Friday, February 10, 2012

Unwanted-Kristine Ohlsson

Unwanted


Kristine Ohlsson

Atria/Emily Bestler, Feb 28 2012, $25.00

ISBN: 9781439198896



On the express from Gothenburg to Stockholm, a switch problem stropped the train in Flemingsberg for twenty minutes. Conductor Henry Lindgren notices red haired Sara Sebastiansson step out onto the platform without her dark haired six year old Lilian who stayed inside the coach asleep. However, Sara loses track of time as she assists a stranger with a sick dog and fails to get back on the train that continues the journey. Lindgren is concerned so he keeps an eye on the child, but also does his duties when two girls brawl. Three minutes prove a lifetime as Lilian is gone.



Intelligent Police Inspector Frederika Bergman leads the missing child investigation to the chagrin of her male peers who scorn her lack of experience. She quickly learns no witness on the train saw what happened to the little girl while the girl’s father Gabriel, in a custody battle with Sara, is the most likely abductor. The child is found dead with the word “unwanted” written on her head. Bergman knows she pursues a brilliant serial killing psychopath who makes the arctic weather seem balmy as the body count and the ridicule rise.



The first Bergman Swedish police procedural translation is an excellent investigative thriller starring a protagonist ready to quit the force as unchallenging until now and a vile creepy predator. Fast-paced, readers will be hooked from the opening abduction in a taut chess match between two geniuses.



Harriet Klausner



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