After She’d Gone is the latest gripping thriller from Scandinavian crime writer Alex Dahl. Set in Sandefjord in Norway and Milan it is a jet setting look at the modelling industry and secrets that won’t stay buried.
This book has four perspectives. Mother and son Liv and Adrian who are kidnapped at the start of the book. Selma a journalist who has just written an expose that she’s not allowed to publish on the modelling industry and some of it’s more shady characters and practices. Anastasia a 22 year old model who we sense is just about to get herself into danger as she reaches the big time.
I won’t give away too much about this book as it’s fun to uncover it as you go. It’s great to uncover it piece by piece like a puzzle until you can finally see the full picture. As this story ramps up there is such a sense of tension. An impending disaster around every corner. Dahl is a master of suspense and forboding. This is the second book I have read from her. I read and reviewed Cabin Fever last year and really enjoyed it. (If that’s the right word!) Even though the topic of these two books is wildly different I had exactly the same feeling of strongly wanting to defend the characters and warm them that they were in great danger.
Dahl perfectly taps into a feeling of female injustice. In both books I really felt a strong drawer to the female characters and a solidarity with them. The treatment of women in the modelling agency is frankly appalling. (For more on that topic I recommend reading the novel Meat Market by Juno Dawson which I read and enjoyed last year as well. It’s a well researched and truly fascinating look at some of the darker aspects of the industry.) Dahl really made me incredibly angry for these women and it creates such empathy for her characters and makes you dive right into the story.
I found myself waiting for a satisfying end to this book and to the story of these women. A happy ending seemed unlikely the further in I read and the more I read the more I wanted them to be able to escape. It’s a gripping fast paced thriller that you’ll want to speed through. It’s exciting, dark and well written.
I enjoyed reading the book and kept going as I have enjoyed reading books by this author before. Otherwise there is subject matter in the book that I would usually avoid. Violence against women is a difficult topic and it can be very hard to read. Some very unpleasant things happen to the women within this book which does include rape, sexual exploitation and trafficking. These can of course be triggering for readers. I was able to read the book in full but there were sections that made me uncomfortable.
A powerful fifth novel from an established author who has launched her way into the crime/thriller scene. Invited to join the Bloody Scotland crime festival last year in a smaller venue I’m sure it won’t be long until she’s in front of much larger audiences. A clear talent.
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