A Death in Sweden

This story is part spy thriller, part mystery, part suspense with a small dash of romance thrown in. I very much enjoyed every page and could not put it down. It's a quick read and well written. I almost feel a little guilty having read this for 'free' via prime reading...it's definitely worth paying for and I plan to read more by this author.

The pain of trudging through artless sentences with insipid details. It was like this book was written in the author's first language and then translated by Google. Improbable characters with names like Jack Redford and "Hellström" ... poorly researched covert actions- and a plot peppered with "bad guys" that just happen to turn up all the time and get shot, with no recourse. Some unlikely romance thrown in for good measure.. Violence with no more detail then "shot him in the face" [ not that I particularly enjoy violent detail, but I do particularly enjoy detail in general, which this book leaves the reader in want] ... I keep on reading it for some reason, it's sort of like watching a car crash in slow motion...

Second book I've read by this author. After reading To Die in Vienna, just had to get more of this author's work. Totally enjoy his style of writing. This was a very interesting story. A page turner that kept me wanting to know more about how these lives were woven together. The author does not chose to add a lot of unnecessary "fill", which I appreciate, he gets to the plot points in a systematic, easy moving pace, he paints a steady picture of all .... you could see yourself up in the forested cabin and anticipate the unraveling of this tale. Love his style! No need for constant profanity and sex like many authors think they need to hold a readers attention. He tells a great tale with class and reminds me of some other great story tellers like Neville Shute and his ilk. Thoroughly enjoy this writer and will be reading everything he has written also look forward to all new work coming soon (I hope).

First book read by this author. Was unsure what to expect. Enjoyed the book. Will probably read more of his work.

I recently read "Terms of Use" which was amazing and found Kevin Wignall's "A Death in Sweden" in the same section. Although it started a little slow, I really enjoyed the book!

I love most UK spy type audiobooks especially Gerald Seymour, Graham Greene,John Harvey,John Updike, Michael Dobbs,Robert Ludlum,Stella Rimington, Frederick Forsyth, John le Carré & MANY more, this is really second rate predictable drivel, the publisher of this mess assumes you Gen X have never read the greats.
The whole espionage genre has fallen on hard times recently but PLEASE read ANY of the greats and you will see what I mean.

Good story. Had some grammatical & stylistic problems with the way the author expressed certain things. Perhaps its simply the result of the difference in the way Americans and Brits use the same language

It is like a blockbuster action movie where the hero never misses a shot and the bad guys always do. The way that they found out more about Jacques was so basic that I was surprised that it was missed before. I wish this book went deeper into details as I felt like it skimmed the surface too much.

In Kevin Wignall’s A Death in Sweden, his protagonist, Dan Hendricks, thinks “how strange it was to be talking in such a measured way, surrounded by the visceral wreckage of all this violence.” As in his earlier novels, Wignall very skillfully combines interludes of conversation and reflection with breathless action scenes and a steady accumulation of efficiently executed murders that leave behind a high body count. Dan is a former CIA agent whose special skill is finding those who have gone into hiding: he has been paid “to track people down and make them disappear… dangerous people, people who’d done despicable things.”

Now, however, in the post-Snowden and WikiLeaks world, the CIA has a different agenda. There are political careers to protect, and deniability is of the essence. The Agency has mounted a clean-up operation aimed at taking down everyone who worked on the dark side, and Dan himself is a target. But there is also a new ODNI office established to clean up the CIA itself – “charged with tackling some of the more . . . troubling elements that have grown up within the CIA and other agencies in the last few decades.” Behind the scenes, shadowy controlling figures are working to protect their own positions and to conceal the crimes of those closest to them, and Dan, as he embarks on a mission to Sweden, has very little idea who he can trust – and who might, with a single shot, leave him as part of the “visceral wreckage”.

Dan is trying to save himself but also to protect other field operatives he’s worked with, “good men” who have “all done bad things”, but who are nevertheless far less morally tainted than the slick corporate figures who pull the strings. As in earlier novels like Who is Conrad Hirst?, Wignall is writing within the traditions of espionage fiction, but his recurrent focus is on the iconic figure of the hitman and on the morality of such a figure – a killer, but one who is carefully distinguished both from the political manipulator and from the torturer (he neither schemes behind the scenes nor involves himself in interrogation). He is also a man who is constantly thoughtful about the personal and moral implications of the position in which he has placed himself.

The human isolation of the hitman is one of Wignall’s strongest themes. Dan Hendricks is a man who has inflicted and suffered loss. He has reconciled himself to the absence of children and family ties, separating himself in essential ways from the human community. The hitman’s resolution to protect others by absenting himself is not, however, without huge inner cost, and Wignall establishes a sense of intense conflict between the desire for attachments and the recognition that you can keep loved ones safe only by denying yourself any close connection with them.

A Death in Sweden immerses its readers in the violence and danger of the hitman’s life. Dan has skills that give him an edge, but so do his opponents, placing him in almost constant peril. Wignall offers us pacy action and some wonderfully cinematic sequences of flight and pursuit. One of the most striking is a solo assault on a well-guarded house in the dark as snow falls rapidly, with his enemies using thermal cameras to guide their fire, anticipating what his next move will be: “He had no choice but to make that move, though—all he could do was play it fast.” The whole of this utterly absorbing novel “plays it fast”. As we follow the vicissitudes of Dan’s hazardous life, Wignall’s vivid scenes and crisp, economical prose keep us in suspense throughout.

Honestly i didnt think i would like this book. The twists in this story is really really good especially uncovering who Jacques is. For me at least and i enjoyed everything and at some point i do doubt inger but Dan was WOW! Its a book that i would read again!