Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Another excellent crime thriller in the Fabian Risk series
With a great plot and excellent characters its hard to put this book down

Murder, xenophobia and right-wing extremism

Astrid Tuvesson is the head of the Helsingborg police station, Irene, Klippan and Fabian are her detectives, and Ingvar Molander is a crime scene technician. Each of them is dealing with their police work as well as a host of personal issues, some darker than others. Sweden – with its mirror-like lakes, billowing fields of grain and trees emerging from the morning mist and in winter wearing the snow like a cloak, is a land of unbelievable beauty and land where xenophobia and right-wing extremism is becoming more and more prevalent and leading to murder. It is also home to a serial killer who does not care about any of this and rolls a dice to determine the next victim and where and how they will die. The dice is in the shape of an icosahedron with a surface consisting of twenty equilateral triangles. Twenty sides, each with an engraved number that determines the identity and fate of the next victim and when and where they will breathe their last breath. The killer is getting more and more creative and daring, and the police have their work cut out for them.

The reason for four stars and not five is because there are so many different threads in the book that at times it is easy to get lost and a little confused. The ending was also very unsatisfactory….. unless there is going to be a sequel. I found it interesting to learn that xenophobia occurs in a country like Sweden, but I suppose it is inevitable in any country, no matter how developed, when people feel threatened by immigrants. The rise of right-wing extremism is shocking and very scary because it means violence, indoctrination and disregard for human life. Have the youth of today already forgotten about Nazi Germany and the atrocities that were committed? How sad it is that the human race cannot live in harmony and that tolerance is a trait that so few people possess.

Saphira

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

As someone that has read all the Fabian Risk books by Stefan Ahnhem, I might just be slightly biased, but as with it's predecessors this is a cracking tale with twists and indepth narrative.
A five out of five yet again.
Please keep them coming Mr Ahnhem.

Loved this book so much that I immediately purchased his other books. Really, really good characters and story.
Another Nesbo.

Dass sich der Fall nicht auflösen würde, merkte man schon an den abnehmenden Seiten und dem sich nahenden Ende. So schubst der Autor den Leser in einen Fingernägel-abknabbernden Cliffhanger mit einer großen Überraschung und vielen Fragen. Der Mann kann schreiben! Einfach wow.
Leider wird der Folgeband der letzte um FR sein. Sehr schade...

Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy in return for an honest review
A very good read and one I can highly recommend to others.
I could not put this down.
Thoroughly enjoyable with an amazing cast of characters that you cannot help but engage with.

Motive X is most definitely a story which starts in the middle. Amid the multiple plotlines there lurks a self-contained mystery of grisly killings, but that plot is almost overwhelmed by the series’ ongoing themes: the catastrophic domestic situation of police detective Fabian Risk and his dysfunctional family; the catastrophic personal life of his boss and team-leader; the catastrophic marital life of his female colleague whose partner harbours unpalatable political views and has been cheating to boot; the secret killing spree of an almost uncatchable criminal who has been hiding in plain sight for the past couple of books.

And that’s only about half of the subplots. If you haven’t read any of the preceding books then this is not the place to start!

The standalone plot concerns a young refugee who is despatched in one of the author’s trademark inventively gruesome killings. This opens the door to a discussion on the rise of right-wing populism and the dangers of kneejerk political correctness. There’s a thought-provoking debate between two investigating officers who struggle to find a practical pathway between institutional racism and being blinded by cultural compassion. An asylum seeker living in a ghetto deserves no less justice than any other citizen… but the police can’t avoid the implication that his race or religion might’ve played a role in his death.

It’s a sticky subject which author Stefan Ahnhem handles deftly – bringing no small drama to the conflicting viewpoints with well-aimed arrows of cultural commentary. He’s such a skilled wordsmith that this passionate dispute racks up the tension and doesn’t derail the impetus of the investigation.

At times it’s a real wrench to put this book down; every cliff-hanger at the end of a snappy section encourages you to keep reading for just one more chapter – maybe another ten minutes…

Unfortunately, the other major plot now rears its head and consequently the storyline sags somewhat. Earlier hints are at last unveiled and we see the shenanigans of a completely unpredictable criminal; a calculating killer who’s developed an almost undetectable method of murder. Ahnhem acknowledges his inspiration for this concept – it comes from The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart which I also happen to have read.

The trouble is that all the aspects of The Dice Man which I found disagreeable are replicated in Motive X. Both authors get wrapped up in the tedious mechanics of the different dice and construct long-winded labyrinthine methods by which the roll of one type of a single dice sets up the parameters for the next pair of a different type which sets the location which triggers the next step of dice decision making and so on and on and on repeatedly for the date, time, victim, method, hidden pitfall and some other idiot variable until you’ve lost the will to turn the page.

It’s a bit weird, to be honest, given that Ahnhem usually writes like he drinks rocket fuel and ignites it with napalm. However, as I suffered through those sections in their entirety I can reveal that if you wish to miss them then the story won’t suffer much. Every time you-know-who takes out his dice, just skip to the final paragraph in the chapter.

