An intense, dramatic, wonderful Nordic noir/crime fic, do not miss out on Unhinged, co-authored by Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger.
The plot:
When police investigator Sofia Kovic uncovers a startling connection between several Oslo murder cases, she attempts to contact her closest superior, Alexander Blix before involving anyone else in the department. But before Blix has time to return her call, Kovic is shot and killed in her own home – execution style. And in the apartment below, Blix’s daughter Iselin narrowly escapes becoming the killer’s next victim.
Four days later, Blix and online crime journalist Emma Ramm are locked inside an interrogation room, facing the National Criminal Investigation Service. Blix has shot and killed a man, and Ramm saw it all happen.
As Iselin’s life hangs in the balance, under-fire Blix no longer knows who he can trust… and he’s not even certain that he’s killed the right man…
The plot is off to a first-class start
FYI: I screamed and screamed about Smoke Screen (my review here) – Book #2 in the Blix & Ramm series.
Blix and Ramm. Back at it again. You could tell me these were real people and I’d back you every second of the way. It’s a delight to see these characters back on the page with two renowned authors behind them.
I LOVED the formatting here – especially in the first half. The opening chapter hits us with Blix in an interrogation room. The plot is off to a first-class start. It then rides high the whole way through with the first half jumping between the two protagonists of the series and past/present.
I actually said pretty early on that it would be good if it went a particular route, and it did, and it was more than bloody good! The plot teases you with different directions it can go in, keeping the reader on their toes throughout.
A few people I’ve spoken to about this have said it hit them quite a bit in the feels – I can see why, especially if you’ve read the previous books in the series and connected with the characters. I’m hoping this isn’t the last book we’ll see.
I can imagine this being such a good Netflix series. You know the one that everyone’s saying: “have you watched this yet? If not, you can’t sit with us”. The atmosphere, the intensity and the way the plot unfolds set with a dark backdrop – get this on my screen NOW.
I’m giving this a 4-star, but only because I preferred Smoke Screen by a smidgen, and I rated that a very high 5-stars.
Unhinged, Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger, RRP £8.99 (paperback); Amazon
Pages: 272
Publisher: Orenda Books
Genre: Crime Fiction/ Nordic Noir
