After finishing "Stalker" I was surprised to see that the book format is 640 pages. I tore through this thing like the famous hot knife through . . .

Well, when you finish "Stalker" you'll know what I mean.

With the outpouring about sexual harassment following the Kavanough confirmation, I wasn't sure I wanted to read a book full of women victims, but once I got started on "Stalker" it was impossible to stop. Lars Kepler's books include interesting psychological slants courtesy of the psychiatrist and hypnotist Erik Maria Bark, a badly flawed and deeply interesting character. DS Margot Silverman leads the police search for killer who posts videos of his victims in the moments before he enters their homes. She's days from having her third child, always hungry and very uncomfortable.. She refuses to go on maternity leave until this killer is caught.

So where's Joona Linna, the Finnish detective believed dead? Well, not. Joona reappears. He's another one of those characters who's such a fascinating mess you can't wait for him to show up in a scene. This novel works as a stand-alone but you will definitely want to go back and catch up on Joona's story.

How to do many of these really hair-raising crime stories come from countries with little crime? The two writers who equal Lars Kepler are all in on creating frighting, exciting, and un-putdownable stories. If you get that little frisson of pleasure at a truly chilling story, you'll love "Stalker."