It took me almost two months to read it, but I finally finished The Nightmare by Lars Kepler. The power couple known to be the best writers of the hour of nordic crime stories have managed to create a very successful series following the detective Joona Lina while he unravels the most twisted crimes Sweden has ever seen. The Nightmare is the second book after The Hypnotist, and already with 5 more books ahead of it. From the look of it, the series seems pretty good, and I’m not going to say otherwise.

Original Title: Paganinikontraktet Author: Lars Kepler Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Year: 2012 Pages: 528

A drowned young woman is discovered on an abandoned pleasure boat drifting by the Stockholm archipelago. Strangely, her clothes are dry, but the autopsy report shows her lungs are filled with water. The next day, a man turns up dead, hanging from a lamp hook inside his apartment. Detective Inspector Joona Linna knows he can’t be misled by appearances and an apparent suicide can’t be the reason to close the case. As his investigation goes on, he begins to piece together the two mysteries discovering that they are a mere prelude to a dizzying and dangerous course of events.

The book follows three main perspectives, Penélope Fernández which is the first to be introduced, Joona Linna, and Alex Riessen that only appears almost 200 pages in. In the beginning, we follow along Penélope as she gets stalked by an unknown man who wants to kill her. Between chapters, Joona founds an unknown woman mysteriously drowned inside a boat. There were some points where I knew more than the inspector which takes off the surprise factor and becomes annoying. If the book was going to continue that way, I was sure I would DNF (did not finish) it. But as the story progresses, we get into an even place with the character and discover new leads at the same time. After finishing the book, I got so used to the switch of perspectives I didn’t want this book to be told differently. This way we get to know the different characters better and understand what they are feeling as they struggle. So even though, the beginning upsets me, it got me closer to Penélope.

When I got hold of this book, I had just heard on and on how successful Lars Kepler are and how they charm you to this dark and twisted crime stories. Multiple times, I’ve seen crime novels set in the north of Europe, especially in Norway, Sweden or Finland to be put in a specific genre, as nordic crime or nordic noir. And also to be a darker story than the usual mystery novels. I was intrigued by this genre, to say the least, so I had to see if the books were actually that overwhelm.

My expectations were high. I wanted a twisted almost psychological thriller kind of vibe, a killer I didn’t see coming, and an enchanting storyline that would transport me to places. It might have been from this story, but I got a bit disappointed. For me, this book is a solid 4 stars, although the ending is only 3. Overall, what disappointed me the most was the killer. I was expecting a whoa moment that never came. A twist out of nowhere that would make my jaw drop. And it never came. At some point as I was taking notes, I started writing “please don’t let this be the killer” because when Jonna Linna says who’s the killer, all I could think was “why?”. Even after a given explanation, it felt thin, not a good enough reason for him to be the killer. The build-up of the character was surprisingly good, really messed up, crazy, and dark, just as the genre promises. That didn’t feel short. It was just the follow up to reveal the killer that came out of nowhere, and it was so random I thought it was just to throw me off and then surprise me later.

I still think 500 pages is too much to tell this story. At some point, I got a little bored and avoided reading it for a few days. I wasn’t excited with the investigation and the sight of having more than 300 pages to read wasn’t uplifting either. There were other moments where I skim-read a paragraph or two because they were repeating something that had already been said, like the motive for the crimes. Even though it took me two months to read, every time I grab the book, I gave it my full attention and everything that happened in the story I could remember. So, it was boring when some information was repeated.

I still have another book from the couple to read, and I’m planning on doing it. Although, if my opinion on the storytelling still exists, I might have to blame it on the writing style and acknowledge that Lars Kepler isn’t for me. Despite all those little “problems”, I still enjoyed the story, it was entertaining, and it did grab me sometimes to keep turning the page. Perhaps, if you are looking for a beach partner give this boy a try, it can be a good pastime.

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