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A review by the_joyful_book_club
The Spider by Lars Kepler
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I have mixed feelings about this book. Some parts were so, SO good, and then it kind of fell apart for me.
This story starts with Saga Bauer at her miserable private-eye job. She's been on leave from the National Crime Unit and wants to go back but worries she won't pass her exams to be reinstated to operative (active) duty. Joona Linna and Saga have worked together before, and suddenly, Joona finds himself investigating a fairly grisly murder of a colleague. The white bullet recovered immediately triggers the memory from three years prior and the hunt is on.
I did listen to the audiobook of "The Spider" which is narrated by Saul Reichlin. His narration is excellent, and kept my attention the entire time.
This book was so good and I was so pumped to have finally listened to it...until I hit the 70% mark. This story is already long, at just under 500 pages and 17 hours in audio length. But by this point, the characters started making dumb moves that really made no sense. There is even a point where the detectives are turning on each other, and lying to one another and it just felt absurdly dumb. It kind of killed the story for me.
That said, the ending itself does get resolved and the case comes to a close. The story itself is well-written and the characters and plot are fully developed. This book is part of the Killer Instinct novels, but this was my first one and everything made sense to me. I never felt confused or lost in the story.
If you enjoy a darker thriller that is set in Sweden with a lot of action, this might be your next favorite read!
This story starts with Saga Bauer at her miserable private-eye job. She's been on leave from the National Crime Unit and wants to go back but worries she won't pass her exams to be reinstated to operative (active) duty. Joona Linna and Saga have worked together before, and suddenly, Joona finds himself investigating a fairly grisly murder of a colleague. The white bullet recovered immediately triggers the memory from three years prior and the hunt is on.
I did listen to the audiobook of "The Spider" which is narrated by Saul Reichlin. His narration is excellent, and kept my attention the entire time.
This book was so good and I was so pumped to have finally listened to it...until I hit the 70% mark. This story is already long, at just under 500 pages and 17 hours in audio length. But by this point, the characters started making dumb moves that really made no sense. There is even a point where the detectives are turning on each other, and lying to one another and it just felt absurdly dumb. It kind of killed the story for me.
That said, the ending itself does get resolved and the case comes to a close. The story itself is well-written and the characters and plot are fully developed. This book is part of the Killer Instinct novels, but this was my first one and everything made sense to me. I never felt confused or lost in the story.
If you enjoy a darker thriller that is set in Sweden with a lot of action, this might be your next favorite read!