Prior Bad Acts

Book Description

New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag returns with a thriller that begins with a shocking crime scene you’ll never forget and follows two relentless detectives on a manhunt that ends in a chilling confrontation with the essence of human evil.

It was a crime so brutal, it changed the lives of even the most hardened homicide cops. The Haas family murders left a scar on the community nothing can erase, but everyone agrees that convicting the killer, Karl Dahl, is a start. Only Judge Carey Moore seems to be standing in the way. Her ruling that Dahl’s prior criminal record is inadmissible raises a public outcry—and puts the judge in grave danger.

When an unknown assailant attacks Judge Moore in a parking garage, two of Minneapolis’s top cops are called upon to solve the crime and keep the judge from further harm. Detective Sam Kovac is as hard-boiled as they come, and his wisecracking partner, Nikki Liska, isn’t far behind. Neither one wants to be on this case, but when Karl Dahl escapes from custody, everything changes, and a seemingly straightforward case cartwheels out of control.

The stakes go even higher when the judge is kidnapped—snatched out of her own bed even as the police sit outside, watching her house. Now Kovac and Liska must navigate through a maze of suspects that includes the stepson of a murder victim, a husband with a secret life, and a rogue cop looking for revenge where the justice system failed.

With no time to spare, the detectives are pulled down a strange dark trail of smoke and mirrors, where no one is who they seem and everyone is guilty of Prior Bad Acts.

From the Hardcover edition.

Download Description

New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag returns with a thriller that begins with a shocking crime scene you’ll never forget and follows two relentless detectives on a manhunt that ends in a chilling confrontation with the essence of human evil.

PRIOR BAD ACTS

It was a crime so brutal, it changed the lives of even the most hardened homicide cops. The Haas family murders left a scar on the community nothing can erase, but everyone agrees that convicting the killer, Karl Dahl, is a start. Only Judge Carey Moore seems to be standing in the way. Her ruling that Dahl’s prior criminal record is inadmissible raises a public outcry–and puts the judge in grave danger.

When an unknown assailant attacks Judge Moore in a parking garage, two of Minneapolis’s top cops are called upon to solve the crime and keep the judge from further harm. Detective Sam Kovac is as hard-boiled as they come, and his wisecracking partner, Nikki Liska, isn’t far behind. Neither one wants to be on this case, but when Karl Dahl escapes from custody, everything changes, and a seemingly straightforward case cartwheels out of control.

The stakes go even higher when the judge is kidnapped–snatched out of her own bed even as the police sit outside, watching her house. Now Kovac and Liska must navigate through a maze of suspects that includes the stepson of a murder victim, a husband with a secret life, and a rogue cop looking for revenge where the justice system failed.

With no time to spare, the detectives are pulled down a strange dark trail of smoke and mirrors, where no one is who they seem and everyone is guilty of Prior Bad Acts.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Malicious Minnesotan madmen.......2007-09-27

Not bad, a decent amount of action, suspense and character development. No one part of the book drags. The plot twist regarding the original triple-murderer was pretty much expected, it was just a question of who. I found Karl Dahl , the main bad guy, to be a little unbelievable. SPOILER ALERT. To be a near-homeless social misfit who's then able to pull off various evasions, disguises, ruses, murders and kidnappings -- well it just strains belief a bit.

Although I was hardly surprised, I still didn't much like the fact that the author badmouths what is a crucial weapon in a prosecutor's arsenal, the introduction into evidence of the accused's prior bad acts. The law has a fiction that a person's prior bad acts shouldn't be used in the case at bar, but fortunately over time common sense has whittled this down to basically any prior bad act can be used if it's not introduced just to show propensity (and that's why we now have civil commitment hearings, to get that propensity evidence in anyhow -- Hendricks v. Kansas.). Most likely Ms Hoag is one of those tender souls who would move us toward having every defendant at bar considered to be a legal virgin.

