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In this latest atmospheric thriller, Kurt Wallander and his daughter Linda, just graduated from the police academy, join forces to search for a religious fanatic on a murder spree and soon find themselves forced to confront a group of extremists bent on punishing the world's sinners.
In this latest atmospheric thriller, Kurt Wallander and his daughter Linda join forces to
search for a religious fanatic on a murder spree. Just graduated from the police
academy, Linda Wallander returns to Skane to join the police force, and she
already shows all the hallmarks of her father--the maverick approach, the
flaring temper. Before she even starts work she becomes embroiled in the case of
her childhood friend Anna, who has inexplicably disappeared. As the case her
father is working on dovetails with her own, something far more dangerous than
either could have imagined begins to emerge. They soon find themselves forced to
confront a group of extremists bent on punishing the world's sinners.
Translated by Ebba Segerberg.
Chapter 1
The wind picked up shortly after 9.00 on the evening of August 21, 2001.
In a valley to the south of the Rommele Hills, small waves were rippling
across the surface of Marebo Lake. The man waiting in the shadows beside
the water stretched out his hand to discover the direction of the wind.
Virtually due south, he found to his satisfaction. He had chosen the
right spot to put out food to attract the creatures he would soon be
sacrificing.
He sat on the rock where he had spread out a sweater against the chill.
It was a new moon and no light penetrated the thick layer of clouds.
Dark enough for catching eels. That's what my Swedish playmate used to
say when I was growing up. The eels start their migration in August.
That's when they bump into the fishermen's traps and wander the length
of the trap. And then the trap slams shut.
...
The Kurt Wallender series is set primarily in
Mankell's native Sweden. You'll find Sweden in the
north of Europe between Finland and Norway. With a population of about 9
million, a landmass about the same size as California and a stable
population, most people enjoy a good quality of life (albeit cold at some times
of the year). Sweden was a military power up until the 17th
century (and long before - think Vikings!), but has not
participated in any war for almost 200 years.
More about Sweden.
The apolcalyptic
plot that Wallander and his daughter uncover has its beginnings in the
1978 mass suicide of Jim Jones's followers. Born in ...
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Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some to be chewed on and digested.
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