Sun Storm [Paperback]

Asa Larsson (Author), Marlaine Delargy (Translator)

Book Description

Release date: December 26, 2006

On the floor of a church in northern Sweden, the body of a man lies mutilated and defiled–and in the night sky, the aurora borealis dances as the snow begins to fall....So begins Åsa Larsson’s spellbinding thriller, winner of Sweden’s Best First Crime Novel Award and an international literary sensation.

Rebecka Martinsson is heading home to Kiruna, the town she’d left in disgrace years before. A Stockholm attorney, Rebecka has a good reason to return: her friend Sanna, whose brother has been horrifically murdered in the revivalist church his charisma helped create. Beautiful and fragile, Sanna needs someone like Rebecka to remove the shadow of guilt that is engulfing her, to forestall an ambitious prosecutor and a dogged policewoman. But to help her friend, and to find the real killer of a man she once adored and is now not sure she ever knew, Rebecka must relive the darkness she left behind in Kiruna, delve into a sordid conspiracy of deceit, and confront a killer whose motives are dark, wrenching, and impossible to guess....


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of Larsson's solid procedural debut, neurotic, troubled Sanna Strandgård discovers the brutally butchered body of her brother, Viktor, on the floor of the church he founded in Kiruna, a provincial town in the north of Sweden. Sanna turns to her childhood friend, Rebecka Martinsson, a tax attorney in Stockholm, for emotional support and legal assistance when Sanna is charged with her brother's murder. While the local police investigate, led by refreshingly down-to-earth Insp. Anna-Maria Mella, Martinsson starts digging into the case as well as her own past connection with the victim and his church. Potential motives for Strandgård's murder range from the church's business dealings to sexual intrigue, but the focus is on Martinsson's anger and frustration at being sucked back into her own past. The story builds to a thrillerlike ending, though Larsson introduces far more characters than she needs or can handle. The book won Sweden's Best First Crime Novel award. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The Swedish invasion continues with this sure-handed thriller from a talented first novelist. Rebecca Martinsson, an overworked junior member in a Stockholm law firm, comes from remote Kiruna in Sweden's far north, where she was involved with a fundamentalist church called The Strength of All Our Strength. Now a charismatic church leader has been brutally murdered. After receiving a call from the victim's sister, Sanna, Rebecca immediately returns to Kiruna and the craziness she thought she had escaped. It's a lot crazier now, she soon discovers, as Sanna is arrested for the murder, and Rebecca finds herself saddled with trying to prove her innocence and take care of her two young girls. Larsson builds suspense gradually but inexorably, and she is equally good at creating mood, using the frozen landscape and isolated location to evoke the icy inner lives of the church members and the building need for release. More like Ruth Rendell's psychological thrillers than the procedurals of Larsson's fellow Swedes (Mankell and Thursten, for example), this impressive debut nevertheless heralds yet another striking voice from Scandinavia. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 310 pages
• Publisher: Delta; Reprint edition (December 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780385340786
• ISBN-13: 978-0385340786
• ASIN: 0385340788
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.7 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #242,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars a debut novel not to be missed/overlooked May 4, 2006

By tregatt

Format:Hardcover

Unlike some of my other mystery loving friends, I haven't exactly jumped on the aren't-all-mysteries-from-the-Scandanavian-countries-wonderful bandwagon; my enjoyment of Asa Larsson's "Sun Storm," however has made me reconsider my position: perhaps I should check out other mystery novels from this region before making any snap decisions.

Tax attorney, Rebecka Martinsson, thought that she put her embarrassing and painful past behind her when she left the small and provincial town of Kiruna for the big city. But when an old friend, Sanna Strandgard, 'phones her begging her emotional support and legal advice, Rebecka finds herself dropping everything and returning to Kiruna once more. Sanna's younger brother, the charismatic Viktor, has been found ritualistically butchered in the very church that he helped found; and the chief prosecutor seems to have made up his mind that Sanna's committed the crime. Soon, Rebecka finds herself playing detective as well as facing down old ghosts. Trying to get Sanna to help her understand what happened is proving equally frustrating as Sanna's moods swing from apathy to paralyzing fear with alarming regularity. So, who wanted Viktor dead and why was he killed in such a brutal fashion? And what is Sanna hiding? Much to her chagrin, Rebecka finds herself getting more involved in Sanna's affairs than she would like to be...

I was absolutely riveted by "Sun Storm" -- once I started it I simply couldn't put it down. True, the storyline is a much used one and fans of Val McDermid will find few surprises here; what I enjoyed though was the author's engaging and sympathetic portrayal of the novel's chief protagonist, Rebecka, and the two diligent and intelligent police officers assigned to the case (Inspectors Anna-Maria Mella & Sven-Erik Stalnacke), as well as the wonderful manner in which the author layered the tension and kept the suspense going at a fairly high level. Asa Larsson's crisp prose style (or indeed the translator's, Marlaine Delgargy, efforts) also went a long way towards making "Sun Storm" a truly absorbing and engaging read. All in all, this is an author and series to be on the lookout for!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read! February 13, 2007

By Susan

Format:Paperback

This is my second go with a translation of a mystery--no disappointment here! Having discovered so many spoilers in many reviews (professional as well as us customers), let me just say this: if you're into the legal mystery genre, along with great descriptive writing, terrific personalities, and most importantly a significant plot line, pick up this book and you won't be disappointed.

I am so looking forward to her second novel--will be heading out to buy me a copy when the snow stops (and we're not in Kiruna)...

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An impressive debut May 5, 2006

By Larry Gandle VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Viktor Strandgard, a preacher of a church in northern Sweden called The Source of All Strength, is found in the chapel viciously slaughtered. His sister Sanna discovers the body and is emotionally at a breaking point. She contacts her friend Rebecka Martinson, a tax attorney in Stockholm, for her help. When Sanna is arrested for the murder, Rebecka seeks a solution to the crime in order to free her friend. Naturally, the killer does not want to be discovered and the closer Rebecka gets to the solution, the more danger she places herself in.

SUN STORM is a solid amateur detective novel that is very strong on characterization. Rebecka must cope with many personal issues including dealing with Sanna's daughter as well as her own job which is threatened by her involvement in this case. Rebecka is a sympathetic character and a strong heroine. The plot is carefully laid out and the author plays fair with the reader who wants to solve the crime along with Rebecka. The setting is well described as the Aurora Borealis (the sun storm) flickers above the frigid landscape of the small town. The plot could have moved a bit quicker for my taste, but that is a minor criticism and shouldn't bother most readers. SUN STORM won Sweden's best first crime novel award when it was first published in Sweden in 2003.