I’m thrilled to be co-hosting today’s stop on the blog tour for Killed by Thomas Enger, the finale of his acclaimed crime thriller series featuring investigative journalist, Henning Juul. Be sure to check out the post by my co-host, Steve at Books and Beyond.
About the Book
Crime reporter Henning Juul thought his life was over when his young son was murdered. But that was only the beginning… Determined to find his son’s killer, Henning doggedly follows an increasingly dangerous trail, where dark hands from the past emerge to threaten everything. His ex-wife Nora is pregnant with another man’s child, his sister Trine is implicated in the fire that killed his son and, with everyone he thought he could trust seemingly hiding something, Henning has nothing to lose … except his own life. Packed with tension and unexpected twists, Killed is the long-awaited finale of one of the darkest, most chilling and emotive series you may ever read. Someone will be killed. But who?
Format: ebook, paperback (276 pp.) Publisher: Orenda Books
Published in UK: 15th February 2018 Genre: Crime, Thriller
Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk ǀ Amazon.com ǀ Hive.co.uk (supporting local bookshops) *links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme
Find Killed on Goodreads
My Review
Killed is the first book I’ve read by Thomas Enger and since it’s the finale of a five book series featuring investigative journalist, Henning Juul, I was rather nervous about how it would work as a standalone book. However, I needn’t have worried as the author has been incredibly generous to readers who’ve had the temerity not to read the previous four books by providing a comprehensive dramatis personae and recaps on events in earlier books. These are brief enough not to annoy readers of the whole series but thorough enough to allow new readers to work out what’s been going on.
The book opens with an eerie, haunting prologue that plunges the reader right into the action. What follows is an extended flashback as the events of previous months are related from the viewpoint of the book’s many characters. What emerges is a story of corruption, intimidation, blackmail and worse, with an awful lot of scores being settled. Shadowy figures start to emerge from the darkness and, when it comes down to it, who can you really trust? The author expertly weaves the different strands of the plot together, with the final pattern revealed only right at the end. By that time, it’s not giving too much away to say that the list of characters is a lot smaller.
Coming in at the final book, it’s difficult for me to judge how readers who’ve enjoyed the whole series will feel about the way the story is resolved, especially in respect of Henning. Personally, I felt I didn’t quite get to know Henning as a person as much as I’d have liked, but then I’m sure this would have been different if I’d read the earlier books – and I can hardly blame the author for that! What I did learn is that Henning is one tough cookie and not easily diverted once he’s embarked on a course of action!
I really enjoyed Killed. It had a fast-paced, compelling story line that kept me wanting to read on. Definitely in the “one more chapter and then I’ll go to sleep” category. My one regret is coming in at the end of the series and that I won’t be able to enjoy Henning’s journey in the way so many other fans have done. It’s a mistake I won’t repeat if, as is to be hoped, Thomas Enger embarks on another crime thriller series.
I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, Orenda Books, in return for an honest and unbiased review. The book is translated by Kari Dickson.
In three words: Gripping, intense, atmospheric
Try something similar… Wolves in the Dark by Gunnar Staalesen (click here to read my review)
About the Author
Thomas Enger (b. 1973) is a former journalist. He made his debut with the crime novel Burned (Skinndød) in 2010, which became an international sensation before publication. Burned is the first in a series of 5 books about the journalist Henning Juul, which delves into the depths of Oslo’s underbelly, skewering the corridors of dirty politics and nailing the fast-moving world of 24-hour news. Rights to the series have been sold to 26 countries to date. In 2013 Enger published his first book for young adults, a dark fantasy thriller called The Evil Legacy, for which he won the U-prize (best book Young Adult). Enger also composes music, and he lives in Oslo.
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