Non stop thriller.......2007-09-10

I got Prior Bad Acts as soon as I finished Dust To Dust, having had fallen in love with the characters, Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska. If you're a fan of Kovac/Liska from prior books Ashes to Ashes and Dust to dust, then this is a must read. I thought this one was the best though.

Prior Bad Acts is not only a page turner, plot and execution wise, it gives more insight into these two fascinating characters and more of their story wrapped in a very well done, fast paced thriller. I did figure out the villain before the end, but Ms. Hoag always manages to keep shred of doubt hovering around none the less. There are several who could be it.

I did like the development of the relationship between Carry Moore and Kovac, which was not overdone, and which was a nice diversion from all the debauchery in the main story line. I really like the Judge Carry Moore character as well, very tough, straight forward, confident, and yet, vulnerable, which seems to be a trade mark female character for Hoag's later mystery/thriller books.

There is a tendency towards graphic violence in this novel, but I didn't mind that and didn't find it to be gratuitous. I will probably re-read this one again because I was reading it very fast to keep up with my desire to know what was going to happen next.

Excellent non-stop mystery.......2007-08-17

Judge Carey Moore is a stickler for fairness, sometimes going beyond the point where she should. When a drifter, Karl Dahl, goes on trial for a heinous triple murder, Judge Moore makes a very un-popular decision. A decision that would change and shape the future of Judge Moore, Karl Dahl, the prosecuting attorney Chris Logan, and the defense attorney Kenny Scott. Judge Moore's husband David did not help much either since he always had a case of what I call "me-ite-us!" when everything is turned around for him to be in the forefront.

Detective Sam Kovac got into the act when Judge Moore was attacked in the parking garage where she was knocked down, battered, and finally lost consciousness when her head was banged into the concrete. Regardless of how Sam felt about the judicial decision the judge had made, this attack was not right. Kovac's partner, Nikki Liska, is a rough, tough woman who will tackle anyone or anything. They got along very well, but had their disagreements as any normal people do. But they worked terrifically together, sometimes thinking as one. Kovac took Judge Moore home from the hospital knowing that she was in danger and needed protection, even if she would not give in to that thought. The judge's husband was useless; this was not about HIM!

Any of the authorities and attorneys that visited the scene of the original murders felt so strange knowing what had occurred where they now stood. Two small children and their mother were brutally killed in this house. How could anyone do this? This Karl Dahl must be a terribly brutal man who is not human. Naturally everyone made him guilty before a trial. In prison Dahl had to be kept separate from other inmates since they all knew what he was charged with.

As time went on, Detective Kovac was never very far from Judge Moore. She was supposed to stay home due to her injuries and the threat against her but she sometimes snuck out, driving the police crazy. Another cop, Stan Dempsey was a sort of a rogue cop whose actions were not always trusted by his fellow officers. But he had to delve into the murders also despite Kovac and Liska's concern. When Karl Dahl escaped things got even dicier. Kovac kept a closer eye on the judge, and the reader can sense he is becoming closer to her in other ways too.

Prior Bad Acts continues to pick up steam and roars along at a fast and furious pace. Naturally the reader guesses what will occur next and usually is wrong. Tami Hoag does not disappoint her faithful readers with this book. I enjoyed it thoroughly from cover to cover. It is a "do not put down" book that I loved. Tami Hoag can bring these detectives back easily in any future books. She has bred a good duo.

Tempted to give this 5 stars.......2007-08-11

Prior Bad Acts by Tami Hoag earns an easy 4 star rating from me. There were some interesting characters you could really relate to and care about. There were characters you could simply detest. There were plenty of red herrings to throw you off the right track as you tried to guess the killer. I, in fact, did guess the killer but it was none the less quite an amazing revelation the way it was handled. I have read several books by Tami Hoag and most are very good. I loved the two detectives, Kovac and Liska. There's a pair that are dedicated to their work and get their jobs done. I still miss Amanda Savard though, but that's another isssue. Lots of great vllains and a fast-paced plot make this an easy one to recommend. If I hadn't guessed the killer correctly, it would have been 5 stars for sure.

