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    The Stranger
    The Stranger
    The Stranger
    Ebook174 pages2 hours

    The Stranger

    By Caroline B. Cooney

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    From the bestselling author of The Face on the Milk Carton: A thrilling novel about a girl whose obsession with a mysterious boy could destroy them both.
     
    When she’s callously kicked out of choir class, Nicoletta dreads having to take art appreciation instead. Then she sets eyes on Jethro, a new kid whose dark beauty makes her wish she actually knew how to paint. Nicoletta is so mesmerized she finds herself following the brooding, mysterious stranger home. At least, that’s where she thinks he’s going . . .
     
    In the safety of the woods, Jethro’s power seems to surge, almost as if the trees and boulders of the forest rise up to greet him. He’s so different, so beautiful, so . . . inhuman. Before long, Jethro becomes Nicoletta’s obsession. And while the truth about his nature is terrifying, Nicoletta may already be in too deep.
     
    By turns alluring and unsettling, this novel from the author of the Janie Johnson series is unafraid to explore the stranger things in life.
     
    This ebook features an illustrated biography of Caroline B. Cooney including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.
     
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Media
    Release dateAug 7, 2012
    ISBN9781453264270
    The Stranger
    Author

    Caroline B. Cooney

    Caroline B. Cooney was born in New York, grew up in Connecticut, and now lives in South Carolina. Caroline is the author of about 80 books in many genres, and her books have sold over fifteen million copies. I’m Going to Give You a Bear Hug was her first picture book, based on a verse she wrote for her own children, Louisa, Sayre, and Harold, who are now grown. I’m Going to Give You a Polar Bear Hug is the sequel! Visit her at carolinebcooneybooks.com or Caroline B. Cooney’s author page on Facebook.

    Read more from Caroline B. Cooney

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    Reviews for The Stranger

