The House by Pearl River

William Älgebrink

When he turns back out onto the road, I’m not controlling him. I can’t. I’m nothing but a voice. In here, in his head. He can hear me, of course, I can affect him – get under his skin – but I can’t control him. I don’t actually exist; his own brain has created me and I’m merely doing what I can with what I’ve been given.

I have no power here.

Neither do you.

In the ancient forests outside Jokkmokk, bus driver Dylan lives in his old family house by the Pearl River, secluded from the rest of the world. He misses his older sister Ella-Kajsa, the only one in his family who cared for him, and every day he hopes that she will return. But he is scared of running out of time; because Dylan knows that his heart is shrinking. The doctors can’t, or won’t, help him, but he feels it every day. How his heart is growing smaller and soon enough, it will stop. He will run out of blood, and die.

Every day, a little boy rides Dylan’s bus to and from school. One snowy afternoon, the boy goes with his mom to the shop, and accidently falls asleep in the car. When he wakes up, he is in Dylan’s kitchen. The boy immediately recognizes Dylan as his friendly bus driver and relaxes, but what he doesn’t know is that Dylan’s mind has delved into the deepest recesses of darkness and desperation, and what previously seemed unthinkable has begun to look like the only way out.

A struggle for life and death ensues; Dylan must save his heart, and the boy must save himself.

The House by Pearl River is an original and chilling suspense novel set in the hinderland of Norrbotten by promising debut author William Älgebrink. Here, William expertly weaves a story about a man driven to the extreme by his own fear. A gripping page-turner, The House by Pearl River brings up themes of childhood trauma and our society’s grim fascination with true crime, while keeping the reader on the edge of their seat.

Pre-publication praise:

“A harrowing and impressive debut. (…) Imagine black. Then envision delving deeper into a darkness so incredibly vast that there are no words to describe it. Yet this text manages to do so using beautiful, sometimes almost serene language. I haven’t encountered such a dramatic fusion of form and content, of language and description, since reading one of my favorite books, Kåda. (…) It is truly original and utterly boundless.”

Kapprakt

“[The book] makes it abundantly clear that a crime novel doesn’t have to be written according to a certain formula. It manages to be both sad and serious while telling a story in a new way. It deserves all the attention it gets.”

TT, Nisse Scherman, One of the Members of the Swedish Crime Writer’s Academy

“This is psychological horror, set in the hinterlands of Northern Sweden. (…) Älgebrink aims to delve into the mind of the perpetrator and captivate us with a chilling and harrowing tale – while set against the backdrop of the atmospheric northern landscape – It’s a story about an isolated school bus driver who is convinced he’s dying. Driven by fear, he makes a life-changing decision.”

Borås Tidning

“The twang of Mikael Niemi’s earlier works is present in the book, the horror theme is more realistic, and the fantastical in Älgebrink’s world is not supernatural, but instead something which happens between people on the sideline.”

Norrbottens-kuriren

“In The House by Pearl River a complex perpetrator is at the center. While reading, I’m consumed in this deadly, but also innocent, chaos which is skillfully portrayed by debutant William Älgebrink.”

Ystads Allehanda

“(…) William Älgebrink’s The House by Pearl River and the veteran Karin Slaughter’s This is Why We Lied both write very explicitly and bloodily about domestic violence and oppression, and both describe the isolation that families can find themselves in. Especially if they live in solitary settings.

“However, that’s where the similarities end, because Karin Slaughter has constructed a more traditional crime novel, while William Älgebrink is doing something completely unique. Both skillfully exploit the genre for their stories of abandoned children and dangerous families, and never let the violence become the suspense motor. Instead, it’s the strong ones’ right to torment and exploit those who are weaker. (…) William Älgebrink turns the crime fiction genre inside out and tells the story from an unusual point of view (…) The language is among the most stunning you will find in the genre, and it flows closely to its main characters. (…) It is an odd debut, at times very bloody and eerie. It is also far from violent entertainment as it can be.”

Dagens Nyheter

“William Älgebrink manages to say it all in this eerie, harrowing, yet beautiful, story. (…) You can feel sorrow while being horrified at the same time. This is undoubtedly one of the best and most unusual debuts of the year.”

Dast Magazine

“The trope of the dysