News archive
The Bear Woman by Karolina Ramqvist has received another brilliant review in the newspaper Sydsvenskan.
“The story holds me in a tight grip and also makes me curious about all the research, maybe because of the dark existential whirlwind that you glimpse beneath the thirst for knowledge. […] It’s a deeply fascinating story, thought-provoking, and an almost hypnotic read.”
The Bear Woman was published in Sweden on August 28th by Norstedts.
NEW BOOK: You Are the Light
2014. Jørgen and his family get a new neighbor who enters their lives like a bright shining light. Steinar is charming and charismatic – everyone wants to be around him. But the more Jørgen gets to know the man next door, he can’t help feeling that something is off with his new friend. What is Steinar hiding?
A rare feat of low-boil suspense wrapped in gorgeous language, You Are the Light is a perfectly crafted literary thriller. In this taut novel that trembles like a tight-rope, award-winning writer Tore Renberg invites the reader into a looming domestic darkness. To what lengths will we go to maintain a façade? And, in the end, how well do we know the people around us?
What We Owe by Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde has just won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for fiction!
“An extraordinary story of Iranian refugees living in Sweden. Exploring exile, dislocation, and the emotional minefields between mothers and daughters, it is a tale of love, guilt and dreams for a better future, vibrating with both sorrow and an unquenchable joie de vivre. With its startling honesty, dark wit, and irresistible momentum, What We Owe introduces a fierce and necessary new voice in international fiction.”
The winners will be honored at a gala ceremony on November 3rd.
What We Owe was published in the US by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Mariner Books on October 16th 2018.
An interview with Inti Chavez Perez, the author of Respect – Everything a Guy Needs to Know About Sex, Love and Consent, was included in a feature in the Irish Independent on how to speak to children about consent.
Read the feature here.
Respect was published in the UK on 27th of August by Piatkus / Little, Brown.
The Bear Woman by Karolina Ramqvist has received yet another rave review from Värmlands Folkblad:
“Karolina Ramqvist’s The Bear Woman is an outstanding novel. […] After just a few pages, I am hooked and am forced to constantly moisten my thumb to turn the pages quicker. The novel, the book, grows into a complex and philosophical work about life, death, body, soul, femininity, power, money, the past and present, parenthood, truth, lies and how writing ties to truth-telling and honesty relates to all this. Karolina Ramqvist’s prose is exact and transparent. The text is full of tangible details and it is a luxury to read this dense and thought-provoking book.”
Mattias Edvardsson was recently featured in Horsens Posten Weekend to celebrate his first publication in Denmark. In the interview they discuss Edvardsson’s novel A Nearly Normal Family and the question that led him to start writing this story – How well do you really know your children?
The review that follows the interview states: “The novel is, quite simply, spectacular.”
A Nearly Normal Family was published in Denmark by People’s Press on August 22nd.
Inti Chavez Perez recently did a Q&A with Bustle about consent and the #MeToo movement and discussed some key lessons from his book Respect – Everything a Guy Needs to Know About Sex, Love, and Consent.
“Rather than get defensive in response to the conversations the #MeToo movement has sparked, men should take this cultural moment as an opportunity to reflect both on their own behavior and on how others treat them. Once we acknowledge that everyone of every gender could stand to think about both these things, we’ll be able to work together to create a world that’s more respectful to all.”
Read the Q&A here.
Respect was published by Penguin Books on August 27th.
The Bear Woman by Karolina Ramqvist has received rave reviews after its recent publication in Sweden:
“A beautiful and unforgettable tale of women, history and survival.”
VÄSTERBOTTENS-KURIREN
“In her new book, which is a fusion of novel and essay, Karolina Ramqvist breaks new ground in an ambitious story about a woman who lived during the 16th century. It is spontaneous, beautiful and captivating.”
SKARABORGS LÄNS TIDNING
A Nearly Normal Family continues its success story with a brilliant review in The Seattle Times.
“The American debut of Swedish writer M.T. Edvardsson, is a taut blend of legal thriller and domestic tale of suspense. […] Edvardsson’s prose is solid and no-nonsense.”
Read the review here.
A Nearly Normal Family was published in the US on June 25th by Celadon Books.
Respect – Everything a Guy Needs to Know About Sex, Love and Consent by Inti Chavez Perez was included in a stellar feature in TIME, discussing books that will “rewrite the rules of dating”.
“Respect is, unlike the other books here, geared toward male readers–more specifically, teenage ones. Covering everything from anatomy to consent, it fills a gap in the literature for young men navigating adolescence in an era that may seem like a minefield of potential missteps.”
Read the feature here.
Respect was published in the US on 27th of August by Penguin Books.
What We Owe by Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde is one of the finalists for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize this year. The prize is the first and only annual U.S literary award recognizing the power of the written word to promote peace. The Dayton Literary Peace Prize invites nominations in adult fiction and nonfiction books published within the past year that have led readers to a better understanding of other cultures, peoples, religions, and political points of view.
The motivation for What We Owe‘s nomination reads as follows:
“Here is and extraordinary story of exile, dislocation, and the emotional minefields between mothers and daughters; a story of love, guilt and dreams for a better future, vibrating with both sorrow and an unquenchable joie de vivre. With its startling honesty, dark wit, and irresistible momentum, What We Owe introduces a fierce and necessary new voice in international fiction.”
What We Owe was published on 16th October 2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Mariner Books in the US.
The Danish edition of Mattias Edvardsson’s suspense novel A Nearly Normal Family quickly became a bestseller after its publication by People’s Press on August 22nd.
It climbed to #3 on the Bestseller List for Crime this week at Bog & Ide-kæden, the largest book store chain in the country.
To date, A Nearly Normal Family has been sold to 32 territories.
NEW BOOK: the bear woman
In 1541, a young woman named Marguerite de La Rocque accompanies her male guardian on one of the first French colonial expeditions to the New World. After a sexual scandal aboard the ship, she is punished and abandoned on a barren, uninhabited island in the North Atlantic, where she faces off against wild animals and the elements, incredibly surviving against all odds. Centuries later, a contemporary author comes across the legend of the Bear Woman and becomes obsessed.
Penned in an essayistic style in the vein of Marguerite Duras, The Bear Woman is a meditation on womanhood and on the act of writing as much as it is a story of survival – Marguerites and the author’s. In her characteristic sparsely elegant prose, Karolina Ramqvist tackles questions of what it is to be a woman who writes, as well as what a story is and who has the right to tell it.
The hit Netflix show Quicksand, based on Malin Persson Giolito’s bestselling novel, won two awards at the Kristallen TV Awards 2019, Sweden’s official television prize.
Quicksand was nominated in three categories; Best Television Drama, Best Actress in a TV production (Hanna Ardéhn), and Best Actor in a TV production (Felix Sandman).
The television series Quicksand, produced by FLX for Netflix, was launched worldwide in the beginning of April this year.
Quicksand by Malin Persson Giolito continues its success story. The novel is now set to become a stage-play in Sweden, a monologue with actress and comedian Nour El Refai as the sole performer. The play will premiere in February, 2020.
Respect: Everything a Guy Needs to Know About Sex, Love, and Consent by Inti Chaves Perez received get another rave review, this time from Chicago Tribune. The book was described as thorough, refreshing and fun.
“Perez writes in an inclusive voice that speaks to heterosexual readers as well as readers across the LGBTQ spectrum. Some grown-ups may prefer to cover the aforementioned topics with their sons or other young men in their lives in person, face-to-face. Great! The sons or young men in our lives will still probably welcome the perspective of a guy like Chaves Perez, who answers even the most potentially embarrassing questions with utter ease and zero shame.”
Respect will be published in the US by Penguin Books on August 27th.
Carolina Setterwall’s debut novel Let’s Hope for the Best has received a rave review in The Quietus:
“Setterwall masterfully blends the small red flags of a relationship with compelling excuses […]. It is sometimes painful seeing it depicted with so much detail, and often cuts close to the bone, but its greatest strength is the deftness and compassion of its execution.”
Read the review here.
Let’s Hope for the Best was published in the UK by Bloomsbury on June 13th.
Let’s Hope for the Best by Carolina Setterwall received hype in Domino’s summer reading list last month. The reading list was hand picked by no other than Lisa Taddeo that had read Setterwall’s novel after hearing her speak at an authors’ dinner. Taddeo sums up Let’s Hope for the Best perfectly in one sentence:
“This intense read is no lite summer fare, but it’s sure to keep you captivated.”
Let’s Hope for the Best was published in the US by Little, Brown and Company on July 9th.
Joakim Zander’s novel The Friend was recently published in paperback in the UK and has received brilliant reviews, amongst others from The Bookseller.
“A moving love story and a gripping adventure, The Friend is an intelligent thriller that untangles the complexities of international politics and reveals the dark threats facing the world today.”
The Friend was published in paperback on August 8th by Head of Zeus.
Johanna Gillbro was recently interviewed in Perfect Guide, a popular weekend supplement to one of Sweden’s largest dailies, where she discussed skincare and Gillbro’s new book Hudbibeln (The Skin We’re In).
With expert advice, Gillbro shared how to care for your skin in the best possible way, and refuted the myth about drinking water and how it will affect your skin.
Read the intriguing full interview here.
Hudbibeln was published in Sweden by Bookmark on the 8th of April this year.
See Me Fall by Mons Kallentoft was praised in Göteborgsposten’s review:
“It’s a pitch-black story that takes place in a Palma beyond the family-friendly beaches and charming shopping streets, but with an utter presence in every desperate step.”
See Me Fall was published in Sweden on May 3rd by Bokförlaget Forum.
Newsweek just published their “Best Summer Books: 30 Last Chance Beach Reads” and A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson made the list with a brilliant review where the novel is described as follows: “A Nearly Normal Family is a uniquely organized and engrossing read.”
A Nearly Normal Family was published in the US by Celadon Books on June 25th 2019.
Respect – Everything a Guy Needs to Know About Sex, Love, and Consent by Inti Chavez Perez have received a rave pre-publication review from Kirkus:
“Reassuring, factual, and straightforward sexual education resource written for adolescent boys but appropriate for all genders and ages.”
The review describes the book perfectly – a thorough guide in a slim package. Click here to read the full review.
The US edition of Respect will be published by Penguin Books on August 27th.
Mons Kallentoft’s latest novel See Me Fall has received a brilliant review in Sundsvall’s Tidning:
“It’s a feverish tale. Blanck moves in the dark and in the periphery – both literally and spiritually. The search for his daughter and drugs are what keeps him moving forward. […] You will recognize Kallentoft, but See Me Fall is a darker tale than the suites about Malin Fors. Well worth the read.”
Carolina Setterwall’s novel Let’s Hope for the Best has just been published in the US and in conjunction with the release, The Millions has published an excerpt from the novel and highlighted quotes from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus:
Publishers Weekly called the book—in which Setterwall recounts the intensity of falling in love with her partner and the shock of finding him dead one morning—”austere, quietly disturbing…a starkly unsentimental depiction of the difficulties of life after the death of a partner,” while Kirkus hailed it as “A moving and tender work of autofiction that depicts the obsessive interiority of grief.”
Click here to read the excerpt.
The US edition of Let’s Hope for the Best was published by Little, Brown on July 9th.
Beyond All Reasonable Doubt by Malin Persson Gilito has received yet another great review from the US, this time from The Los Angeles Times:
“With a messy personal life and a sharp legal mind, Weber is the moral center of Malin Persson Giolito’s Swedish thriller Beyond All Reasonable Doubt. The novel tracks a mission to right a wrong and plunges into the egos, deceptions, lies, vendettas, presumptions and questionable police work that pervade a legal system and society’s need for retribution. […] Ahlin’s case is a criminal and moral puzzle about guilt and shades of innocence. A man is many things, but if he is arrested for a heinous act, the world reduces him to caricature. He faces swift assumptions and fabulist headlines, and even the legal system designed to protect his rights succumbs to its own imperfections and inconsistencies. Agendas flash here and there like a circus tilted from is bearings.”
Beyond All Reasonable Doubt was published by Other Press on June 4th .
Three of our marvelous authors topped the charts for audiobooks in Sweden in June. The Boy in the Headlights by Samuel Bjørk, See Me Fall by Mons Kallentoft, and A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson are all in the top five of the charts of the most listened to audiobooks, according to Svensk Bokhandel.
Mattias Edvardsson’s A Nearly Normal Family has just received a rave review from The Wall Street Journal:
“‘We were a perfectly ordinary family,’” insists Adam Sandell, a pastor and one of three narrators in Swedish author M.T. Edvardsson’s involving, sharply written A Nearly Normal Family […] Diagramming how things went awry is one purpose of Adam’s lengthy monologue, which takes up a large chunk of this shrewdly constructed story. […] When Stella takes over the narrative, she proves to be more than a shrewd observer of her own predicament. […] Stella transforms the novel’s events, and then her mother, herself a lawyer, gives this surprise-filled saga its final turn. Mr. Edvardsson, whose Swedish is translated here by Rachel Willson-Broyles, is a fine stylist. A Nearly Normal Family, the author’s first book to be published in this country, is a compulsively readable tour de force.”
The US edition of A Nearly Normal Family will be published by Celadon Books on June 25th, 2019.
The German edition of The Boy in the Headlights by Samuel Bjørk has climbed from #20 to #5 on Der Spiegel‘s bestseller list for paperback fiction this week. The book was published by Goldmann just last week.
Mattias Edvardsson’s A Nearly Normal Family is celebrating its 14th consecutive week on the list, this week at #19. The book was published by Blanvalet in March, 2019.
The Washington Post has just chosen Beyond All Reasonable Doubt by Malin Persson Giolito as one of nine picks for thrillers to read on the beach this summer:
“Author of the 2017 prizewinning Quicksand, Giolito has come up with another knockout legal thriller. Here Sweden looks less like a socialist paradise and more like a society as screwed up as anyplace else. Bumbling cops and prosecutors convict a medical researcher for the grisly murder of a 15-year-old girl he had seduced. In the public’s opinion, Stig Ahlin is ‘Professor Death.’ So when lawyer Sophia Weber looks at the paltry evidence and agrees — 13 years after the crime was committed — to help the imprisoned professor petition for a new trial, the reaction, online and among friends, is ferociously negative. Weber is a wonderfully textured creation, a poignant mix of determined braininess and nagging doubts. Giolito’s finale is a smidgen more ambiguous than some readers will want, but maybe this means Sophia Weber will be back again — a very good thing.”
Click here for the full list.
The US edition of Beyond All Reasonable Doubt was published by Other Press on June 4th.
Inti Chavez Perez has received yet another rave pre-publication review for Respect – Everything a Guy Needs to Know about Sex, Love, and Consent, this time from Publishers Weekly:
“With wonderful frankness, Chavez Perez, […] describes the ins and outs of becoming and being a man in this instructive, comprehensive debut. […] Chavez Perez does a thorough job of answering frequently asked questions and covers a wide range of issues with the tone of an older, more experienced brother willing to share his own missteps (as well as his well-sourced research). […] For any man (or woman) with questions about sex that they were too uncomfortable to ask, Chavez Perez’s authoritative book will have the answer.”
The US edition of Respect – Everything a Guy Needs to Know about Sex, Love, and Consent will be out from Penguin Books on August 27th, 2019.
Samuel Bjørk’s latest novel The Boy in the Headlights was published in Germany two days ago, and it has now entered Der Spiegel‘s bestseller list for paperback fiction at #20.
Inti Chavez Perez has just received a rave pre-publication review from Booklist for the upcoming US edition of Respect – Everything a Guy Needs to Know about Sex, Love, and Consent:
“In this accessible and blunt guide to relationships, Swedish author and sex educator Chavez Perez educates men on the ins and outs of intimacy. […] This is a perfect introduction to a healthy male sex life. While it may be most beneficial for young adults, adults also have much to gain from revisiting the basics of sex ed, especially in the #MeToo era.”
Penguin Books will publish Respect – Everything a Guy Needs to Know about Sex, Love, and Consent on August 27th, 2019.
Heather Reisman, CEO of the major Canadian book chain Indigo, and a big influencer in Canada, has chosen A Nearly Normal Family as one of Heather’s Picks in Indigo’s stores. Heather has just now started a new book club and A Nearly Normal Family is the inaugural book for this club.
Click here to see Heather endorse the book on CTV News.
The US edition of A Nearly Normal Family will be published by Celadon Books on June 25th, 2019.
Let’s Hope for the Best by Carolina Setterwall is being published by Bloomsbury in the UK on June 13th, and the pre-publication reviews are fantastic:
“Intense and relentlessly navel-gazing, this debut by 40-year-old Swedish writer Carolina Setterwall may be billed as an autobiographical novel but is quite simply one of the best bereavement memoirs I’ve read… It’s impossible not to draw comparisons with Karl Ove Knausgaard, who must surely have been an inspiration. But there is a unique voice here, a style of disclosure all her own, incidentally beautifully translated. It’s an emotional battering ram, I thought, and I absolutely loved it.”
– The Evening Standard
“This Scandinavian bestseller was based on tragic real events, so it’s not surprising that every spare, controlled sentence has the ring of truth. (…) This painfully clear-sighted, unsentimental novel is in two alternating parts; one detailing the years leading up to Aksel’s death, the other everything that comes after. It’s about grief in all its raw messiness, but it’s also (as how could it not be?) about time … Setterwall’s refusal to impose twists or false neatness is at first admirable then, as a fragile new love begins to blossom for Carolina, gripping.”
– The Daily Mail
Beyond All Reasonable Doubt by Malin Persson Giolito have been selected as one 10 books to read in June by BBC.com:
“Persson Giolito maximises suspense by toggling between the original investigation and Sophia’s ever more ambivalent follow-up.”
The US edition of Beyond All Reasonable Doubt is set to be published by Other Press on June 4th.
Click here to see the list in full.
Ahlander Agency has 2 out of only 7 of the New York Times‘ roundup of recommended thrillers for summer reading: Beyond All Reasonable Doubt by Malin Persson Giolito and A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson.
Click here for the full list.
NEW AUTHOR: ALEX SCHULMAN
We proudly welcome Alex Schulman to Ahlander Agency.
Alex Schulman is a writer and journalist who produces one of Sweden’s most popular weekly podcasts, Alex & Sigge.
He has published four books to date and his latest novel Burn All My Letters, which was published in the fall of 2018, quickly became a runaway bestseller in Sweden. The novel has been unanimously praised by readers and critics alike, and it was featured on the prestigious critics list in Sweden’s biggest daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter for five consecutive weeks.
Mixing unadorned candor with a language that sings, Schulman has established himself as one of the most loved writers of his generation.
NEW BOOK: the skin we’re in
The Skin We’re In, written by award-winning Swedish skin scientist Johanna Gillbro, PhD, is the first comprehensive guide to skincare on the market today, that also teaches consumers to decode the ingredient list of skin care products and educates readers about the actual composition of skin creams. The book contains cutting-edge research, for example about the skin’s microbiome and the function of bacteria in the skin, as well as the relation between your gut and the skin. The book challenges how we look at skin care today by questioning outdated conventions and commercial tricks.