    3.5/5

    407 ratings18 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Patrik Hedstrom and the station’s new hire, Hanna Kruse, answer an emergency call on Hanna’s first day of work. A woman is dead in a tragic car accident after an argument with her lover. Some things don’t look quite right, and eventually it’s ruled as murder. Before the police are able to make much progress in the investigation, they have another murder on their hands. Tanumshede is hosting a Big Brother-like reality show, and the body of one of the contestants is discovered after she was last seen (and filmed!) arguing violently with several of the other cast members. Meanwhile, Patrik and Erica are preparing for their wedding. Can Patrik wrap up both murders before his wedding date with Erica?After a shaky start, this has become a solid series. The writing is formulaic, but the formula works. I didn’t even mind that I figured out the solution to the murders fairly early on. I was in suspense as I waited for Patrik and his team to figure out what I already knew. A cliffhanger ending will leave most readers eager to start the next book in the series.
    • 2/5
      Synopsis/blurb......To avoid disappointment, please note this book was previously published under the title THE GALLOWS BIRD. Swedish crime sensation and No. 1 international bestseller, Camilla Lackberg’s fourth psychological thriller - for fans of Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbo. A woman is found dead, apparently the victim of a tragic car crash. It’s the first in a spate of seemingly inexplicable accidents in Tanumshede and marks the end of a quiet winter for detective Patrik Hedström and his colleagues. At the same time a reality TV show is being shot in the town. As cameras shadow the stars’ every move, relations with the locals are strained to breaking point. When a drunken party ends with a particularly unpopular contestant’s murder, the cast and crew are obvious suspects. Could there be a killer in their midst? As the country tunes in, the bodies mount up. Under the intense glare of the media spotlight, Patrik faces his toughest investigation yet…My wife read this about a month ago, and was quite insistent that I get to it. After all I had inflicted it on her. Suffice to say she didn’t particularly enjoy it much; ok - not at all then! I’ve been avoiding it for a couple of weeks, in the hope I could delay it until May and count it as my Scandinavian read for the month which is one of my own personal reading challenges in 2013. One of the many things I love about my wife is her persistence!This was a 390’ish page book where not very much seemed to happen at the beginning, other than we spend a lot of time with the chief investigator’s family. In fact throughout the book we spend a lot of time with Hedstrom’s wife, Erica and sister, Anna......who I’m guessing suffered some “event” in one of the author’s previous books. Most of the time, I enjoy stories where detectives or investigators personal lives are shown to us. I need to see another side to them, apart from the job. It adds flesh to their bones and gives them substance. Here it bored me unfortunately.After maybe the halfway point the pace picked up a bit and there were some interesting developments. The investigation into the car crash victim developed with other similar cases uncovered. I did guess the identity of the killer early, and as I’m no Sherlock Holmes perhaps it wasn’t concealed as cunningly as the author thought it had been. Conversely, it could have been her intention to telegraph the culprit to the reader. She did cleverly link the two crimes of reality show murder victim and drunk driver together.The supporting cast of police investigators were on the whole likeable and fairly believable. Perhaps my favourite was Gosta. Initially jaded and uninterested, counting down the days until he could get out on the golf course; he became invigorated and brought his A-game to the investigation. Maybe his transformation stretched the bounds of credibility a little bit, but as I liked him I’ll buy this one.There were a couple more downsides to the book in my opinion. I felt the minor back story with the chief of police, Mellberg was clichéd and predictable. The ending where she served up a hook for her next book was annoying, irritating and blatantly unsubtle and patronising to an intelligent readership. I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first, despite the gripes mentioned above. I do have another book of hers to read, The Drowning. It won’t be something I’ll be rushing to in a hurry. As a further sidenote, my 2012 edition states that the author was the 9th best-selling author in Europe in the previous year. She must have a very big family, I reckon. 2 from 5 I bought this new for my wife earlier this year from Buzzard Books in my hometown. Perhaps I need help when shopping for my wife?
    • 4/5
      Started off slow and not particularly well-written for Lackberg. Picked up about 1/2 way through and became a good page turner at the end. Mellburg outcome was very predictable. Didn't care for the 'oh this ties all the murders together' without telling the reader what it is until pages later. OK to do that once, but it happened repeatedly.
    • 4/5
      very good read, keeps you in suspense until the very end.
    • 2/5
      The writing was good and the heroes were interesting, but I knew immediately who the killer was. And I didn't even read the italic babbling from the mysterious -- OK, not mysterious at all.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoy Camilla Lackberg’s books involving Patrik and Erica. They are good, solid crime reads which have the added bonus of a detective in a healthy, mainly happy relationship (take that, Kurt Wallender). I like the balance of the civilian Erica, with her family/wedding problems to Patrik’s police issues.This book is known by two different titles – beware picking them both up. The Gallows Bird was the title in the UK, but in Australia and Singapore, I’ve seen it called The Stranger. Why? I can’t figure it out. Neither title gives huge clues to what’s inside.In this book, several crimes have been committed. A woman is found dead after running into a tree. She was very drunk and it is suggested that she was drink driving. Meanwhile, a reality programme, Sodding Tatum (excellent name) starts filming nearby. It contains winners and popular contestants from a range of programmes from Big Brother to Jersey Shore type shows. What the aim of the show is was never clear, but seems to involve conflict, drinking and sex. However, Sodding Tatum goes one step beyond the normal realms of reality TV when a contestant is found murdered. Patrik of course is on the case, but can he and his team (including new recruit Hanna) link up the reasons for these depths.What I like about Lackberg’s books is that the crimes are not formulaic – there are elements of the effect on the victims (such as the drink driver’s daughter) and how they shape the future. Having the wedding of Patrik and Erica going on in the background was also a nice light touch to the dramatic murders.Despite this being a series, you can read them in any order. The only spoiler is the relationship between Erica and Patrik progressing! The story ends on a teasing note, which segues rather nicely into the next book. A cheap trick? Not for me, I’ll keep reading no matter what!Definitely one of the better crime series out there.
    • 4/5
      When a woman is found dead in a single car accident on the side of the road, reeking of alcohol and with an empty bottle on the floorboards, Patrick begins to wonder if this was in fact an accident or a homicide. With the help of Erica, his fiancée, and his fellow police officers Patrick begins an investigation into this woman's death - not knowing that he will uncover a serial killer. The questions he must answer are: who is this killer, why this woman, and can the police catch them before another person dies? Will Patrick be able to figure it out in time?

