The Beast: A Novel [Hardcover]

'THE BEAST is a frantic chase through the horror of the hunt for an escaped serial killer of children. At a deeper level, it is full of characters lost for love, or lost to humanity . . . it is a gripping, tragic story. This is a book with extraordinary insights and totally unexpected plots twists. Yet the most striking thing about it is the intensity of the emotion in the characters. It's hard to read without tears coming to your eyes. It has the blunt, matter-of-fact Swedish tone of thriller-writers like Henning Mankell, yet it is also subtle and nuanced. A fabulous read' SUNDAY BUSINESS POST 'A book which is as dark and unflinching as the subject suggests' THE LIST 'A must-read' OBSERVER 'A tale of tragedy and revenge that is truly gripping, and all the more horrifying because this kind of thing can happen anywhere' GUARDIAN

Two children are found dead in a basement. Four years later their murderer escapes from prison. The police know if he is not found quickly, he will kill again. But when their worst fears come true and another child is murdered in the nearby town of Strengnas, the situation spirals out of control. In an atmosphere of hysteria whipped up by the media, Fredrik Steffansson, the father of the murdered child, decides he must take revenge. His actions will have devastating consequences. As anger spreads across the whole country, the two detectives assigned to the case - Ewert Grens and Sven Sunkist - find themselves caught up in a situation of escalating violence. A powerful and at times profoundly shocking novel, The Beast has been likened to both Hitchcock and le Carre. It is also an important and timely exploration of what can happen when we take the law into our own hands. It is the winner of Glasnyckeln 2005 (The Glass Key 2005) for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year.

Anders Roslund is one of Sweden's most distinguished journalists and worked for many years as head of news for the Swedish equivalents of CNN and the BBC. Borge Hellstrom is an ex-criminal who works to rehabilitate young offenders and drug addicts.