by Lars Kepler
First published 2016
Lieutenant Jasmin Pascal-Andersson serves in the Swedish Army when a combat injury nearly kills her. Her heart stops for forty seconds. Doctors revive her, but the trauma leaves her with vivid hallucinations. Medical professionals diagnose post-traumatic stress disorder. The recovery proves difficult and lengthy. Back in Stockholm, Jasmin leaves military service behind. She wants a peaceful civilian life. She takes work as a secretary and gives birth to a son. Her new routine feels stable and normal. Then Jasmin and her child crash in a terrible car accident. The hallucinations return with full force. The visions that she thought she had overcome now threaten to destroy the quiet life she built. Jasmin must confront whether her mind can distinguish between reality and the images that torment her, all while protecting the son who depends on her.
Genres: military-fiction, contemporary, action, psychological-thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: second-chance, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Stockholm, Sweden
Period: 21st-century
464 pages · Perfect Paperback · Piper Paperback
Content warnings: medical-trauma, mental-illness