A great plot.......2007-07-04

Tammy Hoag knows how to plot a novel. This story has so many twists and turns that you will be absorbed from the first chapter. I gave the book 4 stars based soley on the plot. Why not five? Two things: The subject matter lacks originality. A killer on the loose, cops working an investigaton. It's all pretty standard, Law-and-Order type stuff. Also, Tammy Hoag's prose could be better. She uses a lot of weak descriptors and doesn't paint much of an image for her characters or scenes. But despite these shortcomings, the novel works because of the PLOT. It is outstanding. She starts off with an assault on the judge and a prison break. But she doesn't stop there. She keeps piling it on, giving the characters more and more obstacles to overcome. It's very well done and holds your interest until the end.

Average customer rating:

Prior Bad Acts
Tami Hoag
Manufacturer: Bantam Dell Pub Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J1CM6K

4 TAMI HOAG Books - 1) - Ashes to Ashes / 2) - Dust to Dust / 3) - Prior Bad Acts / 4) - Dark Horse (Unboxed Set of Mystery Books)

Average customer rating:

4 TAMI HOAG Books - 1) - Ashes to Ashes / 2) - Dust to Dust / 3) - Prior Bad Acts / 4) - Dark Horse (Unboxed Set of Mystery Books)
Tami Hoag
Manufacturer: various
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WBL6HS

Product Description

4 TAMI HOAG Books - 1) - Ashes to Ashes / 2) - Dust to Dust / 3) - Prior Bad Acts / 4) - Dark Horse, in either Hard or Softcover, (See Seller Condition Comments), Shipped in one package to save on shipping costs.

5 Titles By Tami Hoag : Still Waters - Magic - Prior Bad Acts - Lucky's Lady - Night Sins

Average customer rating:

5 Titles By Tami Hoag : Still Waters - Magic - Prior Bad Acts - Lucky's Lady - Night Sins
Tami Hoag
Manufacturer: various
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Product Description

5 massmarket paperback Titles By Tami Hoag : Still Waters - Magic - Prior Bad Acts - Lucky's Lady - Night Sins

Average customer rating:

Prior Bad Acts
Tami Hoag
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WC20SG

Average customer rating:

Prior Bad Acts
Tami Hoag
Manufacturer: BANTAM BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SFVV2I

Average customer rating:

Prior Bad Acts
Tami Hoag
Manufacturer: BANTAM BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UCIXGQ

Average customer rating:

Prior Bad Acts
Tami Hoag
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000P55X48

Sam Kovac & Nikki Liska Series: Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, Prior Bad Acts (Set of 3)

Average customer rating:

Sam Kovac & Nikki Liska Series: Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust, Prior Bad Acts (Set of 3)
Tami Hoag
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000P7LW8M

Average customer rating:

Prior Great Book!!!
A Pleasant Surprise

Prior Bad Acts
Phyllis Coletta
Manufacturer: Xlibris Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Legal | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0738837695

Customer Reviews:

Prior Great Book!!!.......2004-04-26

I stumbled onto this book while surfing the bookstore. I bought it, and could not put it down.

The story is unique and captivating, told in a clever "first person" approach from the perspectives of three main characters. I especially enjoyed the relationships among the lawyers in the story, along with the very touching subplots that reach deeply into personal struggles of a dying parent and real life family struggles.

The writing flows very naturally, integrating character development and plot progression nicely along with moral/philosophical themes. The narrative is higher quality than the typical legal fiction, but also is immensely readable.

I couldn't put it down! I highly recommend it.

A Pleasant Surprise.......2001-07-04

This first-time author packs a lifetime of experiences and emotions into a taut legal thriller. She employs the tricky device of multiple narrators to good advantage, but the strongest voice is that of a young, female lawyer, embroiled in a sexual harrassment lawsuit while torn by family stress. The plot holds together well, but the author's forte is getting us to really care about the characters she has created.

I hope we hear from her again soon.

Average customer rating:

At least as good as The Belgariad!

