On a barren plot of land three hours north of the Norwegian capital lives Tormod Blystad, his wife Siv, and their two children. Having left his wild years behind him, Tormod is now a dependable and trustworthy family man. But, as in every family, some spaces have yet to be filled. Cue the arrival of Snusken, the new family dog. When Snusken dies, she leaves behind a vacuum that must be filled. And so one night, Tormod finds himself in front of the pug mill in the garage, mixing red clay and fertilizer. Unknowing to him, his efforts will trigger powerful forces of which he does not yet know the scope.

Matias Faldbakken’s We Are Five is a sharply observant, unconventional and entertaining novel, blending adventure, horror, mythology and science fiction with a hefty dose of raw realism. As unique as Faldbakken’s art, it displays an authorship with an inimitable point of view and ability to execute it.

The Friday Night Club is the title of the upcoming collaborative novel featuring the five bestselling authors Sofia Lundberg, Lucinda Riley, Alyson Richman, Tracy Rees, and M J Rose. Inspired by a recent blockbuster Guggeinheim exhibition, The Friday Night Club is set in Stockholm in the early 1900s, and is a fictionalized account of “The Five,” a group of women artists led by Hilma af Klint, who meet weekly for “artistic and spiritual sustenance.”

The project was kickstarted by US author Alyson Richman after she saw the af Klint exhibition. Af Klint was a mystic and artist, whose revolutionary abstract paintings predated the widely-regarded innovators of the movement like Kandinsky, Malevich and Mondrian. Yet af Klint’s work was largely ignored until she was rediscovered in the 1980s. Over 600,000 people saw the af Klint exhibition at the Guggenheim, which concluded this April and became the most-attended exhibition in the museum’s 82-year history.

The idea for the book came to Richman after she read one of the painting’s captions which said af Klint and her group would meet every Friday. “I was so struck by the beauty of this concept – five women yearning for knowledge, independence, and a deep sense of purpose in the early 1900s, that I instantly felt it would be an incredible collaborative novel,” Richman said. “One where the voices of Hilma and the other four women, who have since been banished into obscurity, could be brought to life.”

Sofia Lundberg adds: “I am proud to be part of a project that raises up some creative women who truly deserve a place in the spotlight of art history. I first learned of Hilma in 2013, when I visited the beautiful exhibition at Moderna Museet in Stockholm. I have followed her rising star ever since as her paintings travel the world. When I heard Alysons idea, I said yes right away. I felt like it was meant to be.”

The first day of Frankfurt Book Fair saw Netflix announce the production of a new series based on Fredrik Backman’s Anxious People. The series will be produced by FLX, the production company behind the adaption of Malin Persson Giolito’s Quicksand. The series will be directed by Felix Herngren, creator and director of Bonus Family. Screenwriter is Camilla Ahlgren, head writer of The Bridge and Quicksand. Executive producers will be Fredrik Backman, Neda Backman and Tor Jonasson.

Jens Lapidus’s Top Dog is set to become a television series on the Nordic streaming service C More and on Swedish TV4, featuring the internationally acclaimed leading actors Josefin Asplund (Sanctuary, Vikings) and Alexej Manvelov (Chernobyl, Before We Die). Directors are Molly Hartleb and Alexis Almström. Almström is also one of the script writers of the series.

Top Dog the TV series is based on bestselling Swedish author Jens Lapidus’s books The VIP room, Stockholm Delete and Top Dog. Lapidus has also written the novel Easy Money, which was turned into a film and achieved great international success following its premiere in 2010.

The new TV series will center on the clash between the ambitious business lawyer Emily Jansson and the ex-con Teddy Maksumic. A mysterious disappearance brings the odd couple together. Emily wants nothing more than to secure her future and career, while Teddy wishes to leave his old life of crime behind him. The pair are forced to reconsider their priorities and their view of each other when the past catches up with them, shattering their dreams and casting a shadow of doubt over all that they think they know.

Top Dog the series will premiere in 2020.

Director Alexis Almström’s creative journey began with music. Under the artist name “Alexis Weak” he released his first and last album Till minne av. The album became an immediate success, was nominated for a Grammis and praised by the music press.

Just as his music career reached its peak, Almström made the decision to pursue his true calling and use his talent for storytelling in filmmaking. In 2015, Almström graduated from the highly respected Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts with the feature film Pink Cloud Syndrome as his graduation work. Pink Cloud Syndrome was positively received by the industry and showcased Almström’s ability to work closely with actors to emotionally affect and capture an audience.

Since his graduation, Almström has been simultaneously developing his own pieces and working on projects with other screenwriters. He is the director of four episodes of the anticipated TV series Top Dog, which is based on Jens Lapidus’ bestselling trilogy The VIP Room, Stockholm Delete and Top Dogg. The series will premiere in 2020.

Tarik Saleh is the director of Thunder Road Films’ new action thriller, Violence of Action. The film sees Chris Pine in the lead role as James Harper who, after being involuntarily discharged from the Green Berets, joins a paramilitary organization in order to support his family in the only way he knows how. Harper travels to Berlin with his elite team on a black ops mission to investigate a mysterious threat. Barely into his first assignment, he finds himself alone and hunted across Europe, where he must fight to stay alive long enough to return home and uncover the true motives of those who betrayed him.

Chris Pine is joined by actors Ben Foster (Hell or High Water) and Gillian Jacobs (Community), and the script is written by J.P. Davis. The film has begun principal photography in the US, Germany and Romania.

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To see Salomonsson Agency’s catalogue for Fall 2019, click the “Download our latest catalogue” link further down on the right-hand side of this page.

Niklas Natt och Dag’s 1794 comes in at No. 1 in both hardcover and e-book also this week, additionally grabbing the No. 3 spot on the audio list. Natt och Dag’s first novel, The Wolf and the Watchman, is No. 3 in paperback, and No. 5 in e-book.

Stefan Ahnhem’s X Ways to Die nabs multiple spots on the lists as well, coming in at No. 3 in hardcover and in e-book. Lars Kepler meanwhile grabs the No. 1 spot on the paperback list with Lazarus.