Product Description

When Eva discovers her husband has been having an affair, her grief and rage drive her into vengeful action. Then she meets Jonas, who for the past two years has been keeping vigil beside his comatose girlfriend. Burdened with his own sinister history, he sees a chance to start afresh with Eva...Reminiscent of the work of Patricia Highsmith and Henning Mankell, "Betrayal" exposes the pain of deception and how our own destructive behaviour can lead to consequences far beyond our control.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #459588 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
"'This dark psychological novel is reminiscent of Ruth Rendell at her best' HERALD 'Relentless and frightening' GUARDIAN 'A compulsive thriller' METRO 'Alvtegen keeps up a cracking pace' UNCUT"

About the Author
KARIN ALVTEGEN is regarded as one of the most exciting crime writers in Scandinavia. Her second novel Missing, was awarded the premier Scandinavian crime writing award and is being made into a TV series. Betrayal, which has already been published in ten countries, and her next novel, Shame, will be published by Canongate in Autumn 2006. She lives in Stockholm.

Customer Reviews

Betrayal, Karin Alvtegen
Excellent book. Even better than last year's "Missing", which I read during a binge of Scandinavian crime writing. Alvtegen's possibly the brightest young talent in Europe (that we've been treated to by translation, anyway - it's clear that the mine is deep and rich, so let's hope there are more to come too!). Betrayal is an excellent crime novel, very much in the vein in Ruth Rendell. Certainly, Rendell fans will see that creepy Jonas could easily have slipped from the pages of one of her novels. Alvtegen treats the theme or normal people becoming endangered by the delusional few around them with sensitivity and ease. Her writing is flowing and perceptive, her plotting is excellent: the way the lives of the two characters gradually bump together a bit then crash into each other is handled superbly (again in a way reminiscent of Rendell).
Buy this book. You won't be disappointed.

Betrayal, Karin Alvtegen
Excellent book. Even better than last year's "Missing", which I read during a binge of Scandinavian crime writing. Alvtegen's possibly the brightest young talent in Europe (that we've been treated to by translation, anyway - it's clear that the mine is deep and rich, so let's hope there are more to come too!). Betrayal is an excellent crime novel, very much in the vein in Ruth Rendell. Certainly, Rendell fans will see that creepy Jonas could easily have slipped from the pages of one of her novels. Alvtegen treats the theme or normal people becoming endangered by the delusional few around them with sensitivity and ease. Her writing is flowing and perceptive, her plotting is excellent: the way the lives of the two characters gradually bump together a bit then crash into each other is handled superbly (again in a way reminiscent of Rendell).
Buy this book. You won't be disappointed.

Compassionate and creepy
Karin Alvtegen impressed previously with Missing and with Shame. This book lies somewhere between the two.

Alvtegen's strongest characters are women - even when they are falling apart. There is a profound sense of empathy for the woman whose life spirals away from her, usually because of some genuine, or misguided, sense of duty and integrity. Such is the case with Eva, the main character here. As with Shame, it is the heat-of-the-moment decision, which seems so reasonable or justifiable, which kicks off a maelstrom of problems.

For my money her male characters are less successful, but this book hangs together well. Jonas is genuinely creepy, in a way that we've all seen in someone at some point in our lives.

Above your average thriller, for me Alvtegen is far more readable than Ruth Rendell's often turgid prose.