Jurek Walter is back! I am such a fan of this husband and wife team and especially love the Joona Linna series. This book was an edge of your seat thrill ride! The fast-paced storyline was absolutely absorbing and I could not put this book down. As always, the story is intricately detailed and you really begin to care about the characters. I cannot wait for the next one!

My thanks to NetGalley, the publishers, and the authors for allowing me to read and review this book, the latest in the Joona Linna series.

Former detective Joona Linna must earn back his original position after committing some atrocities in the past, where he had to serve time in prison. When he is called in to consult on two cases outside of Sweden, he finds clues that his arch-nemesis may still be alive. After consulting with his old team, he goes in to hiding, trusting that the rest of the team will catch Walter Jurek.

There is a lot of violence and death in this book, which reflects what the police are up against. It becomes a mental as well as a physical battle to save victims, as well as stay alive. In the end there are no winners.

I like the Joona Linna series by the husband and wife team of Lars Kepler, but their books are very dark.

HOLY COW!!!

I love this series - Joona Linna is incredible, Saga Bauer is amazing, Jurek Walter is a horrifyingly perfect villain, and the investigations, pursuit, evasion, and supporting characters are all immaculate in construction, set up, and execution. The books are DARK, but there is a pathos to the series that has resonated with me from the first book.

In this latest installment, Jurek Walter is back. Or is he? Someone is following very closely in his notorious footsteps and no one believes Joona when he calls the alarm... The story that builds from here is bloody, vicious, devious, and glorious. It is, that is, perfectly Lars Kepler-esque. The husband-wife writing team that produces this series is marvelous. The writing, the pacing, the revelations - all are spot-on. The characters - both heroes and villains - are broken and bent in myriad ways, and watching them navigate their environs - both emotional and physical - provides readers with a delirious trippy experience that is horrible and delightful at the same time.

I can't say a lot more - it would give stuff away and I wouldn't spoil this read for anything... Trust me when I say it's another perfect installment in a fantastic series. And the ending - OH MY GOODNESS, I couldn't believe it all! It definitely left things open and I'm so very glad it did - this series is too good to end, although I do hope poor Joona gets a well-deserved break one day...

This book was so difficult to get through. Just unrelenting bleakness and brutality. Even then ending it completely without hope. Truly just a completely unenjoyable book to read. I think I'm done with this series now, despite having quite enjoyed some of the earlier books.

⋒ 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 ⋒ LAZARUS by Lars Kepler

𝑻𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍, 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒃𝒊𝒅 - 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒔 @𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘥:
The character development in this book is insane! I haven’t read any Lars Kepler novels before this one - that’s changing ... immediately buying them all!

I had no idea who the characters were, but my favorite would have to be Saga. Her tough as nails exterior and sensitive interior drew me to her, much like how I am myself.

I enjoying the pumping pulse that ran through my veins reading this novel, the ever-turning of pages to see what happened next!

I enjoyed the simple, yet soothing vibe of scenes being written in almost a way a play would be written sometimes. It gave the cold hard facts, no fluff, and all the thrill and morbidly, beautiful horror in a great crime thriller!

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 :
That I didn’t ultimately knew what exactly happened to Saga and what the plans of the Beaver actually are, though I have my thoughts ... but that would spoil the fun.

𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙊𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣 + 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 :
Ashamed to admit, this was my first @larskepler novel.

This was my first ARC.

I had a huge build up for this novel & it had a lot to live up to. As I started this E-ARC from @netgalley I had a hard time reading due to the lighting of my iPad, that was fixed.

I simply couldn’t put this novel down!

This novel is for literally the most die hard crime and thriller junkies who do not mind gruesome scenes, morbid accounts of crime scenes and who love love getting in the head of a criminal so disturbed it’ll make you blood boil!

𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 @𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 @𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘤𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭!
#𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘶𝘴 #𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺

𝙍𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙎𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙚 : ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

Also on goodreads.com/hertravelthroughcrime

If you are not into gruesome murders and a high body count this book is not for you. If, like me, you are this is a must-read!

"You look into the abyss, the abyss looks back at you"
Very true words and a very good to describe Joona Linna's life.

A badly decomposed body is found in a flat. In the same flat, the police find a chest freezer full of body parts. With these is the scull of Joona's wife that he buried a few years before. In a different location, a body is found and the police find out that the dead man phoned Joona. Two totally unrelated cases with 1 common denominator...Joona. Are these cases related or just random acts of violence? Joona is convinced it is the work of the notorious serial killer Jurek Walter.... but he was killed and they have evidence of his death.....or do they......

