Smoke Screen by Thomas Enger & Jorn Lier Horst
Oslo, New Year’s Eve. The annual firework celebration is rocked by an explosion and the city is put on terrorist alert.
Police officer Alexander Blix and blogger Emma Ramm are on the scene, and when a severely injured survivor is pulled from the icy harbour, she is identified as the mother of two-year-old Patricia Semplass, who was kidnapped on her way home from kindergarten ten years earlier ... and never found.
Blix and Ramm join forces to investigate the unsolved case, as public interest heightens, the terror threat is raised, and it becomes clear that Patricia’s disappearance is not all that it seems...
The second in the hard-boiled and furiously compelling Blix & Ramm series, created by Thomas Enger and Jørn Lier Horst, two of the biggest names in Nordic Noir.
About the authors.
Jørn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger are the internationally bestselling Norwegian authors of the William Wisting and Henning Juul series respectively. Jørn Lier Horst first rose to literary fame with his No. 1 internationally 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 and bestselling Henning Juul series. Enger’s trademark has become a darkly 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 was Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger’s first co-written thriller. They are currently working on the third book in the Blix & Ramm serie
Jorn Lier Horst
Thomas Enger
Review.
What happens when you put two of Nordic Noirs bestselling authors together - well magic of course! This is the second instalment in the Blix and Ramm series and it was a belter! You can read this as a stand-alone quite easily though, as even though there are references to the first book it doesn’t take away from this one’s storyline. This book was so good it was hard to put down. The tension just built to a crescendo that it actually was uncomfortable as I just wanted to know what happened!
The book opens with Emma wanting to face her fears and she heads down into Oslo’s central square to see the fireworks ring in the changing of years. But whilst there she is caught in an explosion which injured and killed several people. Blix has offered to do the New Year’s shift but wishes he hadn’t as he was in the midst of it all when the explosion went off. He dives into the harbour to pull a woman out of the water. He soon realises that this woman is linked to the case he just can’t seem to forget, the kidnapping of baby Patricia ten years ago and who was never found. The woman is her mother.
‘Smoke Screen’ was a riveting read which enticed me from the start. It started with a literal bang and then continued to build up the tension with all the revelations and connections between the explosion and the kidnapping. Or was Blix just placing emphasis on these links as he is desperate to solve Patricia’s disappearance? I loved the father/daughter like relationship between Emma and Blix as it’s unusual in this genre, especially between a journalist and a police officer. I can’t wait to see how their connection develops further on in the series.
Although, I said at the beginning this falls into Nordic Noir, it’s not a gory book, it’s subtle in its use of violence. It has a reverence rather than an exploitation of the crimes. This enables the reader to allow their imagination to roam free and form their own mental images of the storyline. This book doesn’t need to shock as it’s beauty lies in the construction of its characters and its prose. It’s another hit for this crime duo.
There is going to be a launch night on the 23rd Feb to celebrate the release of the book, where both authors will be in conversation with Abby from @crimebythebook! I’m probably geeking out just about her as much as the authors - here is the link to find out more;
http://orendabooks.co.uk/thomas-enger-and-jorn-lier-horst-in-conversation-with-abby-endler-crime-by-the-book-to-celebrate-the-publication-of-their-explosive-brilliantly-plotted-nordic-noir-thriller-smoke-screen/
Also in case you don’t know Bert’s books is now doing a Orenda books subscription box!
