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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
Five years ago, teenager Jenny Lind was snatched by a shadowy figure on her way home from school and bundled into the back of a lorry. The police had little to go on, and the investigation turned up no leads. It was assumed that Jenny's case would remain forever unsolved...
But now she has been found brutally murdered in a Stockholm playground. The only witness is a man suffering from complex mental health issues, and he claims to be unable to remember what he saw.
Detective Joona Linna, reeling from his own personal problems, is sure that this is not an isolated case, but it is proving difficult to persuade his superiors that there might be a serial killer at large preying on young women. When another young girl goes missing, Joona seems to be the only one with the skills needed to put the pieces together, but even he is overwhelmed at the sheer scale of the crimes of the Mirror Man...
The Mirror Man is a deliciously complex, many layered, Scandi noir mystery about the search for a seriously disturbed serial killer. This is Joona Linna's eighth crime mystery by the best-selling husband and wife team Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril, who write under the name Lars Kepler, but is my first adventure at his side, and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole creepy experience. This can easily be read as a standalone, if you bear in mind the Scandi noir pre-requisites of a talented, but troubled detective.
The story revolves around the search for the serial killer The Mirror Man, who certainly has a lot of issues to work through - unfortunately he does this by abducting, holding hostage, and killing young women in a horribly ritualistic manner, with the help of his accomplice 'Granny'. The beginning of the book is a little disjoined, but once detective Joona Linna appears on the scene the story really takes off, and holds you fast, which is a mighty feat considering this book weighs in at 576 pages!
Joona Linna is a knotty protagonist, carrying the weight of his complicated past, and he rather entertainingly channels Sherlock Holmes in more ways than one. His intuitive flashes drive the story along, taking us ever closer to the shocking truth, and the plot twists and turns as the narrative swaps between Joona and a variety of characters - including some of the girls who have been abducted and are being held in appalling conditions awaiting their fate.
My goodness, this is tense stuff, and I think the most gruesome piece of detective fiction I have read for a very long time. Imagine Thomas Harris, by way of Stieg Larsson, and you might get the picture - with the darkest of slick psychological thrillers; macabre murders conjured from your worst nightmares; and full-on Scandinavian location and weather vibes; all cleverly tied together to elicit just the right level of menace. I was unable to look away from the gritty, beautifully paced action for a second!
As Scandi thrillers go, this is very much on the horror side of the genre, and it certainly is disturbing, with themes of severe mental disorders, PTSD, trauma, abuse, grief, religious mania, drugs, and serious violence running throughout. But it is also a cracking page turner of a read for those of you not afraid to walk on the wild side. I loved it and cannot wait to delve into Joona Linna's past cases to fill in all the backstories!
But now she has been found brutally murdered in a Stockholm playground. The only witness is a man suffering from complex mental health issues, and he claims to be unable to remember what he saw.
Detective Joona Linna, reeling from his own personal problems, is sure that this is not an isolated case, but it is proving difficult to persuade his superiors that there might be a serial killer at large preying on young women. When another young girl goes missing, Joona seems to be the only one with the skills needed to put the pieces together, but even he is overwhelmed at the sheer scale of the crimes of the Mirror Man...
The Mirror Man is a deliciously complex, many layered, Scandi noir mystery about the search for a seriously disturbed serial killer. This is Joona Linna's eighth crime mystery by the best-selling husband and wife team Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril, who write under the name Lars Kepler, but is my first adventure at his side, and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole creepy experience. This can easily be read as a standalone, if you bear in mind the Scandi noir pre-requisites of a talented, but troubled detective.
The story revolves around the search for the serial killer The Mirror Man, who certainly has a lot of issues to work through - unfortunately he does this by abducting, holding hostage, and killing young women in a horribly ritualistic manner, with the help of his accomplice 'Granny'. The beginning of the book is a little disjoined, but once detective Joona Linna appears on the scene the story really takes off, and holds you fast, which is a mighty feat considering this book weighs in at 576 pages!
Joona Linna is a knotty protagonist, carrying the weight of his complicated past, and he rather entertainingly channels Sherlock Holmes in more ways than one. His intuitive flashes drive the story along, taking us ever closer to the shocking truth, and the plot twists and turns as the narrative swaps between Joona and a variety of characters - including some of the girls who have been abducted and are being held in appalling conditions awaiting their fate.
My goodness, this is tense stuff, and I think the most gruesome piece of detective fiction I have read for a very long time. Imagine Thomas Harris, by way of Stieg Larsson, and you might get the picture - with the darkest of slick psychological thrillers; macabre murders conjured from your worst nightmares; and full-on Scandinavian location and weather vibes; all cleverly tied together to elicit just the right level of menace. I was unable to look away from the gritty, beautifully paced action for a second!
As Scandi thrillers go, this is very much on the horror side of the genre, and it certainly is disturbing, with themes of severe mental disorders, PTSD, trauma, abuse, grief, religious mania, drugs, and serious violence running throughout. But it is also a cracking page turner of a read for those of you not afraid to walk on the wild side. I loved it and cannot wait to delve into Joona Linna's past cases to fill in all the backstories!
Osmička v pořadí nezklamala. Kepler silně namotává od prvních stránek a od knihy se odtrhává jen těžko. Události v zápletce mě místy děsily až fyzicky. Zhruba od půlky začínal na povrch vyplouvat pachatel, ale zkušený čtenář severské krimi bude tušit, že je to moc snadné. Rozuzlení je nečekané a propracované. Těším se na další.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I never liked Lars Kepler's books and this one just confirmed my bias. Their stories never feel congruent and there are always inclusions of mental illness or other scandalous plot device like religious cults that feel forced and completely out of touch with reality. There are other Nordic crime novels that touch on serial killers and have contrived plots but none feel as incongruent like Kepler's. The plot of this book is thin, wacky and it's muddled up with segments that have no meaningful connection to the main story. I also hate reading descriptions in the present simple, which I understand is my problem, but it really drives me off the narrative. This is one author I'll only ever return to if I'm really bored of anything else.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Very suspenseful, but too long. Would have benefited from strong editing.
It was a really gruesome story, and there were some weak points, like the bad guy coming and going from the mental institution he was in, even if it was an open one.
It was a really gruesome story, and there were some weak points, like the bad guy coming and going from the mental institution he was in, even if it was an open one.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Kepler før leggetid = null søvn. Klarer aldri nyte disse bøkene i mer en to-tre dager, for ender alltid opp med at jeg ikke klarer legge dem fra meg. Får meg alltid ut av a reading slump. Elsker at det skjer ting hele tiden, at det er så groteskt og at jeg for en gangs skyld ikke vet hvem morderen er før det blir avslørt. Plz kom ut me ny bok snart
I would actually give it 3.5 stars if I could. This book was really intense and dark. But I was surprised by the ending, which is always a plus for a thriller.