by Viveca Sten
If she wasn’t already dead, like her brother and Cronwall and the others, she soon would be.
There was nothing more he could do. It was too late.
He was overwhelmed by sorrow at the thought of all those who had already died, and his own inability to save them. All the blood that had been spilled unnecessarily.
How was he going to find the strength to go on after this?
Thomas sank down on the wet rock and pressed his fist against his mouth to stop himself from weeping. It didn’t work; a lump formed in his throat, and he began to sob. The tears washed over him like the waves rolling ashore far below, and in the end, he simply gave in.
KORSÖ
The island of Korsö lies by the central shipping lane into Stockholm, just off Sandön, better known as Sandhamn.
During the 1930s, the government wanted to be able to block the shipping lanes in the event of an invasion, and therefore the construction of a robust defense battery was begun on the island. As in most other cases in the archipelago, the Coastal Artillery had to make do with old maritime cannons. Those on Korsö originally came from the warships Wasa and Göte.
The Coastal Artillery and later the 2nd Amphibious Battalion were stationed on Korsö from the Second World War until the midnineties. Every spring, the men relocated from Rindö to Korsö, and they didn’t return until the end of August.
In 1995, the battery was stripped of its ammunition, and since then, it has fallen into a deep slumber, like Sleeping Beauty. During the fall of 2008, all permanent artillery installations on Korsö were decommissioned. The fortifications were demolished, the guns were broken up for scrap metal, and the tunnels were filled in.
Nothing remained of the archipelago’s main defensive battery but crushed stone.
To this day, no one is allowed to go ashore on the island.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The brooding outline of Korsö Tower looms up beyond Sandhamn. As a child, I would gaze at its dark shape and wonder what was hidden there. I never found out, because it was and remains forbidden territory, but as an adult, I recalled the soldiers paddling by in their canoes all those years ago—without making a sound, in full combat gear, their faces covered in camouflage paint.
And that was where this story began.
The Coastal Rangers are surrounded by a kind of mythology. Their dedication and esprit de corps is impressive, and it has been fascinating to read and hear their stories during my research. If we are ever invaded by a foreign power, I cannot imagine a better fighting force to defend us.
I must stress that this entire narrative is my invention, and that all the characters spring from my imagination. However, the incidents, punishments, or “rewards” described in Jan-Erik Fredell’s diary are based on actual events recounted in at least one of the following books: Jag ska bli kustjägare by C. M. Jönsson, Man eller monster by Mats Jacobson, Kustjägarna 50 år—ett sekel i verksamhet by the Society of Coastal Rangers’ Veterans, and Sjölunds gossar by Jan Håkan Dahlström.
I am grateful to many people for answering all my questions: Detective Inspector Sonny Björk from the National Crime Unit; Detective Inspector Rolf Hansson from the Nacka police; Claes Ling-Vannérus, acting team leader with the maritime police; Hans-Jochen Seifert, former company commander with the Coastal Rangers; along with former Coastal Ranger Mikael Hansson and maritime police officers Thomas Eriksson and Patrik Enblad.
Special thanks to my good friend Per Westerberg, a reserve officer with the Amphibious Corps, for all his assistance on military matters.
I also want to thank my family, friends, and colleagues who have read the manuscript and shared their opinions during the journey: Lisbeth Bergstedt, Tord Bergstedt, Anette Brifalk, Helen Duphorn, Gunilla Pettersson, Göran Sällqvist, Katarina Bodén, and Camilla Sten.
Once again, my heartfelt thanks to my publisher, Karin Linge Nordh, and my editor, John Häggblom, who have worked on this novel with such commitment.
Warm thanks also to Emma Tibblin and Poa Strömberg, my brilliant agents at Stilton Literary Agency.
I take full responsibility for any errors which may have arisen, not least if I have misunderstood something relating to the work of the Coastal Rangers, in spite of my enormous efforts to get everything right. I have, however, simplified certain military procedures and titles for the sake of the narrative.
As usual, my wonderful children, Camilla, Alexander, and Leo, have had to put up with a seriously distracted mother occasionally, although this time I did try to do most of my writing in the mornings while you were still sleeping!
You know I love you more than anything in the world.
Lennart, you’re the best. In every way. Congratulations on our bronze wedding anniversary!
Sandhamn, February 2011
Viveca Sten
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2016
Since 2008, Swedish writer Viveca Sten has sold almost four million copies of her Sandhamn Murders series, which includes Still Waters, Closed Circles, Guiltless, Tonight You’re Dead, In the Heat of the Moment, In Harm’s Way, and The Price of Power. Published in 2014 and hugely successful, The Price of Power, Sten’s seventh novel, cemented her place as one of the country’s most popular authors, one whose crime novels continue to top bestseller charts. Set on the tiny Swedish island of Sandhamn, the series has also been made into a Swedish-language TV miniseries seen by thirty million viewers around the world. Sten lives in Stockholm with her husband and three children, yet she prefers spending her time in Sandhamn, where she writes and vacations with her family. Follow her at www.vivecasten.com.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
Marlaine Delargy is based in Shropshire in the United Kingdom. She studied Swedish and German at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and taught German for almost twenty years. She has translated novels by authors including Åsa Larsson, Kristina Ohlsson, Helene Tursten, John Ajvide Lindqvist, Therese Bohman, Ninni Holmqvist, and Johan Theorin, with whom she won the Crime Writers’ Association International Dagger for The Darkest Room in 2010.
