”Constant suspense and a powerful language!
Yukiko Duke, Tidningen VI
Brilliant! ”
Magnus Montelius
The Man from
Albania
– A story about a betrayal
Columbi Publishing, 341 pages
It is the autumn of 1990 and the iron curtain has nearly
completely crumbled. A man falls to his death from a hill
overlooking central Stockholm. He carries an Albanian
passport, but the Albanian authorities deny his very
existence. Three men turn up at the scene. One to carry
out a routine investigation, another is looking for a
story and a third seeks refuge from the rain. They will
all discover that the truth about the man from Albania
is much more complicated than it first appears. It traces
back to the political movements of the sixties, to a tightknit group of radical students who buried their past but
kept their loyalties as they advanced in their careers. At
the heart of the matter is a betrayal that one of them is
desperate to hide.
The Man from Albania is an espionage novel about
Sweden during the cold war and political movements in
the sixties and seventies. It is an intriguing and intelligent
page-turner. The book has been unanimously praised in
Swedish press as an exceptional debut.
© oskar Vallinder
“It is astoundingly good. […] constantly thrilling […][Montelius] skillfully depicts the great historical turns of the sixties and the seventies
through the individual persons’ lives and standpoints. They get to
be persons, not roughly carved types. […] Magnus Montelius keeps
his story tight all the way through and elegantly flips it upside down
several times. It is hard to believe that it is his first novel.”
Lotta Olsson, Dagens Nyheter
Magnus Montelius, born 1965,
won a crime short story competition in 2011 with An alibi for Señor
Banegas and another short story
competition in 2009 with Satellite
phone. The Man from Albania is
his first novel. Magnus Montelius is
an advisor on water and environmental management. He lived
for many years in Africa and Latin
America and worked extensively
in Eastern Europe and the former
Soviet republics. He now lives in
Stockholm.
“Magnificent. Magnus Montelius manages to take the spy novel
one step further. […] It is very skillfully described. A nice account
of the time period, a nice portrayal of the people. What makes it
particularly interesting as a novel, is the portrayal of the characters.
What are their motives? Why do they act the way they do? It is the
way in which he describes that, that makes this novel completely exceptional. It is a splendid novel and a splendid spy story. Rank: 5/5. Yukiko Duke, Swedish National TV
SWEDISH TITLE:
Mannen från Albanien
CATEGORY:
Fiction/Mystery & Thrillers
PUBLICATION:
2011 Autumn
Rights sold to:
German/Piper
Italian/Marsilio
French/Lattes
Danish/Modtryck
Finnish/WSOY
Dutch: Signatuure
Magdalena Hedlund
magdalena@hedlundagency.se
Mobile: +46 70-669 05 68
Box 2262 · 103 16 Stockholm · sweden
Visiting address: Tyska Brinken 19
www.hedlundagency.se
“The last days of the year bring
us a debutant who writes like an
out-and-out professional. […] a
constantly thrilling story about
people high up in the hierarchy,
doing whatever it takes for their
past not to be disclosed.”
Ingalill Mosander, Aftonbladet
“Montelius [has]
accomplished an
analytical thriller
which, in spite of that
fact, is very exciting.
[…] A very strong first
novel, I must say!”
Dast Magazine
“It has been a long time since I was as absorbed
by a thriller as I was by The Man from Albania,
and as impressed by a debutant’s style, language
and ability to tell a both important and fascinating
Gunilla Wedding, Skånska Dagbladet
story.”
“An absolutely sparkling first novel […] Intricate it
is. Very. And very intelligently written. […] Quite
simply brilliant, Magnus Montelius! I recommend
it strongly and cannot wait for Magnus Montelius’
next novel. A name to remember.”
Tidningen Kulturen
“A grand spy story in an impressive first novel.
[…] The first novel that Montelius offers us is both
grand and impressive. The plot […] is strong from
first to last page. The set of characters is magnificent and gives credibility to what is told.”
Vestmanlands Läns tidning
“A skilful description of the time, and Magnus
Montelius accomplishes something as unusual as a
thoughtful page-turner.”
Dagens Nyheter recommends
The Man from Albania as one of four thrillers
for Christmas – the only Swedish one.
“Credible spy thriller debut […]
Magnus Montelius first novel The
Man from Albania is a strange
book; spy novel and thriller at the
same time, in an unusually successful mix. […] More, please!”
Örnsköldsviks Allehanda
“The last thriller of the year also turned out to
be the best […] Magnus Montelius The Man from
Albania has got all the elements required from
a good thriller: an effortlessly fluent language,
interesting characters drawn using a confident
technique, a plot that is both thrilling and has a
Borås tidning
surprising twist.”
“It is the circumstances, the setting, the opinions
and the precisely depicted time period that make
his debut credible. And very thrilling.”
Nya Wermlandstidningen
Praise for the short story An alibi for
Señor Banegas.
“Magnus Montelius … succeeds all the way
through. He captures the reader immediately, and
produces a story that includes betrayal, infidelity,
international business, family quarrels, one accidental death and one planned. With an ending
you can only smile at and like. On 13 pages! I am
looking forward to see what he can accomplish if
he is given the space of a whole book.
Vestmanlands Läns tidning.
Magdalena Hedlund
magdalena@hedlundagency.se
Mobile: +46 70-669 05 68
Box 2262 · 103 16 Stockholm · sweden
Visiting address: Tyska Brinken 19
www.hedlundagency.se