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Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated The Keeper (DCI Antonia Hawkins, #3) in Books

Mar 15, 2018  
TK
The Keeper (DCI Antonia Hawkins, #3)
Alastair Gunn | 2017
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Also read it here: http://bookbum.weebly.com/book-reviews/the-keeper-by-alastair-gunn

NOW AVAILABLE IN THE UK!

<i>No interesting quote for this book I'm afraid...</i>

This started badly, for me. There’s nothing like starting a new detective book and being planted in the middle of a therapy session. Who would have thought a senior police officer who has enough baggage to need therapy? Well I never! That’s something I’ve only seen done 1 million times before… <i>sigh.</i> Thank God it picked up with the excitement afterwards because I wasn’t interested in Hawkins’ anxiety or love life.

This was by no means unique to other detective novels out there. They all have the same sort of plot and characters and themes, but this one did keep me more interested than some of the others I’ve read, purely because there was a humorous side to it as well as the serious side too.

This had some really exciting moments and it had some really drawn out, drab moments where we were repeatedly updated on how the case was going, even though we already knew… cause we were reading the book… so I think a lot of this novel could have been cut down to make a shorter novel. 400 pages is quite a lot for a detective series novel, especially one where there’s not a lot of evidence or leads to the case. This really was up and down, up and down, the whole way through. I lost interest so much in some places that I was completely distracted while reading it but then when we got onto a big reveal or breakthrough part, I rushed through it to know what happened next! There were some really great edge of the seat, nail biting moments! It was quite the hit and miss story.

As far as characters go, there weren’t any that I really connected with very well, but none of them were dislikable people. It could get a bit confusing to remember who was who because they’d go from their first name to their last name, back to their first name and then their last name again etc etc. It would have been nice to have some consistency with what the author called them.

This was by far a 3 star read until the twist at the end. I mean, really, I should have seen it coming, I’ve read a million crime thrillers before, but I just hadn’t suspected this one! Really, there were two twists at the end of this, the first one shocked me and then the second one I was expecting because of the first. The ending of this novel was really thrilling and nerve-wracking, it was a great way to finish it off.

Also, considering this is the third novel in a series (something Netgalley hadn’t made me aware of when I requested it!) this did really well as a standalone novel. I didn’t feel like I was missing any part of the characters stories, even when it came to the subject of Hawkins’ therapy sessions.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.
  
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BookInspector (124 KP) rated The Chestnut Man in Books

Sep 24, 2020  
The Chestnut Man
The Chestnut Man
Søren Sveistrup | 2019 | Crime, Thriller
10
8.9 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
I can’t decide one thing with this book, to put it in the “One of the best thrillers of 2018” because I read it this year, or to say that is “One of the best thrillers of 2019” because it is published next year. One thing for sure, it is an absolute treat!

The first thing that I really loved, was the cover. It looks quite simple, but the way that the chestnut man is portrayed gave me the feeling that it is going to be a great thriller, and it definitely didn’t disappoint me. I think, that in this book there are multiple protagonists- Thulin and Hess. They both play quite equal roles during the investigation, even though it might not feel so. There is a wide variety of characters in this novel, and all of them are very well nurtured and thought through. Their qualities are delivered slowly, and I loved how they opened up throughout the book. I really liked Thulin and Hess, they both are very complex individuals. They are quite different people, and when they work together, all the process feels messy, chaotic, but in the end, it provides results.

I don’t even know from where to begin with the praise for the plot. The whole narrative has multiple layers, and there are several cases combined in this book. We have the disappearance of a Minister’s daughter, which happened a while ago and shook the whole country, and at present, we have these new murders with the chestnut dolls at the crime scenes. These two things entwined with each other created more richness and action for the whole story. I loved that it was told from multiple perspectives, it not only allowed to get to know the characters better but also gave an insight into different minds. The author chose very intriguing topics for this novel, such as foster care; child abuse; social services and their work; politicians and their lives; different family relationships; discrimination at work and many more.

The writing style of this book is impeccable! Sveistrup is a very talented storyteller with a great eye for detail, and after reading this book, I am definitely his fan. I really loved the setting of this novel, it is set mainly in Copenhagen, during the autumn/winter season, which created a very gloomy and mysterious atmosphere to the whole novel. The author is not afraid to show disturbing (to some) killings with amputations or disgusting acts of humankind, so this book is not suitable for sensitive people. It might feel like a big book, but the chapters are really short and the whole plot and characters really absorbed me so, I just couldn’t put it down. I really liked the ending of this thriller, it is unexpected, unusual, but rounded this novel very beautifully!

So, to conclude, this book has everything what a great thriller needs. The characters are complex and intriguing, the mood, suspense and twists are very well developed, it is dark and can be disgusting at times, but overall it is a gripping novel and I can’t wait to read more from this author! I do strongly recommend it, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.