Stigma (Blix And Ramm Book Four) by Jorn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger

 

Stigma (Blix and Ramm Book Four) by Jorn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger.

Translated by Megan E. Turney.

Published 12th October by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

Incarcerated in a Norwegian high-security prison, a broken Alexander Blix joins forces with Emma Ramm to find a ruthless killer who has escaped from a German jail. Pulse-pounding Nordic Noir.

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 maybe the unravelling of everyone involved.

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Former police investigator Alexander Blix is in prison after killing the man responsible for his daughter's death. Life in a high security prison is less than ideal for an ex-lawman, especially one who has put some of his fellow inmates behind bars. In his broken state he cares little for what happens to him now, although his lawyer still hopes his conviction can be appealed.

In Germany, murderer Walter Kroos has escaped from prison. Police suspect Kroos may be heading for Norway, and as luck would have it, Blix is ideally placed to help out with the case - if he can convince one of his fellow prisoners to reveal information about Kroos' past. 

Outside the prison walls, Blix's on-off sidekick, journalist Emma Ramm, is keen to help him in any way she can. Acting on the tips Blix passes to her, she sets off to the woodland community where he believes Kroos may surface. As Ramm uses her skills to gather information, Blix begins to put the pieces of a complex puzzle together. He is convinced that the secrets this community is hiding are key to capturing a killer... 

Stigma is the fourth book in the excellent Nordic crime series penned by bestselling authors Jorn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger, that brings together seasoned investigator Alexander Blix and young journalist Emma Ramm. Blix begins this book in prison for avenging his daughter's murder, and he has little left to live for, but he still has friends who are unwilling to give up on him - especially Emma Ramm, who once more owes him a debt of gratitude for saving her life.

Over the course of the series, Blix and Ramm have developed an unconventional working relationship, in which their skills complement each other perfectly. Both have been through difficult times personally and professionally, but Blix is in the darkest of places at the beginning of this book, trapped and without hope, while Ramm is free to pursue an investigation on the outside. This allows our authors to slickly combine elements of violent action with slow burn tension in a way they have not done for Blix and Ramm before, and in many ways it makes this the most complex and compelling instalment to date. 

Blix must find a way to establish kinship with former enemies under the most trying of circumstances, while coming to terms with overwhelming grief. As his investigative powers stir within him, he finds a life-line through his renewed sense of purpose. Meanwhile, Ramm must draw on her own instincts to draw out the secrets of a lakeside community with tight lips and long memories, while being stalked by a killer. The story twists and turns in classic Lier Horst and Enger style, as the parallel plotlines weave together, cutting back and forth between Blix and Ramm's endeavours to build layer upon delicious layer of suspense around the drama that unfolded during a fateful summer long-ago. This really keeps you guessing, gradually altering your perception of where the story is leading you as the reveals drop, ramping up an atmospheric sense of menace as the consequences of old sins come back to haunt those involved. 

Along the way, this book delves beautifully into many aspects of stigma, guilt, alienation, and what can happen when loose tongues fill in the gaps about whispered secrets. Lier Horst and Enger draw the characters in shades of grey, examining how injustice can scar the mental health of those affected by enforced silence, and warp how others view them. This makes for a seriously thought provoking book. Turney does a cracking job in translating the text to retain every last ounce of suspense, and conflicted emotion, to keep you fully immersed in both the drama and all the nuances of the story too.

Fans of this series will be aware that our dashing duo Lier Horst and Enger love a cliff-hanger ending to keep you salivating for the next book to come, and this one is no exception. What a seres! I cannot wait for book five!

Stigma is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats. You can support the very best in indie publishing by buying direct from Orenda Books HERE.

Thank you to Orenda Books for sending ne a proof of this book in return for an honest review, and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of the blog tour.

About the authors:

Thomas Enger is a former journalist. He made his debut with the crime novel Burned (Skinndød) in 2010, which became an international sensation before publication. Burned is the first in a series of five books about the journalist Henning Juul, which delves into the depths of Oslo’s underbelly, skewering the corridors of dirty politics and nailing the fast-moving world of 24-hour news. Rights to the series have been sold to 28 countries to date. 

In 2013 Enger published his first book for young adults, a dark fantasy thriller called The Evil Legacy, for which he won the U-prize (best book Young Adult). Killer Instinct, another Young Adult suspense novel, was published in Norway in 2017. Rights have been sold to Germany and Iceland. Enger also composes music, and he lives in Oslo.

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.