“Decoy. Danish.” (original title: Den danske lokkedue) by Henrik Brun is a new Scandinavian crime novel about human trade, trafficking and corruption taking place in international settings.
The novel leads its Danish key figure, journalist Ketil Brandt, to the south eastern corner of Europe. More specifically the former Yugoslavia, where Ketil Brandt finds himself in the eye of the storm and amongst a brutal network of traffickers, an utmost attractive reporter from Slovenia and a female Danish handball star.
It certainly wasn’t what the previously so tough, but now rather burnt-out, foreign reporter had in mind for a wedding invitation from Sarajevo. Especially not since, he had been placed as an information officer at Copenhagen Airport because of an incidence of violence. But when his friend from old times Michael Jensen, former chauffeur of emergency aid during the Balkan Wars, is found murdered in a street in Ljubljana, Ketil Brandt never reaches his destination in Sarajevo. Instead, he is winded up in an inferno of human trade and corruption in Slovenia and surrounding country, and will soon need all his journalistic flair to unravel it all – and his tendency for violence might be needed as well to weather the storm.
The author Henrik Brun previously received the European Commission’s prestigious Lorenzo Natali Prize for journalism on development and human rights, and has also been among the nominees for the Danish Cavling Prize. The book draws on the 42-year-old editor’s extensive experience and occupation with almost two decades of reporting from foreign countries, including the wars in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s and several years of investigative journalism in the Nordic countries.
Decoy. Danish. is the first book in a series of novels with controversial journalist Ketil Brandt as the main character.
Reviews – Decoy. Danish
“…the global vision and the striking descriptions of the Balkans is without a doubt the strong point of Decoy. Danish…”
(Sophie Engberg Sonne in Politiken)
“…unlike most of today’s crime novels Decoy. Danish has a credible and relevant plot…”
(Carsten Norton, Ekstra Bladet)
“…Danish journalist Henrik Brun (…) has fallen for Slovenia, especially the capital Ljubljana. The great amount of affection and knowledge shown in the description of the country really boost the novel…”
(Bo Bjørnvig in Weekendavisen)
“…an excellent new Danish thriller with an international touch dealing with current matters… A real treat for the many readers of Danish and Scandinavian crime novels…”
(The Danish Library Center)
“…Decoy. Danish really delivers when it comes to global tension and local sex…”
(Bo Tao Michaëlis in Kristeligt Dagblad)
”…the novel is superior in entertainment value due to the author’s ability to bring the reader so close to the characters that he or she can sense and even smell the atmosphere…”
(Ulla Hinge Thomsen in Bogmagasinet)
