Paradisoffer

Paradisoffer Hostage

Fredrika Bergman #4

Shortly after a crowded New York-bound Boeing 747 takes off from Stockholm, a bomb threat is found in one of the aircraft’s lavatories. The demands are directed at both the Swedish and US governments and if the demands are not met, the plane will explode if it attempts to land. The anonymous hijackers demand that the Swedish government revoke its decision to deport a Moroccan man that the Swedish Security Service has deemed a security risk. The government must choose between negotiating with terrorists in order to save the lives of four hundred passengers held hostage at thirty thousand feet, or to stand their ground and pursue the deportation of a possibly innocent man.

Police Superintendent Alex Recht teams up with the energetic – and often abrasive – Eden Lundell from the Security Service’s counter-terrorism unit to investigate the hijacking. Fredrika Bergman, who is currently working at the Justice Department, is involved in the deportation case. She now returns to the police force to act as a liaison between the government and the police. The investigation team soon realizes that the plot behind the hijacking is far more complex than they initially thought. With the plane halfway across the Atlantic, their American colleagues are faced with the fact that the demand directed at the US government relates to a top-secret detention facility in Afghanistan known as Tennyson Cottage. How is Tennyson Cottage connected to the Moroccan man in Sweden? And how does anyone even know about Tennyson Cottage?

As the hours pass, Fredrika, Alex and Eden are running out of possibilities to save the plane and its passengers. The fight against the clock also becomes a battle against the US government’s fear of a new terrorist attack. And the plane is running out of fuel…

Reviews

  • “Ohlsson's strenght is in placing normal people at the centre of remarkable events. /…/ Hostage is Hollywood blockbuster-material… You'll finish it in one gulp”

    Metro, UK

  • “A suspenseful and well-written story… You can tell that Kristina Ohlsson is well-informed and knowledgeable about the Swedish police system.”

    LitteraturMagazinet, Sweden

  • “Smart and suspenseful. /…/ Kristina Ohlsson is a skilled crime writer with a high level of suspense, good characterization and an energetic prose.”

    Deckarhuset, Sweden

  • “Clever and thrilling suspense. /…/ [Ohlsson] writes with an ease and a drive that makes you carry the book with you everywhere you go to try to sneak in a few pages' reading. When it comes to suspense she has outdone herself.”

    DAST Magazine, Sweden

  • “Suspenseful. That word encapsulates this novel entirely. You simply cannot put down Hostage… I am ever more impressed by Ohlsson's ability to captivate the reader.”

    Mysterierna, Sweden

  • “Haunting and well-composed.”

    Norran, Sweden

  • “High level international drama… The suspense is created through Kristina Ohlsson's ability to create tempo. She never writes too much about any one thing, but shifts – sensitively, quickly – between characters, settings, events. /…/ She knows what she's doing. Hostage is her best crime novel so far.”

    Kristianstadsbladet, Sweden

  • “Terribly suspenseful … This time it's about international terrorism and the plot is incredibly suspenseful – you can't stop reading until you've reached the very last line.”

    Året Runt, Sweden

  • “This is Kristina Ohlsson's fourth and best crime novel so far, and that says a lot – she has been very good from the beginning. But I would be surprised if any other [Swedish] crime novel comes anywhere near Hostage this year. It is the kind of nail-biting thriller that rarely comes along, and that one reads with abated breath.”

    Dagens Nyheter, Sweden

  • “Kristina Ohlsson is skilled when it comes to plots and building up suspense to a dramatic crescendo… I can't stop reading.”

    Falu-Kuriren, Sweden

  • “The very best in Sweden… Suspenseful throughout, credible down to every comma.”

    Expressen, Sweden

  • “[Ohlsson] uses her work experience to create one of the most captivating crime novels in a long time. /…/ The authencity of the investigation work brings a fair dose of reality to the story, and offers the reader an experience that differs distinctly from other contemporary crime novels that more often than not often take certain creative freedoms. /…/ Kristina Ohlsson is one of the best living authors in Sweden in her genre.”

    Kulturdelen, Sweden

  • “This is one of the most suspenseful Swedish crime novels I've read in a long time – I just wanted to hide somewhere, undisturbed, until I finished the book. /…/ Through interesting character portayals and new side stories that increase the suspense throughout the book, Ohlsson keeps me glued to the pages.”

    Aftonbladet, Sweden

  • “A writing style that is an exquisite pleasure to experience. In Hostage, the author manages to raise the suspense to almost unfathomable heights. /…/ Hostage is staggeringly suspenseful, movingly humanitarian, and a thought-provoking reminder of the potency of terrorism.”

    ★★★★★

    Fyens Stiftstidende, Denmark

  • “It's very simple: Swedish Kristina Ohlsson writes solid suspense. With a previous career as a counter-terrorism expert she knows what she's doing.”

    Politiken, Denmark

  • “The author draws from her professional experiences of security policy and anti-terror work, which contributes to the authentic and intense reading experience… Potent and cinematic suspense”

    Politiken, Denmark

  • “Ohlsson’s nail-biting fourth Fredrika Bergman novel.”

    Publishers Weekly, US

  • “Kristina Ohlsson steps things up a notch or three with Hostage, her fourth novel featuring Fredrika Bergman. /…/ The result is one of Kristina Ohlsson’s most intriguing works to date.”

    The Book Reporter, US

Author
Photo: Anna-Lena Lundqvist Kristina Ohlsson
Published
2012
Genre
  • Crime
Pages
400
Reading material

Swedish edition

Rights sold

Denmark, Modtryk

Estonia, Rahva Raamat

Finland, WSOY

France, J’ai lu

Germany, Blanvalet

Iceland, Forlagid

Netherlands, House of Books

Norway, Gyldendal

Sweden, Piratförlaget

UK, Simon & Schuster

US & Canada, Emily Bestler Books

Film rights sold

Sweden, Black Spark Film & TV

More From Kristina Ohlsson

The Ghost Detectives

The Bohus Coast Trilogy

August Strindberg

Martin Benner

The Monster Trilogy

Fredrika Bergman

The Glass Children Trilogy

Stand-alone