2024
In 1942 the Jewish courier Ester is betrayed, narrowly avoiding arrest by the Gestapo. In a great haste, she escapes to Sweden, and saves her life. Her family in Oslo is deported to Auschwitz. In Stockholm she meets the resistance hero Gerhard Falkum, who has left his little daughter and fled both the Germans and the suspicion of murdering his wife Åse, who helped Ester get to Sweden. Their burgeoning relationship ends abruptly when Falkum appears to perish in a fire.
In 1967 Falkum shows up in Oslo, having been declared dead since 1943. He wants to reconnect with his daughter. But why does he turn up only now, 25 years later? And what is the real reason for his return?
The events from the war catch up with Ester. She has also returned to Norway, having worked for the Israeli intelligence since the end of the war. Now she gets new information on Gerhard Falkum, information that forces her to take a new look at her past, and to revive her rusty combat skills.
Kjell Ola Dahl has written a very knowledgeable, intelligent and within the boundaries of fiction credible and reliable crime novel. […] an absolute top notch crime and suspense novel.
[…] a well written and evocative crime novel. […] As literary fiction it plays in a higher league than most crime novels.
5 out of 6 stars
A sober and successful spy thriller, which gives associations to the black and white classic The Third Man. […] A solid comeback.
Elegant and seamless. When you read a novel by Dahl, with or without the crime-prefix, you get the feeling of being in safe hands. That means quite a lot to the reader.
Kjell Ola Dahl has written a solid crime … The tempo makes you read one more page and then one more and then another in order to get the answers. Because the author gives you no chance at all to figure out the answers on your own.
5 out of 6 stars
Whilst being very well entertained we also get a little wiser.
5 out of 6 stars
What makes this such a page-turner is the confluence of events leading up to and after the crime. A dark but richly described backdrop and a relentless, underlying tension drive this sad story to its bittersweet conclusion. Fans of Nordic noir will be satisfied.
Kjell Ola Dahl
Rolf M. Aagaard
