Goodness me but Unhinged is a dark, emotional journey. It’s a book where you begin with your heart in your mouth and end up with it in shreds. This time Blix and Ramm will find that everything they are to each other is tested to the extreme and more than one body will be lying at their feet. Here Jorn Lier Horst and Thomas Enger bring their combined skills to bear on a book that has all their fine hallmarks. In Unhinged we have the methodical, relentless pursuit of the truth personified this time by Emma Ramm and the dark, intense and deeply affecting emotional pursuit of a ruthless killer by Alexander Blix. What Unhinged brings to our reading table is not just a riveting, unexpected crime thriller, but also a study in how tragedy brings character to the fore and the impact that grief can have on the most upstanding and robust of interrogators. Here you see a man changing in front of you. A man whose life has been dedicated to the law and the pursuit of justice. Now he is a man almost destroyed by a life changing event. The authors cleverly mix together past and present as we follow a trail that leads from the past to the present, learning as we go what has brought both Blix and Ramm into an interrogation room, facing the National Criminal Investigation Service. A man is dead, shot by Blix and in an uncanny throwback to Emma’s childhood, Ramm saw it happen. We learn at the beginning that Blix’s partner, Sofia Kovich has been murdered. It is that shocking event that drives everything that follows as Blix and Ramm try to work out from her past cases and the case files Kovich was looking at, why she has been murdered. It’s a complex and the investigation trail is less than obvious, leading you in one direction while you try to deal with the fallout from a tragic mistake that drives a wedge between Blix and Ramm. Blix is left horribly isolated and struggling to deal with his loss, even as his own motives and past are questioned by his colleagues. Tracking down a ruthless killer requires understanding the mind of this perpetrator and that’s difficult when you’re driven by rage and hurt. Blix is under suspicion and Emma, who is finding it hard to forgive her own mistakes, becomes driven to understand why this has happened and who is behind it. I don’t know when I have felt such terrible anguish from one protagonist, let alone two, and it is hard to bear. Together this pair feels on the brink of imploding and that tears at your heart strings. I couldn’t look away, but I was scared for the fragility of their mental health and for their relationship. As an exploration of human nature and especially of grief, it is spell-binding. What we get is a world of hurt but most of it is without physical violence. This is mental anguish and it feels so very real. It is clear that neither Blix nor Ram will ever be the same people they were before this started; what is less clear is whether they will ever again be able to work together. Unhinged delves deep into the mind of the killer to find the motive at the same time as it gives us a sense of the blind rage and hopelessness that drives Blix. In contrast, it is Emma Ramm who must become the methodical analyser of the evidence to lead them to the chilling truth. Megan Turney’s flawless translation conveys the grief and heart-break so well and the coldness of the killer and the white heat of Blix’s anger is beautifully contrasted. Verdict: This is such an emotional book; sometimes unbearably tense, other times raw and shocking. I don’t think I’ve read another like it. It’s vivid and visceral; compelling and breath-taking in the rawness of feeling. Beautifully written, hugely moving and seriously good crime fiction that deserves to be on everyone’s must read list.

Having read the two previous books in the Blix & Ramm series, I was super excited to open the first page of Unhinged. The opening chapter had me gripped! In a storyline that was utterly explosive with shocking twists, it was easy to read Unhinged in a matter of days. I have to be careful describing the book as I really do not want to give anything away, but for fans for this series – your world will be rocked!! We visit the story from two points of view the present and the past and in this style the events unfold in the usual slick and gripping way that Jorn lier Horst & Thomas Enger write together, Theirs is a spectacular combination of top class crime fiction writing, they are able to weave a storyline so professionally that its hard to see that this was written by two authors. The plot is not revealed at the beginning, its a twisty, melting pot of sumptuous prose and the character of Alexander Blix must surely be one of THE best in Nordic Noir, we feel everything he does so deeply, only writers with extreme talent can write books like Unhinged, that shock you, that make you gasp, that make you hurt – just like Blix! I must also give praise to Megan Turney who skillfully translated Unhinged from Norwegian to English, in doing so she has not lost any of the story or indeed nuances of language, well done Megan, for without you I would not get to read books like this by my two favourite authors! So for the third book in the Blix & Ramm series it’s a magnificent 5 star read for me, I just hope there are more to come!

Having read the previous two books in this series I was very excited to pick this up and delve into it. It did not disappoint at all. It had me up all night and then the ending. My what an ending. I need the next one Now. Fabulous writing and characters. It's heartbreaking, grim and addictive.

Having read the previous two books in this series I was very excited to pick this up and delve into it. It did not disappoint at all. It had me up all night and then the ending. My what an ending. I need the next one Now. Fabulous writing and characters. It's heartbreaking, grim and addictive.

I do love a good writing duo. This is no. 3 in the Blix and Ramm series. The book opens with DCI Alexander Blix in police custody, having to explain why he shot someone. Emma Ramm, a journalist with whom he works on cases, saw what happened. The story then moves back over the events that led to this point. Sofia Kovic who reported to Blix has been shot at close range. Blix’s daughter Iselin has been renting a room on the top floor of Sofia’s house and is at home when she hears the tell tale sound of a gun being fired and has to escape down scaffolding on the outside of the building. For now, she is safe and gives her statement to the police. She flags to her father that Sofia seemed to be working on police files but it transpires that the relevant documents and her computer are missing. They perhaps prove to be integral to what is going on. This is a well crafted story that has wheels within wheels and some unexpected twists and turns, shocking at points. The characters are nicely defined and there is certainly sense of the city and its surroundings.