Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Unhinged by Thomas Enger and Jørn Lier Horst, translated by Megan Turney. My thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part in the tour and to Orenda Books for my digital review copy. Do check out the review by my tour buddy for today Claire at bookreviewsforu.
About the Book
His colleague is dead. His daughter may be next. It’s time to do things his way…
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…
Format: Paperback (276 pages) Publisher: Orenda Books
Publication date: 17th February 2022 Genre: Crime, Contemporary Fiction
Find Unhinged (Alexander Blix & Emma Raam #3) on Goodreads
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My Review
Described by the Sunday Times as ‘An exercise in literary tag-teaming from two of Norway’s biggest crime writers with a bold new take’, Unhinged is the third in the authors’ crime series featuring police investigator Alexander Blix and young news blogger Emma Ramm. I haven’t read either of the previous two books in the series and I’m kicking myself for not having done so now because there are too many references to events in the earlier books to make it worthwhile. However, that does mean Unhinged can definitely be read as a standalone.
The book opens with Blix being questioned about how and why he came to shoot a man whose identity he claims not to have known. The story then alternates between Blix’s interrogation and descriptions of the events which led up to that moment, including how his daughter, Iselin, came to become involved. As the book demonstrates, actions have consequences – often unintended – and the results can be life-changing. A dramatic event part way through the book threatens to destroy Blix and Emma’s relationship irreparably, a relationship already complicated by their past experiences. It also makes Blix reflect on actions he’s taken in the past, wondering if his interventions have done more harm than good and sending him into a spiral of depression that sees him lonely, isolated and in a very dark place. He is emotionally ‘unhinged’.
Meanwhile, Emma’s journalistic instincts see her continue to investigate just why someone might have wanted to kill Sofia Kovic. What did Sofia know that would make her a target for an execution style killing? Perhaps someone else out there is also ‘unhinged’ but in a much more destructive way?
At one point Blix describes his approach to a new case: ‘He always looked for things like this in an investigation. Discrepancies. Things that didn’t quite fit.’ When reading crime fiction this reader is the same but the authors are masters in the art of inserting red herrings and laying false trails that you can’t resist following but which usually result in a dead end. The book is full of ‘I can’t believe you just did that’ and ‘I wasn’t expecting that’ moments along with a few ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea, Blix’ and ‘I definitely don’t think that’s a good idea, Emma’.
The ending of the book had me cursing and wiping away tears at the same time. But after all, as Thomas Enger confides in the authors’ acknowledgments – which, by the way, is sheer genius – ‘I know all about cliffhangers’.
Thanks to Orenda Books and the skill of translator Megan Turney, English speaking crime fans can enjoy another fabulous helping of Nordic Noir. I’m not a fan of the word ‘unputdownable’ and I’m not going to use it now (okay, I just have) but the deliciously complex plot and relentless pace of Unhinged makes it the perfect one sitting read. It’s brilliant.
In three words: Taut, compelling, intense
Try something similar: A Memory for Murder by Anne Holt
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About the Authors
Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger are the internationally bestselling Norwegian authors of the William Wisting and Henning Juul series respectively.
A former investigator in the Norwegian police, Horst imbues all his works with an unparalleled realism and suspense. Thomas Enger is a journalist-turned-author whose trademark has become a darkly gritty voice paired with key social messages and tight plotting. Besides writing fiction for both adults and young adults, Enger also works as a music composer.
Death Deserved was Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger’s first co-written thriller, closely followed by Smoke Screen, and the series has sold more than two million copies worldwide, outselling Jo Nesbo in their native Norway, Sweden and Germany.
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