Blog Tour: Inborn by Thomas Enger

Hello and welcome to the RandomThingsTours Blog tour for Inborn by Thomas Enger.

Many thanks to Anne and Orenda Books for having me on this tour.

About The Book

“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 pours 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 a 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?”

About The Author

Thomas Enger is a former journalist. He made his debut with the crime novel Burned in 2010, which became an international sensation before publication, and marked the first in the bestselling Henning Juul series. Rights to the series have been sold to 28 countries to date. In 2013 Enger published his first book for young adults, a dark fantasy thriller called The Evil Legacy, for which he won the U-prize (best book Young Adult). Killer Instinct, upon which Inborn is based, and another Young Adult suspense novel, was published in Norway in 2017 and won the same prestigious prize. Most recently, Thomas has cowritten a thriller with Jørn Lier Horst. Enger also composes music, and he lives in Oslo.

What I Thought

Inborn opens with a brutal murder so immediately my interest was piqued! This is both a courtroom drama and a murder mystery in a small town with a bit of a YA edge to it and I loved it! It was one of those reads where you’re not quite sure where its going and it had a back and forth, then and now, timeline which you guys know I love. So at first you think the person on the stand telling the story about what happened is for sure the guilty one but as the story progresses you start to suspect a whole host of others.. suddenly everyone is a suspect.

As the story unfolds and more secrets are uncovered we start to rule out suspects and the pool thins but I still didn’t manage to pin it down which was excellent. Just when you think it’s all over some more secrets are revealed.

I loved the direction this went in and its all told from the perspective of 17-year-old Even who’s recently ex girlfriend is one of the victims and he is on the stand. Did he kill her? Everyone else seems to think so.. I liked Even, he seems genuinely confused as to how he ended up in this situation, he questions himself and everyone else. He discovers things about people who he thought he knew and realises he doesn’t really know those closest to him at all.

An unputdownable highly engaging read, I’m really glad I read it as it was very well done.

Many thanks again to Anne and Orenda Books for having me on this tour, all opinions are my own and I am not paid to give them.