Red Wolf

Starred review from December 20, 2010
Marklund's superb fifth novel featuring Stockholm journalist Annika Bengtzon (after Prime Time) finds Annika, who's no longer officially on the crime beat at the Evening Post, working as an independent reporter, mostly pursuing terrorism stories, particularly relating to Communist protests in the 1960s and '70s. While she's investigating in the northern town of Luleå, a fellow journalist and source dies in a hit-and-run accident, which turns out to be the first in a series of murders. Annika traces these murders to a deadly act of sabotage on a Swedish military base in 1969, and begins to suspect that the man behind the present-day slayings and the army attack—known only by his code name of "Ragnwald"—has returned to kill again. Meanwhile, Annika's marriage falters as she and her husband juggle two careers and two children. Marklund (The Postcard Killers with James Patterson) imbues Annika with a fierce intensity without sacrificing her vulnerability.

November 15, 2010

Celebrated Stockholm crime reporter Annika Bengtzon, still recovering from being held hostage by a mad killer in The Bomber (2001), ties the murder of a reporter in a northern Swedish town to a secret radical group from the late '60s. This thriller was first published in Sweden in 2003.

Following her near-death experience, Annika hears singing voices in her head when she's under stress. But in defiance of her bosses, who think she sees terrorist plots in everything, she presses forward in her investigation of the killing. The slain journalist was writing about the radicals' blowing up of a fighter plane on a nearby air base 30 years ago. Reconvened, they are killing others who might expose them, including a young boy the guilt-ridden Annika talked into being a witness. Her most shocking finding is that the group, which goes by names like Red Wolf and Yellow Dragon, includes the female minister of culture. Boasting a likable, strong-willed heroine, this novel is skillfully plotted and scores points in exposing the shadowy connections between politics, media and commerce. But Marklund could have made more of the affair between Annika's husband Thomas and the comely co-member of a group investigating threats against politicians; as handled, both it and the custody battle of her friend Anne are gratuitous subplots.

Things get too talky down the home stretch. Still, this is a solid thriller from a Swedish novelist looking for a breakout in the United States.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Starred review from December 1, 2010

As journalist Annika Bengtzon delves into a decades-old terrorist attack, her investigation is thwarted when her prime contact dies in a hit-and-run accident. Not believing in coincidences, Annika finds that the man she was to meet was killed in what is the first of a string of murders believed to be committed by the former leader of an old revolutionary gang that's back in Sweden after bombing a plane at a military base in 1969. Having given up her job as crime editor of the Evening Star in Stockholm after a life-threatening ordeal (in The Bomber), Annika works for the paper as an independent investigative reporter, butting heads with the editor in chief as she pursues her story at all costs and takes desperate measures when she discovers her husband's affair. VERDICT In the fifth book of her internationally best-selling series (which is not written chronologically), Marklund blends the sociology and politics of contemporary Sweden with a taut mystery, capturing the Scandinavian chill as she builds suspense to an eminently satisfying conclusion. This excellent addition to the Nordic crime scene will also appeal to readers who enjoyed her outing this summer with James Patterson in The Postcard Killers.--Michele Leber, Arlington, VA

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2011
Marklund, a best-selling author in Sweden and coauthor with James Patterson of The Postcard Killers (2010), makes her American solo debut with a series mystery featuring investigative journalist Annika Bengtzon. As in any good Scandinavian mystery, the weather and setting play important roles. Here the bone-chilling cold and damp of deep winter combine with scenes alternating between the busy streets of Stockholm and the desolate landscape of the small, far-north hometown of a journalist whose death kicks things off. As Annika investigates, she becomes convinced the murder is linked to a 1960s terrorist attack on a nearby airbase, which prompts her to dig into the Socialist and Communist past to undercover the legendary terrorist Red Wolf. This complex mystery may be a challenge for some readers to get into, as it falls in the middle of the Bengtzon series, and some of the key issues are unique to Swedish government and society. But for those who persevere, Marklund writes a taut thriller that makes a natural read-alike to Stieg Larssons Millennium trilogy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)