Typical Eddings: Awesome!

This is best!

Top-Notch Fantasy

At least as good as The Belgariad!
Malloreon/Boxed Set (Guardians of the West; King of the Murgos; Demon Lord of Karanda; Sorceress of Darshiva; Seeress of Kell)
David Eddings
Manufacturer: Del Rey Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Eddings, David | ( E ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Science Fiction & Fantasy | Boxed Sets | Formats | Books
Similar Items:

Belgarath the Sorcerer

Polgara the Sorceress (Malloreon (Paperback Random House))

Enchanters' End Game (The Belgariad, Book 5)

ASIN: 0345379888

Customer Reviews:

At least as good as The Belgariad!.......2000-01-14

But then again - this is David Eddings, and this man IS the best! These books are absolutely fantastic - funny and well written. Everything David Eddings writes - Belgariad & Malloreon + prequels, Elinium and Tamuli - it's just perfect.

PS. I know I've written this once, but this time it'll link to my user-site.

Typical Eddings: Awesome!.......1999-12-09

I have found myself reading and re-reading David Eddings work with great frequency. He writes about believable characters that bicker, pout, and get along much like my friends with whom I grew up. This is not Tolkein. The heroes aren't perfect. Belgarath is about as flawed as they come and is perfectly contrasted by his prudish daughter Polgara. Poor Belgarion is caught in the middle with the way he was raised and egged on by his little queen. This makes for a great comedy. The adventure is almost secondary to the story or as Alfred Hitchcock would put it, the McGuffin; a simple plot device.

David Eddings is one of the best writers there is.

This is best!.......1999-12-03

This is better! then the 5 star Belgarion serie. The characters are so lively. It's more comedy than in a real comedy but also excitement. If you haven't read this do it!

But a tip read the Belgarion serie first. For you that have read the Belgarion I just want to say that this is more comedy and less excitement. But at my opinion it is better.

Top-Notch Fantasy.......1999-11-08

If you enjoy Fantasy, you will love both the Belgariad and the Mallorian. I've read them so many times, I've lost count. So have both my kids. What makes Eddings' books so good is his ability to bring his characters to life. They become more than just fictional constructs - in fact, they become friends.

At least as good as The Belgariad!.......1999-10-23

Customer Reviews:

IDENTIFIED.......2005-07-07

Effectively scary can only describe this supernatural tale of a woman's quest to find her supposedly murdered daughter which leads her into a cult activity that may or may not exist. Ramsey Campbell succeeds in topping himself with this one. Everything about THE NAMELESS is highly impressive: from its multi-dimensional protagonist to its perfect plot pace, to its many edge-of-your-seat atmospheric moments. His prose is as gripping as the dark presence looming over the heroine. The ability with which he uses his narrative is reason enough to pick this one up. One word, one sentence, says so much. THE NAMELESS should definitely be on top of everyone's reading pile.-----Martin Boucher

Good concept, bad conclustion.......2004-12-05

"The Nameless" is about Barbara Waugh's attempt to find her missing daughter Angela, whom Barbara thought died nine years ago. The book is a timely (well in the late 70s) look at cults and their beliefs. <SPOILERS AHEAD> Everyone in this book is looking for something to believe in. Barbara wants desperatly to believe her daughter is still alive, and the mysterious phone calls are very convincing. Her boyfriend, Ted, wants to believe that he is a good man, even though he dosn't love his wife or daughter. All the clues Barbara gets leads back to an unnammed cult (hense the title of the book). Ther cult wants to beleive that there is meaning to everything, even the most basest acts of murder and torture. Many comparisons are made to Charles Manson and Jim Jones's cults, and I think that Ramsey Campbell was onto something; about how people could believe that they are not responsable because their worst acts are actually being directed by greater beings outside our understanding. It is when he gets into the supernatural aspects of the book that things started getting a little silly. And I never exactly understood why the cult needed with Angela specificlly. But it wasn't too bad; it just fell too short of a good explanation.