Very clever writing as usual. I love this series and it's definitely one of my favourites. I would definitely count Jurek in my top 3 serial killers in books. He is just so devious and a master of mind games!

I would have loved to give this five stars but here and there some of the scenes could have done with some more flesh especially at the end where Lumi is running for her life. The suspense is build up very well but then you don't see how it played out in the end.
Still, a brilliant read and I will not look at pearl earrings in the same way again! Do I see a link between Joona and the Beever's sister that will be revealed in the next book??

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Random House Canada and McClellan & Stewart for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is an intensely powerful novel that never lets up from page one and holds the reader in its profound grip until the ending.....and beyond.

Joona Linna is back and his worse fears are realized when it appears the notorious serial killer, Jurek Walter is not dead after all. Just like the biblical Lazarus it appears he has risen from the grave and is back to his old tricks. This revelation begins a trail of destruction and mayhem that never mitigates until the stunning conclusion.

Please don't overlook this book. I believe it will be published in December 2020 just in time for the holiday season. Buy it as a gift for yourself. Lazarus may have risen from the dead but in this story it is the devil himself who has come back to life.

Highly, highly recommend!

This is one of my favorite series. Joona Linna is back and his life is slowly looking up: he has a girlfriend, a job, a relationship with his daughter and only one person could spoil things for him. But Jurek Walter is dead, Saga shot him and there is no way he could have survived. Then again, this is a thriller and not a comedy so soon the blood hits the fan and Joona is convinced that somehow, like Lazarus, Walter is back from the dead. I’m not giving anything away here, because the twists and turns make the plot mostly unpredictable. No one is safe and the baddie is such a remarkable enemy that borders in super-villainy. Joona is not always the focus of the action but I didn’t mind because Saga takes over and she’s awesome. This new volume doesn’t disappoint.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/ Penguin Random House Canada!

Jeepers this was violent and gruesome even for Lars Kepler!

It's one with the most exciting premise -that being Joona's nemesis that is Jurek Walter could be back. There have been cases similar to the ones Jurek was involved with in both Germany and Norway. No one is going to believe Joona though are they. The DI shot him for gods sake! It must be a copycat surely.

The return to the Jurek era was devishly gory but fascinating at the same time. Tell you something though - don't be reading this at bedtime or when eating!

Thanks to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for providing an advance copy of the latest Joona Linna book! I love this series and it has eclipsed Jo Nesbo’s Harry Hole series as my favorite. I thought this book was great and probably better than a few of the more recent in the series. I liked that it was more than a Joona Linna vehicle, but almost using Saga Bauer as the main protagonist. That enhanced the story for me. As always, the tension in many parts was off the charts. I highly recommend this series, although I would start at the beginning to gain a better understanding of the characters’ back stories which seems fairly important to me for understanding the plot and their motivations.

Brilliant, I loved it. I always get excited when I see Lars Kepler has released a new book. I became a huge fan of both Authors after reading the first book in the series ‘Hypnotist’ in 2011, and all seven books have been a pleasure to read. This book literally had me on the edge of my seat. With an unpredictable killer on the loose, and no one safe, police included.
Detective Joona Linna is out of prison and may have a chance of getting his old job back. He’s a little bit unsettled when his name pops up in two different murder investigations, one in Norway and one in Germany. Someone is really out to mess with his head, and when he sees the victim in Germany Joona is immediately reminded of one of the worst serial killers he has every come across. Of course, Joona’s work colleagues don’t believe there is any chance that Jurek Walter is still alive, especially after Detective Superintendent Saga Bauer shot him to death. It surely must be some kind of copycat, or someone that Jurek left behind. They are going to have to work fast as the bodies keep piling up. I can’t believe the Authors have packed so much into this story. It really is a fabulous read. 5/5 Star Rating.

I refuse to believe that this book is part of an international bestselling series. I haven't read any of the other books. Instead, I choose to come into this blindly because the cover was interesting and it's from Sweden. When I was done "letting the book happen to me" because that's what it felt like, I tried to look up whether this was a translation or was written in English. There's nothing in the kindle copy which says, as far as I could find. Although it turns out the author is a husband-wife duo.

I am not a guy who does well with Grammar. I'm an ok writer but not great by any means. My mother thinks I should write professionally but mothers are like that. I'm very honest about my shortcomings. I'm also not a professional in the book industry, so take everything I say for my own opinion and nothing else.

It's not even a distaste but a pure disgust that I have for anyone's work of which they write like this:
The man...
The color of the door..
The boat...
The priest...
The hat...

