The Wolf Pack is one in a series of books featuring Tuva Moodyson and the latest from the pen of Will Dean.
Tuva is deputy editor and reporter for a provincial newspaper and in her frequent trips around the neighbourhood we get a curious image of what goes on there. From the Spring festivals to the apple harvest, oh and don't forget the hunting. I am not sure how much more can be written about the area as it's all a bit same old, same old now. However, throw a community of preppers in to the mix with a young woman murdered close by and maybe she'll get a good story out of it. But Tuva is facing her demons too because the love of her life has been in a vegetative state since being shot. It must have affected her memory as Tuva forgot to pay for some coffee cake and on another occasion (when making a statement) completely forgot she had a lift on a quad bike, saying instead that she walked. If you know all the characters and places from the previous books (which are few in total) then you'll just be concentrating on the murders as there's very little else. So from my perspective, quite a short novel which came down to collateral damage and jealousy as the cause of two deaths. I think that area of Sweden has been done to death now and it's time to move on.

I wonder what fresh horrors Will Dean has for the reader in his latest addition to his deaf journalist Tuva Moodyson series, his previous book had Tuva's girlfriend and police officer Noora Ali shot at her apartment and the bleak repercussions on Tuva are laid bare here. Noora requires full time care with no change in her condition, showing no evidence of any awareness of the outside world and the prognosis is not good, leaving Tuva feeling trapped, numb and drowning in guilt, despair and grief. All of which has her behaving recklessly, paying no heed to her safety whatsoever, as she escapes into her latest investigation into a missing young woman, 20 year old Elsa Nyberg, employed at the organic cafe on the heavily fortified Rose Farm run by the elusive Abraham Viklund, rumours abound of a survivalist cult shunning the outside world.

In 1987, a horrifying murder-suicide took place at Rose Farm, with a father killing his wife, their 2 children, and then himself, leaving only the baby alive. The closed farm community poses significant problems for the police in their search for Elsa, leading them to rely on Tuva who is determined to find ways of infiltrating the community. Those living there include the giant groundsman, Andreas Olsson, Therese Viklund, cafe owner, Linda Larsson, South African Ruby Gunnarsson and her husband, Niklas, and Kurt Holm of Holm Seeds. Tuva's inquiries have her digging deep into all the survivalists, stumbling over a website, The Four Horsemen forum, with its leading contributor, The Grey Man, who just might be her way of establishing contact with those on the farm. Once again, Tuva finds herself in grave danger as events culminate in a chilling nailbiting finale.

The Swedish location is a huge and all encompassing central character throughout this series, the remote small towns of Visberg and Gavrik, the dark and menacing forests, the Snake River, the myths and folklore, inhabited by a collection of disparate and odd and eccentric residents. A number of familiar characters return, Tuva's best friend, Tammy, her newspaper colleagues, Nils and Lars, police chief Bjorn Andersson, cop Thord Petterson, and the little boy, Dan, her neighbour, in whom she finds some comfort in troubling times. This is a terrific addition to this dark Scandinavian crime series, it sees Tuva pushed to her limits, personally and professionally, obsessed with ensuring that Elsa gets justice. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Slow burner. This seemed to start with a punch with the character coming across an injured animal and meeting a stranger. The main character, a journalist, is engaging as she’s multi-layered and each chapter reveals a little more about her. The Swedish element is evident and I am keen to understand more about the Swedes. The story is slow to build but I guess this is the author’s style and I’m reminding myself to be patient. It’s an interesting read and will appeal to those who enjoy Swedish thrillers or crime thrillers in general.
I love Tuva Moodyson!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Oneworld Publications for an advance copy of Wolf Pack, the fifth novel to feature reporter Tuva Moodyson, set in the remote Swedish towns of Visberg and Gavrik.

Twenty year old Elsa Nyberg is missing and was last seen at her place of work, a survivalist compound deep in the countryside. Tuva is determined to find out what happened to Elsa and tries to earn the trust of the community, but is she putting herself in danger.

I thoroughly enjoyed Wolf Pack, which is an absorbing read with some interesting themes. It is told entirely from Tuva’s point of view so the reader can get easily absorbed in her investigation and her thoughts and feelings. This is a good approach as Tuva is the quintessential outsider with her deafness. She can’t join in on group conversation and is therefore a loner by necessity, but also, I think, by choice. It makes her self reliant and more objective as she has few friends.

