Lars Kepler | THE RABBIT HUNTER

Plot (via Goodreads):

Detective Joona Linna is finishing out a sentence at Kumla prison for assaulting an officer in the course of his last investigation when he is summoned to a meeting with the Swedish Prime Minister. The Foreign Minister has been brutally murdered. There's a chance more political figures could be targeted. The police need Linna to find the killer and neutralize the threat, so he's granted a temporary release from prison. But when another murder occurs, Linna realizes he's dealing with something far more complex, and far more terrifying, than anyone imagined. As the body count grows, Linna begins to understand that he can't do this alone and he reaches out to Saga Bauer, the young Security Police detective, for help. Now, together, the two race against time to unravel the killer's intricate plan before he can take his ultimate revenge.

Review:

It's no surprise that the Joona Linna series by Lars Kepler is one of the most suspenseful and bone-chilling series I have ever read. I love Joona Linna, I love the complex plots in this series, and I love how dark each story is. If you're asking me, these novels are downright perfect. There is something so captivating and ominous about how this fantastic writing duo is able to tell a story. I love their writing style and how they just completely hold me hostage from page one throughout often a 500+ page novel. This one starts off with a bang and had me so uncomfortable and on edge throughout a rather lengthy and sensationally written opener; I was shocked with how this one went in a completely different direction than I thought it was going to.

There were some really great additions to this novel including a new character that I can't mention too much given their relationship with Joona. I will say - again, Lars Kepler nailed it with their ability to include some familiar faces, but to really make this story focused on the secondary characters just completely stunned me. Their ability to build these characters that really flirt with your ability to differentiate between fiction and non-fiction is stunning. These characters are so well-written and just build such a great support system for this story. I feel like with each and every installment in this series, the stories become more complex and the characters are just my favorite part of each story. To create one novel with characters like this is amazing, but for a series, it's astonishing. Again, these characters are parallel with the plot regarding the pacing in such a fashion that only Lars Kepler can pull off. As the novel progresses and the pacing kicks up, secrets within these people are revealed and the good and the bad within them surface at a rapid pace. I will say, at first I was nervous as I felt this one was heading into a special sub-genre within crime fiction that I am not a fan of and I was beginning to get nervous I wouldn't enjoy it as much as I have the other installments, but have no fear because the plot takes a devilish turn with a major reveal and I found myself loving this story even more than the previous novel. The backstory and the current timeline blend together seamlessly and kept me immersed in the pages. At one point, I was so wrapped up in this one that I think my house could have caught fire and I wouldn't have noticed or cared...as long as my book didn't begin to spark.

I have loved all of the books in this series and I get if people don't have the time to read the entire series, but I highly recommend that at if you absolutely need to cut corners, you can start this series with book four (The Sandman) and continue on. I wouldn't personally recommend cutting any corners in this series personally as if you're a crime fiction lover and you enjoy Nordic Noir, you will not regret making time in your schedule and space on your bookshelf to devour this entire series.

Special thanks to Alfred Knopf for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 5/5