"INTERNATIONAL GLOBE TROTTING SPY THRILLER DAZZLES"
Reviewed by Patricia (Pat) Pascale
Posted June 16, 2015
Suspense | Thriller
Swedish author Zoakim Zander hits the mark with his debut
novel, THE SWIMMER. I found it riveting and thrilling.
To
some of the established craftsmen in this genre, there is
a
"new kid on the block" and he is really good. I read this
book from cover to cover, the story introduced in many
layered scenarios while being told by the five major
characters.
Klara Waldeen was left on the doorstep of the Swedish
Embassy in Damascus when her mother was killed by a car
bomb. She was raised by her grandparents on her mother's
side on a wild, remote Swedish archipelago called Aspoja.
Upon graduating from college she accepted a position at
the
EU Capitol in Brussels as an aide to an ambitious Swedish
diplomat.
Mahmoud Shammosh, an ex-boyfriend of Klara's from college,
is in Brussels attending a conference. His former
colleague
contacts him offering very confidential information that
he
has collected. It includes photos of abuse by contractors
used by the US in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. When
they
meet , his collegue is shot and Mahmoud runs for his life.
He needs help and contacts Klara.
George Loow, a rising star as a lobbyist and lawyer in
the
firm of Merchant & Taylor likes to live the good life.
But when he is given a new client, George
gets involved over his head with some unscruplous men who
use some very personal information that could ruin
George's
career if he does not follow their orders.
THE SWIMMER is a CIA Field Operative that has been "put
out
to pasture" in a desk job in Washington, D.C. but
convinces
his boss to give him one last assignment. To save Karen
Waldeen's life and finish some unresolved business.
Gabriella, the youngest attorney at Lindblad and Winman,
is
BFF to Klara jumps in to help her friend when she
discovers Klara is being hunted by assassins, putting
herself in serious danger but that's what best friends do.
The descriptive locales in Brussels, Paris, Stockholm, and
especially the remote archipelagos were vivid and the
action
fast paced and thrilling. I look forward to the next
thriller from Mr. Zander as he has a new and loyal fan.
THE SWIMMER is a great read!
SUMMARY
A deep-cover CIA agent races across Europe to save the
daughter he never knew in this electrifying debut
thriller—an international sensation billed as
“Homeland meets Stieg Larsson” that heralds the
arrival of a new master sure to follow in the footsteps of
Stieg Larsson, John Le Carré, and Graham
Greene. In the end, you cannot hide who you
are. Klara Walldéen was raised by her
grandparents on a remote archipelago in the Baltic Sea,
learning to fish and hunt and sail a boat through a storm.
Now, as an EU Parliament aide in Brussels, she is learning
how to navigate the treacherous currents of international
politics: the lines between friend and enemy, truth and
lies. But Klara has accidentally seen something she
shouldn’t have: a laptop containing information so
sensitive
that someone will kill to keep hidden. Suddenly, she is
thrown into a terrifying chase across Europe, with no idea
who is hunting her or why. Meanwhile, in Virginia,
an
old spy hides from his past. Once, he was a man of action,
an operative so dedicated that he abandoned his infant
daughter to keep his cover. Now, he is the only man who
can
save Klara . . . and she is the only woman who can allow
him
to lay old ghosts to rest.
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