A good rule of thumb is that if a publisher bothers to translate a Swedish crime novel into English, it’s usually a winner. That is certainly the case with Quick Sand. It’s so good it makes me salivate. There are six people in the classroom in the opening sequence: eighteen year old Maja Norberg is the only one who hasn’t been shot. The police swiftly take her into custody and the action cuts between the trial and her memories of what went before. Maja is a compelling character – she calls everyone on their bullshit, even herself. Her relationship with the damaged, ultra rich Sebastian takes her into territory where love, lust and abuse all intermingle. Ultimately her level of guilt is determined subjectively by the reader, not in the courtroom. Read it. It’s riveting.
