This is the 6th book in the Lars Kepler series featuring Detective Joona Lina and Superintendent Saga Bauer but its the first book of the series I have read, I defo should have read the other 5 as I thought in some parts it was confusing as they made lots of references to things that had happened previously and so in parts I felt a bit lost really, Its not a standalone I don't think and I would say read the others first even though in itself this is a cracking read you'll be better off reading the others first to get the history behind it all.

It was a seriously scary and creepy read and I slept with the big light on hahahaha the serial killer stalks his victims mercilessly and I think he's one of the most frightening characters I have come across in a long time, he enjoys his work I will say that much, a great read I am off to get the other 5 books in the series now before this one lol

5 stars

Sorry I couldn't finish it. I think I needed to read the previous ones first as there was quite a lot of references to what has happened previously.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review. I have not read the other books in this series but was so excited to get this book, I’m overlooking this dilemma!!!

A viscous killer called the rabbit hunter is stalking his victims in a cold brutal fashion. Loved this book and was fully immersed in this book and will definitely read the other books now!!

Not for the faint hearted as this is brutal and creepy but very well written and kept me on the edge of my seat!!

When a high profile politician is killed in odd circumstances the first thought is that this is a terrorist plot. Disgraced Detective Joona Lina is released from prison to contact the suspected terrorist's family but is proves a bloody dead end. Meanwhile celebrity chef Rex is trying to stay on the wagon and build a relationship with his son but the politician's death brings back horrible memories of his time at school. How is this linked to a killer who is obsessed with rabbits and one nursery rhyme in particular.
Lars Kepler is a rather idiosyncratic writer of thrillers. His books always follow a pattern of blind alleys after a shocking start and just when the reader thinks the book is going nowhere, the pace is ramped up and the action becomes almost unbearable. This book was no different and just as fabulous.

Lars Kepler another Swedish author who’s hero Joona Linna follows in the footsteps of other great Swedish detectives. A great read, throughly recommended to all fans of crime fiction.

It’s Scandinavian Noir with a smidgen of horror and side-helping of psychological thriller. It’s dark, and as it gets deeper, it gets a lot darker.

Lars Kepler is the pseudonym for husband and wife writing duo Alexander Ahndoril and Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril. Their stories can be gruesome, bloody and cross some boundaries. If you know Lars Kepler books then you know what you are letting yourself in for in terms of bloody, graphic violence and sexual violence.

There is an automatic assumption about the why because of who the victim is, so in that sense the reader already knows what is coming and who is doing the killing, but the police are in the dark.

In this sixth book in the Joona Linna series it seems as if Joona played more of a laid back secondary role, despite being in the middle of all of the events. The killer definitely takes the main stage.

Kepler delivers a brutal read with the typical noirish quality of a Scandinavian thriller. It’s slightly creepy and seems to echo inspiration from certain other stories. I would have liked to have seen a lot more of the relationship between Linna and Bauer, but hey maybe in the next book.

On the face of it, this is a perfectly serviceable Scandi crime thriller. Dastardly psycho killer has spent years seething and scheming fiendishly, coming up with a dastardly plan to exact appalling retribution upon his enemies. He is undoubtedly an utter nutter; someone who is several rabbits short of the full warren, but he’s also not entirely unsympathetic. His victims ain’t exactly saints, and they’re drawn from the boorish upper echelons of society – who exist even in enlightened Sweden, apparently – and who probably deserve a tiny little bit of being stalked, tortured, maimed and murdered.

So far, so fine.

In the opposing corner we have Joona Linna, disgraced detective, currently a convict. An apparent terrorist attack and a convoluted conspiracy theory make him the inside man who might be able to prevent wholesale slaughter, so he’s rapidly rehabilitated… although not without some confusion among colleagues and the inevitable inter-agency friction which leads to serious operational SNAFUs.

Although the amount of leeway which Linna enjoys considerably stretches credibility, he’s the perfect pivot for the plot to revolve around. The authors reveal just enough of Linna’s personal life to give him depth and make him distinctive; not so much that the whole thing turns into a daytime TV domestic drama. He’s a principled and intuitive investigator – but not a superhero, not inevitably guaranteed to survive unscathed. Nor does Linna dominate the narrative: his story is just one aspect of a much bigger picture.

In short, good stuff.

