Mini Review: The Boy in the Suitcase

The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis

From Goodreads

Nina Borg, a Red Cross nurse, wife, and mother of two, is a compulsive do-gooder who can’t say no when someone asks for help—even when she knows better. When her estranged friend Karin leaves her a key to a public locker in the Copenhagen train station, Nina gets suckered into her most dangerous project yet. Inside the locker is a suitcase, and inside the suitcase is a three-year-old boy: naked and drugged, but alive.

Is the boy a victim of child trafficking? Can he be turned over to authorities, or will they only return him to whoever sold him? When Karin is discovered brutally murdered, Nina realizes that her life and the boy’s are in jeopardy, too. In an increasingly desperate trek across Denmark, Nina tries to figure out who the boy is, where he belongs, and who exactly is trying to hunt him down.

★★★☆☆

For some reason, I thought this was a historical fiction novel. But it is not, in fact, historical fiction but rather a thriller. So that’s that.

Honestly, I don’t have a ton to say. I enjoyed this book and thought it was interesting and entertaining. Would I read it again? No. But am I mad I read it? Also no.

It’s super well-written for a thriller. It has a great pace and was super suspenseful. I liked reading about the different characters and trying to see how they all fit together. I also liked the variety of characters, and I thought they were really well done. The main characters were well-thought characters, which I feel like can be lacking in thrillers but wasn’t in this one.

The story was super interesting and I really enjoyed it. Trying to get all the pieces to fit together definitely kept me guessing. Once you think you figure something out, there’s a new twist. But not in a “gotcha!” kind of way. More in a subverted expectations, quieter kind of way. I thought the climax was great and the ending tied everything together nicely. It was also a good ending in that it wasn’t the authors going “haha look how clever we are!” Like, yes it was smart, but also you could’ve predicted it if you really looked.

My one issue was with one part of the ending: essentially, these two very central characters leave, never to be heard from again. I wish there was one more chapter about them, just to know where they ended up.

All in all, this was a great, suspenseful, interesting read. I think if it’s something you’re interested in, I would definitely read it, but I would prioritize it either.

But those are just my thoughts! Have you read this? What were your thoughts? Are you planning on reading it? Let me know!

Thanks for reading! xx