Erik Axl Sund | THE CROW GIRL

Plot:

In a Stockholm city park, police find the tortured body of a youth. Then, they find two more, and it becomes clear that they are facing an extraordinary case—and an extraordinarily twisted killer. Detective Superintendent Jeanette Kihlberg heads the investigation, battling an apathetic prosecutor and a bureaucratic police force. She turns to the therapist Sofia Zetterlund for her expertise in psychopathic perpetrators, and under the pressure of the investigation, their lives become inextricably intertwined. As the two women draw closer to the truth about the killings, they begin to discover a hideous evil at work, and it’s much closer to them than they think. Mesmerizing and explosive, The Crow Girl is a tale of almost unfathomably heinous deeds and of the catastrophic damage, and the profound need for revenge, left in their wake.

Review:

This is one hefty Nordic Noir novel that I was pleased to have gotten through in two days...and it was NOT easy. Not only is this novel deeply disturbing, it is complex and claustrophobic. Our novel takes us on a wild and terrifying journey told through the perspectives of not only our three main leads, but gives us some insights into some other, dare I even say "smaller" characters who's perspectives and storylines give us a deeper look into I would say the darkest novel I have ever read in my life. The novel is mainly told from the characters of Jeanette (our fearless detective), Sofia (the brilliant psychologist assisting Jeanette), and Victoria (the deeply disturbed client of Sofia). While the perspectives are very well done, our authors do a fantastic job of getting into the psyche of the reader through these characters and really use them as a tool to give a heartbreaking look into the plot. 

This novel is translated into English from a Swedish trilogy (explaining the length) and I really found this to be a rather interesting collection of these three tales. Our first part not only opens the plot really well, diving right into the violence and introducing us rather quickly to our three leads, but it also has a slower pace that is more or less a "first date" with the characters that we will need to get to the bottom of the heinous crimes committed in this intricate plot. Towards the end of part one, I was left with a shocking revelation that not only chilled me to the core, but made me question what was going to happen in the next 500+ pages.

Part two is not only my favorite part, but it gives us a deeper look into not only what our three main leads are dealing with as the plot continues, but it does a fantastic job of turning this novel from a crime fiction to also dipping its wounded toes into a psychological thriller as we also get to get a deeper look into what the villain(s) are dealing with as well. The tension really mounts in part two as the reader is given some insights that our characters aren't aware of and we find them all putting themselves in some rather dangerous positions...we are also introduced to the tip of the iceberg that is known as The Crow Girl.

Part three has the violence and the action really cranked up as we conclude this fascinating and complex plot...and complex it is. Throughout the novel, it took me a while to get used to some of the writing with this one as like most psychological crime novels, it's hard to get a grasp on what is reality and fantasy as our authors really waste no time getting into the gritty details as to what is really happening and the reader is literally taken on a journey around the world. I particularly loved how this played out like a tragic Nordic action/crime movie throughout the novel and part three was not only devastating, but ended on such a bittersweet note that I am still confused as to if I am feeling lighter after some of the darkness of this novel has gone away or if I'm just ultimately saddened with how it ended.

While the writing is fantastic, the characters are superbly written, and the plot is unlike anything I've ever read, by the end of the novel I was happy I got to the bottom of the story and had a good grasp as to what was going on, but I ultimately felt like there was going to be a lengthy epilogue to really wrap up everything. While I know with real life, that's not always the case, I just felt that I got the answers I was looking for, but I was expecting that big bow on the top to really tie everything in together and I  was left somewhat confused by a lot of things. Nevertheless, I would definitely recommend this one to fans of Nordic Noir and crime fiction as it really gets into the underbelly of the crime world and how disturbing and disastrous it can be.

Rating: 4/5