Leif Davidsen has written an intelligent and compelling thriller based on an unusual and unexpected protagonist. The hero (?) of "Lime's Photograph" ("Lime's billede" in the original Danish) is Peter Lime, a 50-year-old successful, but alcoholic, paparazzo who experiences a terrible tragedy.

Why did it happen? What does Peter Lime do to determine the cause? Will he be able to get on with his life after the tragedy?

Despite the fact that an alcoholic paparazzo is not someone most of us can identify with the story works and we are caught up in it and keep reading to find out the secrets behind the terrible events. This is because the book is well-written and the story is fascinating, especially if the reader has an interest in modern European history and was young in the 1960's.

It's all there: the hippie movement of the 60's, the cold war, the socialist movement, the death of Franco, the KGB, the Stasi, the ETA, the IRA, the EU, the fall of the Berlin wall, the re-unification of Germany, bullfighting, globalization, Hemmingway. It's a very European story, taking place in Spain for the most part (Madrid and San Sebastian) but with some parts happening in Copenhagen and Berlin and Moscow.

Leif Davidsen's characters come across as real people and he spends a lot of time (too much, perhaps - the story drags at times) talking about human nature and philosophizing about human relationships and growing old and the tragedy of war. Still, I prefer a thriller that drags because of being too realistic than a thriller with cardboard clichés and no realism.

I did have one major problem with "Lime's Photograph". One of the "bad guys" is obviously based on a known Danish woman who caused a scandal in Denmark in the late 1990's, although the character in the book is a very distorted version of this person. I don't think it's proper to make fictional characters that are so obviously based on real people, and especially not when they are made far more sinister than the real person.

This review is based on two "readings" of the book: Several months ago I listened to the audio version in the original Danish read by Leif Davidsen himself, and recently I read the English translation. I can mention that although it's always interesting to hear a book read by the author, that Mr. Davidsen is unfortunately a very poor reader. As for the English translation, it is quite good - one doesn't feel that one is reading a translation. I did have the Danish book available while I was reading the English translation and I made a few comparisons without finding any mistakes.