      Lackberg is an expert at plot development, description, and character perspective. Fjallbacka, Sweden comes to life in her writings. A continuation of her Patrick Hedstrom series, "The Stranger" will make you gasp at the tragedy and horrors that humans are capable of committing upon each other. Lackberg has the ability to dig into the human soul, extracting motivations and being able to put the human psyche in all its black and white onto a page.
    • 4/5
      Update: I have no idea what happened here. I started this book and originally DNFd it. See my original review below. Once I did that I couldn't stop thinking about the storyline. So, I picked it up again. Once I did that I couldn't stop reading it! And once again, this story, just like all the others is intricately woven with clues that just slowly pull you right through. DNF - I'm shocked to not finish this but I am just not vested in the characters or the story for some reason. This is my fifth book in this series and I have loved all of them and Camilla Lackberg is definitely one of my favorite authors but for some reason this one is really letting me down. So, giving up on this one, but will move on to the next one soon.
    • 4/5
      The Guardian writes " an expert at mixing scenesof domestic cosiness with blood curdling horror. Detective Patrick Hedstrom and his writer wife Erica with baby Mega.
    • 5/5
      This is the second of Camilla Lackberg's books I have read and I really enjoyed it. I wondered what the film crew were doing in the village/town as they seemed superfluous to the plan of the book, but I loved the way they became involved in the story. For once I was able to guess 'who did it'as there was a small hint within the storyline.The story of Patrik and Erica is ongoing as is that of Anna but you do not need to have read the earlier books to read this one.
    • 3/5
      Another nice addictive read by Camilla Lackberg. Pity anyone can guess who did it. The characters are brilliant though.
    • 4/5
      The Stranger. Camilla Lackberg. 2011. The fifth novel in the Patrik Hedstrom/Erica Falck crime series. It was a little predictable but I have fallen in love with this series and recommend it to people who like Stieg Larssen and Karin Slaughter. Patrik is working on a suicide that may be a homicide, and Erica is trying to plan their wedding and help her sister who is living with them now. A reality show has come to town and when one of the stars is murdered the investigation of the first murder is put on hold. Patrik is exhausted and so is the rest of his staff. In addition to reading about the private life of Patrik and Erica, the lives of the others police personnel are described in such a way that I became interested in them and want to know more. Keep them coming Camilla
    • 4/5
      I liked the main character in this book, and the way the author weaved a few story lines into one, but I did guess "who done it", otherwise probably would have given it a higher rating.
    • 5/5
      If you are the type of reader who prefers police procedurals to remain focused on the investigation and to have little to say about anything else, Camilla Läckberg's series is not the one for you. In these Hedström and Falck novels, the lives of the police officers are every bit as important as the investigations they work on. For character-driven readers like me, they're perfect to immerse myself in when I'm in the mood to spend time with characters who've come to feel as though they're friends. You also never know just what's going to happen, because the lives of these characters do not run smoothly. Hedström and Falck have had to learn how to be a couple, how to juggle their separate careers, and how to be parents. Erika's sister and her two children have had a very difficult time of their own, and we get to see them adjusting to a new chapter in their lives. We know what's going on in the lives of each person who works with Patrik-- even Melberg, the boss who drives everyone insane. Melberg's private life comes into the spotlight for a while in The Stranger, and this glimpse gives him an added depth that the usual pain-in-the-neck boss just doesn't have in the typical police procedural. The individual cast members of the reality TV show also come under scrutiny since they are all considered suspects. It does sound like a huge cast, but I had no difficulties in keeping everyone straight.The only thing that kept The Stranger from becoming one of my top reads for the year was the fact that the identity of the killer was crystal clear to me very early on. However, I certainly did enjoy watching Hedström and his team conduct their investigations into the two deaths, finding clues and piecing them together in this strongest book of the series so far.If you like to learn a bit about another country, be a part of intricate investigations, and immerse yourself in the lives of fictional characters, then I certainly recommend crime fiction written by Camilla Läckberg.
    • 3/5
      No wonder the author writes about her home town but lives else where - there are nearly as many murders as in an english Midsommer town!!!
    • 4/5
      In the fourth book of the series Patrik and his friends has to deal with a murder disguised as a road accident and the killing of a member of a reality showe coming to their little town together. And as the collecting the infos, they getting to feel that everything is connected with everything....
    • 5/5
      Sweden. Tragic car crash. Woman is found dead. Reality TV show in town. Cast member dies. Cast/Crew is suspected. More bodies mount up. Chilly thriller with blood curdling horror. Hard to put down. Interesting characters. Lackberg has another winner. Looking forward to next book in series. Highly recommended to those who love mystery/thrillers.
    • 3/5
      READ IN DUTCH

