Thomas Enger- Burned & Pierced

 

 A BRUTALISED VICTIM IN THE WILDS A solitary tent is found to contain the body of a half-buried woman. She’s been stoned to death. There are lash marks across her back. One of her hands has been cut off. A LONE VOICE Two years earlier internet reporter Henning Juul lost his son, Jonas, in a domestic fire. As he returns to work, physically and emotionally scarred, Henning struggles to escape this past and to be taken seriously again as a reporter – by his colleagues, his ex-wife and the police. A MYSTERY IGNITED Told to cover the story of the woman in the tent, he finds an increasingly dangerous trail and, despite an early arrest, he is convinced that the story is more complex than the police think…

A convicted killer: Despite always maintaining his innocence, Tori Pulli, once a powerful player on Oslo’s underground crime scene, has been found guilty of murder. A Loose End: Scarred reporter, Henning Juul, is contacted by Pulli, who claims that if Henning can help clear his name he can give him details of who was responsible for the fire which killed his six-year-old son, Jonas. A Double Threat: Desperate to continue his own search for justice, Henning realises that the information Pulli promises is life threatening, to both of them and to others. As events take a deadly turn, Henning finds himself on the trail of two killers for whom the stakes have never been higher…

 

 

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Have just read ‘Burned’ and ‘Pierced’ back to back, with both novels featuring the character of journalist Henning Juul, an extremely empathetic character scarred physically and emotionally by the loss of his child in a suspicious house fire that Juul blames himself for. I was extremely impressed by the tight plotting, characterisation and socio-political detail in both books as well as the powerful depiction of Juul’s entanglements in the seedy underbelly of Norwegian society as he seeks answers for the deeper questions in the events of his life and as he becomes embroiled in criminal investigations. Enger is a powerful new voice in the ever expanding Scandinavian crime stable and a writer I, for one, will follow with great interest…