The Courier

by K. O. Dahl, Don Bartlett (Translator)

Overview

The international bestselling godfather of Nordic Noir takes on one of the most horrific periods of modern history, in a stunning standalone thriller ... NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER

**SHORTLISTED FOR THE PETRONA AWARD FOR BEST SCANDINAVIAN CRIME NOVEL**
**LONGLISTED FOR THE CWA INTERNATIONAL DAGGER**'

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'The Courier is a stylish stand-alone thriller from the godfather of Scandi noir ... Ola Dahl ratchets up the tension from the first pages and never lets go' The Times

'Absorbing, heart-rending and perfectly plotted. Kjell Ola Dahl's The Courier passes seamlessly from the present to the dark past of WWII. Fabulous!' Denzil Meyrick

'Cleverly braiding together past and present, the who and why of murder and betrayal are unpicked. The detail is impressive' Daily Mail

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In 1942, Jewish courier Ester is betrayed, narrowly avoiding arrest by the Gestapo. In a great haste, she escapes to Sweden, saving herself. Her family in Oslo, however, is deported to Auschwitz.

In Stockholm, Ester meets the resistance hero, Gerhard Falkum, who has left his little daughter and fled both the Germans and allegations that he murdered his wife, Åse, who helped Ester get to Sweden. Their burgeoning relationship ends abruptly when Falkum dies in a fire.

And yet, twenty-five years later, Falkum shows up in Oslo. He wants to reconnect with his daughter. But where has he been, and what is the real reason for his return? Ester stumbles across information that forces her to look closely at her past, and to revisit her war-time training to stay alive...

Written with Dahl's trademark characterization and elegant plotting, The Courier sees the hugely respected godfather of Nordic Noir at his best, as he takes on one of the most horrific periods of modern history, in an exceptional, shocking thriller.

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'A dark but richly described backdrop and a relentless, underlying tension drive this sad story to its bittersweet conclusion. Fans of Nordic noir will be satisfied' Publishers Weekly

'Skilfully juggling three Oslo timelines — in 1942, 1967 and 2015 — Dahl starts his story with Germany's occupation of Norway and the work of those who tried to resist, then brings his characters forward to a post-war unravelling of what really happened in those dangerous days — and the traumatic rewriting of personal stories' The Times

'A fascinating, intricate, provocative read, set in motion by events in 1942, and brilliantly highlighting human need and emotions ... 'The Courier' sent a shiver coursing through me, it is a truly eloquent and rewarding tale, and oh that ending!' LoveReading

'Written with Dahl's trademark characterisation and clever plotting, The Courier sees one of Norway's most critically acclaimed authors at his best ... This stunning and compelling wartime thriller is reminiscent of the writing of John Le CarrÉ and William Boyd' New Books Magazine

'Kjell Ola Dahl's novels are superb. If you haven't read one, you need to – right now' William Ryan

'The kind of masterful, detailed plotting that Dahl is known for ... the power of The Courier is how Dahl has given a complex, human face to such an inhuman tragedy' Crime Fiction Lover

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781495655043
Publisher:	Orenda Books
Publication date:	02/21/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	276
Sales rank:	390,433
File size:	619 KB

About the Author

One of the fathers of the Nordic Noir genre, Kjell Ola Dahl made his debut in 1993, and has since published 11 novels, including the Oslo Detectives series. In 2000 he won the Riverton Prize for The Last Fix and he won both the prestigious Brage and Riverton Prizes for The Courier in 2015. His work has been published in 14 countries.

