Die for Me
Axel Steen #7
by Jesper Stein
A serial rapist wreaks havoc in Copenhagen. The police investigation is hampered not only by the absence of evidence or clues to the attacker's identity, but also by the force's own incompetence and prejudice. A DNA sample links the attacks to the cold case that caused DI Axel Steen's wife to leave him four years earlier. Steen becomes obsessed with solving the case, a desperate grasp at reconciliation, but his self-destructive behaviour only serves to alienate his wife further. His increasingly volatile behaviour also causes his former police partner, now his boss, to question his competence. Axel Steen's hunt for the rapist is a rollercoaster ride of agonising near misses, heart stopping breakthroughs and a desperate search for a perpetrator who will stop at nothing to outwit the police. A raw and tense thriller as well as a forensic dissection of a police investigation gone wrong. As Axel Steen becomes more and more obsessed with the case, it becomes clear that men who hate women are found at every level of society.
Momma Says: 2 stars⭐⭐
Die for Me has an excellent premise and has the potential to be a gripping thriller. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. It did have its moments where I was able to get into the story, but most of it is very dry, almost documentary-ish. A large part of that may be due to the translation, but knowing that didn't make it any more enjoyable for me. I also had a problem with the characters. As in I didn't much like any of them. I usually like flawed characters, but they really need to have some redeemable qualities, and I didn't find that with Axel. The only positive was his determination to solve the case, but even that wasn't enough to make him likable. On the plus side, I was a little worried when I saw that this book is well into a series (something that should have and could have been mentioned somewhere in the blutb) but I had no problem following the story and would consider this a standalone. If I did miss something that was part of an earlier book, it was lost on me, possibly due to the stilted narrative. In the end, I don't know whether it was just me, or something got lost in the translation, but this one clearly missed its mark with me, and I don't feel any desire to check out earlier books in the series.
Die for Me has an excellent premise and has the potential to be a gripping thriller. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. It did have its moments where I was able to get into the story, but most of it is very dry, almost documentary-ish. A large part of that may be due to the translation, but knowing that didn't make it any more enjoyable for me. I also had a problem with the characters. As in I didn't much like any of them. I usually like flawed characters, but they really need to have some redeemable qualities, and I didn't find that with Axel. The only positive was his determination to solve the case, but even that wasn't enough to make him likable. On the plus side, I was a little worried when I saw that this book is well into a series (something that should have and could have been mentioned somewhere in the blutb) but I had no problem following the story and would consider this a standalone. If I did miss something that was part of an earlier book, it was lost on me, possibly due to the stilted narrative. In the end, I don't know whether it was just me, or something got lost in the translation, but this one clearly missed its mark with me, and I don't feel any desire to check out earlier books in the series.
❃❃ARC provided by NetGalley and Mirror Books
