JOHN AJVIDE LINDQVIST has been hailed by the The Daily Mirror as the Swedish equivalent to Stephen King—a Nordic horror master who leaves his readers terrified, yet craving more. Born in 1968, he grew up in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg. Always drawn to the strange and the spectacular, he began his career as a magician (placing second in the Nordic Card Trick Championship!) before spending twelve years as a stand-up comedian. Eventually, he found his true calling: writing.

HE POSSESSES SOMETHING most of us lack—a seemingly limitless imagination and a fabulous language, something that tempts you to laugh in the middle of the darkness and create vivid new worlds. Something that makes you allow him to take you by the hand and lead you into the unknown.

FOR OVER TWENTY years he has written novels, stage plays and screenplays. His works have reached readers in over 25 territories and he has received numerous awards such as the Selma Lagerlöf Literary Prize, the GP Literary Award, and Best Novel in Translation (Norway). He has been shortlisted for the August Prize and the Swedish National Radio Literature Prize.

WHEN ASKED IF he enjoys fiction in translation, Stephen King replied in a New York Times interview on 4 June, 2015: ”…And of course the wonderful John Ajvide Lindqvist.”

BOOKS

Fiction