      Fjallbacka is quickly growing into one of those spaces, like Midsummer, that you best stay away from, because the murder rate is unusually high. Strange is it that besides all the murder the overwhelming feeling with these books for me is still one of hygge. Cinnamon buns all the way.

    Book preview

    The Stranger - Caroline B. Cooney

    The Stranger

    Caroline B. Cooney

    Contents

    CHAPTER 1

    CHAPTER 2

    CHAPTER 3

    CHAPTER 4

    CHAPTER 5

    CHAPTER 6

    CHAPTER 7

    CHAPTER 8

    CHAPTER 9

    CHAPTER 10

    CHAPTER 11

    CHAPTER 12

    CHAPTER 13

    CHAPTER 14

    CHAPTER 15

    CHAPTER 16

    CHAPTER 17

    CHAPTER 18

    CHAPTER 19

    CHAPTER 20

    CHAPTER 21

    A Biography of Caroline B. Cooney

    Chapter 1

    IT WAS COLD IN the music room. Somebody had cracked the windows to freshen the stale school air. But Nicoletta had not expected her entire life to be chilled by the drafts of January.

    Nickie, said the music teacher, smiling a bright, false smile. Nicoletta hated nicknames but she smiled back anyway. I called you in separately because this may be a blow. I want you to learn the news here, and not in the hallway in front of the others.

    Nicoletta could not imagine what Ms. Quincy was talking about. Yesterday, tryouts for Madrigal Singers had been completed. Ms. Quincy required the members to audition every September and January, even though there was no question as to which sixteen would be chosen. Nicoletta, of course, as she had been for two years, would be one of the four sopranos.

    So her first thought was that somebody was hurt, and Ms. Quincy was breaking it to her. In a childlike gesture of which she was unaware, Nicoletta’s hand caught the left side of her hair and wound it around her throat. The thick, shining gold turned into a comforting rope.

    The new girl, said Ms. Quincy. Anne-Louise. Ms. Quincy looked at the chalkboard on which a music staff had been drawn. She’s wonderful, said Ms. Quincy. I’m putting her in Madrigals. You have a good voice, and you’re a solid singer, Nickie. Certainly a joy to have in any group. But … Anne-Louise has had voice lessons for years.

    Nicoletta came close to strangling herself with the rope of her own yellow hair. Madrigals? The chorus into which she had poured her life? The chorus that toured the state, whose concerts were standing room only? The sixteen who were best friends? Who partied and carpooled and studied together as well as sang?

    I’m sorry, said Ms. Quincy. She looked sorry, too. She looked, to use an old and stupid phrase, as if this hurt her more than it hurt Nicoletta. Since each part is limited to four singers, I cannot have both of you. Anne-Louise will take your place.

