#BlogTour ‘Geiger’ by Gustaf Skordeman

About the book…

The landline rings as Agneta is waving off her grandchildren. Just one word comes out of the receiver: ‘Geiger’. For decades, Agneta has always known that this moment would come, but she is shaken. She knows what it means.

Retrieving her weapon from its hiding place, she attaches the silencer and creeps up behind her husband before pressing the barrel to his temple.

Then she squeezes the trigger and disappears – leaving behind her wallet and keys.

The extraordinary murder is not Sara Nowak’s case. But she was once close to those affected and, defying regulations, she joins the investigation. What Sara doesn’t know is that the mysterious codeword is just the first piece in the puzzle of an intricate and devastating plot fifty years in the making

Thanks to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers for the blogtour invite, and publishers Zaffre for the gifted e-arc of  ‘Geiger’ by Gustaf Skordeman which is out now in ebook and paperback.

One word, uttered in a questioning fashion down an old fashioned landline, sets off a ricochet of incredible actions that have been 50 years in the making.

This political thriller takes no prisoners and needs maximum concentration, as a grandmother goes on the run after first shooting her husband, a beloved Swedish television celebrity ‘Uncle Stellan’, gathering up several essential belongings, and taking off on a pink pushbike.

Their stunned daughters have no idea whether their mother has been murdered, kidnapped, or run away, let alone why their father has been shot. Small comfort is given by the investigating officer being a family friend, being the daughter of the cleaner who grew up in the celebrity household and watched the lavish parties held there.

The investigations into allegations that Stellan was an accomplice to the Stasi, during the Cold War, sends shockwaves through Sweden and as the hunt for the missing Agneta ramps up, the police and Sara, are not the only ones on the trail of the truth.

I have to admit struggling to follow the names that were thrown up through the book and following who was who to whom, but this is definitely a political thriller which hits the ground running, and does not let up. Starting with a neat subversion on the family Sunday dinner, it goes off in unexpected directions following the case of what people want to believe about beloved childhood figures, versus the painful truth. Never has it been more apparent than today, where yet more figures are being held accountable for their actions.

A gripping, thrilling, nerve shredding enigma of a book, this is definitely a book for those who enjoy political thrillers, conspiracies and detective fiction.

About the author…

Gustaf Skördeman (b. 1965) was born in Sweden and is a screenwriter, director and producer. Geiger is his literary debut. It is sold for publication in more than 20 languages.

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