It's a thriller, of sorts anyway, but one which offers little explanation of what's going on, and even less in the way of resolution". Preston added, "It would be giving too much away to reveal more, but suffice it to say that Kennedy's Brain bears certain thematic resemblances to John le Carré's The Constant Gardener. This, though, is the least of its problems. The main difficulty is that the indignation with which it is suffused – a note in the epilogue refers to how anger was Mankell's driving force when he was writing it – seems to have played havoc with his normally sure-footed exposition". He found the plot to be, "a succession of coincidences and fortuitous revelations which never gels, or develops any tension", before concluding that, "As usual with Mankell there are some great lines – 'Sorrow is like mice, it always finds a way in,' he notes at one point. All told, though, this is a disappointingly muddled affair". References 2005 Swedish novels Novels by Henning Mankell Swedish thriller novels Novels about HIV/AIDS