Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
The Alphabet House
The Alphabet House | Jussi Adler-Olsen
19 posts | 31 read | 8 to read
In the tradition of Alan Furst, the #1 international bestselling author delivers his first stand-alone novel, a psychological thriller set in World War II Nazi Germany and 1970s England British pilots James Teasdale and Bryan Young have been chosen to conduct a special photo-reconnaissance mission near Dresden, Germany. Intelligence believes the Nazis are building new factories that could turn the tide of the war. When their plane is shot down, James and Bryan know they will be executed if captured. With an enemy patrol in pursuit, they manage to jump aboard a train reserved for senior SS soldiers wounded on the eastern front. In a moment of desperation, they throw two patients off the train and take their places, hoping they can escape later. But their act is too convincing and they end up in the Alphabet House, a mental hospital located far behind enemy lines, where German doctors subject their patients to daily rounds of shock treatments and experimental drugs. The pilots only hope of survival is to fake insanity until the war ends, but their friendship and courage are put to the ultimate test when James and Bryan realize they arent the only ones in the Alphabet House feigning madness. Millions of fans around the worldand in this countryknow Adler-Olsen for his award-winning Department Q series. His first stand-alone, The Alphabet House, is the perfect introduction for those who have yet to discover his riveting work.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
review
naeyma
The Alphabet House | Jussi Adler-Olsen
Pickpick

This is a very good book - pt1. The second part dragged a bit.

Personally I feel like the author could have ended James's story much better, however, I did actually enjoy this book and would definitely recommend to others. Bit let down by the ending though and the plot. Nobody looks for a long lost friend after so long.

This book is translated, so the wording in English is a bit off.

review
LiljaPleasant
Alfabethuset | Jussi Adler-Olsen
Bailedbailed

Had to DNF this one...
Actually I want to know what happens to the two MCs, but right now I don't really care about their backstories and that's a clear sign that I shouldn't be reading the book right now. I will keep it in my shelf, but not on my tbr list. (Just like some classics)
There might be a time for me to read this one... Or not... We will see ^^

Jari-chan Whaaaat?! 😱 5y
LiljaPleasant @Jari-chan Har du læst den? 5y
Jari-chan @LiljaPleasant Det har jeg ikke. Men jeg troede du elsker alle bøger af Jussi Adler-Olsen 😅 5y
LiljaPleasant @Jari-chan Indtil videre har jeg ho kun læst Afdeling Q bøgerne... De er fantastisk. Men jeg tror bare alle de der bøger som handler om krigstider er bare ikke mig... Men jeg tror jeg prøver igen... some day ^^' 5y
LiljaPleasant *jo... ikke ho 5y
1 like5 comments
blurb
LiljaPleasant
Alfabethuset | Jussi Adler-Olsen
post image

Day 3 with this new readkng schedule and I think I like it.
Had to finish the Stroud book - too bad to spend more reading time on it than necessary. I loved Bartimaeus and Lockwood... But this is was now my second standalone by him and it almost bored me to death 😓😴

julesG Lockwood and Bartimaeus, love both. Am reading this at the moment 5y
LiljaPleasant @julesG that's the prequel, right? For me that ways the weakest book of the series. Hope you enjoy it though 😁 5y
julesG It's not as strong as the Bartimaeus series. I still enjoy the Bartimaeus chapters. 😁 5y
4 likes3 comments
blurb
LiljaPleasant
Alphabet House | Jussi Adler-Olsen
post image

I just had to!!!
Alfabethuset and Washington Dekretet are stand-alones. Offer 2117 is the new Carl Mørk novel. I'm listening to Selfies (book 7 in the series) atm and looooove it. I'm curious what the next one has to offer. 😍 And maaaybe I finally manage to read it in danish... With the other ones I kinda switched to the german version cause I am a slow reader in danish (would get better the more books I'd read in danish🤣)

blurb
Texreader
The Alphabet House | Jussi Adler-Olsen
post image

Here it is, the first four shelves by my bed (so I can lovingly gaze upon them when going to bed) with some of my fave authors: Jussi Adler-Olsen, Bernard Cornwell, Ken Follett, Sue Harrison, Elizabeth Kostova, James Rollins (Yes, he gets his own shelf), CJ Sansom, Wilbur Smith, Gunnar Staalesen (a husband fave but he has them all in Norwegian), and Beverly Swerling.

