Stallo by Stefan SpjutMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
So here is the little plot from my side: 1978. A young boy disappears without a trace from a cabin in the woods. His mother claims that he was abducted by a giant. The boy is never found. The previous year, over in a Swedish National Park, a wildlife photographer takes a strange picture from his small airplane, of a bear running over the marshes. On its back sits a creature, which the photographer claims are something extraordinary.
25 years later, and back in Laponia, Susso runs a much-maligned web page, one dedicated to searching for creatures whose existence has not yet been proven: the Yeti, the Loch Ness Monster, Big Foot. But Susso has her own obsession, one inherited from her grandfather, the well-known wildlife photographer. When an old woman claims that a small creature has been standing outside her house, observing her and her five-year-old grandson for hours, Susso picks up her camera and leaves for what will become a terrifying adventure.
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Stallo is a large human-like creature in the Sami folklore and since the book is about giants that kidnap children is the title quite logical. What caught my attention to read this novel is because Susso also has a passion for the website, photography, etc so that definitely made me want to read the novel. This book has 600 pages and honestly, I skipped some pages I have never before had the urge to skipped pages, but it was the only way for me to finish the book. Not that it was bad. The story in itself was good. However, it could have easily been cut down around 200-300 pages by just taking away all the tedious uninteresting stuff that had no bearing on the story. For instance, I like board games but am I not that interested to read how some of the characters playing one on Christmas day, blah blah blah
As for the story, I found it intriguing, and I liked how the author manages to connect the story to John Bauer and Sven Jerring. And, the whole Stallo thing with the kidnapping of children reminded me of the Japanese anime series “Attack on Titan” and another reason why I wanted to read this book. I liked this book, I just didn’t love this book and that’s because the story would have needed to trim down a bit and making it more flowing. So, all and all, not a perfect book, but still interesting to read. Although, I do recommend reading it…
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