Something quite special and fascinating: a use of the detective form to present a brooding and biting forecast of the future - or of a possible future
New York Times Book Review
The godfather of Scandinavian crime fiction
- Jo Nesbo,
[Sarah Death's translation] seems to catch the bleakness perfectly... Wahlöö's solo work deserves to be considered in the same context as Zamyatin, Capek, Orwell, or Durrenmatt...high praise indeed.
- Michael Carlson, Irresistible Targets
[His novels] are economical and move with great pace... [They] have been restored to the canon of European crime fiction in English. Don't miss
- Bob Cornwell, Crime Time
Wahlöö would prompt many writers to use crime fiction as a way of holding a mirror to social evils. Here the investigation is tense, the murder shocking, but at heart the crime is against journalism and intellectual freedom
Public Sphere