I just made up those examples but the prologue did have a priest who took a boat to get somewhere so it's semi related. I find using "The" to start sentences over and over to be a poor standard. The section doesn't even pace well. Now, when the writers break out of this it does pick up but then they find themselves right back here. Sometimes I felt like an elementary school kid was writing. Other times I felt like it struggled between being a story I was about to get caught up in and then it pulled me out to sound like someone telling me what was going on instead of showing me. It could be the language barrier as I'm sure English isn't the writer's first language, being from Sweden and all. It may be for stylistic purposes that I feel just don't work. I'm hoping it's not a translator's choice to do this.

The story itself was alright. Presentation is key though, and this missed that mark.

Alexander and Alexandra Ahndoril have spoiled us throughout their writing career with their fascinating, high-octane thrillers of the notorious Joona Linna series and they never fail to amaze their loyal fans with their great stories and amazing plotlines. Lazarus is the seventh installment in this great series written by the Swedish married duo and one of the best as far as plot and characterization are concerned. Furthermore, this novel signals the return of one of the most terrifying villain characters in Nordic crime fiction, the vicious Jurek Walter whom we considered dead after the end of the fourth book in the series, The Sandman. Jurek Walter, Joona Linna's arch-nemesis, was shot three times in his torso by Saga Bauer and was then carried away by the river while at the same time his twin brother, Igor, was executed by Joona in his hiding place. Even though Jurek's whole body was never recovered, we saw in Stalker (#5) that Saga has found some definitive evidence that proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that Jurek was gone once and for all. Nevertheless, as the title of this book suggests, Jurek has come back from the land of the dead to haunt and exact his revenge from both Joona and Saga.

It should be noted, for all those who are not familiar with the previous books in this series, that we first read about Jurek Walter in the ending pages of The Fire Witness, where the two authors wrote about his history and relation with the main protagonist of the novels, Joona Linna. Jurek was one cruel serial-killer who was investigated and finally arrested by Joona a few years ago. After his trial, he promised Joona that he would find his wife, Suma, and daughter, Lumi, and take them away forever. Then, he would let Joona live on knowing that he couldn't save those whom he loved most and finally he would hang himself out of despair, unable to struggle with the sadness and loneliness. Initially, Joona dismisses Jurek's threats but when something similar happens to his colleague, the police officer who assisted Joona in Jurek's arrest, he decides to make something drastic to avoid the same fate. Thus, he fakes Suma and Lumi's deaths and sends them to live abroad, away from him but safe. After the events narrated in Sandman, though, and believing that Jurek is finally dead, Joona returns to his beloved ones and reunites with them. After a while, his wife dies from cancer so Joona is left alone with Lumi.

The plot in Lazarus begins when the Norwegian police finds a murdered man in an apartment somewhere in Oslo. The police officers who are first on the scene make a gruesome discovery when they find human remains in the victim's freezer. Among them, the forensics retrieve Suma's skull which was robbed from her grave. The morbid discovery sends shockwaves to Joona who begins to doubt his belief in Jurek Walter's death. Very quickly he will become convinced that Jurek is alive and he has already found a partner to replace his dead brother who was under his total control while being alive. Soon Joona and Saga will trace more gory killings spread throughout Europe and they will become convinced that these murders are part of Jurek's plan, targeting on exacting revenge from those who killed his twin brother and got him almost killed. Joona will immediately leave Stockholm to meet his daughter, who is now studying in Paris, in Switzerland and then move along with her in the Netherlands in a secure place that only he and an old friend know about. Saga along with Nathan will have to stay in Sweden to trace Jurek and his new accomplice, a heavyset killer known as "The Beaver".

As always, the story is narrated by multiple perspectives though mainly we watch the story unfold through Joona's and Saga's points of view. It should be stressed that Saga is equally important as a protagonist in Lazarus and in this book she will have to face her worst nightmare as bother her father, Lars-Erik, and her little sister, Pellerina, are abducted and buried alive by the two villains. I wouldn't want to spoil the ending but all I can say is that the novel features a truly dark story that doesn't end well for everybody. So, you shouldn't expect a typical, generic happy-ending for all the main characters. The pacing of the story is fast and thrilling, gradually building the tension which reaches its climax in the final pages. I believe that this is the best book in the series along with Stalker.

Even though Lazarus can be read as a standalone novel, it would be better if you already have read the previous novels in the series as it would help you to understand the characters better. This is a crime novel that brings to mind the books by Jo Nesbo, Samuel Bjork and Jussi Adler-Olsen. It will make you turn the pages incessantly and satisfy you thoroughly. It is particularly recommended to those who enjoy gloomy thrillers with some great antagonists. It is also a must-read for all Nordic noir aficionados.