The Boy In The Headlights

This is the third installment in Samuel Bjork's Munch/Kruger book series and I think that it was by far the best between the three so far. Samuel Bjork is a multi-talented man, and apart from novelist, he is a playwright, a songwriter as well as a singer. The Boy In The Headlights is a dark, atmospheric crime/thriller set in Oslo and having as protagonists two very well-drawn characters, the unconventional and prone to various addictions, Mia Kruger, and the mercurial but efficient leader of the homicide department, Holger Munch. Kruger who is, in my opinion, the main protagonist in the whole series, has a tragic familial past, as her drug-addict sister, Sigrid, committed suicide and she is always struggling with her profound grief. Her unique skills in homicide investigations and a keen eye for details make her indispensable for the team. As a result, she is always the first to be called in by the department's director, Holger Munch, in all the cases that seem impossible to solve at first sight.

In this novel, Munch and Kruger have to chase a "thrill-killer", a distinct type of serial murderer who chooses his victims randomly and without any obvious motive. The plot is developing in a rather fast pace and it should be noted that The Boy In The Headlights is a bit shorter in length compared to the previous books in the series -I Am Travelling Alone (#1) and The Owl Always Hunts At Night (#2)-. That proves to be an advantage for the novel's tempo and at the same time makes the plot seem denser and leaving no room for repetition. The novel is narrated by multiple points of view - a trademark characteristic of many Nordic Noir stories- and never becomes tedious as the reader is always being introduced in a variety of fleshed-out secondary characters, all having their secrets, desires, and motives.

In an interview he gave in an online crime fiction magazine, Samuel Bjork said that he is planning the writing of totally six books in the Munch/Kruger series so there will be more installments to relish soon for all the writer's loyal fans. With this book, Bjork moved to the top of contemporary Scandinavian crime fiction authors, at the same level with the giants of the genre. I already feel impatient for the publication of the fourth installment which I honestly hope to be out soon.

I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free ARC of this e-book.