The Shapeshifters: A Novel

Read The Shapeshifters: A Novel Storyline:

This tale of missing children and mythic monsters is “a fantastic novel in every sense of the word” (Karl Ove Knausgård ).

Summer 1978. A young boy disappears without a trace from a summer cabin. His mother claims he was carried away by a giant. He is never found.

Twenty-five years later, another child goes missing. This time there’s a lead, a single photograph taken by Susso Myrén. She’s devoted her life to the search for trolls, legendary giants known as stallo who can control human thoughts and assume animal form. Convinced that the fabled beasts are real, she follows the trail of missing children to northern Sweden. But humans, some part stallo themselves, have been watching over the creatures for generations, and this hidden society of protectors won’t hesitate to close its deadly ranks.

Mixing folklore and history, suspense and the supernatural, The Shapeshifters is an extraordinary journey into a frozen land where myth bleeds into reality.

“Spjut has accomplished the masterstroke of writing convincingly about the existence of trolls and other mythical creatures in the Nordic forests . . . all this unfolds in a language that captures the everyday reality we know so well, with such precision and exquisite style that the words seem to sparkle on the page.” —Karl Ove Knausgård, author of My Struggle

“A fun, cunning crime thriller . . . If you enjoy the novels of Michael Koryta or Tana French’s The Secret Place  . . . you might eat up The Shapeshifters.” — Chicago Tribune

“Spjut turns Scandinavian mythology upside down in a shades-of-gray world built for lovers of fantastical suspense.” — Publishers Weekly
 
**ReviewAn On-the-Watch-for Summer Read from the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch "A fun, cunning crime thriller...If you enjoy the novels of Michael Koryta or Tana French's The Secret Place...you might eat up The Shapeshifters."
— Chicago Tribune “A fantastic novel in every sense of the word…not only because Spjut has accomplished the masterstroke of writing convincingly about the existence of trolls and other mythical creatures in the Nordic forests, but also because all this unfolds in a language that captures the everyday reality we know so well, with such precision and exquisite style that the words seem to sparkle on the page.”
—Karl Ove Knausgård “Spjut turns Scandinavian mythology upside down in a shades-of-gray world built for lovers of fantastical suspense.”
— Publishers Weekly "This spooky novel is great for open-minded mystery/thriller readers who enjoy a bit of genre blending as well as fantasy fans."
— Library JournalAn On-the-Watch-for Summer Read from the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch
( Saint Louis Post-Dispatch ) "A fun, cunning crime thriller...If you enjoy the novels of Michael Koryta or Tana French's The Secret Place...you might eat up The Shapeshifters."
( Chicago Tribune ) “A fantastic novel in every sense of the word…not only because Spjut has accomplished the masterstroke of writing convincingly about the existence of trolls and other mythical creatures in the Nordic forests, but also because all this unfolds in a language that captures the everyday reality we know so well, with such precision and exquisite style that the words seem to sparkle on the page.”
( Karl Ove Knausgård ) “Spjut turns Scandinavian mythology upside down in a shades-of-gray world built for lovers of fantastical suspense.”
( Publishers Weekly ) "This spooky novel is great for open-minded mystery/thriller readers who enjoy a bit of genre blending as well as fantasy fans."
( Library Journal ) From the Back Cover











“A fantastic novel in every sense of the word…not only because Spjut has accomplished the masterstroke of writing convincingly about the existence of trolls and other mythical creatures in the Nordic forests, but also because all this unfolds in a language that captures the everyday reality we know so well, with such precision and exquisite style that the words seem to sparkle on the page.”
—Karl Ove Knausgård

Summer 1978. A young boy disappears without a trace from a summer cabin. His mother claims he was carried away by a giant. He is never found.

Twenty-five years later, another child goes missing. This time there’s a lead, a single photograph taken by Susso Myrén. She’s devoted her life to the search for trolls, legendary giants known as stallo who can control human thoughts and assume animal form. Convinced that the trolls are real, she follows the trail of missing children to northern Sweden. But humans, some part stallo themselves, have been watching over the creatures for generations, and this hidden society of protectors won’t hesitate to close its deadly ranks.
Mixing folklore and history, suspense and the supernatural, The Shapeshifters is an extraordinary journey into a frozen land where myth bleeds into reality.

“Spjut turns Scandinavian mythology upside down in a shades-of-gray world built for lovers of fantastical suspense.” — Publishers Weekly

Stefan Spjut was raised on the rural islands of Mälaren. He served with the Lapland Ranger Regiment and studied art, literature, philosophy, and journalism at Stockholm University. He lives in Stockholm with his two children.