The first installment, The Escape from Earth, in Bobbie Peers’ new series Techno Zombie has been shortlisted for the Ark Children’s Book Award 2025. This prestigious annual prize celebrates the best children’s book of the year, with the winner being chosen by more than 10,000 children in grades 5 to 7. This marks Peers’ second nomination, following his win in 2015. The winner will be announced at an award ceremony in December.

Jo Nesbø’s new standalone novel Wolf Hour, published last week in the UK, has gone straight to No. 3 on the UK charts.

The nominations are out for this year’s Kristallen Awards. Daniel Espinosa’s The Helicopter Heist is nominated for Best Drama Series, together with The Breakthrough which is written by Oskar Söderlund, and The Congregation Season 2 – The Bride of Christ, written by Fredrik Agetoft. Tove Eriksen Hillblom’s The Meaning of Life Season 2 is nominated for Best Comedy.

Mahmut Suvakci received a nomination for Best Male Actor and Erik Svedberg-Zelman is nominated for Best Supporting Actor, both for their performances in The Helicopter Heist.

The Kristallen Awards ceremony is held on September 4 at Cirkus in Stockholm, and will be aired live on SVT Play.

The Petrona Award’s jury has just presented its longlist for the 2025 Petrona Award for ‘Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year.’

Among the 12 nominees are Jo Nesbø with Blood Ties, Pascal Engman’s The Widows, and Jørn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger with Victim.

The shortlist will be announced on 18 September 2025.

Late summer in Stockholm. Detective Sergeant Sakka Pienni has a couple of days left of her holiday when placards are filled with the news of a seventeen-year-old girl’s disappearance. When a call comes in about a female body found in a lake, Sakka is called in to the station. It is soon clear that the victim is not the missing girl – but who is she and why does no one seem to miss her?

The investigation takes an unexpected turn when the case shows disturbing similarities with an eighteen-year-old murder. Soon, Sakka and her team enter a world colder and darker than they ever could have imagined. In the midst of all of this, Sakka is troubled by memories from her past. What really happened the day her sister died?

A dark and psychological page turner, The Underground is the second installment in the series featuring Detective Sergeant Sakka Pienni.