In a personal yet educative manner, Gillbro takes us through the basics, from the different layers of the skin, how to analyze your own complexion, and how to lay the foundation for a healthy skin.
Film rights to Alex Schulman’s bestselling novel Burn All My Letters have been sold to SF Studios.
The news was announced at a press gathering at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
Mons Kallentoft’s latest thriller, See Me Fall, was the most sold book in Sweden during its second week on sale, according to the Swedish Publishers’ Association’s weekly bestseller list.
See Me Fall was published by Forum on May 3rd.
Carolina Setterwall’s bestselling novel Let’s Hope for the Best has been selected for the 2019 Summer/Fall Indies Introduce promotion, as one of only 10 titles. This prestigious promotion is chosen by panels from the American Booksellers Association member booksellers from across the U.S. as the top debuts of the upcoming publishing season.
The US edition of Let’s Hope for the Best will be published by Little, Brown on July 9th, 2019.
Quicksand, the television series based on Malin Persson Giolito’s bestselling novel of the same name, is the #1 most watched non-English language show on Netflix in the UK during the month of April, according to Netflix.
The German edition of Mattias Edvardsson’s bestselling novel A Nearly Normal Family has climbed to #9 on Der Spiegel’s Bestseller List for paperback fiction this week.
NEW BOOK: SEE ME FALL
A missing daughter, a father who swears never to stop searching, and a breathless pursuit through the dark underbelly of a glittery wonderland. This is paradise lost.
Stockholm, 2015. Tim Blanck drives his 16-year-old daughter Emme to the airport: she is going on holiday to the party island of Mallorca. It’s Emme’s first trip alone with friends, one step closer to adulthood. But she never returns. Surveillance cameras capture Emme Blanck leaving a night club in the early hours of the morning and disappearing into the dark. After that, she’s gone.
Mons Kallentoft’s latest novel See Me Fall is a feverish page turner that is impossible to put down. But it is also a poignant story of loss, longing, a father’s boundless love for his child, and the darkness hidden behind the slick façade of a holiday paradise. What happens when a family’s worst nightmare occurs, and how does it affect those left behind? How deep does corruption go on an isolated pleasure island where everything has a price?
Taut action scenes, singular psychological depth, and a language that is seething with passion: See Me Fall is a rare masterpiece of a thriller that echoes the grit of the classic film Chinatown.
This week, the German edition of Mattias Edvardsson’s bestselling novel A Nearly Normal Family is #10 on Der Spiegel’s Bestseller List for paperback fiction.
Samuel Bjørk’s third installment in the Mia and Munch Series The Boy in the Headlights has received a stellar review today in UK Newspaper The Sun:
”A masterclass in crime fiction. Superb”.
The UK edition of The Boy in the Headlights was published by Doubleday on March 21st, 2019.
The winner will be announced at the Gothenburg Book Festival in September.
To read more and vote, click here.
Joakim Zander’s The Friend has just gotten a starred pre-publication review from Publishers Weekly:
“At the start of Zander’s thought-provoking standalone sequel to The Swimmer and The Believer, aspiring diplomat Jakob Seger, an intern assigned to the Swedish embassy in Beirut, arrives in Lebanon in August 2015, several months before the nightmarish ISIS attacks in France. […] Thriller fans who enjoy flawed, achingly human characters won’t be able to put this one down.”
HarperCollins is publishing The Friend on June 25th, 2019.
Åsa Larsson, Ingela Korsell, and Henrik Jonsson’s bestselling phenomenon PAX has now sold more than 500 000 copies in Sweden.
The tenth and final book in the series was published by Bonnier Carlsen in September, 2018.
Inti Chavez Perez’s ever important book Respect – Everything A Guy Needs to Know About Sex, Love, and Consent was published in Norway by Gyldendal last week and it just entered the non-fiction bestseller list at #4.
Mattias Edvardsson’s latest book A Nearly Normal Family has this week climbed from #18 to #7 on Der Spiegel’s Bestseller List for paperback fiction.
Camilla Grebe’s latest novel Inertia was just published in Norway and it has been given full marks (6/6 stars) by Norwegian newspaper Adresseavisa:
“The new master of Scandinavian crime. […] A tale with suspense on many levels. Camilla Grebe is an excellent writer, she gives life to the different characters, we care for them. And she’s a clever crime writer who never ceases to surprise. This is a really good story.”
A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson was published in Germany by Limes Verlag on March 25th as Die Lüge. Two days later, the book entered Der Spiegel’s Bestseller List at #18.
Mons Kallentoft’s Earth Storm has just been published in Iceland and it went straight to #4 on Eymundsson’s bestseller list.
A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson has sold 100 000 copies in Sweden since its publication on June 20th 2018.
Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde has been shortlisted for Sveriges Radios short story award for her short story “Dokhtaram, min flicka”.
The award is given by public service radio broadcaster Sveriges Radio and was established in 2002. Hashemzadeh Bonde’s story was written specifically for Sveriges Radio and it was is one of five stories nominated for the award and the winner will be announced on April 12th, 2019.
Listen to“Dokhtaram, min flicka” here.
Samuel Bjørk is one of five finalists for the Riverton Prize, the award given to the best Norwegian crime novel of the year, for his latest installment in the bestselling Mia & Munch series, The Boy in the Headlights.
The jury’s motivation reads as follows:
“It’s liberating to read a writer who has such a distinct voice, one who dares to go his way. The author avoids being too verbose, and almost has a minimalist style. But through a language that is precise and rhythmic it gives the story drive and pace.”
The winner will be announced on April 4th.
The Dutch edition of Respect – Everything A Guy Needs to Know About Sex, Love, and Consent by Inti Chavez Perez has just entered the official bestseller list De Bestseller 60 at #37!
Respect was published by Atlas Contact in January, 2019.
The Boy in the Headlights, the third book in Samuel Bjørk’s bestselling Mia & Munch series, is soon to be published in the UK, and two first rave reviews are already in:
“The new novel is as clever and twisty as his hugely successful debut I’m Travelling Alone.”
The Sunday Times
“Fans of Scandi-Noir will adore this ice-cool chiller featuring detectives Holger Much and the brilliant but troubled Mia Kruger. […] Brilliant suspense to the very end.”
Best Magazine
The Boy in the Headlights will be published by Doubleday on March 21st.
Christoffer Carlsson keeps getting praise for his latest novel, Under the Storm:
“In the novel Under the Storm [Carlsson] portrays how a murder and a fire at the edge of a village creates blame among close relatives and forever marks the people who remain. […] This is a singular suspense novel. Christoffer Carlsson places us tenderly in the countryside where he grew up, among meadows, forests, brooks, and waterfalls. […] Christoffer Carlsson is a nimble writer. With a light hand he navigates his tale onward through the eighty-eight short chapters and never loses pace. And in the end it leads to home.”
Sveriges Radio P4 Halland
Under the Storm by Christoffer Carlsson has been praised by Leif GW Persson, the iconic crime writer and professor of criminology, in Expressen;
“A good book is a true pleasure. […] This is a story about a murder in Halland and it’s about as sordid and grayish as the cases we see in real life. […] Carlsson holds the reader in an iron grip. Moreover, his writing is extremely good. In fact, he writes better than pretty much everyone else. Not only in this genre – where it’s often deplorable – but among young writers on the whole. How will this end, I wonder as I put down his book and for some reason I come to think of a colleague of ours, Kerstin Ekman. She began her authorship with a few traditional detective stories before taking the big leap to the only kind of storytelling that truly matters with her novel Dödsklockan. So how will this end, I wonder.”
Christoffer Carlsson’s new suspense novel Under the Storm has received a rave review by Göteborgs-posten today:
“A novel about a crime – that is the subtitle to the crime novel Under the Storm, and it is spot on. But it is also a novel about loneliness, guilt, life in a small community, addiction, social heritage, dreams, and about the humanity in wanting to belong to someone or something. Christoffer Carlsson is a writer with a style to admire, and he also holds a key to the inner lives and minds of people that most crime writers will never find. What more, as a criminologist he has expertise that provides authenticity, along with a great talent for telling stories. […]
There’s a great darkness in Under the Storm, but it’s never completely black and never without hope – not even when a great storm sweeps in and uproots the old forest, leaving Marbäck in utter darkness. Go there with Christoffer Carlsson and you will see. And even though the year is young I can safely say that Under the Storm is sure to be named one of the best crime novels of the year.”
On a cold November night in 1994, a house burns to the ground. Inside, a young woman is found dead – murdered. To the people in the rural community of Marbäck, Sweden, it becomes a reference point: it creates a before and an after. For the young boy Isak Nyqvist, it’s as if a stray spark has found its way inside him and set his future in flames.
Under the Storm is at once a luminous coming-of-age story and a compulsively suspenseful whodunit. Through unadorned yet profound language, Christoffer Carlsson digs deep into the psyches of ordinary people and shows with utmost clarity how the ripple effects of a crime haunt a small community. With stylistic verve, low-boil suspense and an ingenious three-act structure, Under the Storm breaks out as a stunning modern classic.
The first Swedish original Netflix series Quicksand has received a rave review by the Swedish daily newspaper Expressen after the premier at The Berlin International Film Festival:
“There is no doubt that the way Quicksand opens is brilliant.”
Quicksand is based on the best-selling suspense novel with the same name by Malin Persson Giolito.
Read the review here.
The Boy in the Headlights by Samuel Bjørk is currently the best-selling book at Books Plus in Greece. It is the third instalment in The Mia and Munch series.
After She’s Gone by Camilla Grebe, The Glass Key Award winner 2018, is currently on the best-seller list in France.
Let’s Hope for the Best by Carolina Setterwall is currently the best-selling paper back in the market leading book store chain Akademibokhandeln in Sweden.
Rights have been sold to 25 territories.
Carolina Setterwall’s debut novel Let’s Hope for the Best has just received another rave review in Denmark:
“A magnificent reading experience. Raw, honest, and self-revealing. For those who love stories from real life.”
5/6 Magasinet Liv
Tove Alsterdal appeared in the latest issue of Söndag, the weekly cultural supplement of Sweden’s biggest daily, Dagens Nyheter, with an extensive interview about her best-selling new thriller Erasure:
“The suspense genre is a fantastic way to tell a story. To unveil a secret. Everything that’s hidden under the facade and surface. ”
Read the interview here.
Carolina Setterwall’s debut novel Let’s Hope for the Best continues to receive rave reviews in Denmark:
“I can only recommend this book.”
MELLEM-LINJERNE.DK (DK)
“It’s the kind of book that you’ll never forget. It gets under your skin. It moves into the heart. The story is so vulnerable and direct that one cannot avoid caring for the people it is about, and to love them. […] I have never read a book that, so beautifully, puts into words how difficult it is to live without – but also to live with – the one you love. One of the best, most touching and most relevant books I’ve ever read.”
RANDIGLENSBO.DK (DK)
“A brave and honest story that is very hard to let go of – even after you’ve finished reading it. A ‘must read’ for everyone – whether you have lost someone or not.”
BECH’S BOOKS (DK)
Netflix have released the first teaser for the TV-series Quicksand that is based on the best-selling suspense novel with the same name by Malin Persson Giolito.
Rights have been sold to 29 countries and it was awarded the Best Crime Novel of the Year Award 2016, Sweden’s official suspense literature award.
The series will premiere globally on Netflix on April 5th, 2019.
Watch the trailer here.
Let’s Hope for the Best by Carolina Setterwall is being praised in Denmark:
“Honest and unvarnished autofiction … Carolina Setterwall writes about the many nuances of grief, but also about love, family life and expectations of life before and after the sudden death. The precise and almost photographic memories of the past are fine and nuanced … The love story is by no means romanticized, and the descriptions of the author’s grief process and thoughts, also the less pretty ones, makes the novel even better.”
LITTERATURSIDEN.DK
“A vulnerable, honest and intense novel about loss and trying to move on. It’s poignant and well-written.”
DANSK BIBLIOTEKSCENTER
Erasure by Tove Alsterdal continues to receive rave reviews in Sweden:
“This is a thrilling page-turner. But Tove Alsterdal’s Erasure is also a subtle psychological novel about relationships, a captivating historical novel about life in a borderland, and a thought-provoking, philosophical novel. […] Breathlessly, the reader gets to experience how silenced and hidden stories from the past and people’s inner depths are brought into the light – in a way Tove Alsterdal does like no other. Cleverly, delicately, masterfully.”
Västerbottenskuriren (SE)
“Tove Alsterdal stands out in the suspense genre with an illuminating social perspective.”
AFTONBLADET (SE)
Carolina Setterwall’s debut novel Let’s Hope for the Best has been lauded in Denmark since its publication by C&K on January 17th.
“Setterwalls book is razor sharp and so brave that you can barely understand how she dares. […] It’s a book that gives you shivers as it rises beyond grief in the finest way.”
6/6, Femina
”Let’s Hope for The Best is a story about love. And it’s a reconciliation with death, but also with life and our expectations for it.”
HENDES VERDEN
“The book is a novel as much as it is an honest diary, and the naked self-examination is a moving read. Guilt, grief, and dizzying love are combined in a brave way.”
EUROWOMAN
Tove Alsterdal’s new suspense novel Erasure continues to receive rave reviews in Sweden:
“[Alsterdal’s] nuanced and restrained prose not only gives authenticity to the characters and milieus, and the same fenomen heightens the suspense. […] What builds her plot isn’t the calculated or unlikely, it’s rather the structured and comprehensive. The wisdom of history, the return of injustice from the century when the idiocy of nationalism devastated the continent. History is the murderer, now and then. […] A true history lesson, a tale in the minor key.”
Norrbottenskuriren (SE)
“Erasure is a novel about a time, an era, and history. But it is also both thrilling and moving, it is after all written by Tove Alsterdal, which is always a guarantee for quality. […] In Erasure she elevates her authorship further. She tells a story that may be fictive, but that nonetheless stems from many actual human fates. And she does so with precision and great empathy.”
Smålandsposten (SE)
A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson has received a rave review in Stavanger Aftenblad:
“Edvardsson is a master of suspense, and digs deep into the inner workings of the family. He has written an impressive page turner about three people in crisis.”
The novel was published by Gyldendal in Norway on January 4th.
Erasure by Tove Alsterdal has received a rave review by Lotta Olsson in Dagens Nyheter:
“The atmosphere is as eerie as in a horror movie: the creaking old estate without a single mirror, the overgrown garden that extends down to the river, the cellar that isn’t really consistent with the plans, an alarming sense of impending catastrophe. […] Few can write like Tove Alsterdal. She has a style of her own and a directness to her tone, and portrays people who are neither downright good nor bad. It is human and that’s what makes it so frightening: everyone can commit evil deeds, and everyone can keep fateful secrets.”
A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson has received a review in Adresseavisen after its recent publication in Norway by Gyldendal:
“About to conquer the world.”
NEW BOOK: ERASURE
Sonja and Daniel are a middle-aged couple who, in a last attempt to save their failing marriage, decide to leave Sweden and follow their dream of buying a vineyard in Bohemia in the Czech Republic, an area also known as Sudetenland.
Well there, they discover a system of old tunnels underneath the city that lead into their wine cellar. In one of the tunnels they find the mummified corpse of a young boy. His clothes are dated and he wears a white armband. In his pocket is a German Reichsmark from 1943. The local police don’t want to dig further into the case but when a woman is found dead on their property, Sonja realizes she may have stumbled upon something that people are willing to kill to keep hidden…
Erasure is Tove Alsterdal’s latest thriller where history and present intertwine in a riveting tale about human brutality – and loyalty. In a town without mirrors, the past may be erased but the departed will not be forgotten.
Tiina Nevala and Henrik Karlsson have received a rave review from Aftonbladet for their novel For People Like Us:
“A brilliant feel good novel […] Marvelous style and authentic emotions.”
After She’s Gone by Camilla Grebe has received a starred review by Publisher’s Weekly:
“Grebe delivers an unflinching, heart-wrenching message about the plight of refugees in this scorching thriller.”
Read the review here.
A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson has sold more than 60 000 copies in Sweden since its publication in the summer of 2018.
Today, it’s the fourth most sold suspense novel in hard cover at the market leading book store chain Akademibokhandeln.
The US edition of After She’s Gone has just received a rave pre-publication review from Booklist:
“This atmospheric mystery is masterfully constructed. […] Nordic noir at its best.”
Ballantine will publish After She’s Gone on February 26th, 2019.
Inti Chavez Perez’s ever-important book Respect – A Guy’s Guide to Sex, Love, and Consent is one of the most sold books in Sweden for young readers this year.
The longlist for Sweden’s official audiobook prize, Storytel Awards, has just been announced and it features three of our authors in the category for best Suspense Novel:
A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson
Falco by Mons Kallentoft
Beyond All Reasonable Doubt and The Process by Malin Persson Giolito.
The Draug, the tenth and final book in the PAX series, by Åsa Larsson, Ingela Korsell and Henrik Jonsson is nominated in the category for best Children’s book.
In January readers can vote for their favorite book and a jury will then choose the winner from the five books with the most votes in each category. The winner will be announced at a gala event in April 2019.
Geir Tangen’s debut Maestro has been shortlisted for the Dutch ThrillZone Awards 2018 in the category of Best Foreign Thriller Debut.
It is the first installment in The Haugesund Series, and was published as Het Meesterverk by The House of Books in The Netherlands.
Read more here.
BookBeat has listed A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson as the third most popular audiobook in 2018.
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors has been listed in The Best Reviewed Books of 2018: Literature in Translation by Book Marks.
The list also features Eduoard Louis, Ismail Kadare, Karl Ove Knausgård, and more.
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors has been listed in Lit Hub’s Favorite Books of 2018 with the following words by Katie Yee:
“Don’t worry, Dorthe Nors fans! Mirror, Shoulder, Signal does not disappoint. Her latest novel follows Sonja, a middle-aged translator battling vertigo, learning to drive, and trying to reconnect with her sister. It’s a novel about quiet strength, and it’s witty, and the prose is beautifully translated from the Danish.”
Geir Tangen’s debut Maestro has been longlisted for the Dutch ThrillZone Awards 2018 in the category of Best Foreign Thriller Debut.
It is the first installment in The Haugesund Series, and was published as Het Meesterverk by The House of Books in The Netherlands.
Read more here.
Celestial Scream, Mons Kallentoft’s latest installment in the series featuring police detective Malin Fors, has received a rave review:
”An unpredictable and unusually captivating story where nothing is at it seems.”
Smålandsposten
Camilla Grebe has received yet another rave review for her latest book, Inertia:
“Inertia contains moving human destinies, just like Grebe’s previous books. The one who makes the strongest impression is perhaps Manfred, whose investigative work takes place in the shadow of a personal tragedy. […] Inertia is an incredibly strong read.”
