The Fire Witness

A Novel (Joona Linna, Book 3)

By: Lars Kepler

Narrated by: Saul Reichlin

The third installment of the number-one internationally best-selling Joona Linna series, The Fire Witness sees Joona drawn into a gruesome, mysterious murder at a home for wayward girls.

Detective Joona Linna is on leave dealing with personal and professional issues when he gets pulled into the investigation of a horrific murder at a home for wayward teenage girls. One girl is dead, and another is missing. The local police want to close the case quickly, especially after they discover a bloody hammer under the missing girl's bed. But a woman claiming to see visions of the murdered girl insists there is more going on than meets the eye, and Joona is inclined to believe her. As he digs deeper into the case, he finds himself in dark and dangerous territory.

This compelling thriller of an audiobook will have you listening long into the night.

©2018 Lars Kepler (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“One of those rare books that is truly difficult to put down.” (New York Journal of Books)

“Rattles along at a terrific pace.... Scandinavian noir at its best.” (The Evening Standard, UK)

“Haunting.... Refuses to let go.” (Publishers Weekly)

Great

The narrative is excellent can’t put down
Thanks. To Kepler for these wonderful characters
Now I am hooked

Best Kepler yet!

Loved that it kept me guessing nearly the entire time ... need more Lars Kepler translated to English!

4

Here is a simple case of murder, with the red handed suspect all
but sentenced to life in prison.
Oopsie! Now we have a detective I called "Youna Linda" causing all kinds of problems for everyone but us. A very good book for curious listeners.

Outstanding

Enough action to keep you hooked and doesn’t let you go until the end. I enjoyed the narrator as well and ready for more.

Just keeps coming

Great narrator. The suspense just kept building. I have grown to love Joona so much. He needs a little happiness in his life,on to the next one.

Joona Linna’s mystery complete

The third book of the original Joona Linna trilogy is a satisfying completion to what began in The Hypnotist. Minus the nail biting dread I experienced while listening to the first book, The Fire Witness is still essential listening for fans of Scandinavian noir. The narrator is alright— there is the problem of how to represent female voices without sounding cloying and passive, but I was able to place his faults in background and let the story unfold.

Sophomoric. Spoiler alert!!

I was disappointed in this installment as I loved the first two in the series. The authors omitted forensics and basic detective work to draw the story out. Anyone who devours vein and detective books will easily get frustrated with Jonna’s narrow mindedness in this tale. As in any stabbing case, forensics would have immediately determined the height and strength of the attackers instead, Joona continues to presume a “thin” fourteen year old had done it. Also, basic detective work would have run a background on the spouse of a murder victim. By omitting these details. The authors are attempting to circumvent the listener into an unrealistic story line forentertainment. It did not entertain me in as much as it embittered me. I will try the next in the series and hope the originality of the first two books is replicated.

Lost in Translation

I don't speak Swedish, but I've been there a few times, so every now and then, while listening to this book, my attention was distracted by a translation or term that was completely out of place. Why would a Finnish detective think that a key-ring token was the size of a silver dollar? There is no Valhalla Boulevard or Karla Plaza in Stockholm as referred to in the book. There is a Valhallavägan and a Karlaplan. These and other similar missteps break my concentration when I hear them. I appreciate that some of these will pass right over someone who has never ambled along the streets of Stockholm. But I keep asking myself, "Why was this necessary?" Most Swedes have an excellent command of English, yet if you asked them for directions, they would never send you along Valhalla Boulevard. These (petty?) irritations have detracted from my enjoyment of the book and have clouded my rating.

The Narrator

The story is okay, though not up to Kepler's best. Trouble is, it was hard to tell, because the narration was the worst I've ever heard.

I won’t get the rest of series unless on a bogo

I really really wanted to like these books. I need some long run motivation books so I really wanted to like them. I am not sure if it’s the way the writer tries to layer too many plot lines in each book or the flowery descriptions, especially the sex scenes and the thought process of the female characters but they remind me of the bad writing from the vampire series and the horribly written bondage series I can’t even remember the name of. I pray the writer perfects his craft bc right now it’s bush league and it’s a cheap imitation to Scandinavian best sellers.