    The wind of January crept through the one-inch window opening and iced her life. How could she could go on with high school if she were dropped from Madrigals? She had no activity but singing. Her only friends were in Madrigals.

    I’ll be alone, thought Nicoletta.

    A flotilla of lonely places appeared in her mind: cafeteria, bus, hallway, student center.

    Her body humiliated her. She became a prickly mass of perspiration: Sweaty hands, lumpy throat, tearful eyes. Doesn’t it count, she said desperately, trying to marshal intelligent arguments, that I have never missed a rehearsal? I’ve never been late? I’ve been in charge of refreshments? I’m the one who finds ushers for the concerts and the one who checks the spelling in the programs?

    And we’d love to have you keep doing that, said Ms. Quincy. Her smile opened again like a zipper separating her face halves.

    For two years Nicoletta had idolized Ms. Quincy. Now an ugly puff of hatred filled her heart instead. I’m not good enough to sing with you, she cried out, but you’d love to have me do the secretarial work? I’m sure Anne-Louise has had lessons in that, too. Thanks for nothing, Ms. Quincy!

    Nicoletta ran out of the music room before she broke down into sobbing and had the ultimate humiliation of being comforted by the very woman who was kicking her out. There had been no witnesses yet, but in a few minutes everybody she cared about would know. She, Nicoletta, was not good enough anymore. The standards had been raised.

    Nicoletta was just another ordinary soprano.

    Nicoletta was out.

    There was a narrow turn of hall between the music rooms and the lobby. Nicoletta stood in the dark silence of that space, trying to control her emotions. She could hear familiar laughter—Madrigal friends coming to read the list of the chosen. She thought suddenly of her costume: the lovely crimson gown with the tight waist and the white lace high at the throat, the tiny crown that sat in her yellow hair. People said that the medieval look suited her, that she was beautiful in red. And beautiful she always felt, spun gold, with an angel’s voice.

    Ms. Quincy followed her into the safety zone of the dark little hall. Go down to Guidance, now, Nickie, she said in a teachery voice. Sign up for something else in the Madrigal time slot.

    I’ll sign up for Bomb-Making, thought Nicoletta. Or Arson.

    She did not look at Ms. Quincy again. She walked in the opposite direction from the known voices, taking the long way around the school to Guidance. In this immense high school, with its student body of over two thousand, she was among strangers. You had to find your place in such a vast school, and her place had been Madrigals. With whom would she stand now? With whom would she laugh and eat and gossip?

    Of course in the Guidance office they pretended to be busy and Nicoletta had to sit forty minutes until they could fit her in. The chair was orange plastic, hideous and cold, the same color as the repulsive orange kitchen counters in Nicoletta’s repulsive new house.

    Her parents had gotten in too deep financially. Last autumn, amid tears and recrimination, the Storms family had had to sell the wonderful huge house on Fairest Hill. Oh, how Nicoletta had loved that house! Immense rooms, expanses of windows, layers of decks, acres of closets! She and her mother had poured themselves into decorating it, occupying every shopping hour with the joys of wallpaper, curtains, and accessories.

    Now they were in a tiny ranch with ugly, crowded rooms, and Nicoletta was sharing a bedroom with her eleven-year-old sister, Jamie.

    In their old house, Jamie had had her own bedroom and bath; Jamie had had three closets just for herself; Jamie had had her own television and two extra beds, so she could have sleepovers every weekend.

    The ranch house had only two bedrooms, so now Jamie slept exactly six feet from Nicoletta. The seventy-two most annoying inches in the world. Nicoletta had actually liked her sister when they lived in the big house. Now the girls could do nothing except bicker, bait, and fight.

    Fairest Hill.

    Nicoletta always thought the name came from the fairy tale of Snow White: Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?