A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson has received a rave review:
“A Nearly Normal Family is endlessly thrilling about the turbulence surrounding a family that’s crumbling, and the secrets that have been laid bare. Is nothing what it seems? Mattias Edvardsson has written a deeply moving psychological thriller with many layers and many questions, and with answers that surprises.”
Smålandsposten
Matilda Gustavsson has been awarded The Swedish Grand Prize for Journalism (Stora journalistpriset) in the category “Scoop of the year” for her investigative report about sexual abuse. It was published in November 2017 in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter and led to a series of events that brought the Swedish Academy to its knees.
The jury’s motivation reads as follows:
“There will be no Nobel Prize in literature this year. Through the witness accounts of 18 women, she uncovered the abuse of an esteemed man, and a prestigious Swedish institution fell apart before the eyes of the entire world.”
Her trail-blazing literary reporting is the foundation of her upcoming book The 19th Member – A Chronicle of Power and Abuse at the Heart of the Nobel Scandal that will be published by Albert Bonniers Förlag in 2019.
Dorthe Nors’ critically acclaimed novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal has been listed in 100 Notable Books of 2018, a selection of fiction, poetry and nonfiction, by the editors of The New York Times Book Review.
The editors motivation reads as follows:
“In her sparkling novel — shortlisted for the International Man Booker — Nors trains her gaze on a woman many people would look past, a middle-aged translator learning to drive.”
Inertia by Camilla Grebe has received a rave review in Uppsala Nya Tidning:
“The last book by the brilliant Camilla Grebe, After She’s Gone, was named Best Crime Novel of the Year by the Crime Writer’s Academy in 2017. In the new book Inertia, she uses a different narrative technique. The protagonists take turns telling the story in separate chapters. At the centre is 18 year old Samuel who has found himself on a slippery slope. In the end, his deeply religious mother Pernilla is forced to act against everything she’s ever believed in. Psychologically permeating and incredibly disturbing.”
Dorthe Nors’ novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal is on the longlist for The International Dublin Literary Award 2019.
The novel was nominated by Deichmanske library, the main public library in Oslo, with the following words:
“An existential crisis disguised as entertainment. A text that deals with emotionally charged topics with an impressive ease, compassionate, fun and touching.”
Read more here.
Celestial Scream by Mons Kallentoft has been on the best seller lists of the major audio book distribution companies Storytel and BookBeat since its publication on October 17th by Forum in Sweden. It is the twelfth book in Mons Kallentoft’s lauded series about police detective Malin Fors.
Camilla Grebe, the winner of The Glass Key Award 2018, has received a rave review in Oskarshamns-Tidningen:
“It’s impossible to lay Camilla Grebe’s books aside until you find out how everything’s connected.”
Inertia is Camilla Grebe’s latest psychological thriller and was recently published by Wahlström & Widstrand in Sweden.
Matilda Gustavsson has been named “Journalist of the Year” at Sweden’s big Magazine Gala. The award is given by the Swedish Magazine Publishers Association, and Matilda received the award for her articles and stories for Dagens Nyheter’s Weekend Supplement, where she writes intimate portraits of well-known Swedes.
The jury’s motivation reads as follows:
“Sometimes you choose to read a text purely based on who the writer is, safely assured to be rewarded. This year’s winner writes with love, pain, and joy, and every sentence holds a rhythm. She gives a deeper understanding of people who have been interviewed many times before – but above all about the society in which we live.”
Matilda Gustavsson has been nominated for The Swedish Grand Prize for Journalism (Stora journalistpriset) in the category “Scoop of the year” for her investigative report about sexual abuse. It was published in November 2017 in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter and led to a series of events that brought the Swedish Academy to its knees.
The jury’s motivation reads as follows:
“There will be no Nobel Prize in literature this year. Through the witness accounts of 18 women, she uncovered the abuse of an esteemed man, and a prestigious Swedish institution fell apart before the eyes of the entire world.”
NEW AUTHOR: MATILDA GUSTAVSSON
Matilda Gustavsson (1987) is the award-winning journalist behind the already historical scoop that has rocked the Swedish Academy and the international reading community.
In November 2017, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter published Gustavsson’s investigative report about sexual abuse that led to a series of events that brought the Swedish Academy, one of the world’s most prestigious cultural institutions which annually names the Nobel Prize in literature, to its knees. As a result of this exposé and the tumult that followed, no Nobel Prize will be awarded in 2018.
With credibility, craftsmanship, and riveting storytelling, Matilda Gustavsson exposes a world known to few and depicts power struggles and corruption in the most elevated of cultural circles, and Matilda delves further into the story in her upcoming book The 19th Member – A Chronicle of Power and Abuse at the Heart of the Nobel Scandal which will be published by Albert Bonniers Förlag in 2019.
Gustavsson’s sharp pen and personal interviews have been praised nationwide, and in 2016 she was awarded The Swedish Publicists’ Associations prestigious prize The Golden Pen, as the youngest recipient in the award’s history. Known for her literary verve and distinctive voice, Gustavsson has also published notable fiction in Granta.
Samuel Bjørk’s latest thriller The Boy in the Headlights has been shortlisted for the Norwegian Booksellers’ Award. The award is given to the best Norwegian book as voted by Norway’s booksellers and it has been awarded since 1948. The winner will be announced on November 20th.
Samuel Bjørk’s previous books, I’m Traveling Alone and The Owl Only Hunts at Night were both nominated for the same prize in 2013 and 2015 respectively.
Celestial Scream, the latest installment in Mons Kallentoft’s series about Malin Fors, quickly made it to the best seller lists in all formats, and today it is the third most sold novel in hard cover in Sweden.
It has also received a rave review in Östra Småland:
”I’ve written this before. Mons Kallentoft’s stories about Malin Fors, her personal short comings with men and alcohol, but her success in her professional life is amongst the best suspense in Swedish.”
The Swedish edition of Respect – A Guy’s Guide to Sex, Love, and Consent by Inti Chavez Perez is lauded in Dagens Arena:
“It’s a pedagogical guide about sex, but also about gender equality and homophobia […], what love is and can be, and why it’s important to talk about feelings. It’s like having a big brother.”
Read more here.
To date it has been sold to 13 territories.
The first international edition of Respect – A Guy’s Guide to Sex, Love, and Consent by Inti Chavez Perez has just been published in Spain by Grijalbo.
Click here to read more.
NEW BOOK: INERTIA
Roughly a year has passed since the dramatic events in the little town of Ormberg and Manfred Olsson is back in Stockholm, working as an investigator. When the body of a young drug dealer washes ashore on an island in the archipelago, Manfred and his colleagues are called to the scene. As another body turns up in the water the investigation gets more and more complicated and Manfred sees no other option than to turn to psychological profiler Hanne Lagerlind-Schön.
Inertia is Camilla Grebe’s latest psychological thriller – a dark tale of psychological illness, narcissism, and severed lives. Here, Grebe once again excels in plot twists that grab readers by the throat. Set against a sweltering summer backdrop, Grebe’s authentically flawed characters come alive and a chilling tale unravels to reveal evil lurking in the most serene of surroundings…
Samuel Bjørk’s The Boy in the Headlights is currently the fourth bestselling crime novel in Norway, while Geir Tangen’s Dead Men Dancing is #6.
The Dutch edition of Samuel Bjørk’s third novel, The Boy in the Headlights went straight to #1 on the official crime bestseller list in The Netherlands, the week before publication. Moreover, it currently holds #6 on the overall bestseller list.
Click here to see the entire list.
Dead Men Dancing by Geir Tangen is the fourth best selling crime novel in Norway one week after its publication.
Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde’s novel What We Owe, recently published in the US by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, has received a rave review in The Literary Review:
“Hashemzadeh Bonde depicts a haunting and emotional tale of survival, of what it means to be a refugee. Through the eyes of the narrator, Nahid, the reader vividly sees that fleeing a place is not synonymous with fleeing the complexity of a situation. Through language that is practically poetic, Bonde constructs a story that reads like a love letter from mother to daughter, a letter in which Nahid expresses her deepest regrets and offers the explanation her daughter always craved, but she could never verbalize.”
Read the review here.
The Swedish edition of A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson has sold more than 50 000 copies since its release on June 20th by Forum bokförlag.
To date the novel has been sold to 31 territories.
NEW BOOK: CELESTIAL SCREAM
On a sweltering summer day, a boy is found dead in a car. When Malin Fors arrives at the scene, the boy’s mother is sitting under a tree clinging to her limp child. Her desperate screams have faded into a shallow wail.
A wave of internet trolls come out of the woodwork to terrorize the grieving mother. How can you possibly judge someone who has already experienced the worst thinkable punishment? When Fanny turns up murdered in cold blood, Malin and her colleagues are forced to look at the case with fresh eyes. Sometimes the most difficult answers hide in plain sight…
Celestial Scream is the twelfth book in Mons Kallentoft’s critically acclaimed series about the flawed but brilliant police detective Malin Fors, and the third in his suite inspired by the five senses.
Samuel Bjørk’s third book in his bestselling series about Mia Krüger and Holger Munch, The Boy in the Headlights, was just published in Norway and here’s the latest collection of rave reviews:
“The Boy in the Headlights is the best book in the series so far. Here, Bjørk proves he’s in shape and that he’s being playful. The plot is thrilling and well constructed, with many surprising twists. The ending is both frightening and cold as ice. […] Bjørk has an original voice. His style is at times rhythmic and musical, and sometimes he offers constructions we usually find in poetry.”
VERDENS GANG (NO)
“Bjørk proves to be a storyteller that builds and constructs his tales in clever and ingenious ways […] When you think you’re close to figuring everything out, Bjørk gives the story a new turn and the tension holds to the very last page. That’s the way it should be in the great crime novels, and that’s how it is here. […] Bjork writes exceptionally well – there’s a propulsion to both his style and plot that makes it impossible to put down the book before your eyes give up.”
NETTAVISEN, 5/6 (NO)
“An exuberant and dark fantasy. […] There’s an uneasy atmosphere permeating this story urging the reader from page to page in want of a solution. Bjørk’s writing is captivating, and Holger and Mia have established themselves as a couple you like and recognize.”
TRØNDER-AVISA, 5/6 (NO)
“What distinguishes Bjørk from most of his colleages in the thriller genre is his literary talent. His imagery and metaphors are more original, and he’s better at creating associations than most. He creates subsidiary characters we care about, and let’s them sail their own sea in favor of the main plot, as we keep being curious about them. This creates a singular energi which separates Bjørk from the many thrillers that are more adapted for the market. […] Claustrophobic suspense to the very end.”
ADRESSEAVISEN (NO)
NEW BOOK: DEAD MEN DANCING
Summer has arrived in sleepy Haugesund. In the woods on the outskirts of town a ghost has risen from the ashes and lies in waiting, holding on to an old grudge…
Once again Haugesund is plagued by a series of gruesome murders. When it turns out that the two murder victims used to belong to the same group of friends in their youth it becomes apparent that the killer might be on a personal vendetta and that more people are in danger. When the third victim is found they soon they realize that Lotte might be next in line…
Dead Men Dancing is the third and final installment in Geir Tangen’s Haugesund trilogy. With his signature humour and breath-taking twists at breakneck speed, Geir Tangen finalizes his bestselling trilogy with a page-turner that will keep the reader hooked to the very last page.
Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde’s novel What We Owe, published in the UK by Fleet, has received a rave review in The Economist:
“It knots the experiences of three generations of women into a taut and moving account of grief, a legacy handed down from mother to daughter “as sure as the raven-black hair”.”
Read the review here.
The Executioner’s Kiss, the latest book in Mons Kallentoft’s bestselling series about Malin Fors, is currently the #1 bestselling paperback book in Sweden.
Danish master of the short story Dorthe Nors has been chosen as the author of the month in October by Saxo, one of the leading online retailers in Denmark.
Read their feature on Dorthe Nors and her recent collection of short stories Map of Canada here.
BBC culture featured What We Owe by Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde in a roundup of best books to read in October.
Read more here.
The US edition of The Forbidden Place by Susanne Jansson, recently published by Grand Central, has received a review by Book Reporter :
“The Forbidden Place is a slow-boiling novel that combines elements of classic and modern mysteries with discussions of such disparate topics as quantum physics anomalies, ancient mysticism, legends and religion. While there is certainly a mystery within these pages, the police investigation and procedure often take a backseat to philosophical considerations, even as the conclusion features a modern take on Agatha Christie’s “meeting room” whodunit disclosures.”
Read the review here.
Camilla Grebe’s Diary from My Disappearance, which was published in Norway by Gyldendal a few weeks ago, has just received highest marks from Adresseavisen:
“A deeply original, incredibly thrilling, and uniquely intelligent crime novel. There are many talented and popular crime writers in Scandinavia who writes crime novels in the same vein of Camilla Grebe. Unni Lindell and Camilla Läckberg are two obvious references […] But none of them are at the same level as Camilla Grebe in Diary from My Disappearance, which was named best Swedish crime novel in 2017 and awarded the Glass Key for best nordic crime covel this year. […] Diary from My Disappearance is one of the very best suspense novels in recent years.”
The US edition of The Forbidden Place by Susanne Jansson has received a first rave review in Crimereads.com list of debut crime novels to read this September:
“This debut marks the first appearance in English of a major new voice in Scandinavian crime fiction.”
Crimereads.com
The Paris Review has interviewed Dorthe Nors on writing sanctuaries, Bergman, the Danish literary scene, and more.
Read the interview here.
Dorthe Nors’ second collection of short stories Map of Canada was recently published in Denmark to great critical acclaim.
NEW BOOK: THE BOY IN THE HEADLIGHTS
Samuel Bjørk returns with a third book in the dazzling The Mia and Munch Series.
An old man is driving home. Suddenly, his headlights catch something up ahead and he hits the brakes desperately, thinking it’s an animal. He discovers what’s really in front of him: a young boy, in shock, almost frozen to death. On his head the boy is wearing a set of deer antlers.
Holger Munch returns to active duty to take the case and he gets Oslo’s famed homicide unit back on its feet. It does not take much to bring Mia Krüger on board. She has been to rehab and managed to get clean again. As more victims surface, Mia soon realizes that there appears to be an uncanny resemblance to old cases from her past…
International bestselling writer Samuel Bjørk spins a masterful plot with flesh and blood characters that get under your skin.
NEW BOOK: THE DRAUG
The final battle has come.
Raven brothers Alrik and Viggo must leave Mariefred for good, but looming over their heads is also the small matter of saving the world. Under the magical library lies a draug – an unfathomable and ancient horror – and Maggie Migraine, the Dark Witch, intends to awaken it in order to wreak havoc and increase her power. Alrik and Viggo together with their friends Iris, Magnar, and Estrid are the only ones who can put a stop to her evil plan. But time is scarce and the final battle will come at great cost and sacrifice for everyone…
Time is pulsing and darkness is rolling in for the very last time. The Draug is the tenth and final book in the epic PAX series.
The American edition of What We Owe by Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde has received rave reviews prior to the publication by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on October 16th:
“Nahid’s sentences are short and thrillingly brutal, and the result is exhilarating. Hashemzadeh Bonde, unafraid of ugliness and seemingly unconcerned with likability, has produced a startling meditation on death, national identity, and motherhood. Always arresting, never sentimental; gut-wrenching, though not without hope.”
Kirkus
“Life is juxtaposed with death, resistance and revolution and rebirth are woven throughout the pages, and what it means to be a wife, daughter, sister, mother, and woman are unflinchingly examined in this book. This book is a powerhouse, and I don’t use that term often.”
Book Riot
Dorthe Nors continues to receive stunning reviews of her new short story collection Map of Canada:
“Incisive short stories about the distances between people. […] Dorthe Nors’s precise prose moves effortlessly from the smallest perceptible details to the alarming destruction of memory.”
Politiken, 5/6
“Dorthe Nors has a great eye for the peculiarities of ordinary people, the thoughts and desires we don’t share with others.”
Weekendavisen
“Dorthe Nors is great, antiheroistic literature for our time. Read her.”
Elle, 5/6
The Swedish edition of A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson has sold more than 40 000 copies after its release on June 20th by Forum bokförlag.
Danish master of the short story Dorthe Nors has just published a new collection of stories, Map of Canada. Here are excerpts of some of the stunning reviews that has come from Denmark so far:
“Dorthe Nors can make it hurt incredibly in just a few lines.”
Berlingske, 5/6
“Dorthe Nors is a master in the art of suggestion.”
Børsen, 5/6
“Nors is an incredibly honest, observing, and brave author.”
Femina, 6/6
Quicksand by Malin Persson Giolito has been listed in The New York Times’ round up of new books in paperback :
“This courtroom drama […] offers a window into Sweden’s underlying racial and economic tensions; Maja is scorned for her privilege, and her story takes aim at the country’s self-image as multicultural haven.”
Read more here.
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors has received a rave review by Clare Vaye Watkins in The New York Times:
“Page after addictive page, Nors pushes Sonja beyond her class betrayal and survivor’s guilt, beyond anger at her mother for encouraging her independence, into and, miraculously, out of a profound dislocation of the soul embodied by her vertigo, which bursts forth in a gorgeous, breathless finale. […] Nors gives the invisible woman the dignity of her artful gaze; as Sonja thinks on the masseuse’s table, “It’s wonderful being delved into.” This triumphant novel sounds the depths of women’s unseen strength in a register that reconciles enlightened feminism with working-class rage.”
Read the review here.
The TV-series Dirigenten, based on the first book The Conductor from Saint Petersburg in the Moscow Noir Series by Camilla Grebe and Paul Leander-Engström, will premiere in January 2019 on C more.
Mikael Håfström (Ondskan, Escape plan, 1408, Bloodline) is the main director of the eight episodes, and actor Adam Pålsson (Torka aldrig tårar utan handskar, Boys, Bron) will do the part as the main character Tom Blixen.
The series is produced by Black Spark in collaboration with StudioCanal, Canal+ Poland, Dansu Film, Helsinki Filmi and Bonnier Broadcasting.
Read more here.
What We Owe by Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde has received a rave review in The New Zealand Herald:
“She’s a challenging protagonist: abrasive, suffering, contemptuous, judgmental, relentless in her rejections and surgically honest. Short, concussive chapters jerk with sentences that hammer like a machine-gun. Bonde manages to be tender without any sentiment, precise but never reductive. It’s a narrative arc which moves towards a wounded reconciliation. It’s lit by moments of tranquillity and something close to joy but it’s never easy or mawkish. […] Read this short book and marvel; it shakes you to your centre.”
Read the review here.
The Swedish edition of A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson was recently listed as number one on Storytel.
It has sold more than 30 000 copies since its release on June 20th.
Camilla Grebe has been awarded the prestigious Glass Key Award 2018 for her critically acclaimed novel Diary from My Disappearance, thus naming the book Best Nordic Crime Novel from 2017. The motivation reads as follows:
“A well-written novel about police officer Malin who returns to her hometown to solve a cold case dating back to the time when she grew up. Two separate narrative voices provide nuance, while the novel at the same time offers a delicate portrayal of odd characters in a desolate area.”
