A review by leic01
Soba zla by Erik Axl Sund, Mišo Grundler, Jerker Eriksson

4.0

This is a really good fast-paced psychological thriller. Recommended for readers that liked [b:The Silent Patient|40097951|The Silent Patient|Alex Michaelides|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1582759969l/40097951._SX50_.jpg|59752778] and [a:Nicci French|183956|Nicci French|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] series about Frieda Klein as it revolves around psychotherapist, and in my opinion, is better than both works. Being in that profession I mostly cringe at some descriptions of mental illness or psychotherapeutic process in trillers, but the authors did a decent job in this book. The content is highly disturbing and there are scenes of sexual and physical abuse of children and incest that are not over-done, and explicit, and I would say an accurate description of the long-standing aftermath of abuse. This is not literary fiction nor classic but the characterization is decent compared to much more hyped books in the genre. Books follow several timelines and perspectives of different characters, all of them equally engaging. I also appreciate that the authors touched on a variety of topics such as the position of women in society and rights of children, discrimination toward the immigrants that are never seen as equally human as other citizens, class diversion and even the geopolitical situation of war in Siera Leone and, very scarcely, Bosnia. That is not usual, and not an easy task for authors of such high-tempo thriller. Quality wise I would compare it to [a:Patricia Cornwell|1025097|Patricia Cornwell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1608833403p2/1025097.jpg]'s writing, even though I haven't read Cornwell in years. This book gave me an old-school thriller feeling when you don't want to put the book down. The book ends with a cliffhanger so I was immediately onto the next book in the series. I've read this book in a day and already finished the second book and will start the third and final book of the series tonight.
Recommended for lovers of psychological thrillers for sure! (Even though I'm not sure there is English translation yet out there)
3.5