He must hunt her down. Kill her. Destroy her . . .
Sacrifice is the latest novel from German author Hanna Winter. Hanna writes under a pseudonym, her real name being Eva Rehberger. A successful catwalk and fashion model in her native Germany, she now has many successful novels to her name.
Published by Manilla, a new imprint of Bonnier Zaffre ,I received my copy in return for my honest review.
In her very first case, criminal psychologist Lena Peters is confronted with a killer on a murderous vendetta.
And though she is unaware, Lena will play a prominent role in his deadly mission, because Lena knows what makes killers tick – she also knows all about obsession, for she has been close to the edge herself.
For now she is the hunter, but soon she will become the hunted.’
Sacrifice is the first novel in a new crime series from Hanna Winter.
The main protagonist in the novel is Lena Peters, a criminal psychologist on her first case. New to the Berlin police unit, Lena is faced with the most brutal of cases.
A person, who has been tagged ‘The Mutilator’ is on the hunt. Women are disappearing and been rediscovered later abandoned and left for dead. The gap between these incidents is narrowing and there is frustration within the police force.No stone is being left unturned but yet the perpetrator of these horrendous crimes outwits them every step.
Lena, recently graduated, has an uncanny ability to get inside the minds of these psychotic individuals.
‘The abysses of the human soul hold a kind of fascination for me’
But….The Mutilator’s actions go beyond anything Lena has witnessed before.
Lena has a very secretive past that she keeps very close to her chest. Lena has been through some very traumatic experiences, the memories of which come over her in waves. She has been through tough situations which have contributed to her development as a criminal expert.
During the course of this very intense investigation, Lena partners up with Wulf Belling. Wulf is a cop who had been pushed into early retirement and is not happy to stay lying down. Lena and Wulf become unofficial partners as the search for ‘The Mutilator’ continues.
I’m not going to lie to you, this is a very gruesome and rather sadistic tale. The perpetrator of these crimes is a very unstable character, with a past that has left them a very twisted, psychotic and rather vile character.
Hanna Winter has written a novel with a very obvious view to sequel. The chapters I feel could have been that bit longer. Lena’s past is not fully developed and I’m left wondering was that part of the plan? Was Hanna holding back more for the next book? Sacrifice is a book that I’m sure will appeal to many fans of the ‘serial killer’ genre. As it is translated from German, I feel some of the personalities of the characters may have been lost in translation.
It will be interesting to read how these characters develop and how the partnership between Lena and Wulf is cemented in the next book in the Lena Peter’s Series.
Thank you to Bonnier Zaffre and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.
New Joint Book Imprint Manilla
A publishing home for books translated into English from throughout the Bonnier Books world.
In a new cross-border joint venture, Bonnier Books is bringing some of the top authors of its non-English publishers to an English-speaking public with Manilla, a new imprint that is a join venture of Bonnier Zaffre in the U.K. and Ullstein in Germany.
The new imprint kicked off with six books from some of Ullstein’s top authors during the spring, followed by another six later in the year for a total of 12 during 2016.