Andrew65 So many of my favourite authors but one or to I haven‘t read, I obviously need to as we seem to have similar tastes. 6y
Texreader @Andrew65 Which are your faves? 6y
Andrew65 C J Sansom, James Rollins, Bernard Cornwall, Elizabeth Kostova, Ken Follett. I own a lot of Wilbur Smith and need to get to him. 6y
Texreader @Andrew65 Wow that is a ton of overlap! Such great authors... Adler Olsen and Staalesen are Scandinavian mystery writers. So outside our common genre. Sue Harrison wrote historical fiction set in the ice age. Swerling‘s books are historical fiction about NYC and are brilliant. 6y
Andrew65 @Texreader I love Mystery and Suspense and Adler Olsen has been on my targeted list for quite some time but not got there yet, not heard of the other authors so need to do research! We do have great commonalities by the look of it. 6y
108 likes5 comments
review
LiterRohde
The Alphabet House | Jussi Adler-Olsen
post image
Bailedbailed

I HATE bailing on books. I rarely do it. It makes me feel like I‘M failing. Even if I have to say I didn‘t like the book, at least I finished it. But the older I get, the less I feel like I have the time to waste on something that I‘m not jiving with. I spent 5 hours wanting to like this, but after that long, I did not care about any of it.

hwestfall I am not a fan of bailing either but there are too many books! You gave it a good go. Hopefully your next one will be better 😊 7y
readingjedi I've only recently come round to the concept of bailing. I always thought, as an aspiring writer, reading 'bad' books was educational - a lesson in what not to do. But then I hit my 40s, realised time isn't unlimited and there are a lot of really excellent books out there I could be reading, and I became a born again bailer! 7y
Char I keep thinking that it has to get better, so I try a few more pages. Then if I do put it down the regret that I am missing something. I feel better at times when I look up the book here and other people haven't been able to jive with it either. 7y
See All 8 Comments
IamIamIam Oh! I had this on audio & found it so difficult to follow!!! 7y
LiterRohde @IamIamIam ...and if I didn‘t get it after 5 hours, how can I justify an 18 hour book *hoping* it will get better. (edited) 7y
IamIamIam @LiterRohde Yeesh, I only gave it, maybe, 3 hours at best and I was new to audiobooks so it was an all around poor choice! Life is too short not to love every book you read! I had the same dilemma with Eddie Izzard's audio. He's fabulous but 15 minute long asides that made the audio 14 hours long? I couldn't finish it! 7y
SilversReviews Don't feel bad about bailing. Not worth reading something that isn't enjoyable. 7y
chapter_fifty2017 Life is to short 👍 7y
61 likes8 comments
review
IamIamIam
Alphabet House | Jussi Adler-Olsen
Bailedbailed

This was tough on audio. I couldn't get the characters straight & the story just dragged on. DNF this puppy but I really wanted to enjoy it. 😔

ferskner This has an amazing premise and a solid ending but got awfully long in the middle, unfortunately. 7y
IamIamIam I got to the part where Brian tried to escape and I was so lost that I had to bail. Maybe I'll try to pick it up again in print and muscle through. 7y
13 likes2 comments
blurb
IamIamIam
Alphabet House | Jussi Adler-Olsen
post image

And just like that, we were never here! We had a nice couple of days camping, hiking and beaching right outside of NYC!!! We even found The Appalachian Trail! Started listening to The Alphabet House but didn't get far because I was beat every night!

blurb
Elephantango
The Alphabet House | Jussi Adler-Olsen

Ahhhh! I was so happy to visit the local #library today! Alas! I couldn't check out anything new because the #stl library has been HACKED!!!! 😱😱😱 I do NOT like this attack on the written word and low income families! It does not bode well for me on this creepy day before Inauguration Day. 😦

cherinium Hacked?! Couldn't they go old school and stamp a card for you? 8y
Elephantango @cherinium they just got rid of the stamping system January 1! Talk about bad luck. 8y
18 likes2 comments
blurb
Elephantango
The Alphabet House | Jussi Adler-Olsen

I'm a little past the halfway mark. I always get to this dragging, bored point of reading around this time in books that are 400+ pages. I imagine it's like the wall that runners hit. I'm waiting for my second wind!

blurb
Elephantango
The Alphabet House | Jussi Adler-Olsen
post image

My first book for the #LitsyAtoZ challenge! I picked this for the letter A! Then I realized it had the word "the". Are there rules for this? I have always ignored a, an and the when I alphabetized, but I want to do things by the... BOOK! (I love puns.)

bookwrm526 I'm pretty sure the rules said you could ignore a, an, or the at the beginning 😄 8y
BookishMarginalia Yes, feel free to ignore the articles. @bookwrm526 8y
23 likes2 comments
blurb
Elephantango
The Alphabet House | Jussi Adler-Olsen
post image

Day 2. January's TBR pile! *insert Homer Simpson salivating*
#readjanuary #thismonthstbr

review
Rosewinter
The Alphabet House | Jussi Adler-Olsen
Pickpick

Kept me engaged from first page to last

2 likes1 stack add
blurb
Em890
The Alphabet House | Jussi Adler-Olsen
post image

I absolutely loved both of these #translatedbooks and would recommend either to anyone. #somethingforsept

blurb
MrBook
The Alphabet House | Jussi Adler-Olsen
post image

#BookNDinner: tonight's dinner menu accompaniment consisted of: cheese ravioli in a garlic & basil tomato sauce, warm peasant bread, and a Coke Vanilla. And for dessert, we had vanilla fudge coconut gelato. MMMMmmm 😋! This has been another presentation of: #MrBookBookBabeKitchen. 😉😎👍🏻👌🏻

