A review by jmatkinson1
The Voices Beyond by Johan Theorin
5.0
Oland is a sleepy island off the Baltic coast of Sweden. Most of the year the locals survive through agriculture and fishing but the island comes alive in the summer as the tourists invade. Eager to make the most of this bonanza the powerful Kloss family have developed a luxury resort on their land. Young Jonas Kloss is visiting his father on a working holiday and one evening he goes out in a small boat, however disaster strikes and his dinghy is mown down by a large ship that appears out of the gloom. The boat, its zombie-like crew and it's illegal cargo are linked to the Kloss family but also to the Homecomer, a man bent on revenge, and Gerlof, a retired seafarer who knows Oland and its people very well.
Starting off in simple and sleepy way, this book ratchets up the excitement and tension all the way to the excellent denouement and epilogue. Oland is old-fashioned and deceptively quiet and that's how the story starts, with an old tale about a burial and with the influx of people to the island for the summer. The backstories of the characters are beautifully handled, some are very explicit such as the Homecomer's life during his exile, some are merely hinted at such as the relationship between Gerlof and John or the reason that Lisa has to steal. By the time that Jonas has encountered the ghost ship, the reader is hooked and the strands begin to come together. This is a beautifully written book that also manages to offer an original take on Scandic-Noir.
Starting off in simple and sleepy way, this book ratchets up the excitement and tension all the way to the excellent denouement and epilogue. Oland is old-fashioned and deceptively quiet and that's how the story starts, with an old tale about a burial and with the influx of people to the island for the summer. The backstories of the characters are beautifully handled, some are very explicit such as the Homecomer's life during his exile, some are merely hinted at such as the relationship between Gerlof and John or the reason that Lisa has to steal. By the time that Jonas has encountered the ghost ship, the reader is hooked and the strands begin to come together. This is a beautifully written book that also manages to offer an original take on Scandic-Noir.