The Glass Key award was established by the Crime Writers of Scandinavia in 1992. One crime novel from each of the Nordic countries makes up the shortlist. The members then choose one winner that receives the prestigious award, and the title of Best Nordic Crime Novel.
The Swedish edition of A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson has sold more than 25 000 copies after its release on June 20th by Forum bokförlag.
To date the novel has been sold to 31 territories.
The US edition of Requiem by Geir Tangen was published by St Martins Press on July 31st, and here’s two rave reviews:
“A dark and slightly creepy thriller that fans of Henning Mankell and Arnaldur Indridason will appreciate.”
Library Journal
“A gripping, suitably atmospheric must-read for Scandinavian crime-fiction devotees.”
Booklist
The US edition of Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors continues to receive rave reviews:
“With this quietly moving story, Nors seems on the fast track to becoming a global writer.”
STAR TRIBUNE
“Nors skillfully enacts the way that most of us think: choppily and with frequent interruptions. […] From the reflective to the comic to the portentous in a matter of seconds, Sonja’s thoughts contain worlds. […] It’s Nors’s willingness to trade in the gently comedic, while still taking Sonja’s larger questing seriously, that makes Mirror, Shoulder, Signal such a complicated, and ultimately successful, balancing act.”
Bookforum
“Nors conjures a gently fraught reality in prose that evokes a life paused halfway between nostalgia for the past and hope for the future.”
Publishers Weekly
A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson has received rave reviews in Sweden:
“This is a real page turner. […] The book is structured in a way that gives us the father’s, the mother’s, and the daughter’s stories in separate parts, and the truth is revealed piece by piece. A perfect summer read on the beach.”
Aftonbladet
“It’s not often that you have a stomache-ache when reading a suspense novel. Usually, the plot is far from one’s own life, so that you’re able to be frightened in a pleasant and comfortable way. In this case, you’re stuck in a state of true unease. The parents’ anxiety is contagious. You grow mad of all that is left unsaid, the lack of communication and trust. At the same time, you understand the characters involved. They are human, through and through, and victims of their own shortcomings as well as the inequality of society and the legal system. Simply put, Mattias Edvardsson writes with impressive psychological drive. The portrayal is so convincing that it feels as though a close friend is caught up in the story. The plot is so skillfully constructed that you don’t find out how it ends until the very last pages – and then it surprises in every possible way. On top of that, there is a much needed and important critique of the arbitrary way that abused women are treated by the legal system. But, most of all, one is left with a alarming sense of how vulnerable life is.”
Norra Skåne
The Swedish edition of A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson has sold more than 10 000 copies in the first weeks after its release on June 20th by Forum bokförlag.
To date the novel has been sold to 31 territories.
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors has received a rave review in The New Yorker:
“In flowing and absorbing prose, Nors illustrates how this anxious, alienated woman experiences setbacks and triumphs, proportionate to her carefully enclosed life, and how it might be possible for anyone to overcome immense loneliness and make a connection.”
Read the review here.
Elin Olofsson was chosen to host an episode of National Swedish Radio’s traditional summer radio show Sommar i P1. Her episode was broadcasted yesterday, July 11th, and you can listen to it by clicking here.
Elin Olofsson’s critically acclaimed novel Crooked Paths was published in September, 2017.
The UK edition of Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde’s novel What We Owe was published by Fleet on July 5th, and here’s a first rave review from Stylist Magazine:
“In this short yet remarkable novel, Nahid learns she has cancer, and just six months to live. […] Rather than a gentle meditation on a life lived to the full, What We Owe is filled with the rage of a woman who has been through trauma and loss, who has been left haunted by violence, and who wants more from those that love her.”
A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson is currently #6 on Adlibris.com’s overall bestseller list, and #8 on Bokus.com. The book is also among the most popular audio books on both Storytel and Bookbeat.
The Swedish edition of A Nearly Normal Family was published by Forum on June 20th.
Falco by Mons Kallentoft and Anna Karolina continues to receive rave reviews from Swedish critics. Here’s yet another one from Ölandsbladet:
“This is a really good thriller, suspenseful and well-written.”
Bestselling writer Paula Hawkins has just endorsed Susanne Jansson’s suspense novel The Forbidden Place on Instagram, calling it “Bone-chillingly cool”.
The UK edition of The Forbidden Place will be published by Hodder/Mulholland on September 20th.
NEW BOOK: MAP OF CANADA
The Scandinavian master of the short story and Man Booker International finalist Dorthe Nors returns in August with Map of Canada, a collection resplendent with longing.
Dorthe Nors shines a light into forgotten corners and brings darkness where you least expect it. The sharp-edged sentence is her signum and here it thrives, entire realities crashing down with the turn of a sub-clause. The characteristic Nors sense of humor is ever-present, catching us when the darkness threatens to come too close. Love, violence, friendship, and loneliness are explored in these pages that throb with life.
Dazzling with the precision and nuance that has made Dorthe Nors a critical darling around the world, Map of Canada is a story collection that throws doors open wide to new worlds.
NEW BOOK: FALCO
When a teenage girl commits a horrific act of terror in the Stockholm underground, investigator Zack Herry arrives just in time to stop her from killing even more people. Afterwards, the whole country is shaken to the core. Had the young girl been acting all on her own in planning the horrific deed, or was she part of a bigger scheme? Are more attacks to be expected?
Falco is the fifth instalment in the intriguing Zack-series. This time, master of the genre Mons Kallentoft has teamed up with skilled crime writer and ex-police Anna Karolina. In Falco, we delve deeper into the psyches of Zack, the unruly but sensitive police officer who has gained huge readership across the world.
Falco was published by Bookmark Förlag on June 11th, 2018.
Tove Alsterdal has been awarded Le prix Ancres noires 2018 for the French edition of Buried in Silence (Dans le silence enterré).
The paperback edition of Dans le silence enterré was published by Babel Noir on March 7th, 2018 and it has been praised by readers and critics alike.
Dagens Nyheter has listed Carolina Setterwall, Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde, and Malin Persson Giolito’s novels amongst the best audiobooks for summer.
Read the list here.
The Swedish national radio channel P1 has chosen Elin Olofsson to host one episode of the popular summer radio programme Sommar i P1.
The critically acclaimed Crooked Paths is Elin Olofsson’s latest novel that was published in the autumn last year by Wahlström & Widstrand in Sweden.
The list of hosts include Petra Mede, Sara Danius and Sabina Ddumba, among others.
For People Like Us by debut authors Tiina Nevala and Henrik Karlsson has received a rave review in Dagens Nyheter:
“An unexpectedly funny and well-written tale about a newly separated literary scholar who meets an editor at an all inclusive holiday. But the editor is already in a relationship… A classic, romantic story with lots of humor and eerily authentic interiors from the publishing world (including frightening authors) and the university.”
Let’s Hope for the Best by Carolina Setterwall has just entered Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter‘s critics list at #6.
Published by Albert Bonniers Förlag in March this year, Let’s Hope for the Best has been praised by readers and critics alike. Maria Schottenius at Dagens Nyheter called the book “An electrifying read. A book that forces itself upon you, impossible to resist and difficult to pause.”
The Finnish edition of What We Owe by Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde was published in March, and here are excerpts of recent rave reviews from Finland:
“Bonde’s psychological insight is sharp as a knife, and her character portrayals are touchingly striking. This intense and captivating novel is one to devour in a single sitting. It holds an incomparable courage that strikes the reader like a punch to the face – in the best of ways.”
Ilta-Sanomat
”When [Nahid] finds out that she is terminally ill, she realizes her own will to live. This may sound like a cliché, but it’s quite the opposite. […] The emotions of motherhood are scrutinized with great sensitivity, and the ending causes you to cry violently.”
Kodin Kuhalehti
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors has received a rave review in The Guardian:
“Sonja thinks in wry, quippy sentences and her delivery is deadpan. While her existential malaise contains moments of desperation, there are fabulously zingy one-liners alongside it. This bewitching Danish novel reveals its tragicomic depths gradually.”
Read the review here.
The New York Times has chosen Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors as one of the ten new books they recommend this week:
“Nors, the darkly comic and wily Danish writer, is at her most unassuming and ambitious in this novel, which was a finalist for the International Man Booker Prize in 2017.”
Read the editors’ choice of the week here.
Rights to Mattias Edvardsson’s A Nearly Normal Family have now been sold to the following 30 territories:
Arabic, Arabic Scientific
Brazil, Suma/Companiha
China, Xiron
Czech Republic, Euromedia
Denmark, People’s Press
Estonia, Eesti Raamat
Finland, Like
France, Sonatine
Germany, Blanvalet
Hungary, Partvonal/Lira
Iceland, Bjartur
Israel, Tchelet Publishers
Italy, Rizzoli
Korea, Gimmyoung
Latvia, Latvijas Mediji
Lithuania, Baltos Lankos
Netherlands, Luitingh-Sijthoff
Norway, Gyldendal
Poland, Znak
Portugal, PRH / Objectiva
Romania, Trei
Russia, Azbooka-Atticus
Serbia, Laguna
Slovakia, Ikar
Slovenia, Ucila
Spain, Salamandra
Sweden, Forum
Taiwan, Sharp Point Press
UK, Pan Macmillan
US, Celadon Books
Scandinavian production company Nordisk Film has purchased the Film/TV rights to the Klara Waldéen-series by Joakim Zander and are set to produce a European TV-series based on the books.
Here is a link to a write-up in the news.
NEW BOOK: FOR PEOPLE LIKE US
We are proud to present debut authors Tiina Nevala & Henrik Karlsson and their book For People Like Us.
In four acts, we follow chick-lit editor Liv and literary scholar Jens. The first time they meet, they are both on vacation and a serendipitous meeting leads to an unexpected kiss. The next time they meet, they are each other’s antagonist in a raging cultural debate for or against women’s fiction. Then life takes them both on a roller coaster ride of emotions, until the final judgement day for their relationship comes…
For People Like Us is a romantic and engaging story about being thirty-something and realizing life has not taken the path you wanted it to. About finding love when you thought you had already found it. It’s a modern love story full of heart and grit, portraying true-to-life characters and problems while also winking to a smart discussion about the genre it belongs to.
Rights to Inti Chavez Perez Respect – A Guy’s Guide to Sex, Love, and Consent have now been sold to the following 10 territories:
Denmark, Rosinante/Høst & Søn
France, JC Lattès
Germany, Heyne
Hungary, Corvina
Netherlands, Atlas Contact
Norway, Gyldendal
Spain, PRH / Grijalbo
Sweden, Alfabeta
UK, Little, Brown / Piatkus
US, Penguin Books
The 2017 Man Booker Prize finalist Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors has recieved a rave review by Parul Sehgal in New York Times:
“There’s a bracing freshness and chill to the writing, and the unforced ease of a song. […] Nors’s fiction begins at the moment of unmooring — in all its pain and possibility, as these women imagine themselves into being. It’s the foundation, too, of a harsh wit that recalls early Lorrie Moore. […] If her subject is unwavering, her style remains restless, less out of a desire to be ‘experimental’ than out of playfulness and a genuine yearning, one feels, for contact and connection.”
Read the full review here.
Malin Persson Giolito has been awarded the Petrona Award 2018 for Quicksand, in the category for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel published in the UK in 2017.
The annual Petrona Awards are judged by a select group of authors, book critics, journalists and editors. The jury’s motivation for Quicksand reads as follows:
“In a strong year for entries to the Petrona Award, the judges were impressed by Quicksand’s nuanced approach to the subject of school shootings and the motives behind them. Persson Giolito refuses to fall back on cliché, expertly drawing readers into the teenage world of Maja Norberg, who faces trial for her involvement in the killings of a teacher and fellow classmates. The court scenes, often tricky to make both realistic and compelling, are deftly written, inviting readers to consider not just the truth of Maja’s role, but the influence of class, parenting and misplaced loyalty in shaping the tragedy. Rachel Willson-Broyles’s excellent translation perfectly captures Maja’s voice – by turns vulnerable and defiant – as she struggles to deal with events. Gripping and thought-provoking, Quicksand is an outstanding Scandinavian crime novel and the highly worthy winner of the 2018 Petrona Award.”
Read more here.
The 2017 Man Booker Prize finalist Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors is listed as a summer book to get excited about by Buzzfeed:
“Dorthe Nors’ protagonist, Sonja, is an unassuming, fascinating character, whose quiet journey through learning how to drive manages to illuminate the angst of her very existence. […] Sonja’s little victories feel monumental, in the way your own little victory might. It’s because Dorthe Nors has created a woman merely doing what we all are — trying to figure out how to live.”
Read more here.
The critically acclaimed novella Minna Needs Rehearsal Space by Dorthe Nors has now been published in Norway by Cappelen Damm.
The paperback edition of Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde’s critically acclaimed novel What We Owe has just been released in Sweden.
Here’s one of the many rave reviews:
“The kind of novel that becomes a primer for life, one that is important to read before it is too late”
Dagens Nyheter (Sweden)
We’re proud to present Elin Olofsson and her book Crooked Paths.
Crooked Paths is a riveting story about loneliness and unexpected alliances, about trust, deception, love, mental illness, and above all, about female friendship. In an unexpected triangle drama where the stakes are life or death, one woman’s desperate search for love is poised against another woman’s desperation to do the right thing. And, ultimately, in each of their own excruciating self-sacrifice, both women find higher purpose.
The White City by Karolina Ramqvist and Quicksand by Malin Persson Giolito have both been shortlisted for The Petrona Award 2018, in the category Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year published in the UK in the previous year.
The annual Petrona Awards are judged by a select group of authors, book critics, journalists and editors. Read the judges comments on each of the titles here.
Diary from My Disappearance by Camilla Grebe is nominated for The Book of the Year Award 2018, which is presented by Bonnier Book Clubs.
Readers now get the chance to vote for one of twelve titles published in the last year that has been selected for the shortlist.
Click here to vote for Diary from My Disappearance to win.
We’re proud to present Inti Chavez Perez and his book Respect – A Guy’s Guide to Sex, Love, and Consent.
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, the question of how we raise boys has been brought to a head. Now, it’s time for change.
In this trailblazing guide to educating teenagers about their bodies, their pleasure, and their sexuality, Chavez Perez talk to boys about sex in a direct, no-frills, and hands-on way. No question is too big, too small, too taboo, or too embarrassing – from the very basic questions of a boy in his early teens to the more complicated matters of a young man on the doorstep of adulthood.
Rights to Mattias Edvardsson’s A Nearly Normal Family have now been sold to the following 20 territories:
Brazil, Suma/Companiha
China, Xiron
Czech Republic, Euromedia
Finland, Like
France, Sonatine
Germany, Blanvalet
Hungary, Partvonal/Lira
Iceland, Bjartur
Italy, Rizzoli
Lithuania, Baltos Lankos
Netherlands, Luitingh-Sijthoff
Norway, Gyldendal
Poland, Znak
Serbia, Laguna
Slovakia, Ikar
Slovenia, Ucila
Spain, Salamandra
Sweden, Forum
UK, Pan Macmillan
US, Celadon Books
A Nearly Normal Family by Mattias Edvardsson is one of the biggest and most interesting reads to look forward to, according to The Guardian in their roundup of The London Book Fair.
Quicksand by Malin Persson Giolito is nominated for Best First Novel in the Strand Critics Awards. Recognizing excellence in the field of mystery fiction and publishing, The Strand Mystery Magazine’s annual awards are judged by a select group of book critics and journalists. The list of nominees include Michael Connelly, Anthony Horowitz, and Attica Locke, among others.
Read more here.
The Dutch edition of Geir Tangen’s Maestro, Het meesterwerk (The House of Books, 2018), is currently the second best sold crime novel on Dutch Amazon among e-books!
Malin Persson Giolito wins Le prix le point du polar européen for Quicksand!
The French edition (Rien de plus grand) was just published by Presses de la Cité and the book has gotten rave reviews from French critics. Malin is taking part in the Quais du Polar festival in Lyon this weekend, where she will be presented with the award.
Click here to read more.
NEW AUTHOR: MATTIAS EDVARDSSON
We’re proud to present Mattias Edvardsson and his psychological thriller A Nearly Normal Family.
A nineteen year-old girl stands accused of the brutal murder of a much older man. Stella is an ordinary teenager from an upstanding local family. What reason could she have to know a shady businessman, let alone to kill him? It must all be a terrible mistake.
We follow both the story of a crime and the unraveling of a seemingly normal family, told through three perspectives ingeniously organized in separate parts that keeps the reader guessing. Everything you thought you knew is turned upside down as the perspective shifts, a new voice takes over, and fresh shadows are cast into the light.
First review for Running Through Fear by Kristina Paltén and Desirée Wahren Stattin. Out now in Sweden.
“The first pages grab hold of me. It’s incredibly thrilling and the book offers a lot of moments of identification.”
OUTSIDE (SE)
Dorthe Nors’ novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal continues its success in the wake of the Dutch publication by Podium.
“Danish Dorthe Nors proves with her short novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal that she possesses a unique voice: dryly comical but not funny, delicate but not sad.”
VPRO Gids
“The author beautifully portrays Sonja’s chaotic reflections. It’s impossible not to think of Bridget Jones’ Diary. Here too, the inner world of a slightly awkward woman is conveyed in a funny and sharp way. Nors ads a rapid pace and a lot of absurdity.”
Leesclub Van Alles
Rights to Carolina Setterwall’s debut Let’s Hope for the Best have now been sold in 20 territories:
Catalan, Editorial Empúries
Czech Republic, Kniha Zlin
Denmark, C&K
Finland, Otava
Germany, Kiepenheuer & Witsch
Greece, Metaixmio
Hungary, Park
Iceland, Benedikt
Italy, Mondadori
Lithuania, Baltos Lankos
Netherlands, Ambo Anthos
Norway, Aschehoug
Poland, Zysk
Romania, Trei
Serbia, Laguna
Slovakia, Albatros
Spain, Seix Barral
Sweden, Albert Bonniers Förlag
UK, Bloomsbury
US, Little, Brown
Let’s Hope for the Best was published by Albert Bonniers Förlag in March, 2018.
Dorthe Nors has just gotten a starred review from Kirkus Reviews for her novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal:
“In this tautly observed novel, Nors reveals a middle-age woman on the verge of disappearance and discovery. […] Nors is an exquisitely precise writer, and in rendering her heroine’s small disruptions and, yes, victories, she is writing for, and of, every one of us.”
The US edition of Mirror, Shoulder, Signal will be published by Graywolf on June 5th, 2018.
Dorthe Nors’ novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal continues its success in the wake of the Dutch publication by Podium.
“Mirror, Shoulder, Signal is a dark novel written in a super cool tone.”
de Volkskrant, 5 stars
“Through her original style, Nors conveys how overwhelming loneliness can be. A well deserved finalist for the Man Booker International Prize.”
Knack Focus, 4 stars
“Dorthe Nors’s style is dryly comical, subtle and sharp in the insights she gives into a lonely life in the big city.”
