Warning: your jaw will be on the floor for about 85% of this book. Brace yourself for… Stalker by Lars Kepler.
The plot:
The Swedish National Crime Unit receives a video of a young woman in her home. She is clearly unaware that she’s being watched. Soon after the tape is received, the woman’s body is found horrifically mutilated.
With the arrival of the next video, the police understand that the killer is toying with them, warning them of a new victim, knowing there’s nothing they can do.
But someone close to the case is hiding something…
Undeniably one of the best crime fiction books I’ve read
I’m going to start with the opening chapter, because that makes sense. It is TENSE. In fact, the first 27 pages are just unreal. You’re thrown into immediate danger and the rush of adrenaline means it unputdownable.
Stalker genuinely scared me a little – I think the whole concept of being stalked is insane and I can’t believe it happens. I’m someone who scares myself quite frequently, so when I was reading this at 2am (opps), I freaked outttt. In this sense, it’s a good book which will psychologically play on your mind throughout. And then when that plot twist comes, I was considering moving to somewhere no one can trace me.
Now, I haven’t read anything by Kepler before, but I knew from one of my favourite book bloggers, Crime by the Book, that she loves this author. And for a good reason, as I can now tell. I’ve added 4 Kepler books into my Amazon wishlist, so there’s proof.
The short sentences and the pace of the book (tense from the get-go with only a couple of chapters I didn’t really find necessary, but from my understanding, are with characters pulled from other books) means this is a very quick read. It’s quite a lengthy book, but time flies and you’ll be gearing up to turn that page after having just turned the page. Kepler has an unbelievable talent for writing, with so much detail, you’re thrown right into every crime scene.
Stalker is the 5th book in the Joona Linna series, but it can definitely be read as a standalone. Although after doing some detective work (basically asking people and googling) and finding out that characters are pulled from other books, the aforementioned *unnecessary* chapters now make sense.
I adored the characters, although because there were so many, you couldn’t really gauge too many different personalities. But I’m not mad, because the main characters shone through very well.
From my point of view, I wish I read the other books in the series beforehand to see the character’s development, and maybe I’ve missed something in Stalker which ties in to Kepler’s other books. But this didn’t take away from my reading experience, so if you’re looking for a jaw-dropping book, look no further.
Undeniably one of the best crime fiction books I’ve read. A bold statement, but I’ll stand by it.
Stalker, Lars Kepler, RRP £14.99/ £8.99 (hardback/paperback); Book Depository
Pages: 551
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf (US Edition) / Harper Collins (UK Edition)
Genre: Crime Fiction
