Lars Kepler | THE FIRE WITNESS

Plot (via Goodreads):

Detective Inspector Joona Linna, under internal review by the National Police for an alleged infraction, is on leave to solve some troubling personal business when he is called in to "observe" the investigation of a gruesome and strange murder at Birgittagarden, a youth home for wayward teenage girls. But it's not long before Linna is drawn deeply into the intricate, disturbing case. Intriguing, astonishing, and with all of the suspense that first captured audiences in The Hypnotist, The Fire Witness is Lars Kepler at his most psychologically complex and thrilling. 

Review:

After being somewhat disappointed in The Nightmare, I was still eager to start The Fire Witness and let me say one thing - LARS KEPLER killed it again! This one starts off in a violent and terrifying way that has enough detail to scare the life out of you, but enough to the imagination that you aren't too grossed out to continue. Right from the beginning,  I knew I was going to love this story and I wasn't wrong.

Joona Linna is my favorite fictional detective. I loved that this one kind of gave more information on his backstory that I knew was going to be more present in The Sandman and watching his relationship with Disa suffer combined with taking on another violent and terrifying case was just exceptional to read about. I loved the characters in this novel! Each one served their purpose and brought more to the story than most crime fiction novels that I've read. I love how three-dimensional all of the personalities in this novel are even if their characters are only in it for a short time or for the entirety of the novel.

At a whopping 500+ pages, this book reads like a 200 page book due to the short chapters, fantastic characters, and at times anxiety-inducing pacing. What I found most entertaining about this novel was that it felt similar to a horror movie combined with a police procedural. The opening was violent and terrifying and just when things began to slow down a bit and my heart rate normalized, something eerie and scary would happen leading to the final reveal of the killer in a horror movie-esque ending that not only petrified me but had me yelling in delight as all of my guesses were wrong. I think this is the perfect segue into The Sandman and now I must read that one again before Stalker is released 2/5/2019.

Rating: 5/5