Did Saga Bauer participate in planning the killings? Why did the police team name her as the prime suspect ? And why did Jurek come back to haunt the whole team. With the usual complex plot that the writing team Lars, Kepler is known for this is another roller coaster of a ride. A few plot holes mar the book but overall this is a book that is hard to put down. I greatly enjoyed it.

Lars Kepler knows how to set a scene for maximum suspense. You can hear the background noise, smell the crisp aroma falling snow the shivers work their way up your spine you can feel eyes on you, watching as you read the book. The killer is waiting in the dark, ready to strike. Fans of Scandinavian thrillers should pick up the whole Joona Linna series by Lars Kepler. Joona is a great detective but he is only human and the killers he is after are monsters missing a part of their souls. The latest book The Spider is book 9, a killer has returned and he is hunting the hunters. Can Joona and Saga get a head of the killer?

The Spider is the ninth book in the series featuring Joona Linna.
A straight up mystery that starts with death threats against Joona, which fade away. Suddenly the killer is back.
It is a race to solve the mystery before more victims are murdered

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me this book for review.

Not my favorite entry in this series but it's still quite enjoyable. This is sort of the next era of this series, so I'm not surprised there's more set-up and introductions of new characters. What I really like about this series is how tense the action scenes make me feel. The conclusion wasn't as much of that feeling as I would have liked, but there were definitely still a bunch of great edge-of-my-seat moments during this book.

The thing I like most about this series is that Joona isn't quite as much of a cookie-cutter dark noir detective compared to some other nordic thrillers. I felt like that stopped being as true in a couple of the most recent books. I would like to see more of a return to how Joona behaved in the first few books in the series, but this felt like a step in the right direction.

Overall, I enjoyed this entry and I look forward to seeing what direction these characters go in next.

The writing team of Lars Kepler is back with another creepy Nordic Noir crime-thriller - The Spider.

"Saga Bauer is still recovering from her experience with serial killer, Jurek Walter. Three years ago, Saga received a postcard about a gun and nine white bullets - and that she was the only one who could save her partner, Joona Lind. Now there's a body hanging in a bag from a tree and a white bullet casing on the ground. Can Saga and Joona stop the killer before anyone else is killed?"

Kepler keeps you guessing all the way to the explosive last reveal. They reveal just enough to keep you invested in the story wondering what would make a killer target nine specific people. The killer is a bit mysterious and you wonder what makes them so hard to find and so powerful.

One thing bothered me in this story. There are three detectives that are on the team that never seem to leave the work room. All they do is complain about the lack of clues. What is that? Shouldn't they be out knocking on doors or making phone calls? Something!?! Maybe that's how Swedish law enforcement works but after reading hundreds of crime fiction novels it just felt off. There's even one piece of evidence that felt like it could've have put them right on the killer but no one asked about it. ?!?

Fans of Nordic Noir and creepy serial killers will love this new book from Lars Kepler

I DNFed at 25%. I was not feeling the writing style/setup of this story. I could not connect with the characters, and I kept wanting more suspense when the murder was introduced. This is a personal taste situation. So like always, I recommend people try the book and see if you like it more than I did. I give what I read 2.5/5 stars.

Years ago, Joona Linna’s partner got an ominous postcard with a distinct white bullet on it, that claimed it was for Joona. Nothing really came of the threat then, but fast forward to modern day, when one of those same distinct bullets is found at a crime scene. Complicating things more are cryptic riddles sent by the killer. Linna and his partner must race to find the killer to save more lives.

Fans of the previous books are sure to enjoy this one! Like the Harry Hole series, it’s not imperative to have read the previous books, but I think it helps for context, especially with character relationships.

I, for the life of me, cannot stay interested in this. It's so much unnecessary information that I can't focus or even remember what's happening half of the time.

Saga Bauer has not been back on the police force for over 3 years. However, now she’s receiving threatening postcards and packages showing future murder victims, all connected to Saga. Working with Joona Linna again, they race against the clock to solve the riddles of the packages before the next murder. This was quite a race of time keeping the reader guessing and intrigued. Although the story did get drawn out a bit, it moved along enough to keep interest.

*slow clap*

There are few series which are able to build a story with characters and threads that are able to come back together books/years later to leave the reader with their heart in their hands waiting for more... but Lars Kepler's Joona Linna series is it.

Having began with the first in the series, "The Hypnotist" and reading through to this, "The Spider," would be what I recommend to readers to understand all the background that is happening in this story.

Most of us (readers) thought Kepler created the ultimate serial killer several books ago with Jurek Walter. But now, now nine are being hunted down by "The Spider" and bullet number nine is reserved for Joona, while Saga is the only one who can save him.

I highly recommend this book and series to fans of mysteries and thrillers. It's excellent and I look forward to the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked their story because it never seemed to end with the Spider killing everyone. It's a story in that you can't determine who is the main character in the story, is it Saga or Joona? It handles both of them with clearly an instructive view and leaving us with questions? The Spider seems to carry on as she gets older and may come back into play sometime soon. Read the story you won't regret it. Let's see if the story carries on in the next book or the next.

OMG! This series just gets better and better! Even when old cases are interwoven with current crimes, I found myself on a roller coaster ride of excitement, sadness, dread, chills and a psychological conundrum that keeps you reading until the last sentence. And don’t get me started on the last sentence.

Please write more. Definitely put this one on your to read list.

Highly recommended!