Then there’s all the intriguing elements which elevate a good crime novel beyond a plain and simple puzzle. The celebrity chef with a drink problem. His teenage son, full of resentment and sexual confusion. The jailbird jihadi, plotting potential terror from within prison. A woman with a broken mind, medicated into oblivion on the far side of the world. A series of gruesome killings and the threat of more to come.

All of these are the good parts to The Rabbit Hunter, and they more than make it worth reading. There are however a couple of hideous plot holes which seriously damage the integrity of the entire book. The first is actually pretty trivial, but it infuriated me. Linna’s sidekick is (inevitably) a feisty female intelligence agent, Saga Bauer. For some reason, the authors obviously thought it would be cool to have her roar around on a motorcycle. That’s fine. Roaring around on a motorcycle is in fact cool. I do it a lot.

Unfortunately, the writing duo that forms Lars Kepler don’t appear to know the first thing about motorbikes and this makes all those sequences just plain silly. If a bike has a ‘broken transmission’ then it goes nowhere. It’s immobile. If a rider is in a hurry, even the biggest hurry in the history of the universe, she’d still take less than one single second to kick out the bike’s sidestand, rather than drop it onto the ground. No modern bike will survive being dropped onto its side very often. It certainly wouldn’t start on the button when she returned to it; not with all those flammable fluids leaking out, damaging paintwork, etc. As for the ‘no underwear under tight leathers’ schtick: oh please. Grow up.

Like I say, trivial. But irritating.

The other glitch is more serious. One of the key characters is given a medical condition which would preclude him from ever entering military service and would certainly render him incapable of the actions he undertakes in this story. It was a nice idea, to give him such an idiosyncratic quirk, but if you stop to think about it… he’d never even pass a medical for national service. So it’s not a smart idea, it’s just plain dumb.

These two features combined meant I had to do a whole lot more suspending disbelief than is comfortable, and bumped me out of the story when I’d rather be immersed in it. They can be overlooked, and The Rabbit Hunter is otherwise a well-constructed romp. The writing and translation are fluid; it belts along at a rapid pace, and the tension ratchets up to the cleverly choreographed, action-packed finale.

It’s just a shame that a couple of ill-considered gimmicks detract from what could’ve been a five-star thriller.

7/10

I am such a huge fan of this series i worry the next book can't possibly be as good as the last. I had nothing to worry about with this story. If possible it was even better than the last one. The tension was so high and i was on the edge of my seat for all the twists and turns. I loved it!

The Rabbit Hunter is the sixth book in the Joona Linna series of crime books. I must admit that I haven't read any of the previous books but don't feel that hindered my enjoyment of The Rabbit Hunter.

The book opens with the high profile murder of the Swedish Foreign Minister, and the Security Police, a elite unit are sent in to find out exactly what happened. Unable to get to the bottom of why the Foreign Minister was killed, they approach Joona Linna, detective extraordinaire, who is in prison for a crime committed previously to find the perpetrator. He is offered a full pardon in exchange for his assistance.

The Rabbit Hunter, a truly nightmarish character, is a menacing serial killer who is killing his victims over the course of 19 minutes having first played them a nursery rhyme in a child's voice about rabbits. Joona Linna must examine all the evidence to find out who and why the so called "Rabbit Hunter" is executing certain people so viciously.

For the most part, I enjoyed this book. The first 50% (bar the opening chapters) was really irrelevant to the main storyline and as such, it was a very slow start to the book and feels overly long. Once the main storyline gets going though it is a very intense, dark and menacing read with lots of terrifying action. It is quite violent and you need a fairly strong stomach for some of the scenes as they are quite descriptive - I wouldn't necessarily recommend reading it over your lunch! I enjoyed trying to figure out who the Rabbit Hunter was and there were quite a few twists along the way. 3.5/5*

