January 22, 2024
Swedish crime writer Giolito follows up Quicksand with an ambitious tale of adolescent violence and the forces that enable it. Things kick off with the murder of 14-year-old Billy Ali, an immigrant’s son from Våringe, a poor neighborhood of Stockholm. There’s no mystery about his killer: Billy’s best friend, Douglas “Dogge” Arnfeldt (who lives in the wealthy suburb of Rönnviken), pulled the trigger. But is there more to the story? That’s the question facing well-meaning juvenile investigator Farid Ayad, who’s been assigned to the case. Giolito interweaves Farid’s investigation with a detailed history of the boys’ unlikely friendship: Billy was a charming kid who attracted trouble, and after he met Dogge on a public playground when both were six years old, the two became inseparable, eventually cutting school, doing drugs, and working together for a “wannabe gangster” named Medhi Ahmad. It’s gang politics that lead to the boys’ final confrontation, and Giolito dedicates significant space to the social problems—including restrictive immigration policies, corrupt law enforcement, and economic inequality—that surround gangs in contemporary Sweden. The sociological perspective joins with a strong emotional current to effectively convey the magnitude of the novel’s central tragedy. This will strike a chord with genre fans who are just as interested in the “why” as the “who.” Agent: Astri von Arbin Alhander, Alhander Agency.
February 15, 2024
As small children, Billy and Dogge bridged the vast gap between the impoverished Varinge and wealthy Ronnviken neighborhoods, forming a friendship akin to brotherhood. But, when 14-year-old Billy is found murdered in the park where they often meet, Dogge is the prime suspect. DI Farid Ayad has known Billy and Dogge since they were kids, following their path from shoplifting to involvement with local drug trafficker Mehdi Ahmad's gang. Billy's murder has to be related to Mehdi, but Dogge refuses to give Farid answers. With the gang's help, Dogge escapes from protective custody, but then faces the threat of the gang's suspicions. Farid turns to Billy's family and draws out the missing pieces of Billy and Dogge's story. It's a tale steeped in tragedy, from gangland's predatory grip on Sweden's immigrant communities to deceptive appearances and a ripple effect of gut-wrenching losses. This post-modern coming-of-age story from the author of Quicksand (2018) and Beyond All Reasonable Doubt (2019) is propelled by alienation and hard truths, standing as a thought-provoking why-dunit evoking Richard Price's works and Jens Lapidus' Stockholm Noir trilogy.
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