The Collector
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- $31.99
Publisher Description
For fans of Katrine Engberg and Lars Kepler, the second chilling novel in Anne Mette Hancock’s #1 bestselling Danish crime series is a psychological whirlwind that explores the nature of truth and what it means when we can no longer trust what we know to be real.
When 10-year-old Lukas disappears from his Copenhagen school, police investigators discover that the boy had a peculiar obsession with pareidolia—a phenomenon that makes him see faces in random things. A photo on his phone posted just hours before his disappearance shows an old barn door that resembles a face. Journalist Heloise Kaldan thinks she recognizes the barn—but from where?
When Luke’s blood-flecked jacket is found in the moat at Copenhagen’s Citadel, DNA evidence points to Thomas Strand, an ex-soldier suffering from severe PTSD. But then Strand turns up dead in his apartment, shot in the head execution style.
What did the last person to see Lukas really witness that morning in the school yard? Was it really Lukas, or an optical illusion? Can you ever truly trust your eyes?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Danish author Hancock's tense sequel to 2021's The Corpse Flower finds journalist Heloise Kaldan, who's five weeks pregnant and conflicted about her current relationship, visiting a Copenhagen abortion clinic. Just as her attentive physician, Jens Bjerre, is about to test her for hyperthyroidism, he's interrupted by an urgent call—his 10-year-old son, Lukas, has gone missing after school—and in a panic he leaves the clinic. Heloise and her compassionate police detective friend, Erik Schäfer, investigate the disappearance of the boy, who was keenly interested in pareidolia, "a psychological phenomenon in which random patterns are interpreted as faces." A recent photo on Lukas's phone shows a barn door that looks like a face. The quest for answers presents Heloise and Erik with a host of social concerns that at times overwhelm the main plot line, including Denmark's refugee problem, alcoholism, domestic violence, child abuse, and even the American-led involvement in Afghanistan. Hancock, though, does a good job portraying her leads' complex motivations. Scandi noir fans will want to stay tuned.
