A Bookaholic's Book Log

He Who Fears The Wolf by Karin Fossum

READ: 11.02.17 - 12.02.17

BOOK: He Who Fears The Wolf

AUTHOR: Karin Fossum

GENRE: Crime Fiction

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: A twelve year old boy runs into his local police station claiming to have seen a corpse in the woods. Errki Johrma, an escaped psychiatric patient, was spotted at the scene before he vanished into the trees. The next morning a bank in a nearby town is held at gunpoint and a hostage is taken. The search for the killer has become a manhunt and everyone is looking for Errki.

REVIEW: This was a sort of break from my classics reading, and as someone who loves a good psychological thriller the concept of this book captivated me. However, if I'm being blatantly truthful, I didn't really enjoy this book. There wasn't anything mind-blowing about this, and even in the climax moments of the book it was lacking suspense or tension.

I think there should have been a heavier focus on Errki's mental health, seeing as to me that was one of the more interesting parts of the novel which was never truly explained. I found parts slow and tedious, and there wasn't anything that struck me as revolutionary or new, or something that I hadn't seen before. It's also unrealistic, the book is set over the course of a couple of days yet the events inside seem to feel as though they go on for weeks.

The real merit of this book was the writing, which I have to say was superb. Usually in crime novels and thrillers, good description can be thrown to the sidelines however in this book there definitely was a lot of vivid imagery.

FINAL VERDICT: It was okay. I wouldn't read it again yet I don't think I've wasted my time. Maybe to someone who hasn't read many crime novels this book may appeal to them, but I guessed the outcome almost from the start, and to me the plot didn't develop further than it felt it had to.

RATING: 6/10