    And in those pretty woods, on top of that gentle sloping hill in that lovely house, she, Nicoletta, had been the fairest of them all.

    Now she could not even sing soprano.

    It was difficult to know who made her maddest—her parents, for poor planning; the economy, for making it worse; Ms. Quincy, for being rotten, mean, and cruel; or Anne-Louise, for moving here.

    Within a few minutes, however, it was the guidance counselor making her maddest. Let’s see, said Mr. Parsons. The available half-year classes, Nicoletta, are Art Appreciation, Study Skills, Current Events, and Oceanography. He skimmed through her academic files. I certainly recommend Study Skills, he said severely.

    She hated him. I’m not taking Current Events, she thought, because I sit through television news every night from five to seven as it is. I’m not taking Oceanography because deep water is the scariest thing on earth. I’m not taking Study Skills just because he thinks I should. Which leaves Art Appreciation. Art for the nonartistic. Art for the pathetic and left-behind.

    I’m signing you up for Study Skills, said Mr. Parsons.

    No. Art Appreciation.

    If you insist, said Mr. Parsons.

    She insisted.

    That night, as a break in the fighting with Jamie, Nicoletta received three phone calls from other Madrigal singers.

    Rachel, her sidekick, the other first soprano next to whom she had stood for two lovely years was crying. This is so awful! she sobbed. Doesn’t Ms. Quincy understand friendship? Or loyalty? Or anything?

    Cathy, an alto so low she sometimes sang tenor, was furious. I’m in favor of boycotting Madrigals, said Cathy. That will teach Ms. Quincy a thing or two.

    Christo, the lowest bass, and handsomest boy, also phoned.

    Everybody, at one time or another, had had a crush on Christopher Hannon. Christopher had grown earlier than most boys: At fifteen he had looked twenty, and now at seventeen he looked twenty-five. He was broad-shouldered and tall and could have grown a beard to his chest had he wanted to. Nicoletta was always surprised that she and Christo were the exact same age.

    Nickie, said Christo, this is terrible. We’ve all argued with Ms. Quincy. She’s sick, that’s what I say. Demented.

    Nicoletta felt marginally better. At least her friends had stood by her and perhaps would get Ms. Quincy to change her mind and dump this horrible Anne-Louise.

    I have to take Art Appreciation instead, she said glumly.

    Christo moaned. Duds, he told her.

    I know.

    Be brave. We’ll rescue you. This Anne-Louise cannot possibly sing like you, Nickie.

    She entered the Art Appreciation room the following day feeling quite removed from the pathetic specimens supposed to be her classmates. Christo, Cathy, Rachel, and her other friends would turn this nightmare around. In a day or so she’d be back rehearsing like always, with a cowed and apologetic Ms. Quincy.

    Without interest, Nicoletta took her new text and its companion workbook and sat where she was told, in the center of the room.

    A quick survey of the other students told her she had laid eyes on none of these kids before. It was not a large class, perhaps twenty, half boys, which surprised her a little. Did they really want to appreciate art, or were they, too, refusing to take Study Skills?

    The teacher, a Mr. Marisson, of whom she had never even heard let alone met, showed slides. Nicoletta prepared to go to sleep, which was her usual response to slides.

    But as the room went dark, and the kids around her became shadows of themselves, her eye was caught not by the van Gogh or the Monet painting on the screen but by the profile of the boy in front of her, one row to her left.

    He had the most mobile face she had ever seen. Even in the dusk of the quiet classroom, she could see him shift his jaw, lower and lift his eyes, tighten and relax his lips. Several times he lifted a hand to touch his cheek, and he touched it in a most peculiar fashion—as if he were exploring it. As if it belonged to somebody else, or as if he had not known, until this very second, that he even had a cheek.

    She was so fascinated she could hardly wait for the slide show to end.

    Well, that’s the end of today’s lecture, said Mr. Marisson, flipping the lights back on.

    The boy remained strangely dark. It was as if he cast his own shadow

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