Thank you Dreamscape Media/Netgalley, #partner for the ALC of The Collector in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Published: November 8, 2022
Summary:
When ten-year-old Lukas disappears from his Copenhagen school, police investigators discover that the boy had a peculiar obsession with pareidolia: a phenomenon that makes him see faces in random things. A photo on his phone, posted just hours before his disappearance, shows an old barn door that resembles a face. Journalist Heloise Kaldan thinks she recognizes the barn—but from where?
When Lukas’s blood-flecked jacket is found in the moat at Copenhagen’s Citadel, DNA evidence points to Thomas Strand, a former soldier suffering from severe PTSD. But then Strand turns up dead in his apartment, shot in the head execution style.
What did the last person to see Lukas really witness that morning in the school yard? Was it really Lukas, or was it an optical illusion? Can you ever truly trust your eyes?
My thoughts:
This is the second book in Anne Mette Hancock’s new Danish crime series and dare I say I loved this one just a bit more than the first book in the series, The Corpse Flower, which I really enjoyed! This is the perfect book to read for #NordicNoirNovember and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book in the series!
While this book could definitely work as a stand-alone, there are references to the previous book, so of course I would recommend reading that one first. There are a few threads involving Heloise’s personal life that will make more sense if you do read book 1, but that’s not to say that you can’t read this one first and then go back and read The Corpse Flower after.
I was hooked from the very beginning with this book and never felt that intensity let up. Missing children aren’t necessarily my favorite trope, but the way this one played out, with so many moving parts, kept me fully engaged. There was another storyline also playing out involving the murder of a former soldier and I was so eager to find out how these two cases would intersect – because you just know they are going to at some point.
I had never heard of pareidolia before and loved that I was able to learn a bit about it. It’s touches like this that add such depth to the story. Again, we see that the characters we meet are as complex and layered as the story is which makes for a much more exciting and dynamic reading experience. And I found that nothing is as it seems – and I find these are my favorite kinds of stories to read!
This book really kept me on my toes and I loved that I had no idea where it was heading. There are many twists and turns that will make your head spin. I was completely surprised by the way it all came together and that ending totally blew me away. I hope the next book is translated into English soon because this is a series I need to continue sooner rather than later!
Audio thoughts:
This series is so good on audio and I was thrilled to see that the same narrator from the first book, Laura Jennings, was back to narrate the second one. I’m such a big fan of consistency when it comes to narrating series, when it makes sense, which it does here. Laura does such a great job bringing this book to life, especially with all the pronunciations of places and names. I hope she continues to narrate this series for as long as it goes on.
Books in this series:
- The Corpse Flower
- The Collector
- Pitbull – (Not exactly sure of this title or when it’s coming out in the US)
