REVIEW by Amy: Some Kind of Peace by Camilla Grebe & Asa Traff- Released 7/10 (@Miss_UofK)

Siri Bergman is a thirty-four-year-old psychologist who works in central Stockholm and lives alone in an isolated cottage out of the city. She has a troublesome secret in her past and has been trying to move on with her life. Terrified of the dark, she leaves all the lights on when she goes to bed—having a few glasses of wine each night to calm her nerves—but she can’t shake the feeling that someone is watching her through the blackened windows at night.

When the lifeless body of Sara Matteus—a young patient of Siri’s with a history of drug addiction and sexual abuse—is found floating in the water near the cottage, Siri can no longer deny that someone is out there, watching her and waiting. When her beloved cat goes missing and she receives a photo of herself from a stalker, it becomes clear that Siri is next. Luckily, she can rely on Markus, the young policeman investigating Sara’s death; Vijay, an old friend and psychology professor; and Aina, her best friend. Together, they set about profiling Siri’s aspiring murderer, hoping to catch him before he kills again.

But as their investigation unfolds, Siri’s past and present start to merge and disintegrate so that virtually everyone in her inner circle becomes a potential suspect. With the suspense building toward a dramatic conclusion as surprising as it is horrifying, Siri is forced to relive and reexamine her anguished past, and finally to achieve some kind of peace.

I was given the amazing opportunity to review Some Kind of Peace direct from Simon and Schuster (with the help of Pure Textuality of course), and since my husband was away on a business trip, I thought I would immerse myself in a book that had me captivated the moment I saw its cover:

He watches her. He knows her. He see she’s afraid.

Some Kind of Peace is a sharp, thrilling murder mystery by Swedish sisters Camilla Grebe and Åsa Träff. Although I admit, probably not the best choice to read when your husband is away, and your home alone. Needless to say, I put on my big girl panties and commenced the reading.

I was spellbound the moment I read the introductory poem:

Don’t be afraid of darkness,

for in darkness rests the light.

We see no stars or planets

without the dark of night.

The darkness of the pupil

is in the iris round,

for all light’s fearful longing

has darkness at its ground.

Don’t be afraid of darkness,

for in it rests the light.

Don’t be afraid of darkness;

it holds the heart of light.

-Erik Bloomberg

Much like Siri, I live close to water, with sizeable windows to take advantage of our view. It only took a few chapters to insure that I wouldn’t sleep for a week. I suddenly found myself living Siri style, closing the drapes, turning on a few more lights, even placing a flashlight of my own near the bed. Just in case.

Grebe and Träff have brilliantly merged the thrill of suspense and mystery with obsession. Their writing style is knowledgeable from their own work experiences, forming a story that is frighteningly believable, chilling, and scary as hell, all while being beautifully, poetically written all the way to the extraordinary climatic end. I enjoyed this book immensely and would recommend Some Kind Of Peace to any reader.

Camilla Grebe and Åsa Träff are my new favorite dynamic duo and I look forward to reading more of their riveting novels in the future.

My favorite book quote:

“She’d had her chance, her chance for atonement, and she blew it. For that reason, I had to punish her.”

I give Some Kind of Peace 5 stars!