De Groene Amsterdammer
The German edition of Susanne Jansson’s The Forbidden Place (Opfermoor) has just been published by C. Bertelsmann, and here’s a first rave review from radio station SR, which also named the book their crime novel recommendation of the week:
“The Forbidden Place by Susanne Jansson has captivated and fascinated me. I have devoured this debut novel packed with psychological suspense and forces of nature in one sitting. […] The milieu that Susanne Jansson portrays is astounding and the language with which she does so couldn’t be more beautiful. […] Simply magnificent!”
SR 3 Saarlandwelle
Rights to Carolina Setterwall’s stunning debut Let’s Hope for the Best have now been sold to the following ten territories:
Denmark, C&K
Finland, Otava
Italy, Mondadori
Lithuania, Baltos Lankos
Netherlands, Ambo Anthos
Norway, Aschehoug
Poland, Zysk
Serbia, Laguna
Sweden, Albert Bonniers Förlag
US, Little, Brown
Rave reviews for Geir Tangen’s thriller Maestro, published by House of Books, in the Netherlands:
“A dream debut from a Norwegian writer. Geir Tangen has written a very good thriller.”
Boeken Bijlage
“Geir Tangen is without a doubt a new star on the Scandi-thriller scene. His writing style is flawless, his language is simple and extremely effective and most importantly, the characters have depth. The story is visually written and it’s captivating from the start.”
Perfecte Buren
Malin Persson Giolito’s Quicksand and Camilla Grebe’s The Ice Beneath Her are nominated for the prestigious Norwegian award Gullkulen, in the category of best foreign crime novel published in Norway 2017.
Read more here.
NEW AUTHOR: CAROLINA SETTERWALL
We’re proud to present Carolina Setterwall and her literary debut Let’s Hope for the Best.
One day while nursing her young son, Carolina receives an email out of the blue from her boyfriend Aksel, detailing computer passwords and other practicalities in the event of his death. She grows worried at first, then irritated – this is so typical of her unsentimental life partner. Aksel ends the message: Let’s hope for the best! Five months later, he is dead.
Told in double narratives that count down to one volcanic moment, Let’s Hope for the Best is a symphony of grief and desire that is rare in its honesty, a striking feat of autofiction and a stylistic tour de force.
Geir Tangen’s thriller Maestro continues its success among readers and critics in the wake of the Swedish publication by Forum.
Renowned crime critic Lotta Olsson from Sweden’s biggest daily Dagens Nyheter:
“Geir Tangen (who is known as Norway’s best-known crime book blogger) writes with an energy that compensates for the most unlikely of scenarios, which makes for a story of incredible drive and high pace.”
Tangen also recieved a rave review on national TV-show Gokväll:
“Most crime novels follow an obvious pattern, but this one stands out in a great way. […] I really like to see a twisted take on a genre that normally is so static. […] A great debut which promises more!”
Principal photography of Hidden: Firstborn, the television series based on Filip Alexanderson’s novel Firstborn, is currently underway in Budapest, with actors Izabella Scorupco and August Wittgenstein playing the leading roles.
Hidden: Firstborn, which will consist of eight episodes, is a joint production by Yellow Bird and MTG Studios, and is slated for release later this year.
Click here to see the latest press release from Viaplay and to see some photos from the set.
Åsa Larsson and Tove Alsterdal have both been nominated for the French literary award Grand prix des lectrices de Elle in the crime fiction category. The nominees and the winners are chosen by the readers of Elle Magazine, and Åsa and Tove are two of eight nominees in their category.
Åsa Larsson is nominated for The Second Deadly Sin (En sacrifice à Moloch), which was published by Albin Michel on September 1st 2017. Tove Alsterdal is nominated for The Disappeared (Tango fantôme), which was published by Le Rouergue on October 4th 2017.
The winner will be announced in May.
NEW BOOK: RUNNING THROUGH FEAR – ONE WOMAN’S QUEST TO FIGHT PREJUDICE WITH TRUST
In 2015 ultra-runner Kristina Paltén decides that she will run across Iran in order to challenge her own and other Westerner’s prejudice against the Muslim world. Kristina is an unlikely adventurer, cautious by nature, but she is determined to not let her anxiety stop her. Despite numerous attempts from friends and family to discourage her, she begins preparations for what will be over two months as a single Western woman running unprotected in a country governed by Sharia law.
In this eye-opening, life affirming, and highly commercial read, Swedish engineer-turned-adventurer Kristina Paltén sets out to challenge her own fear by doing what seemed impossible: running over one thousand miles across Iran as a single woman.
Written together with journalist Desirée Wahren Stattin, Running Through Fear is Kristina Paltén’s uncensored account of her journey across Iran.
Dorthe Nors is published in the latest issue of the American magazine A Public Space, no.26. The short story In a Deer Stand is translated from Danish by Misha Hoekstra. The magazine is an award-winning literary and arts magazine with a mission to seek out overlooked and unclassifiable work, and to publish writing from beyond established confines.
Dorthe Nors has contributed with an introduction to the newly released Arbetsboken 1955-1974 by Ingmar Bergman. The collection of notes is part of a series by Norstedts förlag in Sweden celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the world-renowned Swedish director. Other introductions in the series are written by the Nobel laureate Jean Marie Gustave Le Clézio and Nina Bouraoui, among others.
Camilla Grebe’s award winning novel Diary from My Disappearance is currently the #1 bestselling title on Akademibokhandeln’s bestseller list for paperback books.
Susanne Jansson has just gotten a rave review in Denmark for The Forbidden Place:
“Can a suspense novel about a misty bog be thrilling? Hardly, you might think. But then you’d be wrong. Because with her debut novel Susanne Jansson writes herself into the tradition of distinguished Swedish crime writers, who we hope to hear more from.”
Nordjyske stiftstidene
The Danish edition of The Forbidden Place was published on January 12th.
British newspaper The Sun lists Malin Persson Giolito’s bestselling novel Quicksand as one of “ten smash hit books you should read before they’re turned into TV shows this year”.
In September 2017 it was announced that Quicksand would be the first Swedish Netflix Original series. Producer will be Pontus Edgren (The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared) and head writer Camilla Ahlgren (The Bridge).
Click here to read the full list from The Sun.
Zack by Mons Kallentoft and Marcus Lutteman is hailed as top-notch Swedish noir by Booklist:
”Fallible, fullbodied characters drive an absolutely riveting plot by acclaimed crime-fiction writer Mons Kallentoft in collaboration with biographer Lutteman. Top-notch Swedish noir.”
Zack is the first novel in a successful series featuring Zack Herry, the brilliant but unconventional star of the Stockholm police force.
Read the full review here.
Mons Kallentoft’s novel The Devil’s Scent has now sold 100 000 copies in Sweden. The novel is the first installment in Kallentoft’s third suite about police detective Malin Fors that has thrilled readers and critics across the world.
It was first published by Forum in October 2016.
Diary from My Disappearance by Camilla Grebe is currently the #1 bestselling paperback book in Sweden, according to online bookstore Bokus’s bestseller list.
Diary from My Disappearance was first published in September 2017 and the paperback edition came out just a few weeks ago.
Hidden, the coming television series based on Filip Alexandersson’s novel Firstborn, has been listed as one of ten international dramas to watch by Deadline:
“The series, known locally as Eldmärkt, will start filming in January and is produced by The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo producer Yellow Bird for Scandinavian streaming service Viaplay and TV3 in Sweden. The drama is based on Filip Alexanderson’s novel Förstfödd, where nothing is quite what it seems with dark secrets, unsuspected identities and supernatural forces converging against the backdrop of modern-day Stockholm.”
Click here to read the full story.
Heartbreaker by Geir Tangen, the second book in the Haugesund Series, was one of the most sold Norwegian crime novels in Norway during 2017, as reported by Bok 365.
Click here to see the full list.
NEW AUTHOR: MONS KALLENTOFT
We’re proud to present Mons Kallentoft – one of Sweden’s most renowned suspense writers.
Known for his bestselling series featuring the deeply flawed yet brilliant police detective Malin Fors, Kallentoft is beloved for his unusual combination of realism and the supernatural, psychological insight, intricate plots and raw, poetic prose. His novels about Malin Fors have topped bestseller lists around the world and are unanimously praised by readers and critics alike.
With the subsequent bestselling Zack Herry-series, Kallentoft further established himself as a multi-faceted writer of breakneck international suspense.
What We Owe, the critically acclaimed novel by Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde is now sold to the following 25 countries:
Catalan, Les Hores
Croatia, Fraktura
Czech Republic, Argo
Denmark, Politiken
Estonia, Varrak
Finland, Otava
Germany, Hanser/Nagel & Kimche
Hungary, Park
Iceland, Bjartur & Veröld
Israel, Achuzat Bayit
Italy, Feltrinelli
Korea, DAEWONSA
Latvia, Janis Roze
Lithuania, Jotema
Netherlands, Luitingh-Sijthoff
Norway, Gyldendal
Poland, Muza
Romania, Polirom
Serbia, Štrik
Spain, Duomo Ediciones
Sweden, Wahlström & Widstrand
Taiwan, Inno-Fair
Turkey, Epsilon
UK, Little, Brown / Fleet
USA, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
The ninth and penultimate book in Åsa Larsson, Ingela Korsell and Henrik Jonsson’s celebrated PAX series: The Night Mare, is one of the final nominees for Sweden’s official audiobook prize: The Grand Audiobook Prize, in the category Best Children’s Book.
Readers have voted for their favorite books from a longlist of twenty titles, and The Night Mare was one of the five books who got the most votes.
A jury will choose the winner from the five final nominees, and the winner will be announced at a gala event in March 2018.
Camilla Grebe’s crime novel Diary from My Disappearance was praised by Leif GW Persson in his round up of the best Swedish novels this year. Persson is an iconic crime writer, professor of criminology, and widely appreciated TV-host.
Quicksand by Malin Persson Giolito is the best selling novel in Sweden 2017. To date it has sold nearly 400 000 copies.
Author and filmmaker Preti Taneja recommended Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors as one of her best gifts for Christmas this year in BBC Radio 4 program Open Book:
“It really is a coming out story, and it’s so beautifully done that when I finished it, I just wanted to go back in light of the end and read the whole thing again.”
Listen to the segment here.
Renowned critic Lotta Olsson at Dagens Nyheter has just named the two latest installments in the PAX series, The Alba Serpent and The Night Mare two of the best books of 2017 for readers 9-12 years of age.
World Literature Today has picked out 75 notable translations from 2017, and Malin Persson Giolito’s Quicksand, published by Other Press and translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles, is one of them.
Click here for the full list.
Christoffer Carlsson’s last installment in the Leo Junker series, The Thin Blue Line, has just been named one of the best suspense novels of 2017 by Borås Tidning. Here’s what their critic had to say:
“Read it. This is a series that is set to become a future classic. Non-stop enjoyment from The Invisible Man From Salem (2013) until now, the final book.”
Malin Persson Giolito’s Quicksand has been named one of NPR’s best books of 2017 with the following words:
“The book provides a razor-sharp view of modern Sweden and its criminal justice system.”
Åsa Avdic’s thriller The Dying Game has just received a great new review:
“The Dying Game is an excellent Shutter Island vs. The Hunger Games lovechild. […] A riveting and an excellent read for those who enjoy entering a world where psychological torture is but a game.”
W24 (UK)
The UK edition of The Dying Game was published by Windmill Books on November 2nd.
NEW AUTHOR: TOVE ALSTERDAL
We’re proud to present Tove Alsterdal – one of Sweden’s most renowned suspense writers.
Known for her rare lyricism and nuanced portrayals of both historical and contemporary social issues, Alsterdal stands out as a master of the genre with a prodigious conscience. To read her books is to be thrilled, but also to be touched by characters reverberating with life.
Tove Alsterdal made her debut in 2009 with the critically acclaimed The Forgotten Dead. Her second novel, Buried in Silence, was on the shortlist for the Best Crime Novel of the Year Award in 2012, a prize she won in 2014 for The Disappeared. It was followed by Do Not Turn Around in 2016, which has gone on to become a national bestseller.
The longlist for Sweden’s official audiobook prize, The Grand Audiobook Prize, has just been announced and it features three of our authors:
What We Owe by Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde is nominated in the category for best Literary Fiction.
Diary from My Disappearance by Camilla Grebe is nominated in the category for best Suspense Novel.
The Night Mare, the ninth and penultimate book in the PAX series, by Åsa Larsson, Ingela Korsell and Henrik Jonsson is nominated in the category for best Children’s book.
Readers can vote for their favorite book and a jury will then choose the winner from the five books with the most votes in each category. The winner will be announced at a gala event in March 2018.
The television series based on Filip Alexanderson’s thriller Firstborn is moving into production in January 2018, to be distributed later in the year. Prominent production company Yellow Bird have teamed up with MTG studios to produce the series which will be titled Hidden (Eldmärkt in Swedish).
The series will consist of eight episodes starring international actors Izabella Scorupco (Goldeneye, Alias) and August Wittgenstein (The Crown).
Read Variety’s report on Hidden here!
Camilla Grebe has just won the award for Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year for Diary from My Disappearance. The jury’s motivation reads as follows:
“An intricately constructed plot and a moving portrayal of people in a desolate area.”
The award is Sweden’s official suspense literature award and it is given every year by the the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy. This means Diary from My Disappearance will be Sweden’s contribution for the Glass Key Award next year, which is given to the best Nordic Crime Novel of the previous year by the Crime Writers of Scandinavia.
Geir Tangen’s debut novel Maestro has been chosen as the crime novel recommendation of the week by German radio station WDR 2’s show Krimitipp:
“Maestro by Geir Tangen plays with many clichés and at first it might not seem innovative, but that game is what makes him so special. A highlight for all fans of Scandinavian crime!”
The German edition of Maestro, titled Seelenmesse, was published by Goldmann on October 16th.
Camilla Grebe’s latest novel, Diary from My Disappearance has just received this rave review from renowned critic Ingalill Mosander at Aftonbladet:
“A page-turner that is both an insightful portrayal of our society as well as a skillfully constructed suspense novel. And, not unexpectedly, shortlisted for the Crime Novel of the Year Award.”
Åsa Avdic’s The Dying Game has just gotten a great review from Heat Magazine:
“With a scary dystopia core and a foreboding that lurks on every page, this is terrifying stuff.”
The UK edition of The Dying Game was published on November 2nd.
Amazon.com has just published its list of Best Books of 2017 and Quicksand by Malin Persson Giolito lands third place in the category of Best Mysteries and Thrillers.
Expecting – The Swedish Way by Agnes Wold and Cecilia Chrapkowska has just gotten yet another great review:
“Cecilia Chrapkowska and Agnes Wold’s Expecting – The Swedish Way gets right to the heart of it: that pregnancy and infancy isn’t just a rosy bliss. […] There’s something 70’s-esque about the straightforward and informative writing, without being wrapped in flowery language and completely free from romance and sentimentality. In the best of ways. […] Educative and interesting.”
Aftonbladet
The Rebecka Martinsson television series, based on the novels by Åsa Larsson, has just received a rave review from The Wall Street Journal:
“In a television world now awash in female coppers there aren’t many as interesting and human as Rebecka. That will be clear when the first case concludes with a sudden horrific act of violence—precisely the sort of thing to expect from a murder mystery. But this act has something of the unbearable about it, which says much about the skill of the writing here, about characters so vividly created that the snuffing out of their lives can’t be borne. […] the script, and performances, shine throughout, as does the arctic background, both beautiful and menacing.”
NEW BOOK: THE NIGHT MARE
Iris has managed to escape the claws of the dark witch with the help of Alrik and Viggo. But the trio’s reckless behavior will soon prove to have dire consequences. Maggie Migraine has withdrawn to lick her wounds, but her sinister plans are not over: she soon makes a deal with the dreaded Night Mare.
The dark witch manages to trick Estrid who gets caught in a terrible nightmare. In order to save her and the library, Viggo and Alrik must use their hidden magical abilities and dive headfirst into Estrid’s nightmare. But the boys must beware of the dangers of entering the dream world – or they may get caught there forever. And what’s worse: those who die in the dream world also die for real.
The Night Mare is the ninth and penultimate book in the celebrated PAX series, written by Åsa Larsson and Ingela Korsell, with illustrations by Henrik Jonsson
Chris Kraus, acclaimed writer of I Love Dick, has just written a great blurb for Dorthe Nors’s novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal:
“Set in Copenhagen and the Danish countryside, the events described in Mirror, Shoulder, Signal could occur in any metropolitan American city and any rural US backwater. Deceptively simple, this book addresses longing and its futility, estrangement and displacement, with a casual ease. Nors’ writing creeps up on you, and then overwhelms with its emotional power. She is a master.”
The US edition of Mirror, Shoulder, Signal is set to be published by Graywolf Press on June 5th 2018.
Åsa Avdic has just received a great pre-publication review for The Dying Game from The Sunday Times:
“Resembling Agatha Christie at her zaniest, this fascinating, ever-changing scenario is deftly and grippingly handled.”
The UK edition will be published by Windmill Books on November 2nd 2017.
Joyce Carol Oates has just endorsed Karolina Ramqvist’s The White City on Twitter with the following words:
“Enjoying ‘The White City’ by Karolina Ramqvist (translated from Swedish by Saskia Vogel)–unusual intimate perspective on organized crime.”
The US edition of The White City was published by Grove Atlantic in February 2017.
Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde keeps getting rave reviews for What We Owe:
“While navigating themes like illness and impending death that are rife with the potential of misstep, she succeeds in creating a completely unsentimental story and is faithful to Nahid’s voice to such a degree that I forgot that there was a writer behind it. I got to know a person so deeply, in a way I have not before, and catch myself wanting to agree with Nahid. To say the world ought to have treated her better, that life ought to have been better. But I have gotten to know her so well that I also know that she would push my embrace away with a sneer. No matter, Nahid is indispensable to Swedish literature’s cast of characters, and I am deeply grateful that Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde has give her to us.”
EXPRESSEN
Camilla Grebe and Christoffer Carlsson have both been shortlisted for the award for Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year for their novels Diary from My Disappearance and The Thin Blue Line!
The award is Sweden’s official suspense literature award and it is given every year by the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy. The winner will become Sweden’s contribution for the Glass Key Award, the prize for the Best Nordic Crime Novel of the Year, which is presented by the Crime Writers of Scandinavia.
Christoffer Carlsson won the award in 2013 for The Invisible Man from Salem. Camilla Grebe has been shortlisted twice before together with Åsa Träff for More Bitter than Death (2010) and Before You Died (2012).
The winner will be announced on November 26th.
Susanne Jansson has just gotten a brilliant new review for The Forbidden Place:
“Jansson paints an atmospheric and mysterious portrait of the mire with the help of mist, light, and old legends. It becomes a place where life and death collide, a sort of anteroom to the realm of the dead. […] Since The Forbidden Place is one of the absolute best suspense debuts this year, I’ll gladly return to the enthralling milieus of Dalsland and to the joie-vivant Maya and her way of seeing things through images again.”
