Vacation by Matthew Costello

This book is scary and good.Here's the synopsis from Amazon: 

In the near future after a global crisis causes crops to fail and species to disappear . . . something even more deadly happens. Groups of humans around the world suddenly become predators, feeding off their own kind. These “Can Heads” grow to such a threat that fences, gated compounds, and SWAT-style police protection become absolutely necessary in order to live.

After one Can Head attack leaves NYPD cop Jack Murphy wounded, Jack takes his wife and kids on a much-needed vacation. Far up north, to a camp where families can still swim and take boats out on a lake, and pretend that the world isn’t going to hell.

But the Can Heads are never far away, and nothing is quite what it seems in Paterville. . . .

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Italian Shoes by Henning Mankell

Off the coast of Sweden is a tiny island. Living alone on this island in a delapadated house is retired physician Fredrik Welin. To say Fredrik is a hermit or a recluse would be grossly understating the situation. He has chosen to live alone with only an aging dog and cat (and an ant hill which is taking over his living room). His only contact with the outside world are the semi-frequent visits from the postman who services his island.

His world is shattered when his lost love who he abandoned years earlier shows up on the frozen ice. She requests that he fufill the promise he made to her those many years ago.

I liked this book. There were beautiful descriptions of the frozen country side. The charecters were interesting and true to life. It was quirky which I chalk up to the fact that it is a book written in Swedish and translated into english.

Henning Mankell is a Swedish author best known for his mystery series featuring Kurt Wallander.