The Viper
2008
Arvid Traneus returns to Sweden following a lengthy assignment in Tokyo. He is a consultant for a major company, a sort of modern day-warrior in the service of the global economy. He is successful, but also ruthless, some would say brutal.
He returns home to his estate in Levide on the island of Gotland where his wife is waiting for him. Or where he thinks she'll be waiting for him. But all is not as he left it. "Time waits for no man", as his closest neighbour puts it.
Four days after Arvid's return, the family maid discovers two dead bodies on the living room floor - a man and a woman. At first, the police assume it to be Arvid and his wife, but once they manage to identify the badly disfigured man it turns out to be Arvid s cousin, while Arvid himself has disappeared without a trace.
Håkan Östlundh is back with the fourth instalment in the series about Fredrik Broman and his colleagues at the Visby police department. As in his previous books - Sea Wrack, The Diver, and Terror – The Viper takes place on the idyllic but isolated island of Gotland, where escaping one s past often proves more difficult than in the city.
Håkan Östlundh är tillbaka med den fjärde delen i serien om Fredrik Broman och hans kollegor vid Visbypolisen. Liksom de tidigare delarna Släke, Dykaren och Terror utspelas Blot på det idylliska men isolerade Gotland, där det visar sig vara svårare än i storstaden att undkomma sitt förflutna.
Med Blot har Östlundh skapat en både annorlunda och klassisk deckare, som håller läsaren i spänning från första till sista sidan.
"Another Scandinavian star has been born into the world of crime fiction.”
Stephen Booth
“Östlundh’s U.S. debut, an engrossing thriller, upholds the fine Scandinavian literary tradition of using crime to peek into deep-rooted social malaises. […] Along the way, as various minor characters flit across the stage, the author delivers a thoughtful meditation on the nature of evil and what makes a person culpable.”
Publishers Weekly
“There is no question about the fact that the Swedes have captured the Nordic crime throne and Håkan Östlundh is definitely one of the most interesting authors in the genre. He knows his plot and his persons. His vivid treatment of the language is exceptional. He knows how to create a story in a way that makes it stirring from the start to the very end.”
Helsingør Dagblad
“A classic crime novel that touches upon our time and the relationships between the people that our time creates.
Of all the crime novelists currently using Gotland as a backdrop for their books, Håkan Östlundh is the sharpest, both in terms of contemporary history and the manner in which he weaves a murderous intrigue that remains suspenseful right through to the end.”
Bengt Valentinsson, Gotlands tidningar
“The Viper offers a thrilling family drama, is extraordinary well written, shows with emphasis that this author after four books deserves to be acknowledged with respect, deserves to be taken seriously, and deserves much credit and many readers.”
Tidningen Vi
