Thank you to Knopf Books, #partner, for a finished copy of The Spider in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Published: July 25, 2023
Summary:
A killer is spinning a sinister web and the police are caught dead center.
Three years ago, Saga Bauer received a postcard with a threatening message. It mentioned a gun and nine white bullets–one of which was intended for Detective Joona Linna. According to the anonymous sender, Saga was the only person who could save him. But as time passed, the threat faded. That is, until now.
A sack with a decomposing body has been found tied to a tree in the forest, and a milky white bullet casing turns up at the scene. Soon, the police begin to receive complicated riddles from the killer, taunting them with opportunities to stop further murders. Joona Linna and Saga Bauer struggle to solve the riddles and save further victims before it’s too late. As the hunt becomes increasingly desperate, it appears that the killer is unstoppable . . . and that Linna and Bauer may already be caught in the killer’s web.
My thoughts:
This is the 9th book in Lars Kepler’s Joona Linna series and it is without a doubt one of my favorite series despite how dark and disturbing it is. I just love not only the storylines that this husband-wife writing team comes up with but also the writing itself – it is so completely captivating and thrilling.
While this book could be read as a stand-alone, I really think that you will appreciate having read a few of the prior books to fully understand what is going on in this book. There are threads that are pulled up that will just make more sense if you have read the earlier books. Plus, they are really good books!
That being said, this book, as is this case with most of this series, is once again not for the faint of heart. It is intense and it most definitely gets under your skin. But what I love most is that while I am reading the book – and let me just say this is no slim book coming in at just about 500 pages – I can think of nothing else! Once I start reading these books, I become so consumed with what is going on, that I want nothing more than to just read…and read and read until I am done. And with this latest installment I needed to do that. I needed to find out who was behind things and what a cat and mouse game it turned out to be!
I loved that Saga Bauer featured so much in this one. While technically on leave, she still manages to get herself involved in the case because she is the one getting the post cards and feels a responsibility to solve the case so her friend doesn’t end up with a bullet. I love her determination and the stubbornness of her character.
The twists in this one kept me guessing all the way until the end and I could not read fast enough! This fast-paced, complex story kept me glued to the pages and the tension was there all the way through. Now we just need to wait until the next book comes out…hopefully sooner than later!
Books in this series:
- The Hypnotist
- The Nightmare
- The Fire Witness
- The Sandman
- Stalker
- The Rabbit Hunter
- Lazarus
- The Mirror Man
- The Spider
- ???
