3.5★
Trouble in Sweden? Immigrant jihadists? And wait till you learn why. (I'll never tell!)

I was reading this at exactly the same time President Trump was warning the US of the terrible problems Sweden was supposedly having with immigrants, although he didn’t elaborate. (That would have been interesting, especially when . . . but I’m getting ahead of myself and don’t want to spoil the story.)

It’s my fault for not knowing that Klara Waldeen was a character from Zander’s previous book, The Swimmer. When I requested a preview copy, it was presented as a stand-alone, and indeed, it can be, as long as you realise why there is a parallel storyline. I had trouble following it because I found the changing timelines, storylines, and locations confusing and wondered what the heck some of these people had to do with anything. Eventually, the loose ends are tied up – full credit for that.

Fadi tells his chapters in the first person, often addressing “you”, his beloved older sister, Yasmine. They were Syrian children who grew up in Sweden with strict parents (we hear of abuse later).

“Their old-fashioned, black dress pants, shawls, and jewelry. How could that be enough? We’ve known this from the first day. How could it escape them? We’re foreigners here. And we will never be more than the sum of our limitations. For people like us it’s never enough to do our best.”

His parents also make up Arabic homework, saying the Swedish work is too easy. But really, it’s because “they can hear us drifting away from it, drifting away from them, whispering, creeping. . . They can hear us croaking, almost singing. They can see our wings sprouting.”

Fadi and Yasmine have only each other. Then he sneaks into Pirate Tapes (NOT a place you should steal from!), using his sister’s door code, and steals equipment. So of course she’s the one who has to flee to escape reprisals, leaving Fadi alone and exposed to everyone who knows he was the one stupid enough to do it.

Yasmine goes to New York, cutting herself off from Fadi and her past, and we follow her there for a while. Several chapters later, we are introduced to Klara Waldeen, who, as I said was a surprise to me. She’s working for someone with something to do with an upcoming EU conference, and she’s getting suspicious about possible skulduggery.

Then back to Fadi, the poor lost soul who looks to God for companionship, beginning to pray and take on a more Muslim look. He tries to believe, but can’t. Adopted by some other seemingly disaffected Muslim youth, eventually, as his parents feared, he leaves the nest to strike out on his own, angry and bitter.

“Then my black wings unfurl, lifting up through the rain and the light of the streetlamps lifting up over the empty parking lots and satellite dishes, up above all that asphalt and concrete. gone.”

Yasmine is surprised to get an email (!) from her mother with a photograph of someone that looks like Fadi, back in their hometown, but when she returns, she doesn’t know whom to trust, and neither do we! Zander doesn’t make this easy!

Meanwhile, Klara begins investigating strange goings-on in her area of interest and puts herself very much in harm’s way. Plenty of nasty people.

As I say, the stories are eventually brought together, but I admit to getting lost. They are told in back and forth order (they skip around from 2004 to 2000 to 2011 to 2015, etc.), moving between three sets of characters and three main countries.

As it wraps up, I very much enjoyed the irony of the reveal, considering, as I said, that I read this during the week that Trump was making it sound as if Fadi’s story was typical of Swedish problems.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the preview copy from which I've quoted, so some quotes may have changed.