Liza Marklund: Red Wolf

I would also like to thank the following, without whose tolerant assistance this project would never have been successfully completed. They are:

Dan Swärdh, theatrical manager of Teater Scratch in Luleå, and a dormant Maoist going by the codenames of ‘Greger’ and ‘Mats’, who initiated me into both the public and the hidden activities of Maoist groups in Luleå in the early 1970s.

Mikael Niemi, author and old acquaintance from Pajala, for discussions of the backgrounds of various characters, and for an introduction to Læstadianism in the Torne Valley.

Christer L. Lundin, public relations manager of Teracom, who provided information about the technical and political development, marketing and situation of digital television, and with whom I discussed and analysed the consequences and plausibility of various fictitious political decisions.

Stefan Helsing, public relations manager of the Norrbotten Airbase, F21, in Luleå, for facts and discussions concerning the history of the base and scenarios of possible attacks.

Anders Linnér, public relations manager for the Air Force, for discussion of the political and military complications surrounding an attack against a military target, and for information regarding flying routines and the security arrangements of airbases.

Peter Svensson, personal advisor to the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, for ongoing invaluable collaboration.

Thorbjörn Larsson, chair of the board of the newspaper Expressen and TV4, and a colleague on the board of publishing company Piratförlaget, for valuable discussions concerning media issues.

Per-Erik Rödin, chair of the executive committee of the Uppsala Student Union, for assistance with local knowledge and contacts.

Sakari Pitkänen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Metro , for information regarding newspaper technology and other matters.

Peter Rönnerfalk, chief medical officer and health advisor to Stockholm County Council, for information regarding the diagnosis and treatment of ventricular cancer, frostbite, etc.

Lotta Snickare, head of management training at FöreningsSparbanken, for constructive discussions on all manner of subjects, from capitalism to ceramics courses.

Lena Törnberg, head of the lost property section of Stockholm Police; Niclas Abrahamsson, police inspector with the Norrmalm Police in Stockholm, and Tor Petrell, detective inspector with the Stockholm Police, for theoretical discussions concerning lost property.

Niclas Salomonsson, my literary agent, and his staff at Salomonsson Agency, for all their dedicated work.

Tove Alsterdal, dramatist, who follows me every step of the way and reads everything first of all. Without you there would be no books.

Any mistakes or errors that have crept in are entirely my own.

Name:Eva Elisabeth Marklund (which only the bank statement calls her. To the rest of the world, she’s Liza).

Family:Husband and three children.

Home:A house in the suburbs of Stockholm, and a townhouse in southern Spain.

Born:In the small village of Pålmark in northern Sweden, in the vast forests just below the Arctic Circle.

Drives:A 2001 Chrysler Sebring LX (a convertible, much more suitable for Spain than Pålmark).

1. She once walked from Tel Aviv to London. It took all of one summer, but she made it. Sometimes she hitchhiked as well, sometimes she sneaked on board trains. When her money ran out she took various odd jobs, including working in an Italian circus. Sadly she had to give that up when it turned out she was allergic to tigers.

2. Liza used to live in Hollywood. Not because she wanted to be a film star, but because that was where her first husband was from. In the early 1980s she had a two-room apartment on Citrus Avenue, a narrow side-street just a couple of blocks from Mann’s Chinese Theatre (the cinema on Hollywood Boulevard with all the stars’ hand and footprints). She moved back to Sweden to study journalism in Kalix.

3. She was once arrested for vagrancy in Athens. Together with fifty other young people from all corners of the world she was locked in a garage full of motorbikes. But Liza was released after just quarter of an hour: she had asked to meet the head of police, commended him on his work, and passed on greetings from her father, the head of police in Stockholm. This was a blatant lie: Liza’s father runs a tractor-repair workshop in Pålmark.

4. Liza’s eldest daughter is an actress and model. Annika, who lends her name to the heroine of Liza’s novels, was the seductress in the film adaptation of Mikael Niemi’s bestseller Popular Music from Vittula . Mikael and Liza have also been good friends from the time when they both lived in Luleå in the mid-1980s. Mikael was one of Liza’s tutors when she studied journalism in Kalix.

5. Liza got married in Leningrad in 1986. She married a Russian computer programmer to help him get out of the Soviet Union. The sham marriage worked; he was able to escape, taking his brother and parents with him. Today the whole family is living and working in the USA.

Book: History by Elsa Morante

Film: Happiness by Todd Solondz

Modern music: Rammstein (German hard rock)

Classical music: Mozart’s 25th Symphony in G-minor. And his Requiem, of course.

Idols: Nelson Mandela, Madeleine Albright and Amelia Adamo (the Swedish media queen).

1. North Korea. The most isolated country in the world, and the last iron curtain. Liza has seen it from the outside, looking into North Korea from the South, at the Bridge of No Return on the 38th parallel.

2. Masai Mara, Kenya. Her family co-owns a safari camp in the Entumoto valley.

3. Rarotonga, the main island in Cook archipelago in the South Pacific. The coolest paradise on the planet.

4. Los Angeles. Going ‘home’ is always brilliant.

5. Andalucia in southern Spain. The best climate in Europe, dramatic scenery, fantastic food and excellent wine. Not too far away, and cheap to fly to!

Liza Marklundis an author, publisher, journalist, columnist, and goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. Her crime novels featuring the relentless reporter Annika Bengtzon instantly became an international hit, and Marklund’s books have sold 12 million copies in 30 languages. Her novels have all been number one bestsellers in all five Nordic countries, and she has been awarded numerous prizes, including a nomination for the Glass Key for best Scandinavian crime novel.

The Annika Bengtzon series is currently being adapted into film. She has cowritten a novel with James Patterson, The Postcard Killers , which is available now.

Neil Smithstudied Scandinavian Studies at University College London, and lived in Stockholm for several years. He is deputy editor of Swedish Book Review. He now lives in Norfolk.