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Title: The Believer
Subtitle: A Novel
Author: Joakim Zander, Elizabeth Clark Wessel
Narrator: Assaf Cohen, Hillary Huber
Format: Unabridged
Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
Language: English
Release date: 01-17-17
Publisher: HarperAudio
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 7 votes
Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Espionage
Publisher's Summary:
An intricately plotted and brilliantly conceived stand-alone sequel to the international best seller The Swimmer that turns the hottest political topics of our times into a complex, resonant thriller in the vein of John le Carré.
Yasmine Ajam has fled her past in the rough Stockholm borough of Bergort, reinventing herself as a trendspotter in New York City. One day she receives a startling message: There are riots erupting on the streets of Stockholm, and they appear to be connected with the disappearance of her brother, Fadi.
Following rumors that Fadi was radicalized and died fighting for ISIS in Syria, Yasmine returns to Stockholm to discover what really happened to her brother. There she becomes entangled in a dangerous web of allegiances and violence that stretches far beyond the gangs on her childhood streets.
Meanwhile, in London, Klara Walldéen has landed a job at a human rights research institute working on a report to predict the effects of privatizing police forces. When Klara travels to Stockholm to present her findings to European Union policymakers, her laptop is stolen, and one of her colleagues is pushed in front of an oncoming subway train. As her path collides with Yasmine's, Klara begins to realize that she may unwittingly be contributing to the sinister agendas of powerful interests who will stop at nothing to attain their goals.
With The Believer, Joakim Zander delivers another novel of suspense that is as sophisticated and timely as it is compelling.
Members Reviews:
Five Stars
High Action, with interesting, believable characters. I appreciate strong female characters that are complex.
Four Stars
very interesting book, deals with relevant, current social issues
Dangerous Webs of Deceit
As a fan of Joakim Zander's first book, 'The Swimmer', I looked forward to this new novel. The Swimmer was more of a spy novel, and that is what I hoped for in this book. 'The Believer' has some, very little, of the spy novel but it is mixed in with three stories told by three different characters.
We meet Fadi a young Swede, who tells us his story of his upbringing with his sister, Yasmine. A tough life for both of them,and Yasmine is lucky enough to escape Bergort, Sweden with another artist, David for New York. Things go south, David becomes involved in drugs, and, though Yasmine feels beholden, she is strong enough to leave. She has inadvertently taken a job as an art consultant who finds other young artists at a company's request. Yasmine receives a text that her brother, Fadi, has died as a result of his recruitment into the ISIS in Syria. And, then she finds he may be alive. She lands a job that brings her to Stockholm, and she begins a search for her brother.
At the same time we are re-introduced to Kara Waldeen. We met her in the first book, The Swimmer. She has a new job as a researcher in a human rights institute. This new job brings her to Stockholm where she crosses paths with Yasmine. Several events take place that bring them together. The mystery of how and why they meet, the mystery of Fadi, is he dead or alive, are the crux of this novel.
I found it took me half of this book to comprehend all of the characters and how they interact. The three antagonists tell their own story. The plot line does not run smoothly. This did turn out to be a wildly fascinating book.