This is the second international thriller by this author, who writes very well and creates exquisite female characters and remarkable plots. Well done. ( )

Really well-done, and very timely story arc. Zander is a strong writer with a good message ( )

Radical Islamic jihadists, not my favorite subject. But, as deplorable as I find this subject matter, this is a page turner! Mr. Sander does an excellent job of creating characters you'll find compelling, and the story is intriguing as well. This a tale all too terrifying in that it seems wholly plausible, seeing this spread across the front page of the news doesn't stretch one's imagination. ( )

The Brother – Stunning Suspense Thriller

Joakim Zander came to prominence with his knock out debut The Swimmer, which I thought was a stunning thriller and would take some beating, he has put that to be bed with ease. The Brother is the follow-up and is one of the best thrillers of the year, it will simply take your breath away and breathless at the end.

Zander has once again come up with a plot that is contemporary, without preaching at the reader, that is absorbing, thrilling and keeps you in suspense throughout. This is not a typical Scandi Noir thriller, this really is an international outlook in this book, that takes you to dark places without being dark.

Yasmine has promised she would always protect her little brother Fadi, but it is five years since she left Bergort, a suburb of Stockholm. Her new life in New York is not everything it seems but she is surviving, just, when she receives new that her brother has been killed out in Syria and she devastated. When she receives a message from her mother with a picture of Fadi, she is convinced he is still alive and she needs to get back to Stockholm and find him.

Accepting help, while supposedly working for a big agency in New York she is able to get back to Stockholm and find Fadi. What she finds is her old suburb suffering nightly riots, and Bergort is literally burning. Not everybody is pleased to see her back, especially as she gets messages to stop the search and go back to America.

What we get is a thriller where the story is narrated by both Yasmine and Fadi, as the picture builds so we can understand how things are and how they had come to pass. At the same time a different thread is built around Klara, a researcher based in London, but from Sweden, and her story intertwines with the books main narrative.

What the reader gets is an explosive story, a story of loss, jihad, Government Spy Agencies, and the people caught in the middle. As the story heads to its conclusion you really are not sure how this will end, for all three main characters, you hope for the best but fear the worst. This is an ambitious thriller that really does deliver on all levels and its breadth is wonderful and entertaining. The characters are believable and well written, and once again the research that has gone in to the writing of this book is really fantastic.

Read The Brother and the suspense will keep you breathless and entertained, a really stunning Swedish thriller. ( )