In many ways, Motive X is a lot like the difficult middle episode of a movie trilogy. Or it’s like playing catch-up when you’ve come in halfway through a boxset. Just to confuse you further this is listed as the third Fabian Risk novel… when in fact it is the fourth.

If you’re already a fan of the series then you’ll find a massive amount to enjoy in this episode. It’s deliciously devious; often shocking, and so convoluted as to be entirely unpredictable. It’s not, however, the best of the series and it would certainly be a strange place to start.

7/10

This is the fourth book in the Fabian Risk series and follows on from the events of the previous novel and as such I feel that this book does require the reader to be familiar with the backstory to understand much of what is happening especially in Risk's family life. There is so much drama happening that it can feel a little overwhelming trying to keep up with all the threads. The high level of suspense throughout the complex storyline will keep the reader fully engaged right through to the very end. As with the previous novel this one is gripping, intense and entertaining and finishes with a cliff hanger ending which succeeds in raising more questions and a desire to read on to find the answers.

This is turning into a really good series. Engaging characters and plenty of action. I was hooked the whole way through. I hope there are more to come.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

It’s only four weeks after his life was almost completely devastated, but now Fabian Risk sees light again when his daughter Matilda wakes from the coma. Yet, there is not really the time to spend it with his family since Helsingborg police have several tricky cases to solve: a young boy is found dead in a washing machine, a woman is killed and a third murder case also does not seem to have any recognizable pattern. The team’s nerves are on the edge since all of them also have to fight with their own demons. For Fabian, there is also something that has been nagging him since they found their former colleague Elvin dead in his apartment: he cannot believe in the suicide theory and slowly, the pieces seem to fall into place, but does he like the result? Could one of their colleagues actually be a serial murderer?

Stefan Ahnhem continues in this instalment of the Fabian Risk series exactly where he stopped in “18 below”. Quite often you can read a novel form a series without knowing what happened before, here, however, you will certainly not understand a lot without any prior knowledge. And it is obvious that there is more to come since, unfortunately, the big questions are not answered and this is why I could not rate it with five stars.

Again, the author underlines why he is one of the big names of Scandinavian crime. Ahnhem does not tell one story, but he has several plots running parallel, oscillating between them and pushing forward the pots at a very high speed. Admittedly, I could not really say which one is the most important plot here, but it made completely sense since life isn’t a succession of stories that wait in line until their time has come. This happen at the same time and rarely do you have the time to only focus on one case or problem at a time.

Since there is so much going on in “Motive X”, the character development is a bit reduced, but Risk seems to have found his private case to investigate all alone. This will surely be decisive for his life, even more than his family life which is in a very fragile state. Whom I followed eagerly again was Irene Lilja, she surely is somehow out of control, but her motives are good.

All in all, a great read with all the ingredients for a thriller that hooks you at once.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Heads of Zeus for an advance copy of Motive X, the fourth novel to feature Swedish detective Fabian Risk.

Risk is on leave after the shooting of his daughter which gives him plenty of time to pursue his dead colleague Elvin’s suspicion that another colleague is a rogue operator. In the meantime Helsingborg is hit with a wave of seemingly unconnected murders which stretch their diminished resources.

Motive X has an interesting concept with several plot lines and a host of characters. Unfortunately this has a downside in that the narrative and perspective are constantly changing with little notice and it is only the context that lets the reader know which scenario and character are in the spotlight. It makes for a choppy read with nothing for the reader to get their teeth into and as a result it failed to hold my attention. Admittedly there are tense moments in the novel, especially in the second half, but the resolution is never imminent as other perspectives and plot lines are inserted at what seems to me to be vital moments.

There must be at least four plot lines in the novel, some more prominent than others, but it’s hard to count accurately as the main one, the random murders, has enough subsections to almost make them separate. It takes concentration and stamina to keep up with the detail although they are not difficult to follow. Not all the plots start and finish in this novel. The story of Risk’s son Theodor is a TBC as is Risk’s investigation into his colleague which ends the novel in a cliffhanger.

This is the fourth Fabian Risk novel and I have now read three of them. I still don’t feel that I am much closer to knowing him. He is motivated in his investigation and to maintain his family life but apart from that he seems a bit of a cypher. The other main character in the novel is Risk’s colleague, Irene Lilja and she’s the kind of unyielding leftie convinced of her own views that it is difficult to warm to her. I did, however, love the fact that, apart from the unnamed killer, she is by far the most violent character in the novel and defies the trope that liberalism means pushover. She’s a genuine hardass.

Motive X will appeal to many readers but I found the format too free flowing to hold my attention.

