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Searching... Hanford Branch Library (Kings Co.) | Searching... Unknown | Adult Fiction Area | FIC ZANDER | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Mosqueda Center Branch (Fresno Co.) | Searching... Unknown | Adult Fiction Area | ZANDER JO Believe | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stratford Branch Library (Kings Co.) | Searching... Unknown | Adult Fiction Area | FIC ZANDER | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
An intricately plotted and brilliantly conceived stand-alone sequel to the international bestseller The Swimmer that turns the hottest political topics of our times into a complex, resonant thriller in the vein of John LeCarré.
Yasmine Ajam has fled her past in the rough Stockholm borough Bergort, reinventing herself as a trendspotter in New York City. One day she receives a startling message: there are riots erupting on the streets of Stockholm and they appear to be connected with the disappearance of her brother, Fadi.
Following rumors that Fadi was radicalized and died fighting for ISIS in Syria, Yasmine returns to Stockholm to discover what really happened to her brother. There she becomes entangled in a dangerous web of allegiances and violence that stretches far beyond the gangs on her childhood streets.
Meanwhile, in London, Klara Walldéen has landed a job at a human rights research institute working on a report to predict the effects of privatizing police forces. When Klara travels to Stockholm to present her findings to European Union policymakers, her laptop is stolen and one of her colleagues is pushed in front of an oncoming subway train. As her path collides with Yasmine's, Klara begins to realize that she may unwittingly be contributing to the sinister agendas of powerful interests who will stop at nothing to attain their goals.
With The Believer, Joakim Zander delivers another "page-turning" (Entertainment Weekly) novel of suspense that is as sophisticated and timely as it is compelling.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Three people struggle to find their place in the world in this page-turner from Zander (The Swimmer). Yasmine Ajam and her younger brother, Fadi, grew up in the economically depressed Stockholm suburb of Bergort. Yasmine manages to escape her dismal existence by relocating to New York City, but Fadi is left behind and eventually becomes radicalized by a group of jihadists who prey on his hopelessness. Klara Walldéen, a functioning alcoholic, works for a human rights institute in London researching the effects of privatizing police forces. But when she travels to Stockholm in preparation for an important E.U. conference, she becomes entangled in a deadly grand-scale conspiracy. Though some of the plot twists strain credibility, this thriller's real power is in the poignant portrayal of Bergort and its residents. Impressively complex characters and stark atmospherics make this a thematically profound read. Agents: Astri von Arbin Ahlander and Christine Edhäll, Ahlander Agency (Sweden). (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Zander's latest page-turning political thriller weaves three interconnected stories into a hypertopical tale of international intrigue.Young, hip, and in trouble, Yasmine Ajam fled her life in Bergorta rough borough of Stockholmto start over in New York City, falling into a lucrative gig as a trend spotter, keeping advertising agencies abreast of the next big thing. She has not spoken to her brother, Fadi, in more than three years when she gets the news: an email from a friend informing her that Fadi, radicalized by the Islamic State group in her absence, went to Syria and died in battle. But a month later, a second email arrives: Fadi has been spotted in Bergortalive. Desperate to find him, she takes off for Bergort on the company dime only to discover the search is even more complicated than she could have imagined: the city is erupting in riots, and it's increasingly clear that the violence on the streets is somehow connected to Fadi's disappearance. Meanwhile, in London, Klara Walldena familiar face to readers of Zander's The Swimmer (2015)has a new job as a human rights researcher, working on a report about the privatization of police, to be presented at an EU conference in Stockholm. But when her laptop is stolen and her secretive colleague is pushed in front of an oncoming train, Klara once again finds herself an unwitting participant in a conspiracy she doesn't understand. It's not until her path unexpectedly crashes into Yasmine's that the mystery starts to come together, revealing something darker and more sinister than either of them could have imagined. Zander's twisting, high-octane plot could not be more timely, but it's the characters, all three of them, that bring this vivid novel to life. Suspenseful and primed for Hollywood adaptation, this is escapist fiction at its best. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Zander's very fine debut novel, The Swimmer (2014), introduced Klara Walldéen, a beautiful young Swedish lawyer working in Brussels for a European Union parliamentarian. Klara returns in The Believer. She's working now as a researcher in London, preparing a report on the privatization of prisons and police forces for consideration by the EU in an upcoming meeting in Stockholm, but after her computer is stolen, she realizes that something hinky and possibly deadly is going on. In a gritty Stockholm slum, disaffected Muslim youth Fadi Ajam is becoming radicalized. In New York, Fadi's older sister, Yasmine, who essentially raised Fadi, has become a trendspotter hired by New York ad agencies to identify the next new thing from the street. She returns to Stockholm and finds her old neighborhood burning from nightly riots that seem to be orchestrated by outsiders. Zander unveils the treachery in measured doses, but the scars the trio already bear are evocatively described and carry the reader on to the next revelation. Klara's scars manifest themselves in her drinking more, and appear to stem from events in The Swimmer. Yasmine and Fadi are both damaged by their lives in their poor, alienated, often violent community. Zander has written another compelling, timely, and character-centered thriller, and many readers will look forward to what he does next.--Gaughan, Thomas Copyright 2016 Booklist