Jussi Adler-Olsen, Denmark’s #1 crime novelist, is set to resume his internationally bestselling Department Q series with Victim 2117, which is currently slated to land in U.S. bookstores on March 2, 2020.
After first assembling the cast of Department Q, Copenhagen’s cold cases division led by Detective Carl Mørck, in his 2007 book The Keeper of Lost Causes, author Jussi Adler-Olsen has quickly grown his popular franchise to seven books—all of which have performed strongly on international bestsellers lists. The gang, however, hasn’t been seen in American bookstores since his well-received 2016 thriller The Scared Woman. Instead, Adler-Olsen published a standalone novel in 2018 titled The Washington Decree, which is currently his lowest-rated book (3.0/5) on Amazon.
While The Washington Decree may have missed the mark with U.S. readers, Jussi Adler-Olsen’s work still remains highly-anticipated, and it’s no stretch to say that Victim 2117—which follows the internal investigation of one of the department’s very own—is one of the more noteworthy 2020 crime thrillers already announced. See the full plot details below.
In the heart-pounding next installment of the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling Department Q series, a terrifying international investigation reveals the complex backstory of one of the department’s own—the enigmatic Assad.
The newspaper refers to her only as Victim 2117—the two thousand one hundred and seventeenth refugee to die in the Mediterranean Sea. But to three people, the unnamed victim is so much more, and her death sets off a chain of events that throws Department Q, Copenhagen’s cold cases division led by Detective Carl Mørck, into a deeply dangerous—and deeply personal—case: a case that not only reveals dark secrets about the past, but has deadly implications for the future.
For troubled Danish teen Alex, whose identity is hidden behind his computer screen, the death of Victim 2117 becomes a symbol of everything he resents and the perfect excuse to unleash his murderous impulses in real life. For Ghallib, one the most brutal tormentors from Abu Ghraib, Saddam Hussein’s infamous prison, murdering Victim 2117 was the first step in a terrorist plot years in the making. And for Department Q’s Assad, Victim 2117 is a link to his buried past—and a clue that the family he assumed was long dead may still be alive.
With the help of the Department Q squad–Carl, Rose, and Gordon–Assad must finally confront painful memories from his years in Syria and Afghanistan in order to hunt down Ghallib. But with the clock ticking down to Alex’s first kill and Ghallib’s devastating attack, the thinly spread Department Q will need to stay one step ahead of their most lethal adversary yet if they are to prevent the loss of thousands of innocent lives.
Jussi Adler-Olsen is Denmark’s #1 crime writer and a New York Times bestselling author. His books routinely top the bestseller lists in Europe and have sold more than twenty million copies around the world. His many prestigious Nordic crime-writing awards include the Glass Key Award, also won by Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbø, Stieg Larsson, and Peter Høeg.
Victim 2117 (published by Dutton), is now available for pre-order wherever books are sold.
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor and pens a monthly thriller column for CrimeReads. For more information, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He currently lives in Southwest Michigan with his wife and their six children.