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We are very happy to launch our Fall 2024 Fiction Catalogue today – and to present the hottest titles for you!
View the Ahlback Agency Fall 2024 Catalogue here!
Crime & Thrillers
WOLF CUB (Vargens unge, Albert Bonniers, August 2024) by Johanna Holmström.
One day, a dirty and unfamiliar little boy stands in Seija’s tulip bed. Upon seeing his wide-open eyes, her motherly heart overflows, but the boy refuses to say a word–only a memory card is found in his mouth. Police Inspector Minna and her sidekick Timo are called, but no one has reported a missing child. Who is the boy and where does he come from?
When the photographer Gloria moves into a collective in the forest, she feels that she has found her home. She enjoys the freedom and companionship, blind to what is going on around her. And when the truth is finally revealed, it is too late for her to escape.
This relentless thriller is set in Kuhmo, northern Finland, in a wilderness as wonderfully beautiful as it is terrifying.
Publication on August 23rd by Albert Bonniers. All rights available (excl. Finland, Sweden).
THE LAST WORD (Sista ordet) by a new crime-writing duo, journalist Anne Hietanen and writer Michaela von Kügelgen.
During the Helsinki Book Fair, author David Berglund is found dead in the harbour – the same day he was set to receive a literary prize. His wife Aurora is almost due to have their first child, and the family idyll he always dreamed of would finally become a reality.
Philip Koski, a national hockey hero whose career was cut short by an injury, just joined the Helsinki Police Department and is assigned to the case. Philip struggles to cope with his new job, along with the fact people see him as nothing more than a has-been.
At the same time, cultural journalist Tilde Björkqvist digs into David’s story. She was the last person to interview him and encountered a man whose words of joy and gratitude did not match his desperate revelation. At work, Tilde struggles against antiquated hierarchies – why are they trying to stop her investigation of the young writer?
Meanwhile, Åsa Stråhle, head of the Bohre Foundation, is beside herself with grief. After years of trying to conceive, she is still childless. David and his twin brother Adam are the closest thing to a family she has, but she lost contact with Adam after he immersed himself in society’s dark underbelly. Åsa tries to keep up her façade while everything around her is falling apart.
All rights are available!
MILO (Merkitty, Tammi, September 2024) by New York Times Bestselling Author Max Seeck.
Milo, a 38-year-old art enthusiast, gallery owner and criminal profiler struggles with sexual frustration that are both the cause and consequence for his marital problems with his wife Ronja. A body of a young woman is found painted in all-white representing a piece of chess. The chief inspector receives an anonymous letter with a short message: Bxc6. This indicates a chess move and along the location where the body was found the investigators feel that more chess moves might be on the way.
Milo struggles to form a clear picture of the killer. He soon understands that in order to help the police force to catch the killer he needs to understand the game of chess better. As much as he hates it, he decides to face the ghost of the past: her mother’s former partner Stanislav who happens to be a European champion in chess…
MILO is a psychological suspense novel with surprising twists and interesting facts about the game of chess. It’s also a story of complex human relationships, sex and issues people are facing when they approach the middle-age. The novel also covers a lot of art and other cultural references, maintaining the erotic vibe that stems from Milo’s and Ronja’s sexual adventures.
Romantasy
DAUGHTER OF TWO BLOODS (Kahden veren tytär, Otava, August 2024) by S.K. Rostedt.
Remena is a land where humans and fae coexist, seemingly on equal terms. The elves who control magic live in their own territory in Keto under the authority of an elven ruler, even though the royalty of Remena is human. Since the fierce demons were banished to Tuoni at the end of the demon wars fought a thousand years ago, Remena has lived in peace… but the stirrings of danger loom on the horizon.
Moorna is a 21-year-old half-breed whose life as an escort to the capital’s aristocracy is harrowing. She wants to pay off her escort debt as quickly as possible and return home with her friend Malkra to live a life free from discrimination. When Moorna accidentally stumbles upon the annoyingly handsome fae, Caidas, she is torn from all that is familiar and safe, and quickly learns that nothing is as it seems.
All rights available!
EARTHBORN #1: DAUGHTER OF EARTH (Dotter av jord, WAPI Sweden) by Ann-Catrin Mattsson
The year is 1649, and war ravages Europe. In occupied Ireland, we meet Ailea, a young woman whose clairvoyance evokes both envy and fear. Compelled to seek refuge in Scotland with her family, Ailea’s path crosses with Magy Cullane, a sage woman with connections to the enigmatic Order. Thus does Ailea plunge into a realm of intrigue and millennia-old secrets.
Meanwhile, on the continent, in the Italian city of Bologna, the young hot-tempered soldier Roderic begins his military training at the war school. Guided by the charismatic master Muccio, Roderic is honed for battle, but is he truly prepared for the grim reality of war? After stumbling upon a mysterious necklace in the mountains, a fair-haired girl begins to haunt his dreams – Ailea. A timeless bond, stretching across centuries, unbreakable even by death.
In the distance, dark forces begin to stir, as a secret brotherhood known as the Black Knights seek a prophetess, a vessel of ancient blood, to fulfill their plans. Driven by an obsession to overthrow the throne and mold the world to their whims, they spare no means to achieve their goals. But what secrets lurk in the shadows, and what is their true plan for Ailea? Both Ailea and Roderic must confront their pasts and the menacing forces threatening to destroy all they hold dear.
. Rights sold to Sweden, audio & e-book rights sold in Denmark and Poland.
Literary Fiction
OUR LAST GAME (Viimeinen leikki, Otava, August 2024) by Riikka Pulkkinen.
Eelis says he’s going to the emergency room for dizziness, then disappears without a trace. His wife Mai is at wit’s end until a woman who knows Eelis appears at the door bearing memories of Eelis’s and her childhood–and the things that happened to them.
The two women’s road trip begins, leading to gas stations, the wedding suite of an airport hotel, and a hospital where children once played Love and Death at summer camps. Our Last Game is a wonderful novel about a person’s desire to find a cure not only for diseases but also for life.