The Rabbit Hunter

Joona Linna Series: #6

By: Lars Kepler, Neil Smith - translator

Narrated by: Saul Reichlin

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
14 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE

The sixth gripping thriller in Lars Kepler's internationally bestselling series featuring Joona Linna.

A stranger wearing a mask stands in the shadow of a garden. He's watching his first victim through the window. He will kill him slowly, make it last--play him a nursery rhyme--make him pay.

There's only one person the police can turn to--ex-Detective Joona Linna--but he's serving time in a high-security prison. So they offer him a chance to secure his freedom: help Superintendent Saga Bauer track down the vicious killer known as the Rabbit Hunter, before he strikes again.

Soon another three victims have been murdered and Stockholm is in the grip of terror. Joona Linna must catch a disturbed predator, whose trail of destruction leads back to one horrific night of violence--with consequences more terrifying than anyone could have imagined . . .

Critic reviews

Praise for Lars Kepler and The Rabbit Hunter:

"Fast-paced and fluent, with all the authors’ trademark stratagems. Sure to be a hit, though best read by those with strong stomachs." —Kirkus Reviews


Praise for Lars Kepler and the Joona Linna Novels:

"Kepler is a virtuoso at delivering scenes of suspense." —New York Times

"Belongs on every international crime fan's reading list." —Booklist

"Kepler . . . is a dab hand at the nasty bits, as well as the intricacies of psychological investigation . . ." —Globe and Mail

"Kepler does a masterly job of elevating the serial killer thriller beyond genre cliches and tropes." —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

Emotional cliffhanger

Kepler excels in this story and manages to depart from the infinitely evil, infinitely stealthy and invisible villain and presents a balanced thriller which has something for everyone, action, suspense, camaraderie, romance, and manages to weave the mundane experience of life into a plot with lots of threads.
He maintains the momentum of all of the sub-plots, building around real characters with their varied realities and relationships at with the right level of depth, but doesn't drop any of the threads and brings them all together skilfully at the end. I try to imagine how someone can keep all those ideas coordinated and admire the skill of an ultimate juggler who knows where all the pieces are in the air at any one time.
It's an emotional thriller in which everyones motivations and objectives are understandable in different ways. In particular he ventures into exploring a complex father/son relationship in such a delicate manner I wonder if he is drawing upon a personal experience.
It was one of those books I listened to slowly, wanting to make it last because I recognize that books like this are one the rare treats that keeps me coming back to Audible. Not all five-start ratings are the same - this one deserves every star in full.
Saul is an amazing narrator, his South African accent being a decent proxy for a Scandinavian one, and gives these books a cosmopolitan edge, particularly since this is a translation from its original language.