THE NO. 1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR
30 MILLION BOOKS SOLD
WINNER OF THE GLASS KEY AWARD

In the heart-pounding eighth instalment of the No.1 bestselling Department Q series, a terrifying international investigation reveals the complex backstory of one of the department’s own – the enigmatic Assad.

The newspaper refers to the dead body only as Victim 2117 – the two thousand, one hundred and seventeenth refugee to die in the Mediterranean Sea.

But to three people, the victim is so much more, and the death sets off a chain of events that throws Department Q, Copenhagen’s cold cases division led by Detective Carl Mrck, into a deeply dangerous – and deeply personal – case: a case that not only reveals dark secrets about the past, but has deadly implications for the future.

For a troubled Danish teen, the death of Victim 2117 becomes a symbol of everything he resents and is the perfect excuse to unleash his murderous impulses. For Ghallib, a brutal tormentor from the notorious prison Abu Ghraib, the death of Victim 2117 was the first step in a terrorist plot, years in the making. And for Department Q’s Assad, Victim 2117 is a link to his buried past and to the family he assumed was long dead.

Praise for Jussi Adler-Olsen’s Department Q series:

‘Everything you could possibly want from a thriller and much, much more’ Kirkus

‘So engrossing’ 5* reader review

‘Adler-Olsen is the new “it” boy of Nordic Noir’ The Times

‘The best author around’ 5* reader review

‘Engrossing’ Sunday Express

‘Left me wanting more’ 5* reader review

‘Gripping storytelling’ Guardian

‘Another gripping read from Jussi Adler-Olsen!’ 5* reader review

‘As impressive as it is unnerving’ Independent