Spectacular Horror Tale.......2003-12-19

First let me say that you should ignore the rubes who have bashed this book for a reason i simply can't fathom. It's obvious that they have no idea what makes a horror novel great.

Okay let's discuss the story. It starts off with the abduction of a woman's child and than her apparent murder. Years later the mother of the girl recieve's a phone call from a girl saying that she's her murdered child. It all picks up pace after that.

Later in the book we learn about a cult that's members have no names (hence the title). The girl says she is living with them or that they are keeping her prisoner and only her mother can help rescue her. The cult worship some force or being that reminds me of one of H.P. Lovecraft's Old One's or nameless terrors. I can't reveal much more about the story because i do not want to ruin it for those who have not read it yet.

This book starts alittle slow and than like a cannon blast it explode's never leaving the reader time to catch his or her breath. The horrible deeds of the cult will shock and disturb you a great deal and if they don't your a sick person. This book is downright scary because of Campbell's ability to scare the living daylights out of us with his descriptions of the enviorments and the shadows and things half glimpsed before all goes dark. Pick this up and enjoy it as much as i did...i have to say though that the ending is very different and some may not like it but if you have read Campbell before you will be able to take it better than most.

The Nameless or The Numbing?.......2003-03-29

When I brought The Nameless I thought it was
written by an author that I quite liked.
Then doubt crept in and I feared the
author was none other than RC who had
written The Doll who Ate His Mother.

After I confirmed my fears that it was
indeed the same author I dithered on
whether to read the book but decided
to give RC another chance.

It wasn't worth it! RC is very good
at describing things, so good in
fact that most of the Nameless
describes the countryside, houses
etc and maybe about a 1/5th of
the book has dialogue or
advancement of the plot. As Stephen
King put it in In Writing, description
is a tool that needs to be used
appropriately. RC seems to want
to describe everything not just
the important or significant things
and in this book he doesn't
move very much beyond doing exactly
that.

So if you like endless descriptions,
a plot that hardly goes anywhere
(except maybe in circles) than this
is your book.

But if you want a good horror novel
DON'T buy this book and don't
waste your time reading it thinking
that maybe in the next page- or the
next- or the next etc, that something
might happen and that you might
actually be rewarded for
plodding your way through The
Numbing! I fell into that trap
and by the end of the book I
was in horror at the fact that
not only had I bought the book
but that I'd also forced
my self to read it to it's
uninspired and unoriginal ending.

The Numbing!

What makes good horror? Well I won't claim to know
that as everybody likes a horror (or not) for his
or her own reasons, and we should respect other
people's right to have their own opinion with out
labelling them as 'country bumpkins'[dictionary
definition of a rube].

Having said that I *can* recommend Cold Print
by Ramsey Campell, an excellent read perhaps
because he can't ramble on endlessly in a
short story.

However for a truely good horror I suggest
Graham Masterton's Ritual- now there's a
book that's bound to make you squirm!

Campbell's conclusion is a betrayal of the evil he created.......2003-01-18

I had high hopes for this novel. Ramsey Campbell, a master of psychological horror, seemed poised to add some uncharacteristically tangible frights and perhaps even it a bit of good old-fashioned gore to this particular work of fiction. The concept is far from original-cult activity at its most disturbing-but I anxiously awaited the results of the author's decision to really get his hands dirty this time. The book crawled along in places, but intermittent moments of foreboding kept my optimism intact as I continued my quest to reach what I felt would be the shocking conclusion. Sadly, all of this great buildup essentially came to naught in the form of a sudden, anticlimactic, depressingly disappointing ending. This novel proves that where there's smoke, there is not in fact always fire. I actually felt cheated by the seeming rush job of an ending here, and I can only look back with regret at the high hopes I associated with this book as I made my way through it. After the complete absence of tension or excitement at the end, one is left with a number of unanswered questions and a small set of characters who apparently served no purpose whatsoever in the narrative. It is as if the author suddenly decided at the last minute that he just didn't care anymore.