CRIMEGARDEN
Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde was a guest at the last night’s episode of literary television program Babel to talk about her latest novel What We Owe.
Click here to watch the episode.
Joakim Zander’s third novel, The Friend, is staying strong on Der Spiegel‘s bestseller list for paperback fiction, this week at #18. The book entered the list in the first week of publication and has remained there for seven consecutive weeks now.
The German edition of The Friend was published by Rowohlt on September 1st.
The Guardian has listed Dorthe Nors’s Mirror, Shoulder, Signal as one of the top ten modern Nordic books to read:
“Nors’s minimalist, experimental stories read as if they were thorough reports on the complexity behind the everyday situations men and especially women find themselves in. She is a master of the undercurrent, and the simplicity of her sentences makes them magnets for the reader’s own contribution to the reading experience. We can’t help mirroring ourselves in the characters, matching our own attempts at making sense of what has brought us to the moment of truth in similar situations.”
Read the entire list here.
Camilla Grebe has just gotten a great review for Diary from My Disappearance from renowned suspense critic Lotta Olsson at Dagens Nyheter:
“The atmosphere is quite horror movie-esque in Camilla Grebe’s tenth suspense novel, which is one of her best ones yet. […] Grebe handles her Ormberg with understanding and sensibility, and she succeeds in portraying something entirely new through her carefully constructed and eccentric cast of characters.”
Rights for Cecilia Chrapkowska and Agnes Wold’s groundbreaking parental guide Expecting – The Swedish Way have now been sold to the following 12 territories:
Denmark, Rosinante
Estonia, Varrak
France, Robert Laffont
Greece, Patakis
Hungary, Libri
Italy, Vallardi
Netherlands, Luitingh-Sijthoff
Portugal, Vogais / 2020 Editora
Russia, Sindbad Books
Spain, PRH / Grijalbo Ilustrados
Sweden, Wahlström & Widstrand
UK, Bonnier / Lagom Books
Here’s a great new review for Christoffer Carlsson’s October Is the Coldest Month, which was published in the UK and Australia in June:
“this Scandi thriller is short and taut — and all the better for it. Carlsson’s spare style suits the bleak rural setting he portrays in a remote part of Sweden where inhabitants earn a living by hook or by crook.”
NEW ZEALAND WEEKEND HERALD
Agnes Wold and Cecilia Chrapkowska’s groundbreaking parental guide Expecting – The Swedish Way keeps getting attention in Swedish press. Here’s another rave review:
“Are you of the opinion that the Trump administration relies on alternative facts? That is nothing compared to what women are confronted with as soon as they get pregnant. In the parallell pregnancy reality the alt-facts are commonplace. ‘Truths’ are constantly foisted on you, and shockingly enough they often turn out to be intrusive opinions, moralism, or pure inventions. […] If The Handmaid’s Tale is an exaggerated and dramatized reminder of the anxiety of becoming breeding stock, Wold & Chrapkowska’s book can be a crucial antidote. One by one, they deal with some well-known ‘truths’ related to bearing and birthing and propogated by official institutions, e.g. the variety of advice on what you can eat and drink during pregnancy and breastfeeding – some are correct while other recommendations seem to have been inspired by Christian faith and morality rather than rooted in science.”
Catia Hultquist, Dagens Nyheter
Camilla Grebe’s latest thriller, Diary from My Disappearance, has just gotten a rave new review:
“Diary from My Disappearance is an excellent, stand alone sequel to the acclaimed The Ice Beneath Her. The way the perspectives are interlaced in this story about a cold case murder in a de-populated town is incredibly skillful and well done.”
Tara
Here’s a great new review for Expecting – The Swedish Way:
“Agnes Wold has been a guiding hand when I’ve been pregnant and had small children. A more comforting hand than various parenting bibles, a more allowing hand than the leaflets from the maternity care and the child health centers. She gives the parent more room to be a human being, and less bad conscience. […] What parents need is advice based on science and level-headed tips. And some encouragement.”
Heidi Avellan, Sydsvenskan
Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde’s stunning novel What We Owe continues to get rave reviews:
“The style is effortless and matter of fact, and the author has a way of giving each sentence heat and weight. […] Literature has a habit of simplifying lives to ’stories’. In many such stories I’ve read, dying people are full of gratitude over the years and experiences they’ve been given here on earth. Nahid is not grateful. She is full of bitterness and rage. Justified rage, I think, against Khomeini and the Islamic dictatorship in Iran, against her father’s illness and her own, against the husband she loved but who hit and kicked her when she wasn’t being submissive enough. Rage and bitterness are often considered harmful and consuming, especially to women. Nahid draws her strength from her rage. She burns. Until the very last breath.”
aftonbladet
Read the review in full here.
Geir Tangen and Maestro have been nominated for the Maurits Hansen Award “Nytt Blod”, which is awarded to the best Norwegian debut crime novel from the past year.
Tangen is one of three nominated authors this year, and the winner of the award will be revealed at the Kongsberg Crime Festival at the end of October.
Joakim Zander’s latest thriller The Friend, has climbed to #11 of Der Spiegel‘s bestseller list for paperback fiction.
The German edition was published by Rowohlt on September 1st.
Newsweek has highlighted Quicksand as one of the books to read this fall, as recommended by publishers at the Brooklyn Book Festival:
“Malin Persson Giolito is a Swedish lawyer who has now turned to writing full time. It’s about a school shooting at a Stockholm prep school. It deals with class, race and immigration issues in Swedish society. I think a lot of people will relate to it now because it’s about the wealthy and privilege. It’s going to be a Netflix TV show so it’s been getting a lot of publicity right now.”
NEW BOOK: DIARY FROM MY DISAPPEARANCE
Written in the same effortless style, and with the same dark twists that leave you chilled to the bone – this is the stand alone continuation of Hanne Lagerlind-Schön and Peter Lindgren’s story.
In a small backwater town in Sweden, a young boy with a forbidden secret comes across a diary, a cold case investigation suddenly becomes eerily current, and a police investigator mysteriously disappears. As atrocious acts from the past haunt the present and lives are changed forever, some will struggle to remember while others struggle to forget…
Diary from My Disappearance is Camilla Grebe’s second solo novel. It was published by Wahlström & Widstrand on September 14th.
Joakim Zander’s The Friend, which was published in Germany by Rowohlt on September 1st, is currently at #12 of Der Spiegel‘s bestseller list for paperback fiction!
In a first rave review, German radio station WDR2 says:
“For the last twenty years, Henning Mankell has set the standard for this genre. Now Joakim Zander does.”
NEW BOOK: THE FRIEND
We follow Jacob, a young aspiring Swedish diplomat, as he falls in love and gets ensnared in a web of terrorism och political allegiances in Beirut. And we travel with Klara Walldéen as she is faced with saving her dearest friend, Gabriella, while getting wrapped up in Jacob’s web in the process.
The Friend takes the reader on a gripping adventure, moving with a furious pace from Beirut, to Brussels, to Stockholm. Zander paints two moving love stories into the expertly plotted form of a breathless thriller that casts light on the complexities of international politics and the terror threat facing the world today.
In this elegant and action-packed stand alone sequel to international bestselling thrillers The Swimmer and The Brother, Joakim Zander bring us the continuation of our fragile yet fierce heroine Klara Walldéen’s story and proves once again that he is a rare master of the genre.
Malin Persson Giolito’s critically acclaimed bestseller Quicksand is going to become the first Swedish Netflix Original Series.
Production is slated to begin in 2018 and the world leading entertainment platform plans a global distribution. Read Netflix’s press release here.
Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde has received yet another rave review for What We Owe:
“Crystal clear storytelling. […] Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde’s style may be economical with short staccato sentences – often no longer than five or six words – but it contains both an eye for details and, in a remarkable way, beautiful song. This song, in both Nahid’s story and in Hashemzadeh Bonde’s way of writing it, is central. What We Owe is something very unusual: both emotional and precise, and Nahid’s painful honesty, grief, joy, love, and fury, so evocative. The kind of novel that becomes a primer for life, one that is important to read before it is too late.”
Dagens Nyheter
Read the review in full here.
NEW BOOK: EXPECTING – THE SWEDISH WAY
Here is the feminist de-bunk of so-called truths related to bearing and birthing. Written in an upfront and authoritative tone and wholly grounded in science – Expecting – the Swedish Way is a reliable and relatable reference book to guide you through pregnancy and infancy, without getting thrown of course by alternative facts.
Leading medical specialists Agnes Wold and Cecilia Chrapkowska take on the barrage of questionable information related to pregnancy and infancy in order to debunk myths and replace hearsay with solid science – while giving the power back to women to make their own decisions about their bodies and their babies.
Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde has just gotten a rave review from Svenska Dagbladet for her stunning novel What We Owe:
“A rare portrayal of one woman’s rancorous pain […] The first sentence is harsh: ‘I’ve always carried my death with me.’ The opening as such, the first page of the novel, is shattering – filled with rage, grief, and guilt. Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde does to the reader what we often claim that novels do, but which they rarely succeed in doing: holds them in a steady grip. […] This is a tale of violence on both an individual as well as a structural level, and a tale of neglect and inability. About loving your child, yet hating your motherhood. And about that tiny, stubborn, flickering hope – the spark of life.”
Read the review in full here.
Svenska Dagbladet has also done an interview with Golnaz which you can read here.
Quicksand by Malin Persson Giolito was the most sold paperback book in Sweden in June and July, as reported by the Swedish Publishers’ Association.
The Daily Express has named Bertil Marklund’s The Nordic Guide To Living 10 Years Longer one of the top self help books for summer. Find the full list here.
The UK edition of The Nordic Guide was published by Piatkus on April 27th.
Christoffer Carlsson has just gotten a rave review for October is the Coldest Month from The Sydney Morning Herald:
“Everyone knows about Scandi noir but are you aware it extends to teen fiction? October is the Coldest Month is one of the first YA novels of its kind to be translated into English. It should win over a younger audience to the ice and the cold, the grime and grit the genre does so well. […] Vega Gillberg is 16 when the police come looking for her older brother Jakob, who’s vanished after an appalling crime. She has mixed motives for finding him before the cops do. Vega braves the hard faces and long-held grudges of a rural Swedish community. On one level, she’s a typical adolescent and on another, as we learn more about her complicity that fateful night, Vega has come of age, stepping into an adult world full of doubt and menace. Taut, tense and thick with atmosphere.”
The Australian edition of October is the Coldest Month was published by Scribe on July 3rd.
Dr. Bertil Marklund has gotten a great new review from Publishers Weekly for his book The Nordic Guide to Living 10 Years Longer: 10 Easy Tips for a Happier, Healthier Life, which was published in the US and Canada in May:
“Marklund, a doctor and professor at Gothenberg University in Sweden, packs many good things into this small package. His slim book distills medical research, as well as observations from his 20-year practice, experience as a public health specialist, and the Scandinavian way of life, into 10 tips for good health. They are eminently practical, reasonable, and straightforward to implement. […] He explains the science behind each in a refreshingly unpretentious, down-to-earth, thoroughly convincing way that encourages readers to follow his suggestions. […] Readers looking to improve their health without extreme diets or fads, and those who feel overwhelmed by the overload of available health information, must read this book.”
The Strand Magazine has chosen Åsa Avdic’s debut thriller The Dying Game as one of their top ten favorite audiobooks for summer listening, in the company of authors such as Michael Connelly and John Grisham.
The Dying Game was published in the US on August 1st.
Malin Persson Giolito has been awarded the prestigious Glass Key Award 2017 for her critically acclaimed novel Quicksand, thus naming the book Best Nordic Crime Novel from 2016. The motivation reads as follows:
“Questions of guilt and innocence, naivety and prejudice are elegantly varied through a thrilling and unpredictable story.”
The Glass Key award was established by the Crime Writers of Scandinavia in 1992. One crime novel from each of the Nordic countries makes up the shortlist. The members then choose one winner that receives the prestigious award, and the title of Best Nordic Crime Novel.
The US edition of Åsa Avdic’s critically acclaimed debut thriller The Dying Game was published on August 1st, and publisher Penguin Books has created a trailer promoting the book.
Click here to watch.
Publishers Weekly has selected The Dying Game by Åsa Avdic as their book of the week, saying:
“Agatha Christie meets George Orwell in journalist Avdic’s unsettling first novel, set in Sweden in 2037 […] Avdic not only constructs a fascinating and original plot but makes her imagined reality chillingly plausible.”
Lotta Olsson, literary critic at Dagens Nyheter, states in her review of The Thin Blue Line that “stylistically, Christoffer Carlsson is one of Sweden’s best crime writers”
Read the full review here.
Rights to Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde’s upcoming novel What We Owe have been sold to 20 territories so far:
Catalan, Les Hores
Czech Republic, Argo
Denmark, Politiken
Estonia, Varrak
Finland, Otava
Germany, Hanser/Nagel & Kimche
Hungary, Park
Iceland, Bjartur & Veröld
Korea, DAEWONSA
Latvia, Janis Roze
Lithuania, Jotema
Netherlands, Luitingh-Sijthoff
Norway, Gyldendal
Poland, Muza
Romania, Polirom
Serbia, Štrik
Sweden, Wahlström & Widstrand
Taiwan, Inno-Fair
UK, Little, Brown / Fleet
USA, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Wahlström & Widstrand will publish the Swedish edition on August 17th.
The Washington Post has selected Malin Persson Giolito’s Quicksand as one of 17 thrillers and mysteries worth toting to the beach.
The US edition of Quicksand was published by Other Press on March 7th, and in their review The Washington Post called it “A remarkable new novel.”
The Alba Serpent, the eight and thrilling instalment in the PAX Series is currently number #1 on Sweden’s official bestseller list for children’s books.
Malin Persson Giolito’s praised novel Quicksand has climbed to #1 of the official paperback bestseller list, as reported by the Swedish Publishers’ Association!
Rights to Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde’s upcoming novel What We Owe have been sold to 19 territories so far:
Catalan, Les Hores
Czech Republic, Argo
Denmark, Politiken
Estonia, Varrak
Finland, Otava
Germany, Hanser/Nagel & Kimche
Hungary, Park
Iceland, Bjartur & Veröld
Korea, DAEWONSA
Latvia, Janis Roze
Lithuania, Jotema
Netherlands, Luitingh-Sijthoff
Norway, Gyldendal
Romania, Polirom
Serbia, Štrik
Sweden, Wahlström & Widstrand
Taiwan, Inno-Fair
UK, Little, Brown / Fleet
USA, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Wahlström & Widstrand will publish the Swedish edition on August 17th.
Bustle has just chosen The Owl Always Hunts at Night as one of “15 Heart-Pounding Thrillers For Your Summer TBR List” with these words:
“Expertly paced and thoughtfully plotted, The Owl Always Hunts at Night will leave you shaken to your core.”
The US edition of The Owl Always Hunts at Night was published by Penguin Books on June 6th.
Amazon.com has selected Quicksand by Malin Persson Giolito as one of the 20 best titles from 2017!
The book was also selected as one of the best books in the mystery and thriller category.
Daily newspaper Göteborgsposten has chosen both Christoffer Carlsson’s The Thin Blue Line and Susanne Jansson’s Offermossen as two of the best suspense novels to read this summer.
See the full list here.
NEW BOOK: THE ALBA SERPENT
It’s Christmas Eve and the citizens of Mariefred are all enjoying a day of sledding at the hill when the peace is suddenly disturbed by a piercing scream. A little girl has been sucked into the earth and disappeared. Now Alrik, Viggo, Estrid, and Magnar must find out what it was that took the little girl. Could the slithering monster be the much-feared Alba Serpent, a dragon-like snake that eats children?
The Alba Serpent is the eight book in the epic PAX series by Åsa Larsson and Ingela Korsell, with illustrations by Henrik Jonsson.
Åsa Avdic has just gotten this great pre-publication review from Booklist for The Dying Game:
“An Orwellian debut novel that never lets up.”
The US edition of The Dying Game will be published by Penguin Books on August 1st.
The Irish Times has just chosen Christoffer Carlsson’s October is the Coldest Month as one of the best recent YA books:
“Christoffer Carlsson’s October Is the Coldest Month, translated deftly from the Swedish by Rachel Willson-Broyles, is one of the first Scandi noir books for teens to be published in the UK. In a small rural community, the arrival of a police officer at the front door prompts 16-year-old Vega to find her older brother, Jakob, and uncover the truth about what happened the night a man died. The desolate landscape is the perfect backdrop for this taut tale of old family feuds and unfurling secrets.”
The UK edition of October is the Coldest Month was published by Scribe last week.
The paperback edition of Malin Persson Giolito’s critically acclaimed bestseller Quicksand has just been published in Sweden, and it went straight to #1 on online bookstore Adlibris’s paperback bestseller list!
Today is the UK publication day for Christoffer Carlsson’s award winning YA novel October is the Coldest Month, and here’s a first great blog review:
“I have a strange love for all things Scandinavian, and this fitted that craving perfectly. It was a very quick read, very gripping, a true page turner. A very simple story, written very well. It is hard really to say much more without giving the story away, but it has made me want to read more by this author.”
Helly Reads
Starred review for Åsa Avdic’s The Dying Game in Publishers Weekly:
“Agatha Christie meets George Orwell in journalist Avdic’s unsettling first novel, set in Sweden in 2037. A coup has led to a state of martial law and the country’s transformation into a protectorate under the aegis of an international entity known as the Union of Friendship. Anna Francis, a bureaucrat, is estranged from her family and tempted by an unusual job offer from a high official called the Chairman. The Chairman explains that the secret RAN Project is short-handed and that a psychological exercise has been devised to identify a suitable new member of the team: prospective candidates are to be transported to a remote island, along with Anna, who will pretend to have been murdered, so that she can covertly observe their reactions to the unexpected trauma. Things don’t go as planned, and Anna soon has a real murder to deal with. Avdic not only constructs a fascinating and original plot but makes her imagined reality chillingly plausible.”
The US edition of The Dying Game will be published by Penguin Books on August 1st.
Rights to What We Owe by Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde have so far been sold to 15 territories:
Catalan, Les Hores
Czech Republic, Argo
Denmark, Politiken
Estonia, Varrak
Finland, Otava
Germany, Hanser/Nagel & Kimche
Hungary, Park
Iceland, Bjartur & Veröld
Netherlands, Luitingh-Sijthoff
Norway, Gyldendal
Romania, Polirom
Serbia, Štrik
Sweden, Wahlström & Widstrand
UK, Little, Brown / Fleet
USA, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
The book will be published by Wahlström & Widstrand in August.
Malin Persson Giolito’s novel Quicksand keeps climbing the Norwegian bestseller list for fiction. This week it’s at #3!
Click here to view the full list.
Christoffer Carlsson keeps getting praised for The Thin Blue Line:
“The brilliant and initiated storyteller Carlsson has previously written three books about Leo Junker. Sadly, The Thin Blue Line is the last one. The reasoning, contemplating, and at times poetic style of this book could be followed by yet another Junker story, but I’m sorry to say it comes to an end here.”