Read an Excerpt

3

When at last she hears some noise in the kitchen, Ester pulls at the cord to the spring and lets go. The blackout blind rolls up with a bang. But the room is no lighter. It is still grey outside, neither night nor day. An October morning. She swings her legs out of bed. Sits for a while, staring vacantly into the air before getting up, collecting her clothes from the armchair and going into the kitchen.
Åse is sitting at the table, breastfeeding.
‘Sleep well?’
‘Not really, no. I didn’t sleep a wink all night.’ Ester goes to the sink and fills a glass of water from the tap. She puts down the glass and stares at the wall. Not wanting to express her worst thoughts: that she stopped on the way, that she might have arrived at Kirkeristen earlier, that things would be different if she didn’t keep making mistakes. But then she feels Åse’s eyes on her. ‘What is it?’ Ester asks.
‘You’re completely out of it. Didn’t you hear?’
‘Hear what?’
‘I said I’ve heated some ersatz coffee.’
Ester smiles, but is not interested. ‘You know, I was never very fond of proper coffee either.’
She can see her father’s eyes through the bars in the iron door; this image has haunted her all night.
Åse passes her a jug. It contains hot water. Ester takes the jug back to her room and fills the bowl in the corner. Looks at herself in the narrow mirror perched on the dressing table against the wall. She warms her hands in the hot water, splashes a little over her face and wishes she had her toothbrush with her. Lost in thought again, she manages to drag herself away and put on woollen stockings, a skirt, a blouse and a jumper.
When they are sitting either side of the table afterwards, she says ying awake and thinking has in fact been useful.
Åse is sympathetic. ‘What do you think they’ll do?’
Ester is at a loss to know what to say. This is not something she wants to talk about.
‘To your father.’
Ester doesn’t wish to speculate. She has been wondering about it all night. Perhaps it will boil down to a charge connected with his business; perhaps they questioned him for a few hours, then let him go. These thoughts went through her mind, but with little conviction, because the sign on the window told a different story. Eviction from his home, the closing down of the shop. What hap pened the day before was a further turn of the screw. Ester cannot convince herself it will be the last.
Åse squeezes her hand.
They exchange looks.
Ester says that now, for her, there is only one solution. ‘I have to get to Sweden. As soon as possible.’
Åse places Turid over her shoulder to burp her. Pats her little back gently. No burp. She stands up and swings round, but the child shakes her head; she’s not in tune with her mother’s plan.
‘Are you sure?’
Ester has never been surer of anything. ‘They say we don’t own our possessions. My father’s driven off in a police van, and they barred the doors of the shop with iron chains. It’s only a question of time before they come for me.’
Åse is silent.
They look at each other again, and Ester doesn’t know what to say to lighten the atmosphere.
‘But how will you get to Sweden?’
‘The people I talked about, in Carl Berners plass. But I need money. Clothes. I have to go home and pack. Dad doesn’t need his money now.’
‘What if—?’ Ester interrupts her. ‘I have to do this!’
She can hear how harsh and irritated her voice is. But she has had
enough of talking now, and gets up and goes into the hallway. Finds her shoes. Slips her feet in. Goes out to the stairwell. The toilet is free. She enters, fastens the hook on the door and leans against it. Some things can be said. Not everything, though. When Ester is overcome by despair, like now, she stands and waits for it to pass. The walls in the little room appear to be pulsating. She sits down on the seat. What happened the previous day is a link in a longer chain that started years before. What she has to do today is react while she still can. She has to defy them, she has to go home and pack, get ready for the journey.
Ester glances at her watch. Sees that she has to hurry.
She leaves the toilet and goes back to the flat, into the kitchen. Washes her hands in the sink, then takes the suitcase containing the newspapers.
‘Are you sure you want to do that today, Ester?’
Åse has put Turid down.
‘I can’t not do it. Someone’s waiting for me.’ Ester gives her friend a hug. It turns into a long embrace.
Åse swallows. ‘Will I see you before you go?’
They look at each other, and Ester senses that she has to be honest.
‘I don’t know.’
Neither of them speaks. Åse’s eyes are moist and shiny.
Ester picks up the suitcase. ‘In a way it’s wonderful too, knowing this is the last time. I’m afraid I have to go.’
Then she is out of the door.

Editorial Reviews

08/12/2019

This solid mystery from Dahl (the Oslo Detectives series) centers on a murder committed during the German occupation of Norway. In 2015, elderly Turid Heggen learns of a unique bracelet about to be auctioned off. Though Turid hasn’t seen the piece in almost 50 years, she knows that it is hers, as it was one of the only items left from her mother, who was murdered when she was a small child. Flash back to 1942 Oslo, where Ester Lemkov, a Jewish girl, is working as a courier for the resistance. Esther lives through countless atrocities, including the deportation of her family members to their deaths in Auschwitz and the murder of her best friend, Turid’s mother. Never mind that most readers will easily solve the murder. What makes this such a page-turner is the confluence of events leading up to and after the crime. A dark but richly described backdrop and a relentless, underlying tension drive this sad story to its bittersweet conclusion. Fans of Nordic noir will be satisfied. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Excellent . . . Fans of Scandinavian noir will be eager for Dahl’s next book." —Publishers Weekly starred review of The Ice Swimmer


"Superb . . . The translator’s stripped-down, muscular prose is a plus." —Publishers Weekly starred review of Faithless


‘The Courier is a stylish stand-alone thriller from the godfather of Scandi noir … Ola Dahl ratchets up the tension from the first pages and never lets go." —Times


"A chilling novel about betrayal." —Sunday Times


"The perfect example of why Nordic Noir has become such a popular genre." —Reader’s Digest


"More than gripping." —European Literature Network


"If you have never sampled Dahl, now is the time to try." —Daily Mail


"Kjell Ola Dahl’s novels are superb. If you haven’t read one, you need to—right now." —William Ryan, author, Holy Thief

From the Publisher