The Lost Village

December 15, 2020
An aspiring TV producer and her skeletal crew of four head deep into the Swedish hinterland to make an underfunded documentary series about a village that vanished overnight 60 years ago. What could possibly go wrong? One day in 1959, Silvertj�rn was a mining village of 887 inhabitants. The next day, its population was down to two: Birgitta Lidman, bound to a post and stoned to death in the town square, and a baby girl left in a schoolroom. Alice Lindstedt has been haunted all her life by the mystery of the vanished citizens, whose numbers included her grandmother, retired nurse Margareta, and most of her relatives. In the years since, there have been remarkably few clues. The infant, adopted long ago by a couple who raised her as H�l�ne Grimelund, knew nothing about the fate of her birthplace, but now Alice, who's fought through poverty, temp jobs, and clinical depression, is resolved that "The Lost Village is my ticket out of all that." Things go badly from the beginning. Co-producer Tone Grimelund sprains her ankle while she's exploring one of the deserted houses and then disappears herself. Someone sets the crew's vans on fire, and Alice's college friend Emmy Abrahamsson, cameraman Robert, and financial backer Max eye each other warily even as they agree that the culprit must have been someone else. All the while, debut novelist Sten is counterpointing their adventures with a series of flashbacks to 1959, bringing Silvertj�rn closer and closer to the brink of annihilation. A memorably creepy newcomer to the crowded field of Nordic noir that's worth a miniseries itself.

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January 11, 2021
Fledgling documentary filmmaker Alice Lindstedt, the narrator of Sten’s strong debut, grew up listening to her grandmother’s reminiscences about Silvertjärn, a former mining village in a remote region of Sweden. In 1959, Alice’s grandmother had already left Silvertjärn when mysterious circumstances led to the disappearance of nearly everyone in the community, the grandmother’s parents and younger sister included; the only people left were a woman stoned to death in the town square and an abandoned newborn. Determined to make a name for herself, Alice assembles a group of friends to shoot a documentary on location around the same time of year the disappearance took place. Using old family correspondence to guide them, Alice and her crew begin to unravel the mystery. Their suspicions that they aren’t alone grow as they become victims of strange occurrences, equipment is destroyed, and loyalties are tested when their group members fall injured or go missing. Flashbacks heighten the tension. This gripping psychological thriller is sure to please fans of Shirley Jackson and cinema verité–styled horror. 100,000 copy announced first printing. Agent: Anna Frankl, Nordin Agency (Sweden).

February 1, 2021
In 1959, the entire population of the remote mining village of Silvertj�rn, Sweden disappeared. Sixty years later, Alice, the granddaughter of a villager who left just before the tragedy, brings a film crew back to the eerie town, hoping to use her personal connection to develop a documentary, and to bring closure to the unsolved tale. But as soon as they arrive, strange things start happening that put everyone's lives and sanity at risk, and instead of making a movie, the trip becomes a race to survive whatever evil still has its hold on Silvertj�rn. Sten's novel, already a hit across Europe, is a horror-suspense hybrid, told through a dual timeline with short chapters that keep the pacing brisk and make the novel very hard to put down. The killer setup is more than a gimmick; it is a puzzle that delivers maximum dread with clues revealed with remarkable restraint, and as the situation goes from bad to worse to terrifying, readers will revel in the chills. A great choice for fans of Clay McLeod Chapman's The Remaking (2019), Thomas Olde Heuvelt's Hex (2016), and Jennifer McMahon.

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February 19, 2021

Alice Lindstedt is a documentary filmmaker chasing the story of Silvertj�rn, a remote Swedish village whose residents vanished without a trace in 1959. Alice has assembled a small crew that will spend five days filming there, in the hopes of getting material that will inspire investors to fund the project. As soon as they arrive, however, a series of unexplained occurrences make it clear that Alice and company aren't alone in Silvertj�rn. Someone (or something) is keeping tabs on them. Whatever it is, it's not happy they're in town. Sten's first book available in English never lets up on the tension, weaving scenes from Silvertj�rn's past through Alice's story in the present. It's a satisfyingly creepy two-for-one mystery--"Who's after the filmmakers?" "What really happened in Silvertj�rn?"--that opens up into horror in the breakneck final act. VERDICT While some of the interpersonal dramas fall a little flat, the unraveling of Silvertj�rn's secrets (and the fate of the town's lost villagers) make for a mostly gripping ride that will satisfy mystery and horror fans alike.--Cody Daigle-Orians, Hartford, CT

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