perfectly as an independent novel. And that is another of Dicker's marked abilities. Because putting yourself in Marcus's shoes without having the background of his life is like being able to be God writing, to approach different people with the naturalness of someone who has just met someone and is discovering aspects of their past, without major disruptive aspects. to immerse yourself in the plot.
Like so many other times, if I have to put a but to descend Dicker from the narrative skies of the suspense genre, I would point to aspects that creak, such as the faulty printer with which the famous "I know what you have done" is written. and that coincidentally serves to point to the alleged murderer. Or the fact that Samantha (don't worry, you'll already know her) remembers by fire a last sentence from Alaska that certainly is neither fú nor fá in terms of relevance to be remembered. Little things that perhaps were even left over or could be approached in another way...
But come on, despite that point of slight dissatisfaction for not reaching the level of the Baltimore, the Alaska Sanders case has you trapped without being able to let go.
You can now buy the novel “The Alaska Sanders Affair” by Joel Dicker here: