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oxfordcomma2904's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A good pick for fans of Clarice Starling and Silence of the Lambs. Good, tense crime thriller with lots of twists. The bad? Too many POV for me. We had 3 POV, added a 4th, then added a 5th late in the game. Coupled with the 3 "XX Years Ago" flashbacks timelines, it was...a lot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse
annemiekereads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
abbyelaine's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Nordic thrillers are truly becoming my favorite genre. I'm always drawn into the intriguing cases, twists and turns, in-depth police procedures, and the strong female heroes. While "The Mountain King" has an absolute banger of a third act, I was ultimately underwhelmed. Many characters were written as cartoonishly pompous and arrogant to an unbelievable degree, seemingly to make our heroine appear smarter than everyone else. The endless POV changes hindered the story, and introducing a new character's POV 85% of the way through the novel felt lazy. This wasn't terrible, but there is simply better Nordic Noir out there.
rahni_a's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
brittvdjx's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ariunlimited's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
chattycathy55's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.5
Really enjoyed this first in the series of Leo Atkins. She is an unusual character possibly ND who gets sent to the basement office of the police department due to politics. I am eager to learn more about her back story. This mystery starts with a kidnapping of a young couple and turns into much much more.
earutherford's review against another edition
4.0
Happy Release Day to The Mountain King!!!!
The Mountain King is book one in a police procedural thriller series by a Swedish author. Listen, I am an avid consumer of My Favorite Murder and Karen consistently talks about how good the Nordic countries are at police procedural TV shows and I am happy to report that this is also true for books. I had a hoot reading this. It follows our main heroine, Leo Asker, as she works to track down a missing couple whilst dealing with both familial and work politics - resulting in her ending up in the "lost souls" department (i.e. the rejects department). Does she find the couple? Will she make it out of the "lost souls" department? Who can be trusted? Who can't? THE INTRIGUE
One thing that I really loved about this book was actually the multiple POVs. Not only do you get Leo's perspective, but also: (1) Martin's [a childhood friend of Leo], (2) Smilla's [one of the two people kidnapped], and probably most importantly (3) The Mountain King's [a local serial killer]. I loved seeing the story progress with each character's motivations changing their thought process. It also kept me guessing - every time I think I had figured it out, the story shifted again and led me down a whole different path. There was really only one element I got right from my original guess about a third of the way through the book. As someone who has a hard time with thrillers because I usually guess the ending, I was so happy the reader is really kept in the dark with this one.
The biggest downside, in my opinion, was that The Mountain King was a bit too long. I think a few of the chapters could have been edited down or completely removed. Furthermore, I also wish that we got more in Martin's character arc, as he appears to be a main character going forward. He was really just used to move the story along in this book but if Motte wants to use him in later books, he needs to be developed further.
BOTTOM LINE: The Mountain King is a super entertaining police procedural thriller! I can't wait for the other books in the series to be translated to English because I will definitely be picking those up! If you like thrillers, this one will keep you guessing until the very end.
Thank you to Anders de la Motte & Atria for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
The Mountain King is book one in a police procedural thriller series by a Swedish author. Listen, I am an avid consumer of My Favorite Murder and Karen consistently talks about how good the Nordic countries are at police procedural TV shows and I am happy to report that this is also true for books. I had a hoot reading this. It follows our main heroine, Leo Asker, as she works to track down a missing couple whilst dealing with both familial and work politics - resulting in her ending up in the "lost souls" department (i.e. the rejects department). Does she find the couple? Will she make it out of the "lost souls" department? Who can be trusted? Who can't? THE INTRIGUE
One thing that I really loved about this book was actually the multiple POVs. Not only do you get Leo's perspective, but also: (1) Martin's [a childhood friend of Leo], (2) Smilla's [one of the two people kidnapped], and probably most importantly (3) The Mountain King's [a local serial killer]. I loved seeing the story progress with each character's motivations changing their thought process. It also kept me guessing - every time I think I had figured it out, the story shifted again and led me down a whole different path. There was really only one element I got right from my original guess about a third of the way through the book. As someone who has a hard time with thrillers because I usually guess the ending, I was so happy the reader is really kept in the dark with this one.
The biggest downside, in my opinion, was that The Mountain King was a bit too long. I think a few of the chapters could have been edited down or completely removed. Furthermore, I also wish that we got more in Martin's character arc, as he appears to be a main character going forward. He was really just used to move the story along in this book but if Motte wants to use him in later books, he needs to be developed further.
BOTTOM LINE: The Mountain King is a super entertaining police procedural thriller! I can't wait for the other books in the series to be translated to English because I will definitely be picking those up! If you like thrillers, this one will keep you guessing until the very end.
Thank you to Anders de la Motte & Atria for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.