With the new Netflix adaptation arriving this May, Nordic Watchlist turns its attention to Hide and Seek – Søren Sveistrup’s high-stakes follow-up to his ground-breaking debut, The Chestnut Man
Anyone who has watched A Nightmare on Elm Street will know the chill of an innocent nursery rhyme turned into a horror theme – with dream demon Freddy Krueger adapting ‘One, two, buckle my shoe’ into a chilling ‘One, Two, Freddy’s Coming for You”. In Søren Sveistrup’s Hide And Seek, a follow up to his equally dark and chilling The Chestnut Man, a childhood hide and seek nursery rhyme becomes a chilling calling card for murder.
Detectives Nai Thulin and Mark Hess return for this second book in Sveistrup’s series; however, there’s no real need to have read (or indeed watched the TV adaptation) of the first book to enjoy this instalment.
In May 1992 a group of schoolchildren on a field trip to a Danish lake are not as interested in wildlife as their teacher woud hope.
To release some of their pent-up energy the group plays hide and seek, and one begins to count down using a nursey rhyme count ‘Count up to one and count up to two. Hen won’t put socks on and doesn’t wear shoes’ – as he reaches ten and the hunt begins, he finds more than anyone bargained for – a dismembered young boy’s body floating in the reed beds.
Thirty-three years later, a forty-one-year-old woman is terrified after receiving text messages with covert pictures of her. When she starts getting countdown texts adapting the classic hide and seek rhyme into something more extreme the fear grows. ‘Count to six, right after five. Will little Silje get home alive?’.
When she receives a final text ‘Gotcha’ the fear becomes all too real. The most chilling weapon here isn’t a blade, but a text message.
The police aren’t initially interested, seeing just another missing person case, but as investigations continue links to previous cases, all featuring the same hide and seek wording begin to surface. It looks like not one, but two serial killers are in play. But with the perpetrator of the crimes thirty-three years ago now dead, what’s the link to the current murders and why?
Of course, any good Nordic Noir never makes the road smooth for the detectives and that’s equally true here. Thulin and Hess’ relationship remains unresolved, with Hess facing the additional burden of a critically ill brother. It’s a sideline plot that gives depth and resonance for the escalating danger surrounding them.
Sveistrup’s meticulously plotted tale juggles these dual timelines perfectly. This is a lengthy book, coming in at 560 pages, yet the fast paced, detail rich, narrative see those pages fly by.
Sveistrup (with Ian Giles’ gripping translation) pitches tempo perfectly, ramping up tension and suspense as the net draws in on the killer. Despite the adrenaline fuelled pace the author doesn’t forget the need to paint a vivid picture in the readers mind, the snow-clad environs of Zealand in Denmark richly drawn.
Perhaps its Sveistrup’s background as a TV writer that Hide and Seek is such a visually descriptive work, and indeed the TV adaption is due on Netflix shortly. It’s a technique that draws the reader in with a sense of realness and relatability as Sveistrup turns the innocence of hide and seek into something deeply sinister.
In an age of increasing focus on our phone screens, the ability to strike terror into the heart of the phone user by simple text message is chillingly real. The fact that many document their entire lives online, potentially becoming easy prey for stalkers all laid bare for the reader to reflect on. Readers beware; this is the kind of book that makes every text message feel threatening.
Danish literature is somewhat less common than its Nordic neighbours when it comes to English translations, but once again Sveistrup proves that quality rather than quantity count. As sinister as it is addictive — Hide And Seek is crime fiction at its most unsettling.
“As sinister as it is addictive — Hide And Seek is crime fiction at its most unsettling”
Hide And Seek by Søren Sveistrup, translated by Ian Giles, is out now, published by Michael Joseph Books.
The six-part TV adaptation airs on Netflix from May 7.