Perhaps the term "the nameless" makes you think of unimaginable entities out of space and time with revoltingly indescribable features; it certainly brought a Lovecraftian connotation to my mind initially. In terms of this novel, though, the Nameless are a cult who forego all earthly experience (such as names) in service to their cause. It remains unclear, but there goal seems to consist of gaining power for themselves and presumably opening the door for something evil, I suppose, to manifest itself. All I really know is that they were obsessed with torturing their victims and offering them up as sacrifices to nefarious agents (or so we are told but never really shown). There is some type of nonhuman agent associated with them, but I never really learned what it was or why Campbell thought it needed to be included in the first place. This cult had kidnapped Barbara Waugh's beloved three-year-old daughter, leaving behind an unrecognizable dead body which was naturally determined to be that of a murdered young Angela. Nine years later, Barbara suddenly begins to receive mysterious phone calls from someone purporting to be her long-dead daughter. Desperate to find out the truth and to rescue her daughter if she is in fact still alive, the distraught mother embarks on a frantic search for the group's whereabouts, assisted by her boyfriend Ted and a young reporter looking for her big break. They pick up rather easily on the trail of the cult and seem to always be a few days behind it as it moves around. But just who is chasing whom here? The Nameless have designs on Barbara herself, and they know that her obsession with finding her lost daughter will lead her to them. Some but by no means all of my own questions about Angela's real story are answered in the end, but they are less than satisfying.

Ramsey Campbell is certainly a talented author, but he seems to have misfired on this comparatively early effort. He never goes as far as the storyline would seemingly require him to go here, and this retreat from the abyss he has spent so much time constructing damages the novel's effectiveness and appeal a great deal.

Average customer rating:
The Nameless
Ramsey Campbell
Manufacturer: Macmillan Publishing Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000H58TR4

Average customer rating:
The Nameless
Campbell. Ramsey
Manufacturer: TOR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000S6ENWM

Average customer rating:
THE NAMELESS.
Ramsey. Campbell
Manufacturer: Grafton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0007652062

Average customer rating:
Nameless: Froggy-Can
Ramsey Campbell
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0812581253

Average customer rating:
6 Titles By Campbell - Face That Must Die - Hungry Moon - The Influence - Nameless - Night of the Claw - Doll Who Ate His Mother
Ramsey Campbell
Manufacturer: various
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Campbell, J. Ramsey | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Horror | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Horror | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000NT9I6A

Product Description

6 massmarket paperback Titles By Campbell - Face That Must Die - Hungry Moon - The Influence - Nameless - Night of the Claw - Doll Who Ate His Mother

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The Nameless
Ramsey Campbell
Manufacturer: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000QFMHY6

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Aquavit:And the New Scandinavian Cuisine

Great pictures, flawed directions

Compelling, beaufiful to view

A different type of fusion

Full of surprises...

Aquavit: And the New Scandinavian Cuisine
Marcus Samuelsson
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Scandinavian | European | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
International | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa

Kitchen of Light: The New Scandinavian Cooking

Amuse-Bouche: Little Bites That Delight Before the Meal Begins

Happy in the Kitchen: The Craft of Cooking, the Art of Eating

The Great Scandinavian Baking Book

ASIN: 0618109412

Amazon.com

What kind of food would a French-trained Manhattan chef, born in Ethiopia and raised in Sweden, produce? The unique food of Aquavit, the Scandinavian restaurant whose refined, contemporary cooking Marcus Samuelsson presents in his eponymous debut cookbook. Samulesson's cuisine reflects the Swedish love of seafood, game, and pickled and preserved dishes, enlivened by Indian spices (brought to Sweden in the 17th century), plus other approaches. Thus Aquavit offers reborn Scandinavian favorites like Gravlax with Mustard Sauce and Swedish Roast Chicken with Spiced Apple Rice plus delights like Tandoori-Smoked Salmon with Goat Cheese Parfait, Hot-Smoked Char with Lemon Broth, and Glazed Salmon with Wasabi Sabayon. Though the book includes among its 150-plus recipes fare that's definitely friendly to the home cook--like Barbecued Boneless "Ribs" (made with boneless pork shoulder) and Slow Roasted Turkey Wings--this is fundamentally a chef's collection, and will probably be pored through more readily than cooked from. Nonetheless, for readers interested in the food of singular talent, presented in an oversized format as lovely as the cooking itself, the Aquavit is essential.

