"The Silver Road" is written by Stina Jackson and has been expertly translated from Swedish by Susan Beard.
Blurb - Three years ago, Lelle's daughter went missing in a remote part of Northern Sweden. Lelle has spent the intervening summers driving the Silver Road under the midnight sun, frantically searching for his lost daughter, for himself and for redemption.
Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old Meja arrives in town hoping for a fresh start. She is the same age as Lelle's daughter was - a girl on the brink of adulthood. But for Meja, there are dangers to be found in this isolated place.
There's two constant threads running alternatively through the story, Lelle and his tragically desperate search for his missing daughter and Meja, arriving in town to live with her troubled Mam and her new loner boyfriend "Pornbjorn". With Lelle, his anguish at never knowing what happened to his daughter Lina, is haunting to read and his distress is palpable. Meja's story holds a more of an anticipation element as you sense she's in danger but don't know where or who from. I did find part one of the story a little slow and repetitive but very atmospheric, though perhaps a little too much so at times. The second part did pick up the pace a lot more and the conclusion was dark, haunting and very emotional. The final chapter certainly tugged at my heartstrings and as a parent I felt the emotion the author was trying to convey and felt she had captured the moment perfectly.
If you enjoyed Will Dean's "Dark Pines" series then I'd definitely recommend this book to you or if you're into slower paced Swedish based thrillers that's haunting and filled with dreaded anticipation then you should enjoy this well written novel too.
4 stars
Blurb - Three years ago, Lelle's daughter went missing in a remote part of Northern Sweden. Lelle has spent the intervening summers driving the Silver Road under the midnight sun, frantically searching for his lost daughter, for himself and for redemption.
Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old Meja arrives in town hoping for a fresh start. She is the same age as Lelle's daughter was - a girl on the brink of adulthood. But for Meja, there are dangers to be found in this isolated place.
There's two constant threads running alternatively through the story, Lelle and his tragically desperate search for his missing daughter and Meja, arriving in town to live with her troubled Mam and her new loner boyfriend "Pornbjorn". With Lelle, his anguish at never knowing what happened to his daughter Lina, is haunting to read and his distress is palpable. Meja's story holds a more of an anticipation element as you sense she's in danger but don't know where or who from. I did find part one of the story a little slow and repetitive but very atmospheric, though perhaps a little too much so at times. The second part did pick up the pace a lot more and the conclusion was dark, haunting and very emotional. The final chapter certainly tugged at my heartstrings and as a parent I felt the emotion the author was trying to convey and felt she had captured the moment perfectly.
If you enjoyed Will Dean's "Dark Pines" series then I'd definitely recommend this book to you or if you're into slower paced Swedish based thrillers that's haunting and filled with dreaded anticipation then you should enjoy this well written novel too.
4 stars