Publishers Weekly
10/31/2022
The discovery of the body of a missing person, Hans Runne, drives Alsterdal’s often gripping but haphazardly plotted sequel to 2021’s We Know You Remember. Found in an abandoned house in a mining town in Sweden’s far north, Runne had two fingers severed from his left hand not long before he died. Police detective Eira Sjödin, along with her boss, Georg “GG” Georgsson, and her other colleagues, cover all kinds of territory, geographical and cultural, as they look for clues into what becomes a murder inquiry. Various personal issues—Eira’s mother is in a care home with dementia, her brother is in prison for manslaughter, and she’s attracted to the much older GG—slow the action. The pace picks up after GG disappears. A strong sense of place—in particular, the remote, sparsely populated north of Sweden—helps compensate for the meandering narrative and the author’s sometimes clumsy efforts to impose profundity and unearth big themes about societal change (for example, a mining company’s expansion becomes a seismic metaphor about dislocating communities). Scandi noir fans will hope for a tighter plot next time. Agent: Astri von Arbin, Ahlander Agency (Sweden). (Jan.)
From the Publisher
Beautifully elegiac and intricately plotted, this is Nordic noir at its best.” — People Magazine, Best Books of Fall Award
“Strong local color, convincing characters, and a twisty plot make this a standout. This is Swedish noir at its murky best.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review
“This is a world-class Scandinavian mystery, one that will be mentioned in the same breath with Smilla’s Sense of Snow, The Redbreast or the Milennium trilogy…. I predict that it will be one of the most talked-about suspense novels of the year.” — BookPage, starred review
“Alsterdal plots enough twists to keep the police procedural interesting and writes a great woman protagonist; fans of international mystery will be happy to discover her.” — Library Journal
“Compelling and expertly constructed.” — Booklist
“A cat-and-mouse game that promises to be full of surprises, as well as thoughtful considerations of grief, guilt, and memory.” — LitHub’s Crimereads
“Riveting.... The plot structure of this memorable work is brilliantly conceived and executed, and the development of an array of fascinating characters is impressive. As a matter of fact, it is as much a profound psychological study as it is a clever police procedural ... A superb procedural and an acutely revelatory reading experience.” — Bookreporter
“Adeptly written and plotted, with in-depth characterizations and rich topography, You Will Never Be Found is yet another fine contribution to the redoubtable genre.” — Shelf Awareness, Starred Review
"Chilling." — Westport Magazine
“Ms. Alsterdal weaves together her characters’ private and professional concerns in a manner reminiscent of such Swedish masters as Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö and Henning Mankell. When Eira’s boss GG disappears without a trace, You Will Never Be Found . . . kicks into higher gear and races with tremendous velocity toward a euphoric resolution.” — Wall Street Journal
“A dark, tightly plotted, and satisfying thriller.” — Kirkus Reviews
“If you’re a fan of Nordic noir, this dark mystery, the second in the High Coast series, should suit your taste for the shivery. . . . Noir fans should savor it all, especially for the bite that Alsterdal brings to Eira’s dauntless character.” — Connie Fletcher, Booklist
Bookreporter
Riveting.... The plot structure of this memorable work is brilliantly conceived and executed, and the development of an array of fascinating characters is impressive. As a matter of fact, it is as much a profound psychological study as it is a clever police procedural ... A superb procedural and an acutely revelatory reading experience.”
LitHub’s Crimereads
A cat-and-mouse game that promises to be full of surprises, as well as thoughtful considerations of grief, guilt, and memory.
starred review BookPage
This is a world-class Scandinavian mystery, one that will be mentioned in the same breath with Smilla’s Sense of Snow, The Redbreast or the Milennium trilogy…. I predict that it will be one of the most talked-about suspense novels of the year.”
People Magazine
Beautifully elegiac and intricately plotted, this is Nordic noir at its best.
Booklist
Compelling and expertly constructed.
Booklist
Compelling and expertly constructed.
Kirkus Reviews
2022-10-26
A new novel from a Swedish author whose last book, We Know You Remember (2021), was named Swedish Crime Novel of the Year.
In the northernmost part of Sweden, the earth shakes as a mining company digs for ore and moves entire hamlets in the process, and many abandoned buildings collapse into rubble. Near a destroyed home, two young men hear “the cry of a caged animal” and discover a half-dead man trapped in a basement. A woman wanders through an abandoned area with her old Leica camera as part of her project to photograph forgotten places, “the sorrow of what once was.” In her darkroom she develops an image that shows a human hand. The forlorn town is named Offer, which is the Swedish word for victim. To the photographer, the name is “ominous…yet somehow it was also beautiful.” But to the police, it’s different. “What a goddamn name for a crime scene,” says Georg Georgsson, aka GG, who is lead investigator in the Violent Crimes Unit. Indeed, calling the hamlet the equivalent of Victim is laying on the drama a little thick in a tale that already has plenty. The main character is police assistant Eira Sjödin, who admires and reports to GG. She is a dedicated detective, but like everyone else, she has problems of her own, like having a wrongly imprisoned brother. It is a complex case made even more so when GG stops answering his telephone and no one knows where he is. The mystery becomes more tangled as details of GG’s life emerges. Eira and a colleague already had their hands full sifting through clues and looking for possible perpetrators, and now they must worry about their boss. Meanwhile in a dark basement, a ghastly scene makes police wonder what a person will do to survive.
American readers will enjoy this dark, tightly plotted, and satisfying thriller.
