Stalker

In "Stalker," translated from the Swedish by Neil Smith, Lars Kepler brings back Joona Linna, a former detective who disappeared and was presumed dead. Joona is unkempt, walks with a limp, and is unemployed. Nevertheless, he finds a way to insert himself into a major inquiry concerning a series of horrific murders. An unidentified assailant has been spying on women, videotaping them in their homes, killing and mutilating them, and posing their bodies. The Swedish investigators have no idea why the perpetrator targeted these particular victims.

This novel tries our patience for five hundred and fifty-one pages. The large cast of characters is unwieldy; Kepler's plot is convoluted; the prose and dialogue are labored; the pace is slow; and show more much of the story consists of an unrelentingly grim depiction of drug abuse, hedonism, sadism, and insanity. A psychiatrist and skilled hypnotist, Erik Maria Bark, is a lonely and troubled man who may be falling in love with his piano teacher, Jackie, but is Erik worthy of this gentle lady's affection? Meanwhile, while the police spin their wheels, Joona and Erik go rogue in their efforts to identify the killer. Unfortunately, the pair's reckless behavior may land them either in jail or in the morgue.

"Stalker" is an example of what happens when authors of psychological thrillers go too far in their attempt to shock and/or mislead readers. Kepler's scenes of graphic sex, beatings, stabbings, and shootings are not only distasteful, but the numbing violence robs the book of verisimilitude. Instead of bombarding us with gore and chaos, Kepler would have done well to trim this lumbering story to a manageable length and tone down some of its outrageous elements. Capping it all, the tale's macabre conclusion is stunning in its absurdity. show less

Det börjar med ett videoklipp på Youtube vars länk blir skickad till Rikskriminalpolisens e-postadress. Den korta filmsnutten är filmad från en trädgård, in i ett hus. Videoklippets huvudroll utgörs av en kvinna som inte verkar förstå att hon blir filmad. Men dagen efter hittas hon död i sitt hem. Hennes ansikte är bara en blodig köttmassa efter vad som verkar vara nästan maniskt huggande med en kniv.

Det dröjer inte länge förrän nästa videoklipp dyker upp – lika oidentifierbar som den första. Det är en filmsnutt i samma stil som den första; en ovetande kvinna som drar av sig träningsbyxorna medan hon äter glass ur en burk. Även hon hittas mördad, denna gång av sin man. Han är i chock efter upptäckten av show more sin ihjälhackade fru. För att försöka nå honom anlitar Margot och Adam, som tagit över efter Joona Linnas försvinnande året innan, hypnotisören Erik Maria Bark för att få honom att berätta om den traumatiska upptäckten. För förutom det han möjligtvis har sett så har polisen inget att gå på. Ingenting alls.

Motsträvigt går Erik Maria Bark med på att hypnotisera den skärrade mannen. Men det mannen berättar under hypnos gör Erik nervös – det påminner alldeles för mycket om ett mord för nästan tip år sedan. En präst vid namn Rocky Kyrklund dömdes för ett brutalt mord på en kvinna. Under Eriks sessioner med Rocky pratade den misstänkta om att han hade ett alibi, om bara polisen ville hitta Olivia så skulle hon bekräfta hans alibi. Men Erik var så övertygad att det var Rocky som var mördaren att han struntade i att söka upp Olivia – om hon ens fanns.

Men när de liknande morden tar sin början börjar han bli tveksam. Tänk om Rocky talade sanning?

Jag måste erkänna att det här är nog den mest spännande boken i serien. Innehållsmässigt slår den absolut inte Sandmannen, som antagligen alltid kommer vara min favorit, men jag satt verkligen på helspänn från början till slut. Vid många tillfällen insåg jag att om det skulle komma ett plötsligt ljud i närheten skulle jag antagligen kissa på mig av skräck – och det är definitivt en bra känsla när man läser en kriminaldeckare. Kepler har verkligen lyckats med stämningen i boken; jag kände mig ofta iakttagen under de spännande delarna med mördaren.

Det känns som jag gör detta med varje bok men jag måste återigen prisa Kepler för det faktum att berättelsen alltid tar plötsliga vändningar i riktningar som man absolut inte hade förutsett. Det känns som boken kan sluta lite hur som helst vilket gör den ännu mer spännande eftersom det inte finns en chans att gissa mördarens motiv – eller vem mördaren är.

Jag har nog inte varit lika livrädd på grund av en bok sedan första halvan av Dracula. Tack för det, Kepler. Jag önskar att jag kunde glömma denna bok bara för att få upptäcka den igen. show less

In spite of my initial negative impression, once I got further into the book, I couldn't put it down. The story skips from Erik to Joona, to other characters, but it flows and continues the story in a hypnotic (pun intended) way.

Los últimos tres libros de esta serie han sido realmente buenos, este particularmente me ha dejado un muy buen sabor de boca.

Tiene una historia muy bien hilada, controlada, con un nivel de suspense realmente alto, me ha tenido en vilo desde la primera página, no solo es que tiene un asesino terrible, asesinatos brutales, una investigación de esas a contrarreloj, es que además estos autores han creado un personaje protagonista muy atrayente.

