Stigma by Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger
Alexander Blix is a broken man. Convicted for avenging his daughter’s death, he is now being held in one of Norway’s high- security prisons. Inside, the other prisoners take every opportunity to challenge and humiliate the former police investigator.
On the outside, Blix’s former colleagues have begun the hunt for a terrifying killer. Walter Kroos has escaped from prison in Germany and is making his way north. The only lead established by the police is that Kroos has a friend in Blix’s prison ward. And now they need Blix’s help.
Journalist Emma Ramm is one of Blix’s few visitors, and she becomes his ally as he struggles to connect the link between past and present, between the world inside and outside the prison walls. And as he begins to piece things together, he identifies a woodland community in Norway where deeply scarred inhabitants foster deadly secrets ... secrets that may be the unravelling of everyone involved.
About the authors
Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger are both internationally bestselling Norwegian authors. Jørn Lier Horst first rose to literary fame with his no. 1 bestselling William Wisting series. A former investigator in the Norwegian police, Horst imbues all his works with an unparalleled realism and suspense. Thomas Enger is the journalist-turned-author behind the internationally acclaimed Henning Juul series. Enger’s trademark is his dark, 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, the first book in the bestselling Blix and Ramm series, was Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger’s first co-written thriller and was followed by Smoke Screen and Unhinged.
Review
‘Stigma’ is an utterly compelling addition to this series with twists and turns you wont see coming! This is the fourth book in the Blix and Ramm series and although it can be read as a stand-alone I would recommend reading the others in the series, as you do get a thorough grounding as to the reasons as to why these characters have the strong relationship that they do. They have been put through the wringer at times and this is ultimately the reason why we find the characters as we do at the start of this book.
I was wondering how this premise would work as we find Blix in a very different situation - prison. How does a detective function and solve crimes whilst being locked up? Well, the authors have managed to put a unique spin onto it and have made it an irresistible read! There is something special about these characters. Blix and Ramm, whilst very different seem to work in symbiosis. Blix is the police detective and Ramm is the investigative journalist. But when the come together they form this unstoppable detective force and their bond is so strong.
When a convicted murderer from Germany escapes prison he begins to make his way to Norway. The reader has seen him commit his crime but we don't know why he is travelling to a small town called Osen. Using Blix’s position as a fellow inmate to someone who has connections to the escaped prisoner the police hope to work out why he is heading here. Whereas, Emma travels to Osen to follow up on the information which Blix manages to find out. But when she get there she finds that for such a small place there are a lot of secrets!
I always wonder how a writer duo works and splits up the tasks between them. I was recently at Bloody Scotland and saw the panel with both of these authors it was fascinating to learn about their process and it of course makes so much sense! Jorn writes the Blix chapters, since he was an ex-police detective and Thomas writes the Ramm chapters since he used to be a journalist! But what impresses me the most as a reader is you can't tell this. There is one overarching tone between the chapters and you would never know that they were written by different authors! And that shows that these authors are at the top of their game. The standard of writing is superb and the translation by Rosie Hedger is seamless. I love both of these authors separately but together they seem to produce magic and I love this series! Although, I'm not happy about that cliffender!!!
Let me know if you pick this one up!
