The Boy in the Shadows

Starred review from May 16, 2016
A kidnapping propels this stunning crime thriller from Vallgren (The Merman). One day in Stockholm in June 1970, a harried father allows a strange woman to walk his seven-year-old son, Kristoffer Klingberg, up the stairs to reach a train platform, while he rides with his two-year-old son, Joel, in the elevator. When the father reaches the platform, there’s no sign of Kristoffer or the woman. In 2012, Joel, who has become a wealthy businessman, disappears. The police believe Joel left home voluntarily, but his wife, Angelina, has her doubts. Angelina approaches Danny Katz, a former heroin addict who’s now a successful translator, because she believes he’s the right person to find Joel; the two once served together as interpreters in the army. Danny, who needs the money, agrees to search for Joel. As Danny unearths twisted family secrets, he reconnects with tormented public prosecutor Eva Westin, whom he may have assaulted when he was a teen. Rich psychological insights complement the well-executed plot.

Starred review from June 1, 2016
In 1970, a seven-year-old boy from a wealthy Swedish family is kidnapped and never found. Then, 42 years later, Joel Klingberg, the younger brother of the kidnapped boy, goes missing, and his wife, Angela, asks translator Danny Katz for help. Katz has computer skills and a facility for languages, qualities that helped get him through years as a junkie, with the help of Rickard Julin, who was like an older brother to him. Katz turns to Julin for information as he recalls his own past with his student colleague Klingberg, who once called Katz the only person I ever trusted. But then Angela is murdered, in a scene reminiscent of an assault Katz was blamed for decades earlier, with physical evidence pointing to Katz as the killer. Another child is kidnapped, as the narrative follows the questions of who is scapegoating Katz and why. Meanwhile vengeance is exacted for betrayal, as the body count rises. This is the crime-novel debut for award-winning author Vallgren, known for his fantastic fiction, and it successfully raises suspense and shines particularly with its cast of flawed characters. Add Vallgren to the list of the top purveyors of Nordic noir.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)