The Crow Girl - Couverture rigide

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0345813103 ISBN 13 : 9780345813107

A propos du livre

Extrait

The house was over a hundred years old, and the solid stone walls were at least a meter thick, which meant that she probably didn’t need to insulate them, but she wanted to be absolutely sure.

To the left of the living room was a small corner room that she had been using as a combination workroom and guest bedroom.

Leading off of it were a small toilet and a fair--sized closet.

The room was perfect, with its single window and nothing but the unused attic above.

No more nonchalance, no more taking anything for granted.

Nothing would be left to chance. Fate was a dangerously unreliable accomplice. Sometimes your friend, but just as often an unpredictable enemy.

The dining table and chairs ended up shoved against one wall, which opened up a large space in the middle of the living room.

Then it was just a matter of waiting.

The first sheets of polystyrene arrived at ten o’clock, as arranged, carried in by four men. Three of them were in their fifties, but the fourth couldn’t have been more than twenty. His head was shaved and he wore a black T--shirt with two crossed Swedish flags on the chest, under the words “My Fatherland.” He had tattoos of spiderwebs on his elbows, and some sort of Stone Age design on his wrists.

When she was alone again she settled onto the sofa to plan her work. She decided to start with the floor, since that was the only thing that was likely to be a problem. The old couple downstairs might  have been almost deaf, and she herself had never heard a single sound from them over the years, but it still felt like an important detail.

She went into the bedroom.

The little boy was still sound asleep.

It had been so odd when she met him on the local train. He had simply taken her hand, stood up, and obediently gone with her, without her having to say a single word.

She had acquired the pupil she had been seeking, the child she had never been able to have.

She put her hand to his forehead; his temperature had gone down. Then she felt his pulse.

Everything was as it should be.

She had used the right dose of morphine.

The workroom had a thick, white, wall--to--wall carpet that she had always thought ugly and unhygienic, even if it was nice to walk on. But right now it was ideal for her purpose.

Using a sharp knife, she cut up the polystyrene and stuck the pieces together with a thick layer of flooring adhesive.

The strong smell soon made her feel dizzy, and she had to open the window onto the street. It was triple--glazed, and the outer pane had an extra layer of soundproofing.

Fate as a friend.

Work on the floor took all day. Every so often she would go and check on the boy.

When the whole floor was done she covered all the cracks with silver duct tape.

She spent the following three days dealing with the walls. By Friday there was just the ceiling left, and that took a bit longer because she had to glue the polystyrene first, and then wedge the blocks up against the ceiling with planks.

While the glue was drying she nailed up some old blankets in place of the doors she had removed earlier. She glued four layers of polystyrene onto the door to the living room.

She covered the only window with an old sheet. Just to be sure, she used a double layer of insulation to block the window alcove. When the room was ready, she covered the floor and walls with a waterproof tarpaulin.

There was something meditative about the work, and when at last she looked at what she had accomplished she felt a sense of pride.

The room was further refined during the following week. She bought four small rubber wheels, a hasp, ten meters of electric cable, several meters of wooden skirting, a basic light fitting, and a box of light bulbs. She also had a set of dumbbells, some weights, and an exercise bike -delivered.

She took all the books out of one of the bookcases in the living room, tipped it onto its side, and screwed the wheels under each corner. She attached a length of skirting board to the front to conceal the fact that it could now be moved, then placed the bookcase in front of the door to the hidden room.

She screwed the bookcase to the door and tested it.

The door glided soundlessly open on its little rubber wheels. It all worked perfectly. She attached the hasp and shut the door, concealing the simple locking mechanism with a carefully positioned lamp.

Finally she put all the books back and fetched a thin mattress from one of the two beds in the bedroom.

That evening she carried the sleeping boy into his new home.

Revue de presse

“[F]ull of chills and spills, [Crow Girl] incorporates numerous hot-button themes, including non-European immigration, extreme-right-wing politics, and slavery, elements of an already dark tale that encompasses incest, genocide, and murder. . . . The story is well-told. . . . [Sund’s] plot snakes its way into some strange territory indeed. . . . A smart, rewarding psychological thriller, with an emphasis on both of those genre terms.” —Kirkus Reviews

“[D]eterminedly and dementedly dark. . . . [A] compulsive page-turner. . . . [R]idiculously entertaining.” —Sunday Express

“A breakneck journey through a plot of labyrinthine complexity. . . . Sund boldly places dissociative identity order at the heart of this extremely disturbing novel.” —Sunday Times (UK)

“[S]kilfully escalating suspense keeps you hooked all the way through. . . . Ultimately, this novel proves that what frightens us most are not outward acts of violence, but the quiet horrors of the human psyche.” —The Irish News 

“Brutal, upsetting and brilliantly written, it is the best crime novel of the year so far. . . . The joint authors . . . rage against misogyny and sexism. They decry child abuse and human trafficking. And, perhaps most importantly, they tell a brilliant story. . . . This novel is dark—jet-black dark. . . . The authors’ biggest triumph, however, is to make 750 pages whizz past . . . terse, direct and compelling.” —Metro (UK)  

“Erik Axl Sund—a.k.a. Jerker Eriksson and Håkan Axlander Sundquist—may look like ageing rockers (like Jo Nesbø, they were in fact rock musicians), but they share a steely command of the writerly art.” —Financial Times 

“Creepy is elevated to an art form in this tale. . . . The subject matter makes for harrowing reading at times, but skilfully escalating suspense keeps you hooked all the way through its 760-pages. Erik Axl Sund is the pseudonym for authors Jerker Eriksson and Hakan Axlander Sundquist and their Swedish original, a bestseller in their native land, has been translated into beautifully economic prose by Neil Smith, who also translates for Jo Nesbo. Ultimately, this novel proves that what frightens us most are not outward acts of violence, but the quiet horrors of the human psyche.” —The Herald 

“[T]he next big thing. . . . The Crow Girl is a pulse-pounding thriller that manages to linger on character depth and puts an emphasis on supporting characters that are usually given short shrift. With its heady mix of graphic violence, noirish thrills and social commentary, the book has all the hallmarks of Nordic noir and is a must-read for Scandinavian crime fiction enthusiasts. . . . The Crow Girl should herald a big upsurge for Nordic noir, it’s a huge book and a landmark achievement for its authors. It will definitely turn heads worldwide as a darkly delightful must-read.” —Crime Fiction Lover 

“Horrors abound in the pseudonymous Sund’s scathing first in a trilogy that rips asunder the appearance of Sweden’s contemporary welfare state to reveal just about every conceivable human crime.” —Publishers Weekly

“[A] complex and very dark narrative. . . . [The Crow Girl is] not a book for the squeamish or for those who favour the cosier end of crime. . . . The narrative slowly and surely exerts an inexorable grip; its multiple timeframes do not interrupt the unerring building of tension. And, as with the best of Scandinavian crime fiction, from Henning Mankell to Stieg Larsson, there is still room for an acute element of social commentary. . . . The personalities of the women at the heart of the book (particularly the single-minded Jeanette), all driven in distinctive ways, are carefully and successfully wrought. If you’re not fazed by the daunting length and unsparing gruesomeness of The Crow Girl, you will find it to be among the most wide-ranging and forceful Scandinavian crime novels you have encountered.” —Barry Forshaw, author of The Rough Guide to Crime Fiction, Financial Times 

“[V]ery well executed. . . . [Erik Axl Sund’s] Sweden, too, is pitch perfect.” —The Guardian 

Détails de l'édition

• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0345813103
• ISBN 13: 9780345813107
• Reliure: Relié
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible