Today I welcome Thomas Enger to my blog, as we take a look at his book Inborn with an exclusive excerpt from the book. Be sure to check out Michelle’s post over at The Big Fat Bookworm.
So, before all the excitment to come with the excerpt, shall we check out what this book is about?
Inborn by Thomas EngerPublished by Orenda Books on February 7 2019
Pages: 276
Amazon UK
When the high school in the small Norwegian village of Fredheim becomes a murder scene, the finger is soon pointed at seventeen-year-old Even. As the investigation closes in, social media is ablaze with accusations, rumours and even threats, and Even finds himself the subject of an online trial as well as being in the dock … for murder?
Even pores over his memories of the months leading up to the crime, and it becomes clear that more than one villager was acting suspiciously … and secrets are simmering beneath the calm surface of this close-knit community. As events from the past play tag with the present, he’s forced to question everything he thought he knew. Was the death of his father in a car crash a decade earlier really accidental? Has his relationship stirred up something that someone is prepared to kill to protect?
It seems that there may be no one that Even can trust.
But can we trust him?
A taut, moving and chilling thriller, Inborn examines the very nature of evil, and asks the questions: How well do we really know our families? How well do we know ourselves?.
I am so lucky to have a copy of this book, and will be shifting it up my to be read pile very soon! I mean how awesome does this book sound!! Still not sure? Let me share some of the reviews so far on the blog
Bucks Books Beyond says
This is one of those classic crime books where everyone at some point is a suspect. I hugely enjoyed reading along and trying to piece together the clues to see if I could work out who had killed Even’s friends and why. The motive for why these killings took place was probably the most frustrating part as I just couldn’t for the life of me work out why anyone would wish these teenagers harm.
Beverley has read says
A small town reeling after murders, families on the brink, a detective grieving for his wife, a myriad of suspects; this book has everything. It is a multi-layered crime novel with lots of heart and I really enjoyed it. Oh, and there’s a lovely little big up to Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski too which made me smile. Great stuff.
INBORN is a fast paced courtroom drama, with plenty of twists and turns throughout. Short, choppy chapters keep the pace of the book moving quickly. There’s no time to get bored in this story! The switch between ‘then’ and ‘now’ with each chapter threw me straight back into Even’s world as he pushes to learn the truth. Just as I thought smugly to myself ‘Oh – it’s them. It HAS to be.’ I am soon feeling a little silly. This is a book that keeps me on my toes throughout.
Tales before bedtime says
Absolutely gripping, this is one that I would definitely recommend for young adults and older readers alike. It is also crying out for a tv adaptation. There are plenty of skeletons in the closet of the people in Fredheim and they’re about to come out in a most spectacular but deadly way.
Mrs Bloggs The Average reader says
Brilliantly plotted with interesting characters and seamless transitions between the timeline of events. The writing is clear, concise and fluid. No meandering about, just the facts that are slowly presented to us bit by nerve-wracking bit. I couldn’t leave it alone. The book was absolutely transfixing and it will be one of my outstanding books of the year! A special nod to the translator Kari Dickson and Karen Sullivan from OrendaBooks for spotting the possibilities of this book both as a YA work of fiction and in another version for adults.
Between the Pages Book Club says
This is bloody brilliant! A real sleep stealer, page turner of a read. I read this in one sitting and stayed up very late just to finish it, was well and truelly hooked. I seriously did not want to put this down.
Such a clever story, I was constantly trying to guess who the murderer was and was wrong each and every time. The outcome… I would have never expected that in a million years. Truelly shocking and jaw dropping.
I really enjoyed the clever way that Enger wove the two time frames seamlessly together and I almost felt like I was a juror in the courtroom. I also enjoyed the short chapters, usually ending with a gripping hook that just compelled me to read ‘just one more chapter’ which meant that I raced through this book in next to no time. Although Inborn was originally written as a crime novel for the young adult audience, it has been re-written for the older market and I think that it works fabulously.
Books are my cwtches says
There are your typical thriller elements, with twists and turns that felt subtle and built the tension up as the novel progressed. Starting with a feeling of calmness, I followed the writer into the maze and as I hit a dead end, was forced to double back and follow the next clue. Mazes excite me, I find them challenging and the repeated misleading clues in Inborn left me feeling the same way. The story asks the reader to question who they can trust and made me look around and the people I know, to ask, which of us are capable of acts of violence against those that threaten us.
