Wednesday, August 12, 2015

I’m Travelling Alone - yet another astonishing Scandinavian crime writer

I’m Travelling Alone
Samuel Bjørk
Published 14 August 2015; $38.00; Doubleday

A complex and sophisticated Norwegian crime thriller — already a bestseller in Scandinavia

When a six year old girl is found dead, hanging from a tree, the only clue the Oslo Police have to work with is an airline tag around her neck. It reads ‘I'm travelling alone'. Holger Munch, veteran police investigator, is immediately charged with re-assembling his homicide unit. But to complete the team, he must convince his erstwhile partner, Mia Kruger – a brilliant but troubled investigator – to return from the solitary island where she has retreated with plans to take her own life. Reviewing the evidence, Mia identifies something no one else has noticed – a thin line carved into the dead girl's fingernail: the number 1. Instinctively, she knows that this is only the beginning. To save other children from the same fate, she must find a way to cast aside her own demons and confront the most terrifying, cold-hearted serial killer of her career…

 About the author:

Samuel Bjørk is the pen name of Norwegian novelist, playwright and singer/songwriter Frode Sander Øien. Øien wrote his first stage play at the age of twenty-one and has since then written two highly acclaimed novels, Pepsi Love (2001) and Speed for Breakfast (2009). 
The self-taught, media-shy artist has also released six albums, written five plays, showed contemporary art pieces in various galleries and translated Shakespeare. Øien’s first thriller, I’m Travelling Alone, (2013) is an international success story that has gained critical acclaim and captivated readers all over the world, including hitting #1 on German newspaper Der Spiegel‘s bestseller list. 
Øien has been compared to the likes of both Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbø, and has proved himself to be a force to be reckoned with in the crime genre. He currently lives and works in Trondheim, Norway.


Photo by Harald Øren

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