I am delighted to be taking part in the #Blogtour for Inborn by Thomas Enger, published by Orenda on 21 February 2019 and my thanks to Anne Cater for organising the tour.
About the book: When a teenager is accused of a high-school murder, he finds himself subject to trial by social media … and in the dock. A taut, moving and chilling thriller by one of Nordic Noir’s finest writers.
When the high school in the small Norwegian village of Fredheim becomes a murder scene, the finger is soon pointed at seventeen-year-old Even. As the investigation closes in, social media is ablaze with accusations, rumours and even threats, and Even finds himself the subject of an online trial as well as being in the dock … for murder?
Even pores over his memories of the months leading up to the crime, and it becomes clear that more than one villager was acting suspiciously … and secrets are simmering beneath the calm surface of this close-knit community. As events from the past play tag with the present, he’s forced to question everything he thought he knew. Was the death of his father in a car crash a decade earlier really accidental? Has his relationship stirred up something that someone is prepared to kill to protect?
It seems that there may be no one that Even can trust.
But can we trust him?
A taut, moving and chilling thriller, Inborn examines the very nature of evil, and asks the questions: How well do we really know our families? How well do we know ourselves?
About the Author: Thomas Enger was born in Oslo in 1973, but grew up in Jessheim. He has an education in journalism, and has also studied sports and history. He worked at the Norwegian online newspaper Nettavisen for nine years.
He has composed music and written books since the age of 18. He is also working on a musical.
Enger’s first book, Skinndød, was published in 2010. It is the first book in a series of at least six featuring crime journalist Henning Juul. The second installment, Fantomsmerte, was released in the fall of 2011; Blodtåke, the third book, is scheduled for a 2012 release
My Review: This is my first book by Norwegian author Thomas Enger and I can guarantee it won’t be my last. Inborn is, in my opinion, a fascinating and gritty courtroom thriller which grabbed my attention from page one.
Narrated through the voice of Even, a 17 year old schoolboy who becomes the main suspect in a brutal killing at his high school when his ex-girlfriend and another pupil are murdered after a school concert. Cleverly retold through the present via his court appearance and the past Even tries to defend himself and find out who killed his friends at the same time.
There are so many moments when the reader thinks they have worked out the why’s, where’s and when’s and then the author springs a smooth little twist into the plot and everything is turned upside down and back to front.
Chief Inspector Yngve Mork, a recent widower and close to retirement is put in charge of finding the killer(s) and I absolutely LOVED him from the minute he appeared in the book. Having to deal with his own grief, he maintains his professionalism throughout and is determined to find out the truth behind these brutal killings.
A spectacular Nordic Noir story which should appeal to readers of all ages who love legal and crime thrillers.
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