You’ll never feel relaxed around yellow raincoats again
Do you enjoy reading scary stories that can make the wee hairs stand up on the back of your neck? I have just the book for you.
“Stalker” by Lars Kepler is the most frightening novel I have encountered in years.
The name “Lars Kepler” is the pen name for a Swedish husbandand-wife writing team. Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril have collaborated on a number of books in their series, which features the Swedish National Crime Unit and a sleuth named Joona Linda. “Stalker” is the latest one to be issued in the U.S.
While the authors known as Lars Kepler might be relatively unknown over here, they are a publishing sensation elsewhere. They have sold over 13 million books and their titles have been translated into 40 languages.
While it isn’t essential to read these books in any order, it is useful to know what has taken place previously in the series. As this story opens, Joona Linda has disappeared. He’s left the police force and he’s living in a remote location with his daughter. He’s hiding out because a serial killer in a previous story has for years been hunting for Joona and his family.
There’s speculation that the serial killer might finally be dead, but the police have been having trouble proving that is the case. He was notoriously hard to kill. Besides the serial killer there are several other recurring characters in these novels. One of them is a psychiatrist named Erik Maria Bark — he specializes in hypnosis.
Another recurring character is a police officer named Saga Bauer. Her dazzling beauty belies the fact that she possesses lethal skills and is quite willing to demonstrate them without a moment’s pause. Joona and Saga battled that serial killer together. As the stalker of the title starts out upon what eventually becomes a killing spree, Saga locates Joona at his hideaway and persuades him to return to Stockholm.
When Joona appears at police headquarters he receives a mixed reception. The police have moved on since he left the force and some of them are openly hostile toward him. It doesn’t help matters that he looks somewhat disheveled and unkempt after his long sojourn as a recluse.
Initially Joona seems uninterested in the current investigation, but once his sleuthing appetite has gotten whetted he begins barrelling into the case despite his civilian status. There’s one thing to know about Joona Linda; he’s always right.
On the cover of “Stalker” there’s a picture of the rear view of someone who is wearing a yellow raincoat. This is the signature garb worn by the killer. Erik the psychiatrist becomes hideously entangled in the investigation. This story is gruesome and violent and brilliantly conceived.
The stunning conclusion to “Stalker” will surely deliver an exhilarating shock for Lars Kepler’s readers. The identity of the spree killer came as a complete surprise to this reviewer. The final showdown with the perpetrator is utterly ingenious and is guaranteed to induce nightmares. Don’t read this book late at night.