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Product Description
Review
'Alvtegen's chilling novels are head and shoulders above most of the Scandi crew and...remind one forcefully of the early Barbara Vine novels ... [Shadow] won't make you feel good about humankind, but it will keep you reading under the duvet during the small hours.' Carla McKay, Daily Mail
Product Description
Gerda Persson has lain dead for three days. Her life seems to have been quite ordinary. Until the freezer in her home is opened. It is full of books, neatly stacked and wrapped in clingfilm, a thick layer of ice covering them - all by the same prize-winning author, all with handwritten dedications to Gerda. What story do these books have to tell? And what is their connection to a young boy found abandoned in an amusement park?
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Story,
By
This review is from: Shadow (Paperback)
Did you ever wonder why you had a particular book in hand? When I finally got down to reading 'Shadow' I questioned why and how long it had been on my tattered wish list, and why I had past it over for so long. Now I ask myself why I waited so long to read it.The novel is a psychological crime thriller about dark secrets, the price of fame and how the search for public approval can drive some to make unsound decisions that have lasting or tragic repercussions. It also touches the impact our childhood has on the rest of our life. One often describes a book as hot and hard to put aside, this is surely a true description of this one. The story is one with depth, many layers and full of secrets and rivalries between the characters. As this dynamic book progresses we are plunged deep into the history of four generations of the Ragnerfeldt family and we learn more about their connection with Kristopher, the little boy abandoned yes ago. 'Shadow' is a literary closet filled with skeletons of the past' The novel begins with a brief flashback to 1975 when a boy was discovered abandoned at an amusement park with a short note seeking a better life for him. Fast forward to the present day and the plot tightens with the death of an old woman ' Gerda Persson, the former housekeeper of the highly respected Nobel Laureate Axel Ragnerfeldt. With Gerda's passing a door opens into the real life of the Ragnerfeldt family, a life full of infidelity and dark secrets' The plot builds slowly with multiple story threads that go back and forth in time, skillfully creating a suspense that is lively and thought provoking. Each player is introduced one by one, each with their own theme and their own story building a page-turning drama only a gifted storyteller could master. Although "Shadow" is a gripping and absorbing tale of murder, I was nevertheless disappointed with the ending, it left the fate of many characters in limbo and I wonder if the author has something up her sleeve for the future.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.8 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews) 11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sex, lies and dysfunctional families,
By Rachel - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Shadow (Paperback)
The cover blurb described this as a "psychological thriller" but I'm not sure that's entirely apt. In fact, this is the sort of novel that is hard to classify - there are thriller elements, but it's also part family saga and part melodrama.The novel is set in Sweden, and the narrative switches between the present-day, the 1970s and 1940s-1950s. Kristoffer is abandoned as a four-year-old, and grows up remembering next to nothing of his biological parents. Axel Ragnerfeldt is a Nobel Prize winning author who has been permanently incapacitated by a stroke, and his son's job is basically to travel Europe on the speaking circuit promoting his father's work and ideals. How Kristoffer's and the Ragnerfelts' lives intersect is slowly revealed with each chapter, from varying perspectives, and the catalyst for bringing them together is a bequest to Kristoffer from a woman he has never met. I'm not going to go into further detail at the risk of spoilers, and I freely admit that I am hopeless at decent plot summaries! This is a very dark novel, which explores the nature of deception and the far-reaching ramifications of one's actions. Most of the characters are thoroughly unlikeable, but are sufficiently well-drawn and distinct to enable the reader to have some sympathy for them at varying points. I was certainly gripped and fascinated by this novel, which I finished within 24 hours, and which stuck with me for some time afterwards. Did I enjoy it? I'm not sure. It is almost unremittingly bleak, and there were really only one or two characters for whom I could see even a glimmer of hope. The writing is very clever; the most horrifying parts of the book are hinted at or described obliquely, but nonetheless in such a way as to give you a vivid mental image, which makes those moments even more chilling. However, it's one to read only if you're in the right frame of mind. "Shadow" is extremely well-written and interesting, but good grief, it's depressing. 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning...,
By LollyK - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This was my first Kindle purchase, as it was recommended by a friend. SO glad I chose this as my first eBook. Beautifully written - a combination of the author and a very skilled translator, I imagine - and I absolutely couldn't put it down. Twist after compelling twist kept me reading. Recommend it highly.Shadow
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful writing and story - a bit dark however,
By Hank - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Shadow (Paperback)
If you haven't read Alvtegen but like authors who develop intense psychological suspense, like Ruth Rendell or Patricia Highsmith, then you would like this. Missing and Betrayal are also excellent novels, all quite different. The only hesitation I would have in recommending this is you need to like 'dark' stories, i.e. no happy endings here.
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