Top 10 Scandinavian thrillers

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Scandinavian thrillers are breaking records in terms of the intensity of passions and the accumulation of all kinds of human vices. These books are read in one breath, and skillfully twisted plots keep you in suspense to the last page.

1. "Victoria Bergman's Weakness" by Eric Axl Sund

The Weakness of Victoria Bergman is a trilogy written by the Swedes Yerker Eriksson and Håkan Axlander Sundqvist under the pseudonym Erik Axl Sund. All three books in the series are equally creepy and confusing.

The plot is deceptively simple: Stockholm Police Commissioner Jeanette Chilberg is investigating a series of sophisticated murders. At the same time, she is trying to bring order to her personal life with the help of the psychotherapist Sofia Zetterlund. The latter also consults the investigation, since she knows firsthand about violence, including in the family. But who is Sophia really? This is one of the secrets of the trilogy.

The mania of the villains goes off scale, and by the end of the third part, the amazement of the readers and the metamorphosis of the heroes reach their climax. Only Scandinavians can come up with this.

2. "Snowman", Yu Nesbo

Do you think snowmen and winter fun are romantic and cute? Not in Scandinavia. Even the first snow kills here. Of course, not without the help of a clever criminal with a bunch of mental deviations. But the civilians were lucky: the die-hard Chief Inspector Harry Hole is on guard. A tall, blue-eyed blond man, in the intervals between solving deadly charades and pulling out skeletons from other people's wardrobes, manages to break women's hearts.

The Snowman is one of the creepiest books by Yu Nesbo in the Inspector Harry Hall series. And how does the author know so much about human vices, cruelty and sadism?

3. "I travel alone", Samuel Bjork

In the battle with evil, innocent souls suffered: the bodies of six-year-old girls were found in the vicinity of the Norwegian capital. Each one looks like a pretty little doll. The idyll is spoiled by only one detail - a ribbon with the inscription "I travel alone" on the neck. The population is terrified, the authorities are furious.

But there is no need to be afraid for the life of future schoolgirls, because real geniuses work in the metropolitan police. One of them is the legendary Mia Kruger. Yesterday she dreamed of committing suicide, but today she is eager to find a serial maniac who acts with particular cruelty. No matter how evil is disguised and hid, it cannot escape retribution.

4. "The Hypnotist" by Lars Kepler

Can hypnosis ruin life? Yes, as long as it is an experimental group session at a mental hospital. The consequences of the experiment will not appear immediately, but only after a few years, when the main character relaxes and forgets everything.

A married couple, writing under the pseudonym Lars Kepler, mercilessly shows the most unsightly sides of an outwardly prosperous family life. Domestic violence, indifference of adults, despair of children, teenage cruelty are all in abundance. Despite this, the book reminds of simple human values.

5. "Shadow", Karin Alvtegen

Is a person able to sell his own child for the sake of literary success? Can parents tell lies for years? How to live on, knowing that you are taking someone else's place?

Karin Alvtegen, the great-niece of Astrid Lindgren, does not write about the good-natured fat men living on the roof. The heroes of the book are our contemporaries, successful, famous and rich. But no one is better off not knowing what is behind their success and what the price of wealth is. There are no maniacs in the book, but that makes it worse, because evil is ourselves, our actions and fears.

Our actions are our children. They continue to live independently of us and our will.

6. “The Girl Who Stopped Talking,” Trude Teige

Child abuse is terrible. And it is doubly more terrible when it is accompanied by the tacit consent of adults. It is even more disgusting when it is performed by the one who is called to lead the flock to the light.

Norwegian writer Trude Teige raises issues of tolerance and tolerance. When does delicacy and a desire not to get into someone else's life turn into indifference and callousness? What abominations are going on behind the facades of well-kept houses? The writer's attempt to understand the depths of other people's souls leads her readers into a labyrinth of suppressed desires and hopes.

7. "Shelter of St. Patricia", Johan Theorin

The book is set behind the high walls of St. Patricia's psychiatric hospital. The focus is not on the mentally ill, but on the piercing loneliness of "healthy" adults who are forever children deep within themselves. Closer to the middle, it becomes unclear which of the heroes is actually sick, and who is simply hiding in the hospital from the outside world. What is normality? It is quite possible that we have lost our minds, and those who are hiding in such establishments are healthy.

“Shelter of Saint Patricia” is an atmospheric piece with a sad aftertaste. Readers will once again be convinced that all problems come from childhood.

8. "Bog", Arnald Indridason

Arnald Indridason is a writer from Iceland. The action of his book takes place in the vicinity of Reykjavik. However, the quality and quantity of the abomination that takes place in the novel allowed us to include it in this collection.

A middle-aged but perspicacious detective Erlend Sveinsson is investigating a strange murder, the threads of which stretch back into the past. Events are firmly woven into a ball, one crime not only broke the lives of several people, but also determined the future of completely innocent souls. Along the way, Sveinsson reflects on life and tries to improve relations with his drug-addicted daughter.

When you start, you think it's all nonsense, it doesn't concern you. You think you are strong, you are strong, you can endure, someone else's pain will pass you by. But no. There is no "from afar", there is no armor, you are naked as a falcon, and strength in you - shish! Disgust, disgust haunts you from morning to night, until you believe: this scum, this abomination is life, and there is no other life.

9. "Woman in a Cage", Jussi Adler-Olsen

Karl Mörk, an experienced investigator and head of the newly minted Q Division, knows how strong a person's thirst for life is. He investigates unsolved crimes of special public interest. Among them is the case of the disappearance of a prominent politician Mereta Lynggor. A beauty with an impeccable reputation disappeared during a ferry trip five years ago. Who kidnapped her and why, or did the young woman commit suicide? Meticulous Inspector Mork will surely find out the solution to the mystery associated with the past.

10. "Glass House", Christina Ohlsson

Some crimes have no statute of limitations. Today's ghastly find may reveal old secrets.

The police investigation into the disappearance of student Rebecca Trolle has led experienced detectives to unexpected results. The threads lead to the nursing home, where the infamous writer Thea Aldrin took refuge from the world. For thirty years, the woman remained silent, protecting her son from the tormentor-father. But she still had to speak, and the world heard terrible confessions. What happened in the glass house has influenced the lives of many people in the past and present.