Instruct: Classify the given Amazon review as either positive or negative.
Query: A waste of time

I just finished this book. Not because I enjoyed it, but because I felt that I should give it a chance to impress me. But in all of the 200+ pages, not once was my faith or effort rewarded. I threw the paperback across the room and cursed Mankell upon finishing "Faceless Killers".Mankell took a storyline that he could have easily made pop and succeeded in burying any interesting points or qualities under snowbanks of drudgery and poor, unimaginative writing. Mankell slings Swedish surnames rather than concentrating on character development or exploring the emotions of the protagonist. Wallander was just a cold and dreary as the described Swedish countryside.I feel that Mankell took the easy way out while ending this book, as if he didn't have the chops to bring the so-called action to an even satisfactory closing.There are far better crime novels in circulation -- use your time wisely and read elsewhere.