The Writing in the Water is John Ajvide Lindqvist's tenth novel and his first pure crime novel. It's also the first part of the trilogy The Bloodstorm. The Writing in the Water releases on October 19 and has its review day on November 2.
John Ajvide Lindqvist:
”The Writing in the Water was originally written to be the seventh book in the Millennium series. When it was finished it was handed back and forth between Swedish and foreign publishers for eighteen months. In the end, the answer was nevertheless no.
I was personally very fond of the story, so I made up two new main characters and rewrote the story from the ground up, only keeping the central intrigue. So now here it is, the book that didn't become Millennium.”
About The Writing in the Water:
It's Midsummer's Eve and the table on the pier is set with the festive porcelain. The Chinese and French guests of businessman Olof Helander are here. Now it's time for some partying, in the most Swedish way possible. But then an open boat glides up to the pier. Two masked men rise from the boat. Half a minute later, the Midsummer idyll has been transformed into a bloodbath. This is how the book opens. Soon the investigation of the "Midsummer Massacre" begins, at which point a twisting thriller novel gets going.
Pelle Andersson, publisher:
”It was with some amount of worry that I received the manuscript. I thought that John doesn't necessarily have to be good at this too: to write an action-packed international thriller with global political consequences. But it soon turned out that The Writing in the Water - despite the absence of zombies, mylings, ghosts and other creatures - is a typical Ajvide novel. Because that which John is a master of - creating characters you want to live alongside - is of course here as well. It is also, as it should be with John, a book about friendship, love, and what childhood does to us as adults. I am deeply impressed.”
JAL originally mentioned this book in Seasons greetings 13, followed by a teaser and sample of the first chapter in June. The fact that it's releasing so soon is quite the happy surprise, considering that, in the Seasons greetings post, JAL thought it'd only be out in 2023.
