MemoRandom

Starred review from October 12, 2015
In this turbocharged thriller from the author of the Game trilogy (Bubble, etc.), half of Stockholm is desperate to find out exactly what David Sarac knows—including David Sarac himself. That’s because the stroke that Sarac, an Intelligence Unit officer, suffers after a suspicious car crash leaves him, at least temporarily, barely able to remember much about his own identity, let alone his 24-kt. confidential informant, Janus. Or the myriad enemies who would like nothing better than to see both of them dead. Meanwhile, Atif, an Iraqi military policeman, returns to Sweden and his old criminal gang to find out who murdered his younger brother; Natalie, a health care worker, turns to fraud to cobble together a living; and newly appointed Minister of Justice Jesper Stenberg prepares to do just about anything to preserve his power. With the breakneck pace of the trilogy but a more mature narrative command, de la Motte deftly spins out these divergent strands, until the intricate outlines of a deadly spider’s web finally becomes visible—and inescapable. Agent: Federico Ambrosini, Salomonsson Agency (Sweden).