Inborn by Thomas Enger Blog Tour

Today is my turn on the blog tour for "Inborn" by Thomas Enger, a Random Things Tour, please check out the other stops as we all offer different content.




When a murder takes place in a village high school a teenager finds himself subject to trial by social media … and in the dock. A taut, moving and chilling thriller by one of Nordic Noir’s most exceptional writers.





THE AUTHOR Thomas Enger is a former journalist. He made his debut with the crime novel Burned in 2010, which became an international sensation before publication, and marked the first in the bestselling Henning Juul series. Rights to the series have been sold to 28 countries to date. In 2013 Enger published his first book for young adults, a dark fantasy thriller called The Evil Legacy, for which he won the U-prize (best book Young Adult). Killer Instinct, upon which Inborn is based, and another Young Adult suspense novel, was published in Norway in 2017 and won the same prestigious prize. Most recently, Thomas has cowritten a thriller with Jørn Lier Horst. Enger also composes music, and he lives in Oslo.
You can find Thomas on Twitter
And on Facebook, give his wee page a like for follow for author updates, click here


SALES & MARKETING NOTES • STANDALONE THRILLER … won all major awards in Norway • Bound proofs in November • YA crossover with relevant, emotive themes • Author will appear at multiple festivals and a two-week tour of the UK in Feb/March • Part of Creative Europe translation grant package ‘A gripping narrative that begs comparison to Stieg Larsson’ Bookpage • ‘One of the most unusual and intense writers in the field’ Independent • ‘An intriguing new voice in crime’ NJ Cooper • ‘Spine-chilling and utterly unputdownable. Thomas Enger has created a masterpiece of intrigue, fastpaced action and suspense that is destined to become Nordic Noir classic’ Yrsa Sigurðardóttir • ‘Satisfyingly tense and dark … a deep and complex book’ Sunday Times Crime Club




THE BOOK

When the high school in the small Norwegian village of Fredheim becomes a murder scene, the finger is soon pointed at seventeen-year-old Even. As the investigation closes in, social media is ablaze with accusations, rumours and even threats, and Even finds himself the subject of an online trial as well as being in the dock … for murder? Even pores over his memories of the months leading up to the crime, and it becomes clear that more than one villager was acting suspiciously … and secrets are simmering beneath the calm surface of this close-knit community. As events from the past play tag with the present, he’s forced to question everything he thought he knew. Was the death of his father in a car crash a decade earlier really accidental? Has his relationship stirred up something that someone is prepared to kill to protect? It seems that there may be no one that Even can trust. But can we trust him? A taut, moving and chilling thriller, Inborn examines the very nature of evil, and asks the questions: How well do we really know our families? How well do we know ourselves?

You can buy your own copy from the 21st on February from Amazon

For my stop on the tour I have my review of the book:
Inborn by Thomas Enger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1.5 days

Pages - 276

Publisher - Orenda Books

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

When the high school in the small Norwegian village of Fredheim becomes a murder scene, the finger is soon pointed at seventeen-year-old Even. As the investigation closes in, social media is ablaze with accusations, rumours and even threats, and Even finds himself the subject of an online trial as well as being in the dock… for murder? Even pores over his memories of the months leading up to the crime, and it becomes clear that more than one villager was acting suspiciously… and secrets are simmering beneath the calm surface of this close-knit community. As events from the past play tag with the present, he's forced to question everything he thought he knew. Was the death of his father in a car crash a decade earlier really accidental? Has his relationship stirred up something that someone is prepared to kill to protect? It seems that there may be no one that Even can trust. But can we trust him? A taut, moving and chilling thriller, Inborn examines the very nature of evil, and asks the questions: How well do we really know our families? How well do we know ourselves?


My Review

We open at the night of the murder, the prologue and what kicks everything off, a brutal slaying. We then go to "NOW" Even is seventeen and this is his first time in court. The chapters alternate between "THEN" the night of the murder and what follows sequentially and "NOW" with Even in court. As we flip between the two timelines we see the story start to unfold, can we trust the narrator, can we trust anyone? Who has reason to kill and how can you find your killer when everyone is a suspect.

This is another translated book and again another I have really enjoyed, either the books I have read before just didn't work for me, I have grown as a reader or these are just really really good. Even is seventeen and the perfect suspect for the crime, of course he is when so many things point to him. He is tried by social media, suspected by those close to him and being seventeen his actions lead the reader to suspect him too. To be fair I suspected everyone and flip flopped back and forth on so many characters and didn't have a clue to be honest. A book that keeps you on your toes with many red herrings, I felt like the good auld days watching Murder She Wrote everyone was a suspect!

The chapters are pretty short which as you know by now I love as it allows me to dip in and out when working and only get a chance to read after work. It also hinders sleep as you are up half the night with the old chestnut "just one more chapter". This was my first dance with this author it won't be my last. Murder, police procedural, investigation, family, love, teen angst, relationships and whilst duo timelines don't always work it did in this tale. Before and after the events bringing us to an epic finale that will drop your wee jaw, even the readers who work out the motives/killers I think will be hard pushed to solve this bad boy! 4/5 for me this time, I will be checking out the other offerings by this author.

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Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 280

Publisher - Vintage

Blurb from Goodreads

First in the Kurt Wallander series. Winner of the inaugural Glass Key Award.

It was a senselessly violent crime: on a cold night in a remote Swedish farmhouse an elderly farmer is bludgeoned to death, and his wife is left to die with a noose around her neck. And as if this didn’t present enough problems for the Ystad police Inspector Kurt Wallander, the dying woman’s last word is foreign, leaving the police the one tangible clue they have–and in the process, the match that could inflame Sweden’s already smoldering anti-immigrant sentiments.

Unlike the situation with his ex-wife, his estranged daughter, or the beautiful but married young prosecutor who has piqued his interest, in this case, Wallander finds a problem he can handle. He quickly becomes obsessed with solving the crime before the already tense situation explodes, but soon comes to realize that it will require all his reserves of energy and dedication to solve.


My Review

The tale opens with an older gentleman being disturbed during the night, upon exploring what woke him up he finds his elderly neighbour slain. The police investigate and we are introduced to Inspector Kurt Wallander, as the tale goes on we learn more about him and his dysfunctional relationship with his daughter. As the investigation goes on, tempers flare, racism rises its ugly head and lives hang in the balance as the police try to uncover the murderer.

I personally think so much of this book has been lost in translation, it seemed disjointed, lots of things left unanswered and in some points more question raised. I was bored reading it, some parts worked well but so much of it just seemed irrelevant or nothing to do with the plot.

I wouldn't read another in this series unless I could do so in the language it was published in as I think there was so much promise however for me, it fell flat, 2/5 this time for me. Lots of people seemed to like it though so give it a bash and I would love to hear your thoughts on it!

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