Norwegian by Night

Finished July 30
Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller

This novel has an unlikely hero and a plot that grabs you and doesn't let go. Sheldon Horowitz is 82, and has moved to Norway to live with his granddaughter Rhea and her husband Lars following his wife's death.
Sheldon was too young for World War II, but was driven to sign up early for the Korean war. He was a Marine sniper, but told his family he was a clerk. When his son Saul came of age, there was another war, and he encouraged Saul to sign up for his country. As a Jewish-American Sheldon felt that he had a reputation to defend, and that his son should do the same. But his son didn't return from Vietnam, and Sheldon and his wife ended up raising Saul's daughter.
Sheldon's age, his guilt at Saul's death, and his love for Rhea, have all brought him to where he is now. So when he hears a bad argument from Rhea's neighbour, he is moved to do the right thing, and he opens the door and offers sanctuary to the woman and boy who are standing in fear in the hall. But the sanctuary is short-lived, and Sheldon and the boy end up fleeing.
As Sheldon moves between his knowledge of what danger the boy is in, and his own memories and guilt about the past, he relies on his training and instincts to protect the boy and get him to what he believes is a safe place.
The boy's danger comes from Enver, a Balkan man, driven by his own past and trying to cover that past no matter what the barriers might be.
And the police, Sigrid and Petter, are one step behind Sheldon, trying to find him and trying to find Enver and the evidence necessary to bring him to justice.
With humour, suspense, and wonderful characters, this book is one you will not want to put down, as you root for Sheldon to make it, and fear that he might not. A story of love, guilt, and instinct.
I love too that the cover is perfect, drawing from the plot and giving one a sense of the setting.