Skaraborgs Allehanda
NEW BOOK: HEARTBREAKER
Heartbreaker, the second instalment in Geir Tangen’s celebrated Haugesund Series has just been published in Norway, and it went straight to #13 on the bestseller list.
Four months have gone by since Haugesund was plagued by the Maestro when Viljar Ravn Gudmundsson once again finds himself in a nightmare: his 17 year-old son, Alexander, wakes up next to a dead girl and gets arrested on charges of her murder. All evidence and the witnesses from the party point to Alexander. But no one was in the room when Emilie Vormedal was murdered, no one but Alexander – who claims to remember nothing.
Viljar is the only one who believes in his son’s innocence and he sets out to clear Alexander’s name. When Lotte Skeisvoll, who is cracking under pressure and the trauma from her sister’s murder in Maestro, is deemed unfit to serve and gets suspended from the police force, she partners up with Viljar to solve the case in their own rogue investigation.
Malin Persson Giolito has just gotten a fabulous six star review for Quicksand in Norway:
“The reader gets sucked into the story from the very first page… The protagonist in Quicksand makes observations about her surroundings: they are sharp, relentless, and at times truly witty – brilliantly portrayed by the author. […] Much is at stake for the protagonist, Maja, where she stands as the accused. Malin Persson Giolito handels this excellently. She writes in an unvarnished, ‘no-nonsense’ and direct style, where everything is played out through the eyes and mind of Maja. Never for a moment does it fall flat, but it is rather to the point and elegant. And well-balanced, because it never tips over in cynicism. […] Quicksand was named Best Crime Novel of the Year by the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy in 2016. Incredibly well-deserved.”
Bok 365
The Norwegian edition was published by Cappelen Damm on April 21st.
Dorthe Nors continues to enchant UK critics with Mirror, Shoulder, Signal. Here’s a new rave review:
“Occasionally irritatingly scatty, Sonja is a character one can warm to, while appreciating her quirkiness. Although little happens, Nors’s prose captures the disappointments, loneliness and desires of middle-aged single life. A heartfelt, darkly funny and addictive read that will leave you longing for more.”
The Lady
Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde’s upcoming novel What We Owe has been sold to ten territories so far:
Denmark, Politiken
Estonia, Varrak
Finland, Otava
Germany, Hanser/Nagel & Kimche
Iceland, Bjartur & Veröld
Netherlands, Luitingh-Sijthoff
Norway, Gyldendal
Serbia, Štrik
Sweden, Wahlström & Widstrand
UK, Little, Brown / Fleet
What We Owe will be published by Wahlström & Widstrand in August, 2017.
This week, Malin Persson Giolito’s Quicksand is number four on the Norwegian bestseller list for fiction, and number two on the e-book list.
To view the complete bestseller list, click here!
Samuel Bjørk remains at The Sunday Times’ bestseller list for hardcover fiction with The Owl Always Hunts at Night. This week the book is at #15!
The fourth and final installment in Christoffer Carlsson’s bestselling Leo Junker Series is due to be published on May 10th and it just got a rave review in public service television broadcaster SVT’s morning show, Gomorron Sverige. Host Marianne Rundström called Carlsson “one of Sweden’s sharpest crime writers”, and leading critic Magnus Utvik had the following to say:
“It’s very rare in a crime novel to find that the author is so rooted in regular police work. […] There are great relationships between characters, psychological depth and an incredible drive. […] The style is effortless, there’s not a sentence out of place.”
Rave review for Samuel Bjørk’s The Owl Always Hunts at Night from The Daily Express:
“Norway’s most famous artwork is Edvard Munch’s The Scream and Norwegian author Samuel Bjørk gives Jo Nesbø a run for his money in conveying the pain and rage beneath the country’s placid surface. This sequel to I’m Travelling Alone sees the return of the brilliant but damaged investigator Mia Krüger and her appropriately named boss, Munch. The plot is competently handled but the brilliantly drawn angsty sleuths kept me hooked.”
The UK edition of The Owl Always Hunts at Night was published by Transworld / Penguin Random House on April 20th and it immediately entered The Sunday Times‘ bestseller list for hardcover fiction at #8.
NEW BOOK: WHAT WE OWE
Nahid has six months left to live. Or so the doctors say. But Nahid is not the type to trust anyone. She resents the cancer diagnosis she has been given and the doctor who has given it to her. Bubbling inside her is also resentment toward life as it turned out, and the fact that it will go on without her.
At fifty, Nahid is no stranger to death. As a Marxist revolutionary in eighties Iran, she saw loved ones killed in the street and was forced to flee to Sweden. She and her husband abandoned their roots to build a new life in a new country. They told themselves they did it for their newborn daughter, so she could live free. But without roots, can you ever truly be free?
Told in a furious exhale, What We Owe is a story as much about uprootal and loss as it is about the powerful yet agonizing bonds between mothers and daughters. Through a style so direct and devastating it is impossible to shield yourself against, Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde asks the difficult questions: What do we pass on to our children? And what do we owe those we love?
What We Owe will be published by Wahlström & Widstrand in August, 2017.
Samuel Bjørk’s The Owl Always Hunts at Night, which was published in the UK on April 19th, has just entered The Sunday Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction at #8!
Dorthe Nors has just gotten a fantastic review in The Economist for Mirror, Shoulder, Signal:
“Dorthe Nors’s novel is a magnificent exploration of anxiety. Mirror, Shoulder, Signal introduces a writer who is both funny and brave. […] Nors, in contrast, turns her gridlocked human traffic into a transport of delight.”
Read the review in full here.
Susanne Jansson’s debut novel The Forbidden Place has been sold to 20 territories. Here’s the complete list of rights sold so far:
Czech Republic, Host
Denmark, Rosinante
Estonia, Varrak
France, Presses de la Cité
Germany, C. Bertelsmann
Greece, Metaixmio
Italy, Rizzoli
Latvia, Janis Roze
Lithuania, Baltos Lankos
Netherlands, Cargo
Norway, Aschehoug
Poland, Marginesy
Portugal, 20/20 Editora
Russia, AST
Slovakia, Plus
Spain, Roca
Sweden, Wahlström & Widstrand
Turkey, Ithaki
UK, Hodder / Mulholland
US, Grand Central
Quicksand by Malin Persson Giolito has been nominated for the Book of the Year Award 2017, which is presented by Bonnier Book Clubs.
Readers now get the chance to vote for one of twelve titles published in the last year that has been selected for the shortlist. The winner will be announced during the Gothenburg Book Fair on September 29th, 2017.
Click here to vote for Quicksand to win.
Susanne Jansson has received yet another fantastic review for The Forbidden Place, this time from Jenny Lindh at M Magasin:
“The best book out there right now. […] Debut writer Susanne Jansson is an easter gift to all nature-loving suspense fans. […] What is buried in the mire does not decompose. It does not come to rest. But how do you satisfy the hunger of the dead? We wonder, feverishly turning the pages, and along the way we become experts in wetlands. And when The Forbidden Place has dug deep enough through the mysteries, we finally get our answers.”
We’re incredibly proud to announce that Dorthe Nors has been shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize 2017, for her critically acclaimed novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal!
Chair of the jury, Edinburgh international book festival director Nick Barley called Mirror, Shoulder, Signal an “exquisite exposition” and said that it is “the funniest book on the list, the quirkiest and the one that will split the critics the most – but we all loved it”.
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal is one of six titles with the chance to win the prize. The winner will be announced on June 14th at a dinner at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The prize of £50,000 will be divided equally between the author and the translator of the winning entry.
Åsa Avdic has been nominated for the Crimetime Specsavers Award in the category “Best Crime Debut” for Isola.
The winner will be announced during Crimetime Gotland in August.
Today is the publication day for the UK edition of The Owl Always Hunts at Night and here’s a first stunning review from The Irish News:
“There’s something about Scandi-crime fiction that sets it apart from the norm and the second novel in Norwegian author Samuel Bjork’s Munch and Kruger series exemplifies everything that is great about the genre. […] Told in short, compelling chapters that alternate between several perspectives, Bjork creates a unique, twisting, unsettling thriller that really epitomises the phrase ‘page-turner’. And at the heart of it are two police officers whose own emotional battles are as enticing as the crime they are investigating. Read as a standalone novel or as part of the series, the book works equally well. In fact, there is very little to fault in this Nordic crime thriller par excellence.”
Great new review from Skånska Dagbladet for Susanne Jansson’sThe Forbidden Place:
“The Forbidden Place navigates both the horror and suspense genres, and does not veer away from supernatural elements. As a contrast, it also offers interesting glimpses into Nathalie’s scientific work and police photographer Maya’s pondering about photo art. All in all this is a well-written and refreshing debut.”
Susanne Jansson has just gotten a rave review from renowned crime book critic Lotta Olsson at Dagens Nyheter:
“The atmosphere is what makes me fall, head over heels: a lonely woman who rents out her city apartment and heads out into the wilderness. […] Susanne Jansson skillfully builds mounting uncertainty. Is there something supernatural out there, in the mire? Or is there a person using the lore for their own purposes? Does Nathalie have more reasons for coming to the mire than she lets on? […] The Forbidden Place is one of the best and most complete debut novels I’ve ever read.”
Read the full review here.
Samuel Bjørk has just received a great pre-publication review from Publishers Weekly for his bestselling crime novel The Owl Always Hunts at Night.
“The tension and stakes increase exponentially over the course of this meticulously plotted tale. […] Bjork’s character work is excellent and imbues the story with nuance and heft.”
The US edition of The Owl Always Hunts at Night will be published by Penguin on June 6th.
Read the full review here.
Malin Persson Giolito has been awarded the BMF Prize for Quicksand! This prize, established in 1951, is given by the Swedish Society of Bookstore Employees to the author whose work from the past year has given them the most personal satisfaction.
Today is the UK publication day for Malin Persson Giolito’s novel Quicksand, and here’s a first rave review from The Daily Mail:
“Compelling and brutally candid, especially about modern adolescence, this is not a comfortable book, but the story is so superbly told that it lingers in the mind long after the jury’s verdict.”
Click here to have a look at Simon & Schuster’s fantastic book trailer!
NEW BOOK: THE RENEGADE
A breathlessly action-packed drama, where the epic meets the everyday as one person’s destiny becomes at the center of an entire society’s survival.
The Renegade is the sequel to Filip Alexanderson’s debut novel Firstborn.
Dorthe Nors’s Man Booker International Prize longlisted novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal has gotten yet another rave review from the UK:
“This novel reads like a sort of Danish Woody Allen; existential, domestic, gently humorous. […] On the one hand, this poetic, thoughtful book is an affectionate send-up of the modern Nordic mindset. But in a deeper way it’s a love letter to a vanished land, that of childhood.”
The Daily Mail
“Forget the comfort of Danish hygge; Swedish sundhet is better for your health.”
Yesterday’s issue of The Times featured an interview with Dr. Bertil Marklund, author of bestseller The Nordic Guide to Living 10 Years Longer (to be published in the UK on April 27th).
Shortly after the article was published, Marklund’s book immediately soared to the #1 spot on Amazon.com in the Popular Medicine category.
Read the article here.
Yesterday’s issue of The New York Times Book Review featured a full-page review of Quicksand:
“Quicksand is a novel that beings like a parlor game gone awry: On its first page, a little cross section of contemporary Swedish society – a right-on homeroom reacher, a Ugandan foster child, a cashmere-clad blonde, a son of Middle Eastern immigrants – lies on the floor, splattered with blood, as if darkly satirizing the country’s self-image of civilized multiculturalism. […] What we’re reading here is not so much Maria’s unfiltered thoughts as her speech to an imaginary audience: Mostly we listen in as she tries to make sense of what happened, but she occasionally addresses us directly, speculating as to what assumptions we might make about her and what comfy delusions we may be harboring about ourselves. The voice is uneven, unpredictable in a way that feels characteristic of a teenager. […] the novel is structured as a courtroom procedural, yet ot clearly has ambitions beyond that, addressing Sweden’s underlying economic and racial tensions.”
Dorthe Nors’s critically acclaimed novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal, which last week was longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize, has just been sold to Spain (Anagrama) and Greece (Metaixmio).
Rights to this stunning novel have so far been sold to 13 territories:
Czech Republic, Argo
Denmark, Gyldendal
France, Delcourt
Germany, Kein & Aber
Greece, Metaixmio
Hungary, Park
Italy, Bompiani
Netherlands, Podium
Norway, Cappelen Damm
Spain, Anagrama
Sweden, Ordfront
UK, Pushkin Press
USA, Graywolf Press
We are incredibly proud to reveal that Dorthe Nors’s fantastic novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal has made the longlist for the Man Booker International Prize!
The shortlist consisting of six books will be announced on April 20th, and the winner of the 2017 prize will be announced on June 14th.
Read the announcement here.
Malin Persson Giolito’s critically acclaimed novel Quicksand, which was published in the US last week, has just gotten a rave review from The Washington Post:
“A remarkable new novel from Sweden […] Giolito, who practiced law before she turned to fiction, writes with exceptional skill. […] Giolito keeps us guessing a long time and the outcome, when it arrives, is just as it should be.”
Read the full review here.
Samuel Bjørk’s bestselling thriller I’m Travelling Alone has just been awarded Le Prix des Nouvelles Voix du Polar Pocket 2016.
This is a new prize established by publisher Pocket and it will be awarded to the best two best debut suspense titles published by Pocket each year, one French and one translated.
Susanne Jansson’s debut novelThe Forbidden Place has gained a lot of excitement internationally. Within a few days of submission, rights to this atmospheric suspense novel have been sold to the following territories:
Denmark, Rosinante (2 books)
Sweden, Wahlström & Widstrand (2 books)
Auctions are currently ongoing in Germany, Italy, Poland and Czech Republic.
Tonight the television series based on Åsa Larsson’s books about Rebecka Martinsson will premiere on Swedish television.
The series has been filmed on location in Kiruna and features the spectacular environments that are also present in Åsa Larsson’s incomparable, award-winning books. The series will consist of eight 45-minute episodes based on the books The Blood Spilt, The Black Path, Until Thy Wrath Be Past and The Second Deadly Sin. It stars Ida Engvoll (known from Academy-Award nominated A Man Called Ove) as Rebecka Martinsson and is directed by Fredrik Edfeldt.
The first episode premieres tonight at 9 pm on TV4.
NEW BOOK: THE FORBIDDEN PLACE
In peat bogs across Northern Europe, people of the Iron Age buried their sacrifices to the Gods. Even human sacrifices. The unique ecology of the wetlands slows the decomposition process, ensuring that bodies become preserved as eerie time capsules. Folklore has it that souls buried in a mire never come to rest, but rather haunt the living and hunger a er new victims. But this is only superstition, ghost stories of ancient lore. Or is it?
We are proud to present debut author Susanne Jansson’sThe Forbidden Place, an atmospheric mystery where past and present, lore and reality converge.
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors continues to garner fantastic reviews by leading critics. Here are excerpts from The Guardian and Financial Times:
“Nors is at her most trenchant and empathic when her protagonist, riddled with superstition and uncertainty, is inwardly soliloquising […] When Sonja’s narrative breaks free of the corner she has boxed herself into, the prose swoops and soars like her yearned-for whooper swans. It’s at these moments that Nors’s reinvention of experimental fiction is so marvellous: the remainder of her backlist should not disappoint.”
the guardian
“Mirror, Shoulder, Signal has just been published in Britain and will raise Nors’ profile further. […] Nors writes important modern women’s fiction. It is an act of 21st century recovery and assertion: she gives back agency and centrality to older women, sidelined in all societies, even Scandinavian ones, where women are valued less than men, and childless, single women least of all.”
Financial Times
Karolina Ramqvist’s intimate essay It’s the Night has just been published in a condensed version by LitHub.
First published by Norstedts in September 2016, It’s the Night received stunning reviews and held the top position of Dagens Nyheter‘s critics list for several weeks.
Head over to LitHub to read the excerpt.
The Danish edition of Geir Tangen’s debut novel Maestro was published by Modtryk on January 31st and the reception has been fantastic. Here’s the latest rave review:
“There are crime novels you simply have to read. Well-written and with a level of suspense that is heightened page after page, a touch of humor and characters who are exciting, authentic, and each with their individual qualities. Geir Tangen is a master in his own right. He conducts his plot with elegance and linguistic precision.”
Fyens Stiftstidene
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors has been shortlisted for the Readers’ Award in Denmark. The prize is given every year by the Danish Library Association and newspaper Berlingske, who together choose ten Danish titles from the past year. Readers then get to vote for their favorite, and the winner will be announced on March 30th.
Mirror, Shoulder, Signal is presented as “singularly beautiful novel”, and when it was first published in February 2016, Søren Kassebeer of Berlingske wrote this rave review:
“Mirror, Shoulder, Signal is a brilliant novel about finding your own way in life, even if others would like to steer you. […] Good literature is often about the unremarkable, the ordinary, and Dorthe Nors’s grasp of the story is masterful. […] Mirror, Shoulder, Signal emphasizes the author’s calibre. New readers of Nors can safely begin here. Perhaps they’ll then turn to the rest of her work. They won’t regret it.”
Vote for Mirror, Shoulder, Signal here.
Camilla Grebe’s novel The Ice Beneath Her has just gotten this rave review from BookPage, listing it as one of two Scandinavian thrillers “to chill your bones”:
“Swedish author Grebe makes her solo U.S. debut with gripping, nuanced and graphically violent tale. A beautiful woman lies dead in the home of a businessman—beheaded, with the head adjacent to the body. The chief suspect has disappeared, his abandoned girlfriend is on the warpath, and the lead profiler in the case suffers from what may be early onset dementia. And that’s just the setup.”
Bookpage (US)
Dorthe Nors’ praised novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal has just been sold to Bompiani in Italy and Delcourt in France.
So far, rights to Mirror, Shoulder, Signal has been sold to 11 territories.
The seventh installment in Åsa Larsson, Ingela Korsell and Henrik Jonsson’s celebrated PAX series: The Pesta, is one of the final nominees for Sweden’s official audiobook prize: The Grand Audiobook Prize, in the category Best Children’s Book.
Readers have voted for their favorite books from a longlist of twenty titles, and The Pesta was one of the five books who got the most votes.
A jury will choose the winner from the five final nominees, and the winner will be announced at a gala event on March 6th.
Malin Persson Giolito’s critically acclaimed novel has been highlighted in this week’s issue of Time Magazine, where it’s presented as “the latest Swedish crime sensation”.
The US edition of Quicksand will be published by Other Press on March 7th.
Dorthe Nors’ praised novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal has just received this fantastic pre-publication review from The Big Issue in the UK:
“The experience in reading about Sonja’s heroic struggle to get out of a crummy rut is very moving. Perhaps because Nors’ watchful eye, as well as often seeing the humour in regular situations, creates characters so believable in their small, everyday battles that we can’t help but care. Even more important, though, is the tenderness of her writing; the feeling she is giving much of herself away, wincing with Sonja’s everyday slight, warming with every moment of unexpected affection. It’s from that generous spirit of self-sacrifice that this novel gets its heart.”
