Reviews

X Ways to Die by Stefan Ahnhem

Only show reviews with written explanations

qu33nofbookz's review against another edition

1.0

Do Not read this series out of order, it's just one long story/book cut up and you will be lost if you don't start at book 1 even though the very first page is a 'previously in' summary.

Not my cup of tea.

Besides the fact that if you are not reading the series in order there are too many characters to keep straight, POV shifts with no transition so at times it feels like you've missed something and characters you can't relate to or really care about and just too much going on in general with similar details it all gets tangled up. Fabian and his family must be the unluckiest people you could ever meet. They are all involved with murders at about the same time either being the victim or the perpetrator.

I did not need the very detailed, drawn-out gratuitous, unnecessary sex scene while Fabian's wife describes what her dominant rough sex lover, the man she left him for, did to her while dominating him before switching roles and being submissive to hopefully get over her PTSD from her lover nearly killing her by burying her alive in a pine box coffin she crated as art...

Fabian and his colleagues are trying to solve 3 very random murders, two of which they have arrested suspects for and are getting ready for trial when they find out that the murders are connected and perpetrated by someone else. This killer is playing a game where he rolls dice for the whole thing (victim, method of kill, ext). While tying the cases together and trying to find their new killer Fabian is investigating his friend/colleague's supposed suicide which he thinks is murder because he was looking into another colleague who is corrupt and a killer on top of dealing with an older colleague from his previous job who is also a corrupt murderer. Also, he is on eggshells with his wife who's lover almost killed her, and his son who he thought was a witness to a crime but actually help participate in it, and a daughter who is having a mental breakdown (presumably also from some crime against her that isn't stated in this book but was probably in a previous book) and believes she can talk to the dead.

madisonbell_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

eskimonika's review

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

ellenandersson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

busdjur's review against another edition

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4.0

Lyssnade på ljudboken.
Värdig fortsättning som behåller samma känsla som tidigare delar av serien. Den lider tyvärr också av samma problem som de tidigare böckerna - författaren vill få in så mycket att det inte riktigt får plats så att någon del hela tiden får stryka på foten.
Ibland tänker jag att de tjocka böckerna är fel format för den här berättelsen (serien).. Den borde ha gjorts på något sätt som påminner mer om tv-serieavsnitt. Flera böcker in är säsongen liksom inte färdig än och brytningen mellan böckerna blir kantig.