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.
One of Kepler’s trademarks is the upfront, in-your-face descriptive paragraphs that pepper the narrative from beginning to end. I’m not just talking about the violent vignettes, which in a few (but not all) instances will melt your face off. I also am describing the collateral damage, where tables fly, glass shatters, people slip, and all manner and sorts of mayhem ensue. One reads and looks up in amazement to find their own environs relatively unscathed. Oh, and in the middle of Stalker, there is the mystery concerning the identity of the serial killer. For me, the revelation was the same as if someone had dropped a bunch of lit matches on my lap ... These books are the best legal drug you could possibly ask for. And what’s terrific is that you can use it over and over until the next installment is published in the United States, which hopefully will be as soon as possible.
Kepler delivers a page-turning hunt for an expertly camouflaged killer that draws shocking connections between the hallowed halls of the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm’s prostitution and drug scene, and Sweden’s rural churches. The author’s dark, complex procedurals are must-reads for readers drawn to Stieg Larsson, Mons Kallentoft, and Michael Connelly.
As gripping as it was disturbing ... The accounts of the killings are very explicit, written in vivid, sickening detail, and the first chapters felt excessively graphic. Once the hunt for the killer begins in earnest, I was happy to leave the horror of the early murders behind ... a wild ride ... The fast-paced chapters and devious plot twists left me hypnotized and eager to find the stalker’s identity. Now, I might just want to be hypnotized to have the images of the murders purged from my memory.
