Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
The problem with a lot of thrillers is that the main characters seem to exist in a world in which thriller novels don't exist, so suspicious actions that send off loud alarm bells in the average reader's mind are invariably rationalized or ignored by the protagonists. So it is in this by-the-numbers tale, in which Annika Bengtzon, crime editor for the Stockholm tabloid Kv llspressen, investigates the bombing of the Olympic venue at Victoria Stadium, where the body of Christina Furhage, head of the committee organizing the Stockholm Games, has been literally blown to bits. Balancing the demands of her family and those of her job, pumping her police contact for information and trying to decide how much of it to publish while barely holding her own in the petty squabbles that flare up daily in the newsroom, Annika digs into Christina's past to find death threats, a hidden marriage and the underhanded way in which she got her job. And when a second bomb goes off, you can bet that Annika will be targeted by the killer, whom readers will have no problem recognizing. The translation by Kajsa von Hofsten is smooth and precise, and while there's an interesting examination of what women like Christina and Annika go through in a world run by men, it's undercut by backlash if the female characters aren't neglecting their families or snapping at their children, they're insane. And while Marklund draws an accurate picture of the pressures and responsibilities of a reporter's job and life, except for the Stockholm setting and a series of unattributed first-person essays whose provenance is deliberately misleading, there's little that makes this Swedish bestseller special. (May) Forecast: This international hot property is already a bestseller in Denmark, Finland and Norway, and will soon appear in Estonia, France, Germany, Iceland, Japan and Spain; international film rights have been optioned by Sweetwater. But despite European raves, the title may get lost in the shuffle on this side of the Atlantic. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Library Journal
A bomb explodes in the recently constructed Olympic village in Stockholm just months before the Summer Games are set to begin. Annika Bengtzon, recently promoted to crime editor for Kvallspressen, isn't convinced that this is a terrorist act. Her sources indicate that the bombing, which caused the death of an unidentified woman, is more likely the work of one individual. Like many intrepid reporters before her, Annika shrugs aside carping from her underlings and complaints from her husband to pursue the story. The author's background as a journalist is evident in Annika's fascinating search, which is artfully interspersed with chapters that delve into the mind of a mysterious other. The Bomber is touted as having been on the best seller list for a year in Sweden. Whether the novel will be a hit with American readers remains to be seen, though it will definitely appeal to fans of Patricia Cornwell and Jan Burke. Recommended for all public libraries. Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Routine woman-in-periler ("the most successful book ever published in Sweden," we're told) pits an aggressive journalist against a mad bomber haunting Stockholm's Olympic Village. Nothing keeps Annika Bengtzon, workaholic crime editor for a scrappy tabloid, from a story. Though married to kindly Thomas, who heads an organization of labor unions, and the mother of two perfect children, Bengtzon rushes out to cover the vile and the violent on Stockholm's mean streets. When a bomb blows out half of the Olympic stadium, Annika cleverly pumps her taxi driver for info and beats the competition in discovering that a taxi driver had been injured in the blast—an important clue, it turns out, when pieces of the bombing's single victim are assembled and identified as Christina Furhage, the glamorous, high-profile head of Stockholm's Olympic Committee. While some suspect the bomber is a terrorist, Bengtzon gets a tip that the stadium's security alarms had been circumvented before the bomb went off. Not only could the bomber have been someone within the Olympic organization, but the explosion may have been a cover-up for Furhage's murder. Bengtzon's take on the story creates clashes with her colleagues, whose jealousies and petty rivalries are obviously intended to support first-novelist and reporter Marklund's feminist subtext: no matter how far women rise in the various social hierarchies, the slights, snubs, and private passions they suffer always seem worse than those of men. After some nasty secrets in Furhage's past come to light, the bomber strikes again, then kidnaps Bengtzon, wires her with explosives, and sits her down at a laptop so that (preposterous as it sounds) she will writethe truth about the bomber's life and motives. A few pleasantly different Swedish details (e.g., you can buy Christmas glogg, a nonalcoholic mulled wine, from street vendors) in a competent page-turner that moves fast to a clumsy end.
