Stalker by Lars Kepler
Published: February 5, 2019 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group (Originally Published in 2014
Previous Book in the Series: #4 – The Sandman
Stalker by Lars Kepler is the 5th In the Detective Joona Linna series.
Another sensational book in this series.
First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, and of course the authors, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Series Background: (Warning – May contain spoilers from previous books)
Homicide Detective Joona Linna worked for the National Criminal Investigation Department in Sweden. He is highly trained in mixed close combat, innovative weaponry, and urban guerrilla warfare. He tends to stretch the rules, but he needs to be “right”. He is driven, driven to keep going until the crime is solved. Due to a ruthless serial killer, he sent away wife and daughter, and faked their deaths. He has lived without them for many years. Recent events have brought this case to the surface and resulted in Joona going missing, and presumed dead.
My Synopsis:
Margot Silverman is the new police expert on serial killers and moved into Joona Linna’s office the same week they held his memorial ceremony. She does not know Joona. She is 36 and pregnant with her third child. She works with Adam, who is 28, and joined the force after a brief professional soccer career. He is a little over-eager.
There is a serial killer out there who posts a video of his victim on You-Tube from outside her window – before the kill.
Joona’s friend, Erik Maria Bark is a psychiatrist who successfully uses hypnosis to help his patients uncover memories. Margot convinces Erik to help get information from the latest victim’s husband, who, upon finding his wife dead, proceeded to clean up the crime scene and put his dead wife to bed. His shock has made him forget everything. The little that Erik does obtain reminds him of a man from 9 years ago. A man that he recommended be incarcerated, even though he said he had an alibi during his session. Erik had ignored the statement since he really didn’t trust what the brain-damaged man said, but he always wondered. This over-sight will prove costly.
Saga Bauer has been looking for the body of Jurek Walter for a year. If she can find his body, she can prove to Joona Linna that it is safe to come home.
Joona is living in a small house in the middle of nowhere with his daughter Lumi. His wife has died of cancer. He has surrounded the house with cameras and defensive weapons. He is not the man he once was. He is thin, with a long scraggly beard, and walks with a cane. Yet he is the only hope they have of solving this case. It may cost Joona more than he anticipated, but he probably wouldn’t change a thing.
My Opinions:
WOW. I will assume you’ve been reading the series. We all knew the star of the show could not be dead…and the authors brought our beloved Joona back in an unhurried, realistic manner. His journey back to investigative work was good.
There was a lot going on, and a lot of new characters, but everything flowed smoothly. There were a lot of twists in this one that I didn’t see coming. In particular, the identity of the killer.
The ending….what can I say….a shock.
Okay, I can’t see reading this without reading the other four previous novels in this series. You would miss so much of both the character development and parts of the plot.
Regarding the authors – I still don’t know how this husband and wife team work together so well as to create this work of literary art…but I hope they continue!
Read: January, 2019
Favorite Quotes from Stalker:
“Today a stalker is someone who suffers from obsessive fixations, or an unhealthy obsession with monitoring another individual’s activities.”
“Just as clouds rolling between areas of high and low pressure can turn into a tornado, a stalker’s emotional swings between worship and hatred can suddenly become extremely violent.”
“The puzzle isn’t finished just because three pieces fit together.”
“All I know is that God lost me somewhere along the way, and he never came back to look for me,”
About the Authors: Lars Kepler is a pseudonym for the husband and wife team Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril (b. 1966) and Alexander Ahndoril (b. 1967), best known for the Detective Joona Linna series which has sold over 12 million copies in 40 countries. They married in 1994 and have three daughters together. They live in central Stockholm. The name Lars is a homage to the great Swedish author Stieg Larsson, and Kepler from the German scientist Johannes Kepler.
I have also reviewed this book on GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1246037872
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