Killed

In Enger’s searing fifth and final novel featuring Oslo investigative reporter Henning Juul (after 2017’s Cursed), Henning, who was scarred in body and soul by the apartment fire that killed his six-year-old son two years earlier in 2007, obsessively pursues the criminals responsible for his son’s death. Meanwhile, malignant figures relentlessly stalk him. Other fate-cursed characters include Henning’s ex-wife, Nora Klemetsen, who’s in a relationship with Iver Gundersen, a close colleague of Henning’s at 123news; Henning’s estranged sister, Trine Juul-Osmundsen, who’s forced out as Minister of Justice after being accused of sexually harassing a younger, male politician; and assistant police chief Pia Nøkleby, who’s betrayed by her married lover. Enger seamlessly integrates all these individual stories into a larger tale of dirty business and politics. As Henning approaches the end of his painful journey, he longs for the certainty that he has touched someone’s life. His excruciating ordeal will touch the heart of every reader. Agent: Astrid Dalaker, Northern Stories (Norway). (Aug.)