Who polices the police? The concept of the ‘corrupt cop’ is nothing new and the basis for many books and TV series, but in The Traitor, Jørn Lier Horst’s latest installment in the popular Wisting series, it takes on a more complex twist.
When Inspector William Wisting finds himself in a giant landslide, he steps in to help coordinate rescue efforts. A list of missing people from the area is quickly assembled, and one by one survivors are rescued and crossed off the list. When a body is found in the mud and rubble, it looks like their missing person list has gained an extra person, but it soon becomes apparent this victim was murdered before the landslide.
It is an intriguing, if simple, premise to start an investigative novel, but long-time Wisting fans will know that nothing is ever this simple in the Norwegian detective’s world.
When Swedish serious crime investigators insist on coming to the scene, it looks like there’s a wider case here, and Wisting soon finds himself personally drawn into a world where he must decide between professional and personal integrity.
What initially seemed to be a murder investigation takes a quick detour to link up with a wider criminal investigation. As an international gang of kidnappers targets wealthy businessmen, the race is on to identify them and rescue the hostages before the ransom of gold bullion is paid. With the murder victim linked to the kidnappers, the stakes suddenly become more serious, and when the next kidnapping victim is taken, it turns Wisting’s world upside down.
Carefully constructed and paced to perfection, The Traitor sees Wisting battling competing emotions while also trying to discover if there is a mole leaking information, or worse, in the investigation team.
At times it’s an almost palpable pain on the pages, the detective torn apart trying to separate his personal and professional boundaries against a sense of isolation from being unable to trust anyone on his team.
Lier Horst paints a world of an increasingly tightening net, a multi-victim kidnapping, and a complex web of suspects and motives leading to an explosive climax.
Wisting has, of course, been translated onto the TV screen, and there’s a filmic quality to this latest installment that could conceivably make it onto film, but despite the frenetic activity and explosive climax, at its heart, The Traitor is a much smaller yet no less impactful examination of what an experienced police officer is willing to do to protect his family.
The ripples of actions taken in The Traitor will shape future books in the series, but there’s still plenty to explore in Wisting’s world.
The Traitor by Jørn Lier Horst, translated by Anne Bruce, is published by Michael Joseph and is available now on hardback.
