Recensie geschreven in mei 2016 in het Engels over het Zweedse originele boek 'Utmarker'

What a fantastic thriller this was! It's without any doubt the best thriller I've already read this year, amongst which a couple of other Scandinavian ones.

Arne Dahl is a genious with getting the reader dive into the action in the middle of a house raid at the beginning of this new thriller of his, without any introduction. It is only a couple of pages further that you get to know more about the case and the police detective and his team. This trick might disturb you a bit, I was so blown away with it!

The case in question is about the disappearance of 15 year-old Ellen Savinger which makes the blood of police detective Sam Berger run cold as he is absolutely convinced that a serial killer has taken her. Only, he doesn't get his police head or team persuaded of his viewpoint as he can't present any evidence for it. Then, he and his team run into the mystical Nathalie Fredén who isn't exactly who she seems to be.

The plot twist that comes next is one of the best ones I've ever read. Sam Berger is furthermore confronted with his early self and he needs to dive into his past to rescue even more lives than only Ellen's while he is now hunted himself. And after this first major twist, it's not that there aren't other ones left! The story seems to root in a truth that too many obscure figures would like to keep covered up. This leads to an unsettling cliffhanger, leading to probably another new book, to be published next year. As far as I'm concerned, I can't wait any more!

This thriller is witty, well written and full of action. You can hardly guess what comes next due to the surprising twists. The language is very intelligent which I noticed due to the not so easy to understand Swedish. Other Swedish novels are sometimes easier to grasp, but this has so much more to give than a more superficial thriller.

I can hardly wait for the continuation in the next book, and hope there will be soon translations available for my non Swedish speaking (Scandi) thriller fan friends! To hell with thrillers like 'The girl in the train'. Me like some more Arne Dahl bookies! (as in 'bookiemonster'...) I really hope this one will top the charts soon, also outside Sweden.