The Rabbit Hunter by Lars Kepler

The Rabbit Hunter by Lars Kepler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 5 days

Pages - 512

Publisher - Knopf

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

The sixth novel in the Joona Linna thriller series, The Rabbit Hunter, sees the renegade detective superintendent emerging from a prison sentence to solve a bizarre and macabre crime.

Joona Linna has spent two years in a high security prison when he is taken off to attend a secret meeting. The police need his help to stop a mysterious killer who goes by the name of the Rabbit Hunter. The only connection between the victims is that they all hear a child chanting a rhyme about rabbits before the killer strikes. A quirk of fate unexpectedly places celebrity chef Rex Müller at the centre of events. He is about to spend time with his son Sammy for the first time, but instead of three relaxing weeks, he finds himself in a terrifying fight for survival. Joona Linna and Saga Bauer are forced to work together in secret to put a stop to the Rabbit Hunter before it's too late. You never know what fate has in store for you, or what might catch up with you if you don't start running right now.

Thriller maestro Lars Kepler is back with a new page-turner about Detective Superintendent Joona Linna.



My Review

I haven't read all of the previous books in the serious but I did read at least one and like it, I need to go back and read the others. Linna is in jail but the powers that be need his help to catch a serial killer, The Rabbit Hunter and the killers targets are very high profile people in society. In and out leaving no traces but he does leave a witness at the first scene, leaving the police to ponder the significance. A race against time to figure out who is the next target, how the killer is picking them and try and get to the target before the killer does.

So there are a few things to highlight in the book, there are a few graphic sex scenes so if you get upset by things like that you can get by skimming them as they aren't throughout the whole book. Animal cruelty, again it isn't through the whole book but there is enough and when it is, it is hard going. The killers name becomes clear and poor wee rabbits, really horrific to read.

The book centers around the investigation, the agencies involved and bringing Linna out of jail, we visit him just prior to this and follow him as he helps the investigation. Linna is a great character, a good guy, smart as and can look after himself (think Jack Reacher style).

Lots of action, some very questionable behaviour, murder, violence, abuse, sex, past & present as ever intertwining. Pacey and very engaging, I found the animal stuff though, brief in the bits it showed up, really difficult to get past though but relevant to the killer and background. I get the why but still find animal stuff really hard to read, 3.5/5 for me. I will absolutely be reading this author again and looking forward to the next book in the series!

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Stalker by Lars Kepler Blog Tour

Today is my stop on the blog tour and the final stop, I am sharing today with fellow blogger Karen Twitter who blogs over at Hair Past A Freckle, we are closing the tour.

I did a bookstagram piccy with the book, you can find my Instagram HERE if you like book accounts.




I am sharing my review as part of the tour.

This is the book cover and you can buy your own copy now, available as ebook and treebook format, here is the link to Amazon!


Stalker by Lars Kepler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out 2 days

Pages - 560

Publisher - Knopf Publishing Group

Source - Review Copy

Blurb from Goodreads

The internationally bestselling authors of The Sandman and The Hypnotist return with a terrifying new thriller: Detective Joona Linna--recently returned from compassionate leave--reunites with hypnotist Erik Maria Bark in a search for a seemingly unassailable sadistic killer.

The Swedish National Crime Unit receives a video of a young woman in her home, clearly unaware that she's being watched. Soon after the tape is received, the woman's body is found horrifically mutilated. With the arrival of the next, similar video, the police understand that the killer is toying with them, warning of a new victim, knowing there's nothing they can do. Detective Margot Silverman is put in charge of the investigation, and soon asks Detective Joona Linna for help. Linna, in turn, recruits Erik Maria Bark, the hypnotist and expert in trauma, with whom Linna's worked before. Bark is leery of forcing people to give up their secrets. But this time, Bark is the one hiding things.
Years before, he had put a man away for an eerily similar crime, and now he's beginning to think that an innocent man may be behind bars--and a serial killer still on the loose. . .




My Review

Welcome to the team seeking a brutal voyeuristic killer who videos the unsuspecting victim, sends it to the cops and then goes in for the kill. Hot on their tail is psychiatrist and hypnotist Erik Maria Bark brought in by detective Margot Silverman, heavily pregnant and against the clock before the killer strikes again.

This is my first time reading this author and although this is book five I still managed to keep up with the story, characters and didn't feel particularly lost not knowing all their back story. The book gives an intimate look at the characters, we get an insight into the victims right before they meet their killer. The book has a lot of focus on police procedure, the investigation and the victims immediately before the brutal murder and during.

The chapters are relatively short which I love, if you work long shifts but still like to read everyday or are struggling to keep switched on it offers you the option to dip in and out without causing much distraction.

It is pacey, dark, hair raising, riveting and down right creepy at points. There is so much going on I don't think we will ever see the word boring associated with this book! From questionable practices, unreliable characters we get to follow the professionals in a game of cat and mouse before another is killed.

This isn't a book for the faint hearted, if you like to be creeped out and enjoy multiple characters/plot lines with a killer you will struggle to figure out then this is absolutely for you. I am not a huge fan of translated books but I really enjoyed this one and will be checking out the previous books in the series. I cannot wait to hear more about these guys and what is still to come for them, 4/5 for me this time. Thanks to the publishers for giving me a chance to try a new author, it may be my first dance with this author it certainly won't be my last.

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