Review: Lazarus - Vilma Iris | Lifestyle Blogger

Sometimes the past won’t stay buried.

All across Europe, the most ruthless criminals are suffering gruesome deaths. At first, it seems coincidental that their underworld affiliations are finally catching up to them. But when two of the victims are found to have disturbing connections to Detective Joona Linna, it becomes clear that there’s a single killer at work. Still, police are reluctant to launch an investigation. If a mysterious vigilante is making their jobs easier, why stand in his way? Joona, however, is convinced this is no
would-be hero. These deaths serve a much darker purpose.

Desperate for help, Joona turns to Saga Bauer. If his hunch is correct, she’s one of the few people who stands a chance at bringing this criminal mastermind down. But Saga is fighting her own demons—and the killer knows just how to use them to his advantage. He continues to strike with impunity, and no one, it seems, is safe. When the killer begins targeting those closest to Saga and Joona, it appears more and more likely that Joona has been right all along, and that tracking down the person responsible will force him to confront a ghost from his past . . . the most terrifying villain he’s ever had to face.

Series:

Joona Linna

Book 7

Book Type:

Thriller

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WHILE TECHNICALLY CAN BE READ AS A STANDALONE, RECOMMEND READING THE SANDMAN PRIOR TO LAZARUS.

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Lazarus
By Lars Kepler

Review: Lazarus

With Lazarus, Swedish husband-and-wife duo Lars Kepler delivers an explosive, emotional and utterly terrifying chapter in the Joona Linna series.

The story opens with a grisly murder in Oslo and an unexpected connection to Detective Joona Linna. When a second murder leads to another connection, investigators bring him in for questioning. Joona soon realizes this is the work of a singular killer, and if it’s whom he suspects, the game has only just begun.

The nature of the murders brings into question whether Joona’s adversary—the villainous Jurek Walter, could still be alive. Walter, a highly intelligent and deeply manipulative psychopath, thrived on inflecting utter devastation to those he plotted against. Last they saw him, however, Saga watched his bullet-riddled body swept away by the current.

But as new evidence emerges and those closest to Joona and Saga are targeted, Joona has no doubt he’s facing the ruthless ghost from his past, resurrected in a new, truly terrifying way.

The novel—equal parts procedural and horror story—unfurls in staccato chapters which ratchet nearly unbearable tension. With emotion and an unexpected intimacy, the dark tale spirals to depths that take your breath away. I couldn’t help but devour every page, especially as these characters we’ve come to love face the most unprecedented, up-close-and-personal circumstances.

One of the aspects I loved the most about this book is that we spent more time with Saga Bauer, who in many ways is the antithesis to Joona. The path they each traverse in LAZARUS couldn’t be more divergent, the consequences of which they will bear by the jaw-dropping end.

True to style, Kepler pulls no punches, unflinchingly portraying violence and trauma. And it’s that approach, coupled with the emotional devastation of what transpires, that makes every Lars Kepler book extraordinary (and me, a reader for life).

Dark, chilling and coursing with adrenaline, this is one of my favorite thrillers of the year.

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