Review: Hostage by Kristina Ohlsson

Title: Hostage

Author: Kristina Ohlsson

Series: Fredrika Bergman & Alex Recht, #4

Published: November 2015, Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Format: Paperback, 387 pages

Source: Personal copy

Summary: 

Investigative analyst
Fredrika Bergman tackles a new case—this time involving the US
government—in the next pulse-pounding book in Kristina Ohlsson’s
internationally acclaimed crime series.

Shortly after a crowded
New York-bound Boeing 747 takes off from Stockholm, a bomb threat is
found in one of the aircraft’s lavatories. The demands are directed at
both the Swedish and US governments.

Police superintendent Alex
Recht teams up with the energetic and often abrasive Eden Lundell from
the security service’s counterterrorism unit to deal with the hijacking.
Fredrika Bergman, who is currently working at the Justice Department,
returns to the police force to act as a liaison between the government
and the police.

The investigation team soon realizes that the
plot behind the hijacking is far more complex than they initially
thought, and they also must battle against the US government’s fear of a
new terrorist attack. Now it’s a race against time as Fredrika, Alex,
and Eden search for possibilities to save the plane and its passengers.
Will they find a solution before the plane runs out of fuel?

My thoughts:  This is the fourth book in Kristina Ohlsson’sFredrika
Bergman and Alex Recht series and I have loved catching up on this series. I read book 5, The Chosen, a few years back and am so glad I decided to read the earlier books. But now I’m bummed because there is a 6th book published, but it is not available here in the states yet.

This particular installment was quite intense and very interesting as it dealt with terrorism. It was very interesting to read about this from another country’s perspective and knowing that Kristina Ohlsson herself held the position of Counter-Terrorism at Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It definitely made for some interesting reading for sure – her commentary, even in a fictional book, were eye-opening, and I say that as an American. I get the criticisms. 

I loved that once again the character development – my favorite aspect of this series – is so spot on. This case takes a personal hit for Alex Recht and he certainly has his work cut out for him but he doesn’t let it affect him. Fredrika Bergman, working in a new position, is thrilled to be teaming up with Alex. My only complaint, albeit minor, is her constant second-guessing of things. She always seems to be thinking they have missing something. It does get a bit too much tedious at times.

I do love that at just the right time, Kristina Ohlsson leaves us with cliffhangers at the ends of certain chapters, just begging us to continue reading. It’s like she doesn’t want us to put the book down, for fear of losing the momentum of the story. But as you make your way through, it does become a race against the clock to see if the team can figure out what is going on before the plane runs out of fuel. Will they succeed without any casualties? 

I cannot recommend this series enough. And as I like to remind you with any series, I do suggest reading them in order so you can fully appreciate the strong character development that the author has given us. But as far as a crime fiction story goes, this one is good!

Books in this series:    

1. Unwanted
2. Silenced
3. The Disappeared
4. Hostage
5. The Chosen