A far-north Scandi-horror novel about a young woman and the curse that haunts her family, Trolls is once again perfect reading for fans of Stephen King and John Ajvide Lindqvist.
Set ten years on from his hit novel Stallo, author Stefan Spjut revisits the world of Susso Myren, as her life once again threatens to be turned inside out.
When an unusually large wolf is caught on the wrong side of the Swedish border a specialist team is sent to transport it back to Finland, but the team never arrives. Susso, meanwhile, a recluse after the traumatic events of a decade earlier, is drawn out of her self-imposed isolation when the mysterious cult leader, Lennart Brosth, escapes from the psychiatric ward where he was being held. What if these two events are linked, and what if the monsters are back?
About the Author
Stefan Spjut (b. 1973) has worked as a literary critic and culture editor. Stallo, his English language debut in 2015, has been published in fifteen territories to date. He lives in Stockholm and has two children, a girl and a boy. He holds a black belt in taekwondo and considers himself a reprobate MMA-junkie.
Industry Reviews
"It's in the moments of dissonance, where the narrative pitches headlong into the uncanny, that Spjut makes the gulf between the crime-fiction and the supernatural elements of his novel click. For large chunks of the narrative, Trolls is a straightforward narrative involving a kidnapping, an escaped cult leader, and questions of trust among two generations of the novel's heroes. But the very matter-of-fact way that he presents this makes the novel's forays into irrationality that much more compelling. It creates a sense that the supernatural is operating under different laws than those which govern its human characters--and it makes it all the more unsettling when they arise, seemingly out of nowhere. When Spjut embraces the irrational menace summoned up by this narrative, he creates a powerfully surreal sensation that's hard to shake. Trolls abounds with visceral moments: one character loses an eye, another two have a tense conversation beside a steep cliff, and the aforementioned squirrel reveals a taste for human spit. While the narrative can sometimes feel overly complex, there are numerous moments of raw power to be found here, and some wry humor as well." -- Tor.com
"Stefan Spjut, by dint of keeping his supernatural elements shadowy, his focus on the wrenching human drama and suspense elements at the fore, and by working in elements of dark, off-kilter humor throughout, has actually created something Lynchian. Trolls feels eerie, even when there's nothing supernatural going on...This isn't a book about nasty people doing horrible things, it's about dealing with the aftermath of horrible things happening...Trolls is excellent...dark and forbidding as the forests in which it's set. Stefan Spjut is incredible at building some absolutely wrenching psychological stakes, and when the cathartic moments finally come, they're every bit as hard-hitting as the buildup." -- StrangeLibrary
"Although this one must have been in development long before the release of the summer's surprise folk horror hit Midsommar, there couldn't be a better time for a book about Scandinavian horrors to be released. I can't wait to read this tale of wolves, forests, cults, and of course, trolls! (the good kind, not the internet kind)." -- CrimeReads