This grisly addition to the Lars Kepler series featuring Detective Joona Lina and Superintendent Saga Bauer is my first introduction to the series. Lars Kepler is apparently a husband and wife writing team. In many ways I found this a difficult read and part of the reason I felt was that I should have read the series in order, there are numerous references to past events that on occasion I felt a little lost, so this is not great as a standalone. This Scandi-Noir thriller is an intensely twisted, brutal and brutalising affair that includes abuse. Joona Lina is to be found incarcerated in a high security prison after previous events. The high profile murder of a Swedish Foreign Ministers leaves law enforcement jittery and nervous as they have no idea of who is behind it and the city of Stockholm is living in fear. The Rabbit Hunter is a disturbed serial killer intent on making his victims suffer a slow death whilst playing a nursery rhyme. In an effort to stop the murders, Joona Lina is offered the chance to help Saga Bauer find the killer. However, following a terrorist lead ends badly until Lina begins to suspect that the motive behind the present day killings lie in the far distant past. I found this a bleakly atmospheric and unsettling compelling thriller, both a creepy and menacing introduction to the series for which you need a strong stomach. This is for those who love Scandi-Noir that treads desperately dark territory. Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for a review copy of The Rabbit Hunter, the sixth novel to feature Swedish detective Joona Linna.

Joona is in prison when a rich man is murdered by a masked gunman. Strangely the gunman doesn't harm the prostitute who witnesses it but the rich man's identity causes a terror alert and Joona is offered his freedom in return for discovering the prime suspect's plans. When it becomes apparent that they are dealing with a spree killer with an agenda rather than terrorism Joona is released to catch him.

I enjoyed The Rabbit Hunter which is a good mix of mystery and action with a side dish of the black arts, as practised by the Security Service. I must admit that I didn't fully get this latter's role or why Saga Bauer was still investigating after her service's involvement was over but, as we all know, they move to their own, often impenetrable, imperative so who am I to question it? The plot has a fairly standard motive but the authors put their own twist on it, especially in the final irony which I thought was a neat touch. I can see where they are coming from and what they want to do but I feel the killer is ill defined and sort of just there. I think this is possibly because they concentrate their efforts on the rejuvenated Joona Linna, who seems to be unaffected by his stint in prison, which is a bit of a strange one.

The novel is told from various points of view, mostly Linna, Saga Bauer and celebrity chef, Rex Müller with the occasional description of The Rabbit Killer's actions. It gives the novel a slighted disjointed feel with the net result that it didn't fully capture either my imagination or attention (unlike the other novels in the series). To be fair, it may be my mood but I just didn't find it exciting or gripping, more an exercise in crime fiction writing where it ticks all the boxes. The novel is plot driven with an accent on action so while I don't normally bother about so-so characterisation in this format I do feel that in this case the authors missed a trick or two here by not developing the killer and Linna's emotions a bit more.

The Rabbit Hunter is a decent read. 3.5*

I didn’t enjoy this book and not becaus3 it was the only on3 in the series I had read. It was more that I didn’t like the violence or the soft porn.

This is the first one I have read but was hooked and will now be reading them all. Brilliant writing and paced just right with red herrings throughout and only revealing clues at a time but enough to make you think you've solved it before the end. Will be eagerly awaiting the next publication from this write. Jo Nesbo has a serious rval.

We’re now six books into the Joona Linna series and it shows no signs of slowing down. The troubled detective starts off this novel in prison though he soon finds himself released to help colleague Saga Bauer with the investigation into the murder of a key political figure. These books are well known for their violence and elaborate set ups and The Rabbit Hunter is no exception. First the victims hear a nursery rhyme and then a slow, deliberate death follows. The storyline is complex and there’s several peripheral characters and blind alleys to head down. This is a big part of why I enjoy these books, though, they are tremendously absorbing and the plot lines are always interesting and original. Joona Linna is as inscrutable and single minded as ever. He’s a fascinating character to read and I’m never sure which direction he’ll take. My only criticism would be with the behaviour of one of the female characters who makes an extremely bizarre and, in my mind, totally unrealistic decision at one point in the book. Niggles aside, it’s everything we’ve come to expect from the husband and wife Ahndoril writing team who write under the pseudonym Lars Kepler. It’s dark and unrelenting and as ever I eagerly await the next volume!

I received a free ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

You may or may not know that Lars Kepler is in fact the writing duo of Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril, I didnt.
I dont know how they write but it works. The Joona Linna series of books are todate very enjoyable and The Rabbit Hunter is no exception. With an interesting, well paced and clever plot you cant go wrong with this.
I must admit when I first started to read it I thought 'here we go again, another cop in prison' and was ready to pack it in. I was wrong.
If you like the rest of the series then you will like this one too, its not the best of the series but its still a winner. The only reason I didnt give the book 5 stars is that it was a tad too easy to guess who the Hunter was and his motives. I was surprised that the book was 528 pages long as it didnt seem it, Another sign of a good book.