The Christmas days are behind us.
Malin Steht is on the bestseller lists across Europe with her New Year's Eve thriller.
Would you like to party afterwards?
My book tip.
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The Christmas days are behind us.
The turn of the year is approaching with big steps.
Good resolutions are noted, one or the other New Year's Eve party is coming up.
What may the coming year hold?
However New Year's Eve is celebrated, it shouldn't be a nightmare.
Malin Stehn lets us dive into just such a thing with “Happy New Year”.
For two families, the turn of the year is anything but nice.
Malin Stehn "Happy New Year - Two families, one nightmare": About the book
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Malin Stehn "Happy New Year"
© Scherz Verlag
"Happy New Year": What the blurb reveals
New Year's Eve.
You thought everything would be the same as always.
Old friends, lots of champagne, a little hope.
But then the absolute nightmare follows: One of the daughters disappears.
The panic mounts.
Relationships escalate.
Who is lying here and why?
Dense fog lies over the city: 17-year-old Jennifer disappears from a party.
Across town, her mother Lollo is toasting the new year with her old friends Nina and Malena.
They don't have much in common anymore, but the families' New Year's celebrations have a long tradition.
When the parents wake up after a night of too much alcohol and too little honesty, the nightmare is real.
Pure panic follows.
Dark secrets surface.
How well do we know our friends and loved ones?
And what really happened that New Year's Eve?
Scherz Verlag / blurb
Secrets happen in the best of families.
That's what they say.
Certain messages often blurt out on public holidays.
Often unintentionally.
But they don't just shift the mood of the moment.
Sometimes a whole family model collapses.
Parents of teenagers may know it: New Year's Eve is just around the corner and also one or the other party at friends'.
The teacher couple Nina and Fredrik allow their 17-year-old daughter to have her first New Year's Eve party alone at home.
Well, if that's not generous of the parents.
They try to suppress bad thoughts and for themselves it is also going to their own party.
As readers, we first dive into the adults' New Year's Eve party.
There is a lot of drinking.
Maybe too much.
Old stories, secrets and lies are gradually being uncovered.
Over time, we as readers learn that the married couples who are friends no longer have much in common.
And the subtitle of the psychological thriller "Two Families, One Nightmare" reveals that it will not be a relaxed celebration.
When Jennifer disappears and never reappears, the adult rifts deepen.
In "Happy New Year" Malin Stehn skilfully combines the inner perspective of the adults with fast chapter changes, each of which sheds light on the individual perspectives of the characters.
As a reader, you really want to get behind the dark secrets and devour the book very quickly.
This succeeds above all through the first-person perspective, which lets us slip directly into the characters.
Malin Stehn "Happy New Year": My conclusion
Lots of cliffhangers and a carousel of emotions that spins faster and faster offer everything I expect from a psychological thriller.
The unforeseen resolution and a bloody showdown have a long-lasting effect and make up for the somewhat pale characters.
All in all, an exciting and solid entertainment.
Malin Stehn "Happy New Year - Two families, one nightmare"
Translated from the Swedish by Maria Poets
2022 Scherz / S. Fischer, ISBN-13 978-3-651-00116-9
Price: Paperback €16, e-book €9.99, 464 pages (varies in format)
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Malin Standing
Malin Stehn is fascinated by the complexity of interpersonal relationships.
The Swedish author received numerous awards for “Happy New Year”.
The book has conquered many bestseller lists and has been translated into more than 15 languages to date.
Malin Stehn has two adult children and lives with her husband near Malmö.
List of rubrics: © Scherz Verlag
