#BlogTour ‘I Will Miss You Tomorrow’ by Heine Bakkeid

About the book…

The first in a new Norwegian crime series featuring disgraced ex-Chief Inspector Thorkild Aske, a damaged man with a complicated past

Fresh out of prison and a stint in a psychiatric hospital, disgraced ex-policeman Thorkild Aske only wants to lose himself in drugged dreams of his beloved Frei. Wild, unknowable Frei. The woman he loved. The woman he has lost forever.

Yet when Frei’s young cousin goes missing off the Norwegian coast and Thorkild is called in by the family to help find him, dead or alive, Thorkild cannot refuse. He owes them this.

Tormented by his past, Thorkild soon finds himself deep in treacherous waters. He’s lost his reputation – will he now lose his life?

Hugest thanks to Ella at Raven Books for the blog tour invite and my gifted copy of ‘I Will Miss You Tomorrow’ which is out NOW in audiobook, ebook and hardback formats.

Can I just say, how exciting is it to read the words ‘first in the series’? It’s such a thrill to read that this is the English language debut of Heine Bakkeid, translated brilliantly by Anne Bruce, and is a series which will hopefully run and run…trust me, Thorkild Aske makes a HUGE impression.

Beginning with a shocking opener which had me falling down a rabbit hole about how long it takes someone to die from strangulation-I do not recommend googling it unless super careful with your word usage- this novel goes on to a darkly comic job prospect interview for our protagonist, Aske, who has been recently released from prison. A disgraced policeman, who has lost his credibility, career and anyone who cares about him, he eeks an existence out in his basement flat, haunted by Frei, his lost love. He genuinely is haunted, and it is a cold and harsh existence reflected so acutely in the surrounding landscape and scenery.

He has a rough personality which I think is used to great effect to stop people getting too close to him, but like cats naturally flock to cat haters, I immediately took to his flawed and damaged character. His arc is not a redemptive one, his taking on of the responsibility of finding Frei’s cousin,can never balance the scales of losing Frei. You cannot stop reading as you become entangled in the intricate and intense plotting which flashes back to when Aske and Frei met, and now, when he has been contacted by Frei’s family to find Rasmus. I don’t doubt the motives of psychologist, Ulfe, in linking Aske and Frei’s family but redemption is rarely as easy as replacing one life with another.

Her cousin, Rasmus, has been missing and unheard from for a week.His mother, Anniken, has bought him the island a year ago and he and his friends were renovating the lighthouse, he was living there alone when his unmanned boat was discovered.

Aske is under no illusions that going to the abandoned lighthouse, situated on an island where Rasmus was planning to start an underwater wreck, and diving business from, will be a retrieval one. Even Rasmus’ parents are admitting the hopes of what they will get from Aske is closure by burying his body, they appear to have committed themselves to the idea that Rasmus is dead. An open and shut case, or so it would seem….

I felt that reading this was akin to drowning…you are entirely submerged in the compelling narrative and grabbing for pieces of the plot which create a raft on which you float to the very last page. Intense and freezing becuase of the vividly realised background and starkness of the Norwegian coastline I would definitely recommend tucking yourself into your biggest blanket or cardigan to read it. You will be shivering a lot.

Aske is a flawed character, yes, but he is not a trope, he is very much his own character and I loved the intesity with which he takes this task on and tries to tackle the constant wrong footing he comes up against during this case. The supernatural elements of the tale were chill inducing and it’s up to each reader what they take away from this-whether they are the product of a mind brought so close to death, immersed in grief and lovelorn or really , actually supernatural.

Incredibly compelling and suspenseful, I absolutely recommend ‘I Will Miss You Tomorrow’ as a perfect winter-y read .

About the author…

Heine Bakkeid grew up in the rugged landscape of Northern Norway, where mist-shrouded waters meet some of Scandinavia’s most striking mountain formations. Bakkeid made his literary debut in 2005 when he published a spy novel for young adults. Since then he has gone on to write several novels for young readers.

The acclaimed I Will Miss You Tomorrow – the first installment in the Thorkild Aske series – was Bakkeid’s first venture into crime fiction, and earned him the critics’ recognition as a virtuoso of darkly atmospheric suspense.

The series’ dark undertones and windswept landscapes are fetched from Bakkeid’s own native North.

Twitter @BloomsburyRaven @ellamharold

Links-https://heinebakkeid.com/