September 30, 2013
De la Motte makes his U.S. debut with the exciting first in a thriller trilogy. On a commuter train from Märsta, Sweden, to Stockholm, perpetually broke Henrik “HP” Pettersson finds an abandoned cell phone that’s programmed to invite him to play “the Game,” which will be filmed and uploaded to a protected server. He can earn lots of money according to how he is judged by the members of a secret community who view his performance. The capers escalate from stealing a red umbrella to a criminal situation that threatens national security and involves his estranged sister, Rebecca Normén, a bodyguard with the Swedish Security Police. HP thrives on the risks, especially the thrill of being watched. The danger becomes personal for HP and Rebecca when he tries to leave the game. Relentless pacing leads to a stunning finale as HP tries to be not just a player but a real hero. Agent: Federico Ambrosini, Salomonsson Agency (Sweden).
October 15, 2013
Siblings are drawn into a dangerous cellphone game with global ramifications. The first book in a thriller trilogy, former Swedish police officer de la Motte's debut introduces us to early 30-something ne'er-do-well Henrik "HP" Pettersson, who has made a career of floating along and cutting corners. His sister Rebecca is his polar opposite. A bodyguard with an elite Swedish police unit and obsessive-compulsive tendencies, Rebecca is haunted by a past that clouds her perspective of the present. However, when a recovered cellphone draws HP into a mysterious game that rewards acts of increasingly dangerous vandalism and violence with Internet stardom, he thinks that he has finally discovered his groove. As HP falls deeper into the activities of the game, he realizes that he is just a pawn in a larger plan that could threaten international security and the safety of his older sister. With this discovery, a dark secret shared between siblings comes to light, Rebecca attempts to face the ghosts of her past, and HP strikes back against the enigmatic Game Master who is pulling the strings of an unknown number of players who have an unforeseeable degree of power. After a slow start, the tension becomes tighter and the pages turn faster. A taut thriller that will leave the reader excited for the next book in the series.
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