Culture tips for the weekend : A winter thriller with Liam Neeson and other tracks in the snow
Winter time is always also crime thriller time. We present two snow thrillers that have it all in many ways. In addition we recommend a tricky crime game for the whole family.
Culture and knowledge editor
The book "Winter in Maine" by Gerard Donovan recently reached me in the form of a handsome new gift edition that I then couldn’t put down. It’s a madcap work in the truest sense of the word: Julius Winsome lives a quiet life in the woods of Maine. Winter is approaching. "It’s lonely", Julius once said, "not only in autumn and winter, but always". With over 3000 books from his father and his Pittbull terrier Hobbes, he has made his life comfortable by the fireplace. One day Hobbes is shot at close range. From a stranger. Just like that. Probably the oversight of one of the hunters who roam the woods this time of year. But in the end it doesn’t matter. For Winsome, everything changes that day. He becomes a serial killer, shooting with cold-blooded precision all those people who enter his sphere of influence. All potential dog killers. Ultimately, however, this book is about much more than mere revenge for a dead dog. It is about what loneliness can do to a person. About losses in life, about a past love and about shifted standards. "Did you shoot this dog?", that is the last question he asks his victims. A book that neither moralizes nor judges, but one that touches and irritates and simply captivates.
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Gerard Donovan, Winter in Maine, 208 pages, Luchterhand-Literaturverlag.
My film tip goes with this: "Hard Powder – Rache auf Eis" is also a revenge thriller in the snow. Here actor Liam Neeson sees red. And at first you don’t think he’s capable of it either: Nels Coxman leads a quiet life in the Rocky Mountains. Day after day, he uses his huge plow truck to cut through the snow and clear the roads. "How was your day?", his wife Grace (Laura Dern) asks him in the evening. "Not so bad," replies Nels. When one day his son is found dead, the taciturn man is dominated by only one thought: he wants to get even with the culprits – his son had contact with a drug gang. Little by little he sets his sights on the boss and his henchmen. This film is a different kind of action movie – bloody, but also full of grim humor. With great actors and fascinating pictures.
"Hard Powder – Revenge on Ice", to be seen in the ZDF-Mediathek.
Finally, here’s a game tip for crime fans young and old: In "The Code Agency," the participants are all special investigators from the Special Investigation Unit. They come into play when the police are at a loss: a theater in flames. A dead actress. All sorts of strange characters and mysterious coincidences have to be brought together under one criminalistic hat. Work is done as you would imagine real police work to be: Searching case files, collecting clues, combining information – all this is required in this game. The highlight: The Code Agency communicates with its clients via internet and app, so the answering machine of the victim can be listened to or mails can be read. For those who are stuck, here are some more hints. A fun game for which you should definitely keep a whole evening free.