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alwaysgottimeforbooks 's review for:
Stalker
by Lars Kepler
I wanted to love this book so badly but honestly I did struggle slightly with the first 200 pages. It's a long book at 584 pages and it's very detailed and slow to start. I think I went into it expecting a fast paced thriller and although there is tons of action in the first 50 pages, after that it seems to slow right down. This is very much a crime novel as opposed to a thriller.
Although this is known as the Joona Linna series he actually doesn't feature in the first part that much at all. It's more focused on heavily pregnant Margot Silverman who is the National Police Authority's new expert in serial killers and Erik Maria Bark who is a crime psychiatrist.
The book opens with a graphic and gory murder scene but then the action slows down as we follow the police investigation. There are a lot of characters and detail and it can be hard to keep track of who is who and what is actually relevant. It is an enjoyable read, however I felt it lacked tension and I didn't really have that urge to pick it up.
From around the halfway mark, Stalker gets really good. I was hooked in and finally found what I was waiting for. Plenty of tension and second guessing going on. I was glued to the pages and tore through them as quick as I could. It took me a week to read the first 250 pages and two nights to read the last 300! I could not put this one down.
The story is clever. It all links together very nicely and there's some really shocking moments. My heart was pounding for the last 100 pages and there were some shocking moments.
Right until the end this book keeps you guessing as to what the outcome will be and then it ends on a huge cliffhanger. I need to read the next book right now! Along with all the previous books in the series.
Stalker is originally written in Swedish and translated into English and to be honest I think the translation let it down. There were slight errors throughout which I found off putting and distracting. I've heard the US edition is better so I'm tempted to track down a copy to compare and also buy the rest of the series from a different publisher.
This book does work as a standalone but as book 5 in the series I think if you can you are better off reading the previous books, especially the one before this one as there were some spoilers for it.
By the time I finished the book I'd decided I'd loved it, even though I didn't feel like I would throughout the first half. It's definitely one worth a read of you like crime thrillers although I'm not sure everyone will enjoy it. The closest comparison I could think of was Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series for format and writing style, so if you like them you'll likely enjoy this too.
Although this is known as the Joona Linna series he actually doesn't feature in the first part that much at all. It's more focused on heavily pregnant Margot Silverman who is the National Police Authority's new expert in serial killers and Erik Maria Bark who is a crime psychiatrist.
The book opens with a graphic and gory murder scene but then the action slows down as we follow the police investigation. There are a lot of characters and detail and it can be hard to keep track of who is who and what is actually relevant. It is an enjoyable read, however I felt it lacked tension and I didn't really have that urge to pick it up.
From around the halfway mark, Stalker gets really good. I was hooked in and finally found what I was waiting for. Plenty of tension and second guessing going on. I was glued to the pages and tore through them as quick as I could. It took me a week to read the first 250 pages and two nights to read the last 300! I could not put this one down.
The story is clever. It all links together very nicely and there's some really shocking moments. My heart was pounding for the last 100 pages and there were some shocking moments.
Right until the end this book keeps you guessing as to what the outcome will be and then it ends on a huge cliffhanger. I need to read the next book right now! Along with all the previous books in the series.
Stalker is originally written in Swedish and translated into English and to be honest I think the translation let it down. There were slight errors throughout which I found off putting and distracting. I've heard the US edition is better so I'm tempted to track down a copy to compare and also buy the rest of the series from a different publisher.
This book does work as a standalone but as book 5 in the series I think if you can you are better off reading the previous books, especially the one before this one as there were some spoilers for it.
By the time I finished the book I'd decided I'd loved it, even though I didn't feel like I would throughout the first half. It's definitely one worth a read of you like crime thrillers although I'm not sure everyone will enjoy it. The closest comparison I could think of was Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series for format and writing style, so if you like them you'll likely enjoy this too.