Chapters cover the basic menu stops, including soups, salads and sides, plus the likes of Steamed Crab Rolls from "Bites, Snacks and Little Plates"; Blueberry Bread from "Crackers and Breads"; and Lamb Sausage Wrap from "Sandwiches." Chapters on dessert offer such treats as Swedish Pancakes with Lingonberry Whipped Cream and Chocolate "Blini"; and a drinks section includes the unusual and very palatable likes of Lemon, Pepper, and Dill Aquavit and Yellow Mary Mix, a yellow-tomato bloody mary descendant. Illustrated with ravishing color photos that reiterate the sleek pleasures of the food, Aquavit is as special as its innovative and very worldly author. --Arthur Boehm

Book Description

In this long-awaited book, Marcus Samuelsson introduces the simple techniques and exciting combinations that have won him worldwide acclaim and placed Scandinavian cooking at the forefront of the culinary scene. Whether it's a freshly interpreted Swedish classic or a dramatically original creation, each one of the dishes has been flawlessly recreated for the home cook. Every recipe has a masterful touch that makes it strikingly new: the contrasting temperatures of Warm Beef Carpaccio in Mushroom Tea, the pleasing mix of creamy and crunchy textures in Radicchio, Bibb, and Blue Cheese Salad, the cornflake coating on a delightful rendition of Marcus's favorite "junk food," Crispy Potatoes. In "The Raw and the Cured," Marcus presents the cornerstone dishes of the Scandinavian repertoire, from a traditional Gravlax with Mustard Sauce (which gets just the right balance from a little coffee) to the internationally inspired Pickled Herring Sushi-Style. The clean, precise flavors of this food are reminiscent of Japanese cuisine but draw upon accessible Western ingredients. Marcus shows how to prepare foolproof dinners for festive occasions: Crispy Duck with Glogg Sauce, Herb-Roasted Rack of Lamb, and Prune-Stuffed Pork Roast. Step by step, offering many suggestions for substitutions and shortcuts, he guides you through the signature dishes that have made Aquavit famous, like Dill-Crusted Arctic Char with Pinot Noir Sauce, Pan-Roasted Venison Chops with Fruit and Berry Chutney, and Fois Gras "Ganache." But you'll also find dozens of homey, comforting dishes that Marcus learned from his grandmother, like Swedish Roast Chicken with Spiced Apple Rice, Chilled Potato-Chive Soup, Blueberry Bread, Corn Mashed Potatoes, ethereal Swedish Meatballs with Quick Pickled Cucumbers, and Swedish Pancakes with Lingonberry Whipped Cream. From simplest-ever snacks like Sweet and Salty Pine Nuts and Barbecued Boneless Ribs, to satisfying sandwiches like Gravlax Club, to vibrant jams and salsas and homemade flavored aquavits, Marcus Samuelsson's best recipes are here. Lavishly photographed, Aquavit and the New Scandinavian Cuisine provides all the inspiration and know-how needed for stunning success in the kitchen.

Customer Reviews:

Aquavit:And the New Scandinavian Cuisine.......2006-11-11

This book is a delight to read, and the photographs are marvelous. The recipes are excellent and have provided inspiration for exploring my cultural heritage in a delicious and healthy way. I particularly appreciate the emphasis on fish and seafood.

