“The Norwegian Lackey” is the second volume in the series about journalist Ketil Brandt. Like the first volume Decoy. Danish it can be read separately
After a few years of being left out in the cold Danish journalist Ketil Brandt is forgiven and re-hired by Dagbladet. He is in Holland writing an article for the paper, when a Danish woman named Ana is being stabbed to death in a park in the Hague in broad daylight. Dagbladet wants Ketil Brandt to cover the story, and when the police’s prime suspect is murdered in Berlin less than 24 hours later the case takes a new and much unexpected turn. At the same time both the Dutch and the German police seem a little bit too eager to close the case, which doesn’t make the whole matter less suspicious. Ketil’s uncompromising commitment is aroused and he joins forces with his old contact at the police, Ivo Grado and the Slovenian journalist, Ines Sivonik. The three of them begin a dangerous hunt for truth in Holland, Germany, Denmark and Norway – and without knowing it they are being closely followed from the shadows. Unaware of the threat against himself Ketil realize that more people potentially could be in serious danger, if he doesn’t succeed in cracking the case very, very soon …
Henrik Brun (1968) is the foreign editor of the Danish newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad. He received The Lorenzo Natali European Union Journalism Prize for Development, Democracy and Human Rights and he has been nominated for a Cavling Prize as well – the most prestigious Danish journalism award. Henrik Brun started out working as a freelancer in the early nineties reporting from the Balkan Wars. In 1995 he found employment with Danish newspaper Information, where he continued covering the world’s hot spots including the Former Yugoslavia. The author calls on a thorough experience from more than two decades of working as a journalist and reporter both inside and outside Denmark when he writes about his protagonist, the controversial journalist Ketil Brandt.
The third volume The Swedish Liar will be published in Denmark in March 2013.
Reviews – The Norwegian Lackey
”Henrik Brun’s second crime novel about the reckless reporter Ketil Brandt is absolutely brilliant”
(Sophie Engberg Sonne in Politiken)
“The Norwegian Lackey is a high-quality crime novel. It’s well-written, intriguing and extensively researched”
(Annebeth Larsen on litteratursiden.dk)
“Enjoy this ride without the straitjacket of political correctness and psychological portraits”
(Bo Tao Michaëlis in Kristeligt Dagblad)
”Readily accessible and intriguing crime novel by an author who just keeps getting better and better”
(The Danish Library Center)
“Brun is an excellent plot-creator and he has a flair for this genre: the international thriller”
(Holger Ruppert in Lokalavisen Frederiksberg)
“It’s a very exciting crime novel with a terrific plot. I read the novel so quickly because every chapter exposes a new and unexpected turn of the story. The storyline is up-to-date and it could be set yesterday or tomorrow. My warmest recommendations”
(Anne-Lise Hansen in the online magazine krimi-cirklen.dk)