Now do you belive me!! Shall we check out an excerpt from the book now?
✮ Excerpt ✮
Yngve parked as close to the school entrance as possible. Two girls and a boy were standing outside the door as he approached, eager to get in.
They stared at him, intrigued.
The janitor opened the door for him.
‘I did as you told me to,’ Tic-Tac said, his voice shaking, a spasm seeming to twist his face. ‘I’ve been standing here the whole time.’
‘Can we come in, too?’ one of the girls behind Yngve asked. ’It’s so cold.’
‘No,’ he said with a firm voice.
‘What’s going on?’ the boy asked. ‘What’s happened?’
‘We don’t know yet,’ Yngve answered and closed the door. He turned to Tic-Tac. ‘Where is he?’
Tic-Tac pointed to the stairs. They moved along the hall, their wet shoes making squeaking noises on the floor. ‘I didn’t touch anything,’ Tic-Tac stuttered.
From halfway along the passage Yngve could see a leg and a shoe. As they approached the stairs, more and more of the body became visible. Thin legs, blue jeans. Dark-red stripes that seemed to form a neat pattern on the young boy’s skinny fingers. There was blood on his coat, too, and on his other hand, arm. On the stairs, the wall.
Tic-Tac was right, Yngve thought to himself. There really was blood everywhere.
Fredheim was a small place, but Yngve had seen a lot during his tenure as a police officer here. Body parts in ripped-apart cars, corpses that had been rotting away in the forest throughout the winter. He had seen what people looked like after they’d been hanging by a rope from the ceiling for a couple of weeks, images that sometimes haunted him on nights when sleep was hard to find.
But this…
The young boy’s face looked like mince. Skin, blood, muscle. Teeth coloured red.
‘It’s Johannes Eklund,’ Tic-Tac said.
‘How can you tell?’ Yngve asked without taking his eyes off the kid.
‘His coat,’ the janitor said. ‘The logo on his chest.’
Yngve spotted it now, sewn onto a pocket: an old plane in the middle of a turn, an ‘S’ and a ‘C’ on each wing.
‘He was the singer of Sopwith Camel,’ Tic-Tac added. ‘He had a stunning voice. You should have seen him last night. A genuine star.’
‘There was a show here yesterday?’
‘Yeah. In the auditorium. Opening night of the annual school theatre show.’
‘When?’
‘Between eight and ten, roughly.’
‘And you were here? You watched the show?’
Yngve turned to look at the janitor, who was scratching his left palm.
‘I watched a little bit of it, yes.
‘What time did you leave?’
He seemed to be thinking for a moment. ‘I don’t know, long before the show was over. I knew I had an early start today.’
‘So you didn’t lock the doors before you left?’
Tic-Tac shook his head violently. ‘There was no need. The doors lock automatically at eleven. Everyone should have made their way out by then.’
‘Evidently, not everyone did, though.’
The janitor didn’t reply.
‘What happens if someone does stay behind after eleven? Can they still get out?’
Tic-Tac hesitated for a moment, now scratching his left temple. ‘They can, of course, but it triggers the alarm, and if the alarm goes off, the security company will be here in minutes. We have two surveillance cameras on the outside wall as well, pointing towards the entrance, so it’s easy to find whoever’s responsible. And they get the bill.’
’The alarm didn’t go off last night, did it?’
‘No.’
‘So if people want to avoid triggering the alarm … can they?’
Again, the janitor appeared to be thinking. ’I guess people will find a way out of here, if they need to. But it’s never really been an issue. People know the rules. Plus, there’s a reminder ten minutes before eleven, a ding-dong sound that’s played for about thirty seconds over the school’s PA system. That always makes people hurry out.’
Yngve considered this for a moment while turning back to look at Johannes Eklund. Not even the persistent banging on the entrance door could persuade him to wrench his gaze away from what used to be the face of a good-looking young man. Yngve had seen pictures of Johannes in the Fredheim Chronicle.
‘Can you see who it is?’ he asked Tic-Tac. He coughed to clear his voice. ‘Let them in if they’re police or from the ambulance service. No one else can enter.’
Until next time xxx
Thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for the tour invite and the Publisher and the author for an excerpt from the book.
annecater says
Thanks so much for this fabulous Blog Tour support Zoe x
Zoe says
You are very welcome Anne x
Jenchaos says
Wow, just trying to expand my TBR!
Zoe says
? you know I like to do that lol