Great pictures, flawed directions.......2006-04-09

I tried the recipes for My Grandmother's Chicken Soup, Dill-crusted Artic Char with Pinot Noir Sauce, and Corn Mashed Potatoes. All had major flaws in them: The chicken soup not only did not match the picture (which shows hunks of chicken, lemon grass, fresh thyme, and what look like tomatoes, none of which appear in the recipe) and gave no directions for a major ingredient (garam masala). The finished product was bland (I included the garam masala in the roasting step), but usable. The artic char was completely overwhelmed by the sauce, although the seared skin and potato layer (way to much dill, though) was a good idea. Finally, the potato dish turned into soup when I added even less than the specified half of the cooking liquid; I remedied this by cooking the mixture (not called for in the recipe) which, after all, did contain two raw egg yolks at that point, until it thickened up to a reasonable consistency. The product was quite good, and the corn is a nice addition to this simple accompaniment. In summary, the ideas in this cookbook are intriguing, and I will continue to experiment with them, but a lot more kitchen testing of the printed recipes was needed before releasing this beautiful, but expensive and inaccurate cookbook.

Compelling, beaufiful to view.......2006-01-03

I just received Aquavit as a gift, so have to add a disclaimer - I haven't cooked from it yet. But cookbooks either cast their spell instantly or don't. This is a captivating book. To begin, it's visually stunning, with beautiful photographs and an attactive wide layout.

The content is equally enjoyable. The story of Marcus's journey is interesting, and his narrative style is warm and engaging. His recipe introductions are very effective putting the dishes in the context of his upbringing and culinary training.

The recipes are a good mix of food and technique. The "raw and cured" section is an interesting change of pace, and his treatments of fish, meat and poultry all have appealing Scandinavian flair.

Marcus frequently integrates a vegetable or side dish recipe with a main dish recipe, layering each dish with multiple flavors, textures and color. The result is recipes that are enjoyable to read and think about.

The other Scandinavian cookbook on my shelf is Kitchen of Light by Andreas Viestad (2003), which has a greater emphasis on Scandinavian culture and mood. Both are good, Aquavit is a much lighter, easier read than KOL.

I'm giving Aquavit 5 stars based on the reading and visual experience, with the assumption the recipes will cook just as well.

A different type of fusion.......2005-08-02

Having become interested in northern european food of late, I decided to buy this book on a whim. Of my cookbook collection, which is a reasonable size, I rate this book in the top 5. Comparable to both of Thomas Keller's, this book combines inspirational recipes with different ideas about flavour and beautiful food photography. I read it 5 times over in the 2 days after I recieved it. I would recommend it to anyone who is a serious reader of culinary works and a great place for those new to collecting cookbooks to start.

Full of surprises..........2004-12-09

This is not a perfect cookbook, by any means. Out of 19 recipes we tested, 12 gave excellent results and 7 were disappointing. That's not a very respectable ratio. But the good recipes are so startlingly good they make up for a multitude of sins. Some of my favorites are Juniper-Apple Soup (superb balance between fruit and meat flavors, especially when garnished as suggested with duck confit); Coffee-roasted Duck Breasts (a simple preparation resulting in a deceptively complex flavor); Salsify "Tagliatelle" with Smoked Salmon (a delicious and unusual dish faintly reminiscent of spaghetti al carbonara); Salmon Bundles with Orange-Fennel Broth (again a sophisticated balance of sweet-tart fruit flavors with the bass notes of seared salmon); Squab Toasts (irresistible treats in fig season); and many more. Less successful, to my palate, were the Pickled Herring Sushi-Style (harsh combination of strong flavors); Curried Cauliflower, Potato, and Sprout Salad (muddied, indistinguishable flavors); Salsify Cappuccino (no standout flavor I could discern at all); Pear and Fingerling Potato Ragout (too sweet); and Glögg-Poached Pears (not exciting enough to warrant all the work). Overall, it seems to me that this chef has a marvelous instinct when it comes to fish and meat, and creates many new flavor combinations that really work. He is less reliable with vegetable dishes and desserts, both of which tend to be excessively sweet. We cook out of this book frequently, however: if you have the patience to sift the wheat from the chaff, this book will reward you with plenty of delicious and inspirational meals.

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