The plot is compelling in a strange way. Elsa never really becomes a fully fledged person and yet her fate drives Tuva to recklessness and thus becomes a major point of interest to the reader. After the events of the last novel and the tragedy of her girlfriend Tuva feels the need to save Elsa, wrapping all her guilt and heartache with purpose. It’s very well done.

Survivalists or preppers or whatever you want to call them are naturally paranoid, suspicious and insular. I think the author does a great job of describing their world view and lifestyle, but I did think that he was a bit unfair in the final acts of his novel, because he changed some of them from alternative to unhinged. I didn’t like the resolution, but up until then it is a great read - tense, suspenseful, well paced and compelling.

Wolf Pack is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Yayyyyyy we are back with the wonderful Tuva Moodyson in book 5 of this brilliant series that just get better and better. So this story starts where the last book more or less ended and deals with aftermath of the shocking events that left me gasping in book 4. I’m not saying too much as I appreciate that not everyone will have read the previous books and while this one can be read as a stand-alone I would suggest reading the previous books as they are just too good to be missed.
This is a thrill of ride that deals initially with the disappearance of a young woman , Tuva is then pulled into a closed community of survivalists who don’t take kindly to outsiders and from then on this story piles on the tension leading to a dramatic conclusion.
I loved the book, well I love everything Will Dean has written actually and for me he just doesn’t put a foot wrong I have loved all his books and am now desperately waiting for the next!
A fabulous plot, brilliant characters and everything you would wish for in a fast paced thriller and one not to be missed, many thanks Mr Dean for a superb read.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Oneworld Publications, Point Blank for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Before starting this book, I did not realise it was Book 5 of an on-going series. I am a completionist and don't generally like starting a series mid-way through however I had requested it and therefore must read it.

Whilst I had never read any books in this series, I had previously enjoyed First Born by Will Dean which is what led me to request this one. Although it is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone however I would recommend reading the other books first as there are significant parts of this story which stem from previous novels so I was a little in the dark over the backstory but not enough to spoil my enjoyment of the story.

I really enjoyed the character of Tuva, a deaf reported always on the lookout for a story and doing anything to get it first. She becomes aware of a missing girl who was part of a survivalist group living off the grid. Clearly, there are issues in trying to penetrate the group in all their secrecy however she is determined to get to the bottom of it come what may and whatever it will cost her - even her life.

The final scene was fantastic and a brilliant ending to a great novel. Highly recommended but go back and read the others first. That's what I am going to do now!

Thanks to Oneworld Publications, Point Blank for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I have a feeling I'm going to be in the minority but just hear me out.

This is my first Tuva Moodyson (I hadn't realised it was a series) although I've read Will Dean's excellent work previously. I have to say it's not essential that you read the earlier ones but I always like to start at the beginning. I think in this case it might help.

However I continued and what started out as a basic murder mystery switched quite shortly into something completely other. In fact I got the impression that the book wasn't really about a murder at all but rather about coping with grief, loss, loneliness and mental health issues. Admirable subjects to tackle but, in my opinion, it was done in such an odd manner it totally missed the mark.

Tuva starts out investigating the murder of a young woman but her role quickly morphs into that of innocent dupe. She certainly doesn't seem to recognise any danger signals whatsoever.

The end (which I obviously won't give away) was, quite frankly laughably ridiculous. It did actually make me snort a couple of times and there was much eye rolling.

This book was clearly not for me. I love a scandi noir but this was far off the mark for me. I was disappointed because I usually find Mr Dean's use of claustrophobic situations really clever but not this time. I am still trying to decide whether to read the first four of this series. Maybe Tuva will grow on me.
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Tuva's back, and I'm pretty pleased to be catching up with her.
Moving on from the shocking ending of last book, she finds herself another case to cause her trouble.
Will Dean has a knack for writing tense plots, that always come together beautifully.
This was no different.
A cast of slightly crazed characters, I could not pin down anyone in particular as the bad guy.
Special mention too, for certain scene that had my heart racing faster than it should.
Another fab installment .

Can Will Dean put a foot wrong? Not in my book. His standalone books (The Last Thing to Burn and First Born) have been hugely acclaimed, and his crime series is just as fantastic - following journalist Tuva Moodyson. Hugely relatable, Tuva is also one of the most compelling portrayals of a hearing impaired character I've seen.
Wolf Pack follows on from the previous book in the series, so it's worth going into this with knowledge of Tuva's earlier adventures - given that's an excuse to read the whole series, I would absolutely go for it!