Blair_Reads Delicious as usual! 8y
Little_Reader Vanilla Coke is my favorite! 😍 8y
LeahBergen See?! I knew you were jealous of @BookBabe 's ravioli the other night. 😏 8y
See All 24 Comments
LibrarianJen Ooh! Now I know what I'm cooking for dinner tomorrow night! I was stressing out because I didn't have anything planned and it's yoga night tomorrow and hubs always gets grumpy because I'm home too late to cook. I can make ravioli and just have him put it in the oven. Your food posts are so helpful! 8y
Mcoun That ravioli looks amazing! 8y
Dedebimp @MrBook love some ravioli. We use cheese specific to our country in it. It's very nice. 8y
kspenmoll Drooling... 8y
QueenAnne Yum!! 😍😍😍 8y
lilycobalt Mmmm yummy, I bet! 8y
bookishkai Yum! Love ravioli. We had angel hair pasta with creamy vodka sauce, and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. I think I've found my go-to high altitude cookie recipe! 8y
Dorianna God you guys have the best food/beverage/book feasts. And I didn't know Coke Vanilla is still around. I used to drink it all the time. 8y
MrBook @Blair_Reads 😁👍🏻!!! @Little_Reader One of mine too 😊👏🏻🙌🏻! @LeahBergen 😂😂😂👏🏻👌🏻! You're paying attention I see 😉👍🏻. @TheWellReadOwl @QueenAnne @lilycobalt Indubitably so 😁👍🏻! @LibrarianJen Yay! Glad I could help 😁😁👏🏻👍🏻🙌🏻!!! @Mcoun Thank you! It was fantastico 😗👌🏻! @Dedebimp Niiice 😁👍🏻! I'd love to try that! @kspenmoll If I wasn't still full, that'd make two of us 😁👏🏻👍🏻! @bookishkris Ooh!!!! 😁👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻👌🏻 8y
MrBook @Dorianna Thank you 😁👏🏻👍🏻!!! Oh yes, I even found Coke Cherry Vanilla once as well. 8y
hgrimes ok I'm hungry now. 8y
Yournewfriendsams As always, exquisite meal, @MrBook & @BookBabe! Making me jeally from across the county. This pic makes me smile, my dad had a piece of bread with butter at every single meal when I was growing up. Amazingly, he's a slim guy! 8y
scripturient Those ravioli look soooooooo good! *drool* 8y
Laalaleighh @MrBook do y'all cook all this? Or is it restaurants? Also, I find it interesting that you call it coke vanilla/ coke cherry vanilla instead of cherry Vanilla Coke/ Vanilla Coke. 8y
Posemn I was thinking the same thing @LeahBergen. I decided @BookBabe's ravioli with vodka sauce must have haunted @MrBook. (It's been haunting me!) 8y
MrBook @hgrimes 😂👏🏻👍🏻! @Yournewfriendsams 😁👍🏻 Thank you! I was partially raised in the Italian tradition, so one cannot have pasta and with no bread 😊. Your dad sounds like a good guy 😎👍🏻. @scripturient 😁 They were, thank you! @Laalaleighh 😂👏🏻👍🏻! I guess it's one of those regional lexicon things--although you're not too far south from, there is something about that Mason-Dixon Line concept 😊. We try to limit eating out to... 8y
MrBook @Laalaleighh ...a couple times a week. Especially since sometimes we don't get home at night until 8 or 9. Weekends we'll cook extra to get us through dinner for most of the week. Crockpot meals are the best for that 😎👍🏻👌🏻. Friday & Sunday brunch we ate out, this meal we made at home. 8y
MrBook @Posemn 😂👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻🙌🏻! 8y
Cobscook I love your books/food posts! I wish my spouse liked to read and eat! 8y
BookBabe @Posemn 😁👌🏻😂😂👻🍝 8y
176 likes3 stack adds24 comments
blurb
raelynnpfaff
The Alphabet House | Jussi Adler-Olsen
post image

Always always always a sucker for historical fiction 📚 #vacationreadingisthebestreading #newbook

2 likes1 stack add
review
EmilyAnne
The Alphabet House | Jussi Adler-Olsen
post image
Panpan

I reeeeeeally didn't like this book when I read it for book club a while ago, so I cut it up for bookish crafts :-) #funfridayphoto

Well-ReadNeck That's so great!! 8y
11 likes1 comment
review
Sasasp
Alphabet House | Jussi Adler-Olsen
post image
Pickpick

:) :) coollll

Texreader A good book but takes a long time to get off the ground. Not as good as his Q series. 9y
11 likes1 stack add1 comment