Overview
Chilling, shocking and exceptionally gripping, Big Sister reaffirms Gunnar Staalesen as one of the world’s foremost thriller writers
Varg Veum receives a surprise visit in his office. A woman introduces herself as his half-sister, and she has a job for him. Her god-daughter, a 19-year-old trainee nurse from Haugesund, moved from her bedsit in Bergen two weeks ago. Since then no one has heard anything from her. She didn't leave an address. She doesn't answer her phone. And the police refuse to take her case seriously. Veum’s investigation uncovers a series of carefully covered-up crimes and pent-up hatreds, and the trail leads to a gang of extreme bikers on the hunt for a group of people whose dark deeds are hidden by the anonymity of the Internet. And then things get personal… Chilling, shocking and exceptionally gripping, Big Sister reaffirms Gunnar Staalesen as one of the world’s foremost thriller writers.
Reviews
"While many current Scandinavian mystery authors produce procedurals featuring world-weary and emotionally disturbed police detectives, Staalesen follows the hard-boiled PI tradition, as shown by the stunning 18th entry in his series starring Varg Veum (after 2015’s We Shall Inherit the Wind).”" —Publishers Weekly starred review of Where Roses Never Die
"Moving, uncompromising. . . . The plot, which contains multiple emotional gut punches, will satisfy fans who enjoy seeing noir themes play out in other countries." —Publishers Weekly on We Shall Inherit the Wind
"Mr. Staalesen’s latest—ably translated by Don Bartlett —employs Chandleresque similes with a Nordic twist.” —Wall Street Journal on Wolves in the Dark
"Stellar…Staalesen does a masterful job of exposing the worst of Norwegian society.” —Publishers Weekly starred review of Wolves in the Dark
"Gunnar Staalesen is one of my very favourite Scandinavian authors. Operating out of Bergen in Norway, his private eye, Varg Veum, is a complex but engaging anti-hero. Varg means 'wolf' in Norwegian, and this is a series with very sharp teeth." —Ian Rankin, author, Resurrection Men
"A Norwegian Chandler." —Jo Nesbo, author, The Bat
“Like Raymond Chandler, Staalesen creates intense emotion through dialogue and description, but his altogether Norwegian focus forces home a substantial social message: ignoring the past is inevitably tragic.” —Publishers Weekly
“a fiercely good crime novel…Well worth reading.” —New York Journal of Books
Author Biography
One of the fathers of the Nordic Noir genre, Gunnar Staalesen was born in Bergen, Norway in 1947. He made his debut at the age of twenty-two with Seasons of Innocence and in 1977 he published the first book in the Varg Veum series. He is the author of over twenty-three titles, which have been published in twenty-six countries and sold over five million copies. Twelve film adaptations of his Varg Veum crime novels have appeared since 2007, starring the popular Norwegian actor Trond Epsen Seim, and a further series is currently being filmed. Staalesen, who has won three Golden Pistols (including the Prize of Honour) and the Petrona Award, and been shortlisted for the CWA Dagger, lives in Bergen with his wife.