FICTION

The Accidental Further Adventures of the Hundred-Year-Old Man

Harper. Jan. 2019. 448p. tr. from Swedish by Rachel Willson-Broyles. ISBN 9780062846136. $26.99; pap. ISBN 9780062838551. $15.99; ebk. ISBN 9780062838568. F
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OrangeReviewStarThis second installment of the madcap adventures of centenarian Allan Karlsson, former explosives expert, and his younger petty-thief sidekick, Julius Jonsson, will be happy familiar territory to fans of Jonasson's worldwide blockbuster The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. This time, Allan and Julius decide to blow the last of their ill-gotten gains by taking a hot-air balloon ride to celebrate Allan's 101st birthday. The balloon malfunctions, and they end up in the ocean, rescued by a North Korean naval ship on a mission involving smuggled enriched uranium. Thus triggers a rolling snowball of international crises of epic proportions. World leaders fear for their sanity after their dealings with Allan and Julius, whose wiles and financial precipices involve Nazis, custom-painted coffins, handwritten notes scribbled on restaurant napkins that Angela Merkel must take seriously, hungry lions and hyenas feasting on human flesh, and a charlatan faith healer in Africa.
VERDICT Jonasson creates the near impossible with his astute assessments of today's unstable global political climate and endearingly sweet characters, providing laugh-out-loud moments in a dark time. Reminiscent of Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency with a side order of Forrest Gump, this should inspire renewed interest in Jonasson's first Allan Karlsson book. May Allan live longer and prosper. [See Prepub Alert, 7/9/18.]
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