Mike Zetterberg lives with his wife Ylva and their daughter in a house just outside Helsingborg. One evening, Ylva isn’t home as expected after work. Mike passes it off as a drink with a work friend, but when she’s still missing the next day, he starts to worry. As Mike battles suspicion from the police and his own despair, he is unaware that Ylva is still alive, just a stone’s throw from his own home. Ylva has been drawn into a twisted plot of revenge and tragedy that leads back into her and her abductors’ shared past…

She's Never Coming Back - Hans Koppel

Hans Koppel is a new voice in the Swedish Thriller genre – in the UK at least – and if his first novel She’s Never Coming Back is anything to go by then I can say with a high degree of certainty that he’s going to be around for some time to come, this is a very polished performance.  Better known as children’s author Petter Lidbeck, Koppel has had four novels published in his native Sweden under this new pseudonym. She’s Never Coming Back is an intelligent and assured title that will have you gripped from start to finish, complete with a satisfying and unexpected twist to conclude this terrifying psychological tale and keep you on your toes.

One of the things I found utterly fascinating with this book – apart from a captivating and incredibly fluid narrative – was characterisation.  There are a number of intriguing characters in the book but the main protagonist – Mark Zetterberg – stands head and shoulders above everyone – certainly as far as his journey development goes – a journey I found incredibly palatable.

When we first meet Zetterberg he comes across as a relatively weak man, he’s forgiven his wife for an affair with a restauranter the previous year but he can’t shake her betrayal and constantly questions her whereabouts and actions. Ylva eventually gives him an ultimatum, shape up or ship out – he has no option – and given the fact he’d prefer to live with her duplicitous ways than live without her, he isn’t shown in the best light. However as the tale unfolds and time goes on he gains confidence – ironically from her disappearance – and he moves his life forward with the help of his daughter and mother. The book is as much about relationships as it is with murder and crime.

Victims are constantly given negative feedback and brainwashed into believing that they lack human worth. The woman is scorned and denigrated, told that she is disgusting, a dirty whore, and told her body is only good for one thing. By means of verbal and physical abuse, the victim is robbed of the right to her own thoughts and body.

Sanna, his daughter, is an amazing character and another eight year old in literary circles who appears to be older and wiser than her years in many ways. She is utterly moreish and I loved her attitude, her personality and the way Koppel has portrayed her, questioning everything and anything in her small little world.  She adapts incredibly quickly to her mother’s departure and like her father she settles down to a life without a mother figure.

The story itself is imaginative and well delivered, Koppel cranking up the terror with each passing chapter. We soon discover the reason behind Ylva’s kidnapping and confinement in a purpose built studio apartment in the cellar. It’s pretty brutal stuff, and certainly not for the fainthearted, Koppel pulling no punches as far as a graphical and descriptive narrative is concerned. There are a number of scenes depicting sexual assault that leave very little to the imagination but I never once felt they were included purely at the whim and pleasure of the author, they were necessary to portray Ylva’s dreadful plight and to develop the story.

As I mentioned at the top of the review the ending surprised me – totally un-expected – and although your attitude to certain characters may change throughout the book, it’s refreshing to see and read an author who isn’t afraid to shake things up a little. A rapid and fluent read, very well translated from Swedish to English, I read the book in two fairly lengthy – but somehow short -sittings, and I’m still not sure where the time went!  I can’t wait for the next title to be released!

Published by Sphere She’s Never Coming Back is available in paperback and Kindle formats.