This is Stefan Ahnem's fourth book in the Fabian Risk series, a Scandi-Noir set primarily in Sweden, but additionally in Denmark. This addition requires the reader to at least be familiar with the previous novel, 18 Below, because the repercussions of what happened there are writ large here. Fabian Risk's family is barely holding together, Sonja's plans to leave him for a new partner have disintegrated, so she is back home. His son, Theodor, is not moving from his bedroom, depressed, and not being honest about his part in events that have led to an upcoming trial in Denmark for 4 other young people. His daughter, Matilda, is in hospital having thankfully survived previous horrors, but she is not herself, refusing to call Fabian dad, and certain that someone in the family will die, courtesy of her experiences of seances. In addition, Fabian is off work to recover after what happened to him, but he is consumed with the 'suicide' of his colleague and friend, Hugo Elvin, which he suspects is murder.

Hugo had been secretly investigating a experienced member of their police team, Fabian thinks Hugo must have come across information that threatened their corrupt colleague. Despite being afraid, Fabian is determined to get to the truth. In Denmark, the despicable Kim Sleizer, Dunja Hougaard's boss, is intent on destroying her, and is stalking her through illegal surveillance activities. However, Dunja has disappeared, and there is no trace of any of her activities, something which should be impossible, leaving him a worried man. In a narrative with multiple plotlines, there is no single thread that dominates and drives the story. Helsingborg police is being lead by Astrid, a woman with alcohol problems that she is seeking to address, this results in Klippen being left in charge as the body count rises. An 11 year old Syrian boy goes missing, there are fatal arson attacks targeting refugees in a deadly Swedish political climate where the far right and Nazi elements are running rampant, and a woman is left terrorised and afraid in her own flat. If that was not enough, there is a disturbed serial killer with a fondness for dice, whose motives are difficult to discern.

There is so much drama in this latest tense and compulsive novel from Ahnhem that it can feel a little overwhelming trying to keep up with all the different threads. It also finishes on what is not my favourite way for a book to end, with the cliffhanger. However, despite all this, I really enjoyed reading this, it was gripping, intense and entertaining. It fulfills its purpose in making me want to read the next book as soon as I can get my hands on it. Many thanks to Head of Zeus for an ARC.

Simply Splendid!! This is one of those stories that absolutely consumed me, and I loved every page of it. Besides having a great plot, it’s the characters that really make this such a good read. I’m so glad that I came across Stefan Ahnhem’s first book back in 2015 called ‘Victim Without a Face’, and I’ve made it a priority to read everyone of his books since. The standout for me is the background and detail he puts into the characters lives and that each story has more than one investigation being looked into.
Initially when Moonif Ganem, an eleven-year-old Syrian boy goes missing, the police aren’t that concerned as most children tend to turn up. However, it doesn’t take long to find him still at the property and unfortunately it won’t be the outcome his parents were hoping for. Detective Fabian Risk has a lot on his mind now with his daughter being shot, not knowing where he stood with his wife Sonja, and his son not talking to him. Then he’s trying to find evidence that his work colleague is guilty for murder, while also dealing with numerous other unusual murders around the city. This is a fabulous story. Do yourself a favour and read this book, it really is that good. 5/5 Star Rating.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Head of Zeus and the author, Stefan Ahnhem, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of Motive X in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.

I thought the storyline was well thought out and written with well drawn and engaging characters. I was hooked from the opening pages and thought this was a wonderful addition to the Fabian Risk series. I was up into the early hours just to finish it. i can't wait for more from this author.

Well worth a read

This is the fourth installment in the Fabian Risk series, written by the Swedish author Stefan Ahnhem, and while being thoroughly entertaining, it doesn't add something new and innovative to the form and structure of the previous three novels. There is a high level of suspense in some parts, a great example is the first few pages of the book, and the plot keeps the reader fully engaged till the very end.
This is a complex story which is narrated by multiple points of view, a trope reminiscent of Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole series, and it has a great number of parallel sub-plots, some of them concerning the fate of the characters that were introduced in the prior books, while others concern Fabian's family life which seems to be constantly on turmoil. In my opinion the most interesting one is about Fabian's investigation on the suspicious suicide of his friend and colleague, Hugo Elvin, and the subsequent cat-and -mouse game with the lead forensic technician of his team, Ingvar Molander who seems likely to have committed a number of gruesome crimes, while working in the police for the last few decades. There is also a follow-up regarding Dunja's clash with her ex-boss, Kim Sleizner and we also have the chance to see where Fabian's teenage son, Theodor, character deals with the traumatic events of the third book in the series, titled ''Eighteen Below''.
The main problem with ''Motive X'' is that it lacks a central storyline in which the emphasis will be given, while instead the reader has to follow a great number of sub-stories which are not interconnected, and as a result he becomes a bit confused concerning the story's center of gravity. I can even claim that some sub-lots are are more interesting and engaging than what is considered as the ''central story'' of this crime/thriller. The main villain is not convincing and cannot extract the appropriate emotional responses from the readers who always demand a powerful antagonist in order to keep the story moving forward.
I think that Stefan Ahnhem should take a break from the Fabian Risk series and try something new, perhaps a standalone crime novel, where he could experiment with innovative literary tropes in order to earn a reputation that will be tantamount to the giants of the Swedish, and Scandinavian in general, crime fiction.