The UK edition of Mirror, Shoulder, Signal is to be published by Pushkin Press on February 23rd.
The US edition of Karolina Ramqvist’s critically acclaimed novel The White City was published by Grove Atlantic today.
In a rave pre-publication review, Booklist had the following to say about Ramqvist’s English-language debut:
“The White City is rich in language and ambience. Moody, mysterious, maternal and magnetic […] it is a haunting novel of a woman adrift yet firmly attached to romantic memories of her lover and the simple needs of her daughter […] Like a Madonna of the tundra, Karin is a resilient and irresistible protagonist, and Ramqvist is a serious contender for the Swedish literary limelight.”
Excerpts from The White City are available at Guernica and Europe Now.
Åsa Larsson’s novel The Blood Spilt is the first crime novel to ever have been published in North Sami. Publisher Ravda launched the book during the Jokkmokk Market in Jokkmokk, Sweden on February 3rd.
Sweden’s biggest daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter has chosen The Spy with No Country as one of their five favorites from last week. Renowned critic Lotta Olsson writes:
“Espionage, poisoning, and high-level politics in a story that comes frighteningly close to the current international reality.”
NEW BOOK: THE SPY WITH NO COUNTRY
The Eastern threat is on the rise, networks of sleeping spies are awakened, new frontiers of terror deliver harrowing outcomes, and greed will change individual lives forever.
Camilla Grebe and Paul Leander-Engström’s The Spy with No Country is a chillingly current thriller that digs deep into moral questions of guilt and atonement in a globalized world where power and allegiances are constantly shifting.
The first international edition of Geir Tangen’s thrilling debut Maestro has just been published in Estonia by Varrak.
Since then, Maestro has been featured on several bestseller lists in Estonia, and it’s currently #3 on book store Rahva Raamat’s crime list.
Camilla Grebe has just received this rave review for The Ice Beneath Her from Bookpage:
“When a new Scandinavian mystery hits the stands, you pretty much know it’s going to be good, and Swedish author Camilla Grebe’s The Ice Beneath Her, translated by Elizabeth Clark Wessel, does not let the team down. All the tried- and-true adjectives apply here: gripping, atmospheric, nuanced and, of course, graphically violent. […] Through it all, the true killer remains as elusive as smoke on a breezy day, and when the twist comes, it’s one that even jaded Nordic noir fans likely won’t see coming.”
The Ice Beneath Her was published in the US on December 27th.
Ahead of the US publication in February, The White City by Karolina Ramqvist continues to garner fantastic pre-publication reviews. Here are excerpts from the most recent ones, from Shelf Awareness and Booklist:
“The White City is rich in language and ambience. Moody, mysterious, maternal and magnetic […] it is a haunting novel of a woman adrift yet firmly attached to romantic memories of her lover and the simple needs of her daughter […] Like a Madonna of the tundra, Karin is a resilient and irresistible protagonist, and Ramqvist is a serious contender for the Swedish literary limelight.”
Shelf Awareness
“The ghostly Scandinavian setting and Karin’s closely narrated sense of impending doom, baby cooing patiently at her hip, make Swedish star Ramqvist’s English-language debut an atmospheric and suspenseful read.”
Booklist
In the first week of publication, Samuel Bjørk’s bestselling crime novel I’m Traveling Alone soared straight to #3 on The Sunday Times‘ Bestseller list in the UK, where the paperback edition was published on December 29th.
Bertil Marklund’s book 10 Tips: The No Frills Guide to Living 10 Years Longer is off to a great start in Denmark.
Lindhardt & Ringhof published the Danish edition on December 27th 2016 and it immediately entered Bog & Ide‘s nonfiction bestseller list at #6.
Samuel Bjørk’s global bestseller I’m Traveling Alone has been chosen as one of the spring titles of 2017 for WH Smith’s popular Richard & Judy Book Club. The paperback edition of I’m Traveling Alone was published in the UK by Transworld on December 29th, and Richard and Judy both praise the book in a fantastic way:
“This high-octane, super-tense account of a race against time to nail a psychotic serial killer was written in Norwegian and something of the cool Nordic atmosphere rises off the pages like a frozen mist. […] [Samuel Bjørk] writes with a crisp, swinging rhythm that not only translates well but has its own distinctive tone, especially in the dialogue between characters – short, snappy sentences; pithy exchanges. Delightfully easy yet stimulating to read. I loved it.”
“I couldn’t stop turning the pages of this cold gallop of a story and I loved the working relationship between the two police protagonists. The conclusion does not disappoint and I can’t wait to read Bjork’s next novel – just as long as it’s about Mia and Holger. It’s a double act with a big future.”
Read more here.
Camilla Grebe’s critically praised psychological thriller The Ice Beneath Her has just been published in the US by Ballantine. In the lead-up to publication, the book received starred reviews from both Kirkus and Publishers Weekly:
“The decapitation of a young woman propels Grebe’s exceptional solo debut, which examines three lives broken by failures to take responsibility in a Stockholm where ‘even the sky is crying’.”
Publishers Weekly
“Veteran coauthor Grebe takes her first solo turn in this tale of three troubled souls linked by a horrific crime—and what a turn it is. […] Each of these stories—Peter’s, Hanne’s, and Emma’s—is compelling enough to fuel an entire novel; Grebe’s skill in weaving them together is impressive. A tour de force that lifts its author to the front rank among the increasingly crowded field of Nordic noir.”
Kirkus
Karolina Ramqvist’s powerful essay Det är natten is one of the best books of 2016 according to the critics of Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter:
“When Karolina Ramqvist takes on the matter of what it really means to be an ‘author’ the result is a rich and radical essay about words and life. An eye-opening text to devour in one sitting.”
The US edition of Malin Persson Giolito’s novel Quicksand will be published by Other Press on March 7th 2017 and this rave pre-publication review has just come in from Kirkus:
“Sharp social commentary through the tragic story of a young woman’s trial for mass murder. Swedish novelist Giolito begins her English-language debut with a powerful view of a crime scene. To the narrator, 18-year-old Maja, her fellow classmates are still in the present tense, the horror not yet real. As she tells her tale we understand that she is at the center of a school shooting perpetrated by her boyfriend, Sebastian Fagerman, and the question is whether she is complicit. Both teenagers come from privileged backgrounds, she from a loving home she has no patience for, and he the son of “the richest man in Sweden,” who verbally abuses him. Giolito keeps the narrative moving quickly, alternating between the present tense of Maja’s jail cell and the courtroom and her memories of parties and travels with her jet-setting boyfriend, though as Maja says,’there are no chapters in this mess.’ That mess takes in the uneasy place of race in modern-day Sweden and the voracious press that amplifies the details of everything in Maja’s young life. There is no suspense in the shooting of Amanda, Maja’s best friend, or of Sebastian. She did it and admits to it. The literary anticipation here is in the telling of the tale, the facts that turn the story to something else, and yes, the verdict. The rhythm, tone, and language are just right, due in great part to the fine translation by Willson-Broyles. Giolito gives us the unsettling monologue of a teenage girl as she works her way through her role in murder. It is a splendid work of fiction.”
Dorthe Nors’ critically acclaimed novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal has yet again been named one of the best novels of 2016, this time by Swedish daily newspaper ETC:
“Daintily absurd and laconic novel about being middle aged and trying to learn how to drive, while life seems to have driven away from you. With perfect pitch and atoning humor, Danish writer Dorthe Nors captures the state of being between the quotidien lull and the vast depths of existence.”
The Swedish edition was published as Blicken, pilen, filen by Ordfront in October.
Renowned Danish newspaper Berlingske has named Dorthe Nors’ stunning novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal one of the best Danish books of 2016. Here’s how Søren Kassebeer at Berlingske motivates his choice:
“Here is an author who is able to combine sublime psychological insight, fine, refined and at times slightly desperate humor with a superior handle of language. Dorthe Nors is simply one of our finest literary writers, and her novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal about Sonja from western Jutland and her life in Copenhagen and her efforts to find her way through everything, both in her private life and on the road, is both formidably entertaining as well as moving and enriching.”
The Ice Beneath Her by Camilla Grebe has been chosen for Amazon’s list of rising stars from 2016. Every year, Amazon.uk compiles a collection of the most promising debuts of the year. Have a look at the full list here.
Quicksand by Malin Persson Giolito and Through Fire and Water by Camilla Grebe and Åsa Träff, have both been longlisted for Sweden’s official audiobook prize: The Grand Audiobook Prize, in the category for Best Suspense Audiobook.
Åsa Larsson, Ingela Korsell and Henrik Jonsson are on the longlist in the Children’s category for the second consecutive year. This time for the seventh book in the PAX Series: The Pesta.
Readers can vote for their favorite book until December 11th. A jury will then choose the winner from the five books with the most votes in each category. The winner will be announced at a gala event in March 2017.
Dorthe Nors‘ novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal has just entered Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter‘s critics list at #10.
Published in Swedish by Ordfront in September 2016, Mirror, Shoulder, Signal has, just as in Nors‘ native Denmark, been unanimously praised by the critics. Maria Schottenius at Dagens Nyheter called it “truly excellent and original.”
Here’s a new rave pre-publication review for Malin Persson Giolito’s novel Quicksand, which will be published in the US come March 2017:
“Giolito’s astonishing English-language debut is a dark exploration of the crumbling European social order and the psyche of rich Swedish teens. […] In crafting a first-person narrative told by a school shooter, many authors would go too far, creating and overly likable character; Giolito masterfully walks this fine line, developing a protagonist whom readers will remain intrigued by and ambivalent about, but who they won’t necessarily like. Giolito’s past as a lawyer and as a European Union official poke through the pages as she exposes the curing racism that refugees in Europe endure, even in supposed left-wing-idyll Sweden. Praise must also go to translator Willson-Broyles, as the incisive language that’s on display here surely involves translation precision that’s second to none.”
Booklist, starred review
Malin Persson Giolito’s novel Quicksand has won the title of Best Crime Novel of the Year, the country’s official suspense literature award, which is given by the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy every year. The jury’s motivation reads as follows:
“A psychological courtroom drama, originally told in a sharp and playful style.”
Influential literary newsletter Shelf Awareness has chosen Malin Persson Giolito’s extraordinary novel Quicksand as the focus for their latest Maximum Bookshelf feature. The piece features a wonderful interview with Malin, and the book is given an extraordinary rave review:
“Expert dialogue and irresistible momentum make an all-too-realistic story come breathing off the page. It’s a novel that demands compassion, and an appreciation for the fine gradations of situations that tend to be treated as black and white. Part courtroom thriller, part introspection, Quicksand is pulled tight throughout by the suspense, not only of Maja’s verdict, but of the elusive ‘truth’ of what really happened in the classroom that day.”
The US edition of Quicksand will be published by Other Press on March 7th, 2017.
Joakim Zander’s celebrated second novel The Believer will be published in the US on January 17th, 2017. The book has just gotten this starred pre-publication review from Booklist:
“Zander has written another compelling, timely, and character-centered thriller, and many readers will look forward to what he does next.”
Malin Persson Giolito’s novel Quicksand is one of five novels that have been shortlisted for the award for Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year. The winner will be announced by the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy on November 20th.
Karolina Ramqvist has just received this rave pre-publication review from Kirkus:
“Though the plot of Ramqvist’s English debut may make it sound like a crime thriller, the pace is lulling, the writing sensuous and patiently observed. So much of the book, in fact, consists of long scenes of Karin nursing Dream or spending hours watching the infant play that the book feels, more than any thriller, like an allegory of parenting. […] as Karin, quite literally, works to keep Dream alive against a backdrop of violence and deception, readers root for both characters to find their way. Delicate and unsparing.”
The US edition of The White City will be published by Grove Atlantic on February 7th 2017.
In the lead-up to the US publication of Joakim Zander’s novel The Believer, this fantastic pre-publication review from Kirkus has just come in:
“Zander’s latest page-turning political thriller weaves three interconnected stories into a hypertopical tale of international intrigue. […] Zander’s twisting, high-octane plot could not be more timely, but it’s the characters, all three of them, that bring this vivid novel to life. Suspenseful and primed for Hollywood adaptation, this is escapist fiction at its best.”
Here’s also a new, rave review from the UK:
“The Brother by Joakim Zander is a prime slice of Nordic noir. Zander is part of the influx of new blood into the genre, and this second novel is both forceful and subtle. […] What we have here are two crucial ingredients of Scandicrime: powerfully orchestrated tension set against a strong dose of social commentary.”
The Independent
Dorthe Nors’ latest novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal has just been published in Sweden by Ordfront to fantastic critical praise. Here are a few excerpts:
“A slender novel bursting with substance and sharp turns. What’s beautiful about it is that you haven’t got a clue of where you’re going, and yet you’re wholly enjoying the ride.”
VI LÄSER
“An exquisite little novel, that feels bigger than most and that makes my heart beat.”
UPSALA NYA TIDNING
“Ninni Holmqvist has exquisitely translated Dorthe Nors’ funny and beautiful novel about alienation and finding a home within yourself. It’s so easy to both recognize yourself and to feel for Sonja’s struggle that I, both during and after reading, tear up from giggling as well as from the solemn sensation of how peculiar life actually is. Or how singular this novel is and how rich I feel from having read it.”
BORÅS TIDNING
“Dorthe Nors writes sparsely yet at the same time poignantly and hilariously, finds the words that captures the details, the situations, the relationships sometimes with a dizzying twist, sometimes with a social-realistic accuracy of aim.”
KULTURNYTT, SVERIGES RADIO
This week, Samuel Bjørk’s novel The Owl has climbed to #4 on Der Spiegel‘s Bestseller List in Germany. The book was published by Goldmann at the beginning of last week.
Karolina Ramqvist’s essay Det är natten (It’s the Night) is currently enjoying its third consecutive week as #1 on Dagens Nyheter‘s critics list.
Since Norstedts published It’s the Night in a beautiful special edition a few weeks ago, the essay has been praised by the Swedish critics. Here’s what Borås Tidning had to say:
“Karolina Ramqvist’s new book It’s the Night is a perfect little text about writing and about being a writer. Penetrating and sincere. Pretentious and funny at the same time. It’s an unusual combination. […] Karolina Ramqvist draws support from texts from some of the best writers in the world: Marguerite Duras, Margaret Atwood, Bodil Malmsten and Virginia Woolf. Sometimes I think Ramqvist’s text could actually have been written by Duras, that’s how simply perfect it is.”
The second instalment in the Mia & Munch Series, The Owl, was published in Germany by Goldmann on October 17th. A mere three days later, the book entered Der Spiegel‘s Bestseller List at #13.
The Pesta was published less than two weeks ago, and last week this seventh installment in the celebrated PAX series climbed to the very top of Adlibris Bookstore’s bestseller list, beating none other than Harry Potter (!!!).
Åsa Avdic’s page-turner Isola continues to garner praise. Here’s a fantastic new review from Sydsvenskan:
“Isola is a well-constructed paranoid thriller […] Full of unexpected twists and turns, power games, and realizations that no one is to be trusted. With a prose so effective that it’s capable of evoking the concrete gray atmosphere of totalitarism, Avdic stays on point from beginning to end. This is exceedingly skillful craftsmanship. […] The pages rush past – I can’t seem to be able to put the book down.”
So far, Isola has been sold to six territories:
France, Actes Sud
Germany, HarperCollins
Poland, Sonia Draga
Romania, RAO
Russia, Corpus
Sweden, Natur & Kultur
NEW BOOK: THE PESTA
The seventh book in the bestselling PAX Series is here.
Christmas has come to Mariefred and with it the joy of the holiday season. But things aren’t so merry in town. Fear has spread after all the strange things that have been happening and the streets are lined with broken street lights and barbed wire. Panic takes hold when several residents fall ill with a mysterious disease..
Here’s an excerpt from a great, first review from BTJ:
“The suspense, the fluid style, and Jonsson’s super scary black and white illustrations will attract even the most reluctant readers.”
Samuel Bjørk and The Owl wins the Hebban Award 2016 in the category ‘Best Thriller of the Year’.
Hebban is the Dutch equivalent of Goodreads, a huge online community where readers all over the Netherlands connect to discuss and review books. The members have voted on all the thrillers that has came out during this past year, and they chose The Owl (Der Doodsvogel) as the best – in competition with authors such as Karin Slaughter, Nicci French and David Lagercrantz.
Christoffer Carlsson’s critically acclaimed YA-novel October is the Coldest Month has been named Best Crime Novel of the Year for Young Readers by The Swedish Crime Writers Academy. The jury’s motivation is as follows:
“A suspenseful and psychologically astute portrayal of young people coming of age.”
Christoffer was presented with the award at a ceremony during the Gothenburg Book Fair this past weekend.
NEW BOOK: OCTOBER IS THE COLDEST MONTH
The crown prince of Swedish Noir, bestselling crime writer Christoffer Carlsson, explodes into new territory with his first YA-novel. Reminiscent of Daniel Woodrell’s novel Winter’s Bone, October is the Coldest Month is a suspenseful crime novel for young readers from a master storyteller. But it is also a powerful story of a teenage girl’s awakening – sexual, emotional, and intellectual.
October is the Coldest Month has been nominated for Best Crime Novel of the Year for Young Readers by the Swedish Crime Writer’s Academy. The winner will be announced later this week at the Gothenburg Book Fair.
Dorthe Nors’ novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal has just been published in Germany by Kein & Aber. Here’s an excerpt from a first, great review from Ostthüringer Zeitung:
“Nors tells the story of Sonja urgently and precisely […] An extraordinary tale, urging you to take your destiny into your own hands.”
Camilla Grebe’s psychological thriller The Ice Beneath Her gets rave reviews in the UK, after its September 8th publication.
Daily Mail‘s critic calls the book “Scandi-noir at its powerful bleakest.”
Frost Magazine says The Ice Beneath Her is “A must read book about obsession, betrayal and of course, love.”
NEW BOOK: ISOLA
An isolated island, six unruly candidates for the same secret job, a harrowing psychological stress test, and one unstable woman’s staged murder. Welcome to Isola.
We are proud to present the season’s most nail-biting thriller by debut author Åsa Avdic.
For the second week running, Malin Persson Giolito’s Quicksand is at #7 on DN Kultur’s renowned critics list.
Joakim Zander’s The Believer and The Swimmer have now spent 10 weeks in a row on Der Spiegel‘s bestseller lists. The Believer is currently at #14 and The Swimmer at #20.
The Korean edition of Samuel Bjørk’s I’m Traveling Alone was published by Taurus Books at the end of August.
The film rights to Camilla Grebe’s The Ice Beneath Her have been optioned for a US production. New Line Cinema has acquired the rights with Andrew Lazar producing (American Sniper, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind).
The deal has just been announced by Deadline.