Reviews

• “Arne Dahl’s new series is edgier and more captivating than ever. /…/ In Hunted, Dahl has us absorbed by the story straight away, and once he’s gotten a grip on us he never lets go. He builds his plot utterly beautifully and gives us new puzzle pieces all the time – all the while without telling us where they fit. /…/ [The novel’s] strength lies in the depiction of Sam and Molly in the white landscape where nothing is as it seems. /…/ The end implies that more is to come, and I look forward to the continued story in the same way I do a new season of The Bridge.”

• “As unforeseeable as it is impressive. /…/ Arne Dahl is a master of prose and plot. From the first page till the last, he twists and turns his characters and his story and the more he twists the better the reading experience gets. And it is really, really good.”

• “With Hunted Arne Dahl has created an unusually interesting plot that comes close to that of the spy thriller, brimming with speed, credibility, and great suspense.”

• “Fiercely masterful suspense.”

• “Arne Dahl is a real master in building a story and surprising the reader with new twists, making it impossible to anticipate what will happen on the next page.”

• “Hunted offers both literary finesse and ice-cold suspense. /…/ [Hunted] is one of the sharpest crime novels you can read right now. A real page-turner.”

• “[In Hunted] the surprising moments are many.”

• “[In Hunted] both the story and the characters are well-grounded, and linguistically Dahl continues to be an indulgence in the otherwise quite meager flora of the crime fiction genre. To be able to pause in the middle of the rising suspense and just take a minute and rest in the sentences […] makes me a happy crime fiction reader.”

• “Plan your reading; start in good time and set aside time for it. Otherwise the risk of sleeplessness is immense.”

• “Darkness and cold are intertwined with the captivating plot of Arne Dahl’s Hunted. /…/ It’s elegantly constructed, and furthermore told with a prose that’s better than most in the genre. Arne Dahl delivers neat dialogues, accurate scene depictions, and thoughtful reflections, which he spices up with a dry, low-key humor that lightens up the dark.”

• “The depiction of the overwhelming hinterlands is this novel’s great strength. Arne Dahl manages to capture my interest and make me a little frightened. When the landscape scares me it’s truly great. /…/ Arne Dahl writes like no other and I look forward to the sequel that just has to follow.”

• “The novel is endlessly and literally incredibly gripping, you can feel the whining wind in the desolate winter landscape straight through your bones and you are given very few breaks. /…/ Hunted is a police procedural with some police routines to calm your nerves, but above all it’s a breathtaking thriller.”

• “A thriller with extra everything. The snow-covered hinterlands of Northern Sweden are magnificent, icy cold and menacing at the same time. The plot is among the most sophisticated and diabolical I have read. Former Police Officers Sam Berger and Molly Blom’s hunt for a serial killer keeps a pace that makes the reader almost lose their breath.”

• “Arne Dahl plays in a division of his own in the crime fiction business.”

• “As usual, Arne Dahl delivers a prose with a higher level of ambition than we generally see in this genre, which normally prefers to use a sobering reporting style. Dahl paints in a verbal, expressionistic way, giving the Swedish hinterlands’ wide, snow-white surfaces a peculiar life of their own. One can once again state that there are crime novels, and then there is Arne Dahl.”

• “It’s extremely well-written, as always. /…/ One just wants to savor Arne Dahl’s captivating play with the prose and impressive scenes that let Molly Blom, Sam Berger and the rest of the elegantly described set of characters grow and charm both each other and the reader.”

• “Hunted is fiercely thrilling, no doubt about it. It’s not a novel you can put down. /…/ Berger & Blom’s breathless hunt for their almost invisible opponent through an ice-cold Sweden has an enormous movie potential.”

• “[Hunted] cements Dahl’s reputation as one of the leading authors in the subgenre of Scandinavian crime fiction that combines classic Scandinavian everyday crime with a more international enthusiasm for gruesome (serial) murders. Dahl is skilled at keeping the suspense up and steering the individual plotlines; the story unfolds in a clear and consistent way.”

• “Extremely suspenseful, surprising and chillingly eerie. /…/ The author is most definitely one of the best on the market right now. /…/ This is how a crime novel should be written.”

• “On top of snow and ice the story travels at slalom speed and with all senses sharpened. /…/ The author is a brilliant writer.”

• “Once again Arne Dahl cements his reputation as one of Sweden’s best crime authors of all time.”

• “Hunted has its strength in the classic layered build-up, where there’s always an extra layer hidden behind what you supposedly see, and red herrings and planted clues force the reader to keep their wits about them all the way. The investigation part of the plot is intensely and credibly portrayed, and the ever-changing narrative works as intended.”

• “When I reviewed Watching You by Arne Dahl last year […] the headline became ‘An elegant and hard-hitting crime novel.’ I could easily use the same headline for Hunted.”

• “Arne Dahl is an efficient storyteller, he can twist and turn his plot, position the elements of the story over and under, in front of and after one another. The many depictions of trials, wear and tear are realistic. The violence flows freely, graphically and often convincingly. /…/ The novel is in other words well-written, well-constructed and pretty much everything else you can say about a book that starts with ‘well-.’”

• “[A] truly brilliantly constructed plot that’s likely to have even the experienced crime fiction enthusiast falling off their chair. The goosebumps-inducing aha-moments are lined up one after another.”

• “Hunted raises the already high bar even higher. /…/ Jo Nesbø has gotten himself a strong competitor for the title of the Nordic countries’ number one crime author.”

• “The Berger & Blom series continues with another tightly plotted work.”

• “Dahl has certainly made a solid and excellent thriller. /…/ [Full of] suspenseful scenes, but Arne Dahl doesn’t need them because his books flow thanks to detailed, excellently written dialogues and events that make them almost poetic. /…/ Hunted is a great reading experience. /…/ When the story nears its climax, the reader will find themselves perched on the edge of their seat. /…/ Hunted is a real Arne Dahl thriller, and therefore mandatory for any crime lover!”

• “On a whole different level, exciting from the first to the last second. /…/ Arne Dahl immediately takes a firm grip on the reader and does not let go, even after this suspenseful and captivating thriller has ended. Once again Arne Dahl proves that he’s one of Scandinavia’s best crime authors. Unexpected twists and turns, an excellent and well-maintained style, suspense from first to final page and fascinating character portrayals makes Hunted a highly pleasurable read. Hunted is an exceptional high-quality thriller and receives the maximum score.”

• “Dahl’s intelligent mastery of the genre delivers a flawless atmospheric thriller – chilling in every sense.”

• “Delightfully complex and never swerving from its course as a first-rate thriller.”