Joona Lina, en esta entrega va de menos a más y nos reencontramos con quien fuera en la primera entrega un personaje importante. Mas allá de estos dos personajes, todos los que se involucran en la trama son personajes redondos, realmente con mucha profundidad, incluyendo al asesino del que show more realmente sabemos muy poco.

Todo el libro me ha tenido en un vilo espectacular, pero el final de este libro me ha dejado con la boca abierta, ahora tendré que leer el siguiente lo más pronto que pueda

Ha sido realmente impresionante ver la evolución de estos escritores a través de sus libros, si bien todos han sido muy buenos, como decía, los últimos tres han sido los mejores y cada uno mejor que el anterior.

A pesar de que conozco gente que se ha leído algunos libros de esta serie de manera independiente, yo recomendaría leerlos en orden, al menos a partir del tercero, independientemente de las investigaciones por asesinatos que trata cada libro, a partir del tercero hay una secuencia importante a seguir no solo de la vida personal de Joona Lina, si no de un asesino brutal que lo persigue desde hace muchos años, en cada libro se nos va entregando un poco de esta historia, que en independencia de la trama principal, es un dulce que se nos entrega a quienes seguimos esta serie.

Me gusta mucho como escriben estos autores, tienen un estilo muy peculiar, se introducen mucho en cuestiones psicológicas, supongo que al ser ellos mismos de esa profesión, saben de lo que hablan y por lo tanto estos libros más allá de un tema policial, más allá de temas de asesinatos, tiene un trasfondo psicológico interesante.

Es verdad que he adivinado quien era el asesino, creo que no era difícil saberlo, pero eso no le ha quitado nada al libro, si bien a veces la sorpresa de saber finalmente de quien se trata da un plus, bueno, lo cierto es que no demerita la historia, además, tenemos que lidiar con ese asesino casi por el 30% del final del libro, hay que decir que Lars Kepler en este libro en particular, mucho más que en los anteriores, han sido especialmente brutales y contundentes y como he dicho, con un final que deja entrever lo que nos espera para la siguiente entrega. show less

The National Crime Unit in Stockholm receives a video of a woman, shortly afterwards she is found murdered. Then they receive another but cannot trace her before she too dies. Then there is a third. Clues from the way the bodies are staged leads leads psychologist Erik Bark to a former patient now convicted of murder and in a psychiatric unit. Meanwhile after the death of the criminal who was terrorising his family Finnish detective Junna Linna can come out of hiding. When the clues in the murder cases seem to suggest that Bark is the perpetrator Linna is in a race to solve the crimes before more women die.

The Junna Linna series of novels by the husband and wife team with the pen name Lars Kepler are now at their fifth instalment and show more the tension never lets up for a second. Whilst the plot is very convoluted, the links are clever and it does all make sense in the end! This is good quality Scandic-Crime but with a vary tough and unpleasant edge to it - it's not a soft read. show less

The National Crime Unit in Stockholm has received a video of a woman who is clearly unaware she is being filmed. Shortly after, the woman is found brutally murdered. When they receive another film, they try to find clues in the video to find the woman. Unfortunately, they are unable to find her in time and she too is murdered in the same brutal manner. And then a third video arrives. Psychiatrist Eric Maria Bark recognizes similarities to a past case he had worked on but the man who had been taken into custody is still being held in a Psychiatric Unit and it seems impossible that he could be responsible for these present murders. Bark also had secret knowledge that might have exonerated the man for the past murder had he not confessed. show more Bark now wonders if perhaps he is responsible for allowing the real murderer to go free.

At the same time, the body of the man who had been terrorizing the family of Finnish detective Joona Linna is identified. Linna can now return. He is called in to help with this case but it is clear that the time he spent in hiding has taken a huge toll on him both mentally and physically. When a new victim is found, one with links to the police, evidence seems to point to Barks as the perpetrator and Linna is suspected of aiding in his disappearance.

Stalker is the fifth novel in the Joona Linna series by Lars Keplar, a husband and wife team and it is very long and, at times, very convoluted. But it is also very clever, very dark and compelling. It is one roller coaster ride of a thriller with non-stop action. It kept me reading well into the night and guessing right up until the end (I never did suss out the real villain). Stalker is Nordic Noir at its heart-pounding best aided by Kepler's use of short paragraphs and positive phrasing throughout. Definitely not a book for the squeamish. show less

As usual I started in the middle of a series but it didn’t really seem to make a great deal of difference as far as the story went. I found out the series is written by a husband-and-wife team. Their main character is a very interesting Finnish detective named Joona Linna. He’s a bit of an odd duck...but a fairly likable guy who has marvelous instincts coupled with intense combat training. We don't see Linna for a while at the beginning... but once we do it's obvious that he's not fit company for man or beast. He tried to go into hiding but events soon send a fellow detective to find him. This book is nearly 600 pages and it is an interesting mystery that catches the reader up and keeps you turning the pages...however the police are show more supposedly intelligent people but they do the dumbest things throughout the entire book. Maybe things are different in Sweden...or perhaps something is lost in the translation. We also don’t get much information on any of the other characters. Some of the storyline verges on the incredible...but overall, it was a very, very long mystery. show less