RAO N S A ENRDRE ADMNRAO S S ORM E RDRE D N A AS NOR andreas norman R ETLHLR IR I LHLTE R HRILLER
Andreas Norman made his debut as a poet, published by Albert Bonniers in 1996. Shortly after, he joined the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he worked in security issues, i.e. during the Arabic Spring and in Egypt, Syria and Tunisia, as well as being part of the CounterTerrorism Unit and working with terrorism prevention issues. He is now stationed at the Swedish Embassy in Vilnius. Into A Raging Blaze, published spring 2013, is his debut novel. A promising poet, who becomes a diplomat, who writes a thriller he s got the language, he s got the knowledge, he s got the story. It s a scintillating novel, both urgent and thoughtprovoking, and exploding with action. Gunnar Nirstedt, senior editor, Albert Bonniers Förlag
Into a Raging Blaze ALBERT BONNIERS FÖRLAG DREAS NORM Carina Dymek is a rising star in the Swedish Foreign Ministry. A bright future as a diplomat is laid out for her. During a business trip to Brussels, she is approached by a mysterious man who insists on giving her a USB memory stick. As it turns out, the stick contains a classified report outlining a new European counterterrorism agency. According to regulations, she passes the report on to her superiors _ and is the next day suspended and thrown out on the street. Infuriated by this injustice, she decides to clear her name by finding the man who gave her the report and uncover the truth. Bente Jensen, a senior officer at the Swedish Security Service, is in charge of investigating the case of Carina Dymek. She is immediately approached by the British MI6. They claim to have evidence that the young Swedish diplomat is acting on behalf of an islamist network. But the MI6 is far too insisting, and Bente Jensen suspects that Carina Dymek is only a pawn in a much larger game. Carina soon becomes aware that she is being targeted by a global organisation. Is it the British MI6? Or a terrorist network? And what role does Carina Dymek s Egyptian boyfriend Jamal play in all of this? Who is the hunter and who is being hunted? Into A Raging Blaze is an exciting and hightempo fusion of Le Carre and the Bourne films, written with a strong sense of drama and language.
An interview with Andreas Norman Since your debut as a poet in 1996, you ve written various works in different subjects. What drives you to explore the thriller genre? DREAS: It s true, I m a civil servant and this novel was written alongside my work as a Swedish diplomat. I didn t plan for Into a Raging Blaze to be a thriller when I started writing. After a few hundred pages I realized it had grown into exactly that; a political thriller. It proved to be the best form for the story I was trying to tell. The world of diplomacy and intelligence, from which I come and also describe, is closed, full of silences, secret agreements and power. It invites the drama of the thriller genre. I like books with a secret, that tease the imagination and lure the reader into another world. The Foreign Ministry, homeland security forces, and the British MI6 are precisely such worlds. You re known for your thoroughness in details. How important is research in your writing? DREAS: I am careful. Perhaps it s a scar left from working for the Foreign Services I want to have all my facts right. Into a Raging Blaze is a thriller written from within the system, I would say. I think research should give a story authenticity. Authenticity in the setting and characters, in how things work, is important for creating tension and a feeling of believability. I think most people are curious and fascinated to learn exactly what a working day at the Foreign Ministry is like, how contacts are made between the Swedish and British intelligence services when there is a terror threat, or how things are done in a meeting room in Brussels. It s about being specific, making things come to life. I did research by interviews, visiting the places where the story is set and by searching for source material information about things I didn t already know, in order to get the details right. Not everything got included, there were lots of facts I left out. Research gives me a feeling of safety when I write and develop a story, and I believe readers get a stronger reading experience. Which authors inspire you? DREAS: John le Carre and Graham Greene. Both authors have a beautiful, concise style and a talent for storytelling that connects in a deep way to human subjects alongside international politics. It s about being able to write about serious subjects in an entertaining and captivating way. That s what I hope to achieve with Into a Raging Blaze. Le Carre and Greene both shared the experience of working within the diplomatic and intelligence services and to write from inside, just as I do. Their work is inspirational. You ve explored a wide range of fields representing Sweden abroad. How come you ve chosen politics? DREAS: I ve always been engaged in international events. It was first awakened during the war in former Yugoslavia when I was a student. I have a strong urge to understand larger political questions. For me, politics is about people and power, about conflicts and often opposing visions of how society should look. It s a fascinating field,
: where strong feelings are met with the law, and bureaucracies with chaotic events. My work as a diplomat gives me access to people and situations I would never otherwise have encountered, naturally inspiring my writing. Working as a diplomat can be much less glamorous than others imagine, but sometimes I get a dizzy feeling when I realize I m right in the middle of a big event. Like taking part in the UN s work in Egypt and Tunisia during the Arab Spring, a very powerful experience. What distinguishes your story from real life? Does it depict correctly domestic and international politics? DREAS: Into a Raging Blaze is close to real life, if I dare to say so. Of course I have given myself freedom to invent certain things. But real life is breathtaking, so why not write as it is? I know about diplomacy and I want to describe intelligence work as it operates today: large organizations with thousands of employees and an enormous capacity to find the smallest detail about an individual out of the global traffic of information. It was important to keep my story close to real life, making it believable and tight. Tell us about Carina Dymek, why did you choose her as your main character? DREAS: She s a normal, capable person who happens to find herself pressed between competing global interests without understanding it, and is forced to handle extreme and dangerous situations. When I started writing the main character was a man, but the character continued to develop. Everything fell into place when I rewrote the text. Of course, a lot of her characteristics are mirroring myself and my experiences. At the same time, because she is a woman, she became more of her own person, she started to surprise me, a more rounded personality as a second generation immigrant, a woman in a male dominated environment and a woman in love. She sparked my curiosity, and I started liking her a lot. Andreas Norman s upcoming book Into a Raging Blaze, to be released by Albert Bonnier Forlag spring 2013, was sold on a preempt to Gyldendal in Norway only four hours after the Norwegian Editor, Siren Maroy, received the manuscript in her mailbox. I had some spare time in the morning and started to glance through the script. Before I knew it minutes had turned into hours. It was simply outstanding. I really don t think I ve read such an excellent Nordic novel in many years. It s apparent the author knows what he writes about, BUT most importantly he writes very well and knows how to excite the reader. Siren Marøy Gyldendal Norsk Forlag AS _
AO N S A ENRDRE ADMNRAO S S ORM E RDRE D N A AS NORM For more information please contact R ETL HLR IR IL HLTE Ragent Judith Toth att H R I L L E R judith.toth@bonniergroupagency.se HRILLER