His colleague is dead. His daughter may be next. It’s time to do things his way…
Two of Nordic Noir’s most accomplished writers return with the explosive, staggeringly complex and unbearably emotive third instalment in the international bestselling Blix & Ramm series.
When police investigator Sofia Kovic uncovers a startling connection between several Oslo cases, she attempts to contact her closest superior, Alexander Blix, before involving anyone else in the department. But before Blix has time to return her call, Kovic is shot and killed in her own home – execution style. And in the apartment below, Blix’s daughter Iselin narrowly escapes becoming the killer’s next victim.
Four days later, Blix and online crime journalist Emma Ramm are locked inside an interrogation room, facing the National Criminal Investigation Service. Blix has shot and killed a man, and Ramm saw it all happen.
As Iselin’s life hangs in the balance, under-fire Blix no longer knows who he can trust, and he’s not even certain that he’s killed the right man…
My Review
Thanks to the team at Orenda for organising this blog tour and for sending me a copy of this novel. I was looking forward to this book, having loved the first two in the series, and I was not disappointed.
This structure of this novel was unexpected, after reading the two previous Blix and Ramm novels, Death Deserved and Smoke Screen. We see Blix and Ramm being interrogated about events in the previous two days in the first part with the story being told in flashbacks to answer the investigators’ questions, and then in the second part the structure returns to a more straightforward structure as we follow Blix through his grief and Ramm’s investigation into Kovac’s death. Between them, despite the pressure from the official investigation to keep out of it, the pair discover the link between several cases and Kovac’s death.
This book takes the main characters to a very dark place mentally and Blix’s grief is palpable. Serious mental distress, family loss, grief and suicide are all part of the plot. It might be a bit much for some people. Also, don’t turn to the last couple of pages and try to work out what’s going to happen, because it’ll mislead you. I’m pretty certain Blix is going to survive…
I started reading the book yesterday (Saturday) but then needed a nap and got distracted crocheting after that. So this afternoon I sat down and read the remaining 200+ pages. I absolutely had to find out what happened, why Blix and Ramm were being interrogated, and why Iselin was in hospital. The first part answered those questions, but it was part two that I was gripped by, as Blix goes a bit mad then sets out to find his answers.
The way the authors took Blix to such a dark place, the reactions of his colleagues and the bureaucracy that makes the situation so much worse, is exquisitely painful and absorbing. Emma Ramm’s distress at losing REDACTED and possibly her friendship with Blix is well-written and her determination to find answers pushes the story forward.
The interweaving of two perspectives adds tension as we race towards the end. Will Emma get there on time? Will the confession be recorded? What has Columbo got to do with anything?
Also, excellent red-herring. I was certain right up until Emma went to the boat yard that it was a police cover-up. I don’t want to give too much away, but REDACTED is definitely a novel angle.
A riveting read as Blix and Ramm race around Oslo.
Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger are the internationally bestselling Norwegian authors of the William Wisting and Henning Juul series respectively.
A former investigator in the Norwegian police, Horst imbues all his works with an unparalleled realism and suspense.
Thomas Enger is a journalist-turned-author whose trademark has become a
darkly gritty voice paired with key social messages and tight plotting. Besides writing fiction for both adults and young adults, Enger also works as a music composer.
Death Deserved was Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger’s
first co-written thriller, closely followed by Smoke Screen, and the series has sold more than two million copies worldwide, outselling Jo Nesbo in their native Norway, Sweden and Germany. @LierHorst @EngerThomas.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 
Thanks for the blog tour support x
No problem x