Hostage

AFTERWORD

Hostage is a work of fiction.

Shall I just repeat that so that everyone feels safe?

The book you have just read is fiction. As far as I know, it bears no resemblance to actual circumstances. If it does, this is completely unintentional. I usually say that I write primarily to entertain my readers, and that is the case here too. If I decide to do anything else, I will let my readers know.

However…

In January 2011, I moved to Vienna, to take up a post as senior terrorism analyst with OSCE, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, only weeks after a suicide bomber had blown himself up on Bryggargatan in Stockholm, and only months after returning from my posting to Baghdad. I couldn’t let developments in the outside world pass Fredrika Bergman by. Just for once, she had to get involved in a case that touched on one of my more professional interests. I also felt that after The Disappeared, I needed to give her and Alex a new kind of challenge, and therefore, I decided to write a book that differs from my earlier novels in a number of ways.

Besides, it was only a question of time before the urge grew too strong for me: the urge to write a book linked to one of the two places in the world that I love and find fascinating, namely the USA. It is a country to love, and sometimes to question. A true friend cannot be uncritical. Even an author who writes with the aim of entertaining the reader has the right to spice up her work with important dilemmas and problems that the reader will hopefully consider afterwards.

My books usually write themselves, and that was also the case on this occasion. I made use of all the sources around me. Sweden, after experiencing its first suicide bomber. The world after 9/11. One of the questions raised after the terrorist attack in Stockholm echoed in my mind for a long time: ‘The guy was on Facebook and wrote about his views there. So why didn’t anyone notice?’ I was astonished. Did people really think that the Swedish authorities had nothing better to do than sit and read everything that’s written on Facebook? Didn’t they realise what the consequences of such an approach would be? And didn’t they realise how many people express various kinds of frustration and sometimes pure hatred through social media, both in Sweden and abroad? Are we to bring in all these individuals for questioning, interrogate them about their visions and plans? Do we fine them? And if so, by exactly how many thousand per cent would the forces of law and order need to be increased?

I am often asked how much time I spend on research, and when it comes to this book the answer is: many, many hours. Given my background, it was very important to me that the context in the novel could be perceived as factual, and could also be found in sources that are accessible to all. For example, it is no secret that the USA has, and has had, so-called ‘secret’ detention centres in other countries, and it is no secret that Sweden has laws that mean that a person’s permanent residence permit can be revoked under certain circumstances. However, both Tennyson Cottage and Zakaria Khelifi are products of my own imagination. Even someone who has worked in security policy for several years has the right to make up stories.

And terrorism is a productive subject, if you want to write exciting books. That may be crass, but it’s true. Having a vivid imagination and a never-ending desire to tell a story is also a great help, of course. To a certain extent, I had great fun writing Hostage. You have to love Eden Lundell, don’t you? She became such a delicious part of my literary excursion to my former workplace, the Swedish Security Service (Säpo). Many crime writers before me have tossed Säpo into the mix, and many will do so in the future. I don’t know what makes it so difficult to do Säpo justice. I don’t know why it’s so hard to work out what they do and don’t do, what they’re allowed to do and what they’re not allowed to do. After ploughing through their home page in my quest for publicly available information, I discovered a wealth of interesting detail about what our country’s security service actually does. All you have to do is take a look. As I did.

One of my early readers was horrified by the ending of Hostage. The guilty parties, the terrorists, get away! But why should that be so surprising? It’s a cornerstone of our justice system that if there is reasonable doubt on the question of guilt, then it’s better to be safe than sorry. Which sometimes inevitably leads to the fact that those who are guilty will get away with what they have done. And who says the story is over when it comes to the hunt for Sofi Khelifi? All I have said is that I am letting her rest for the time being. While Eden Lundell lights another cigarette and wonders whether she really has got over Efraim, I will allow Sofi and Zakaria to bide their time and make plans for the future. They won the first round in their battle, and they might also win the next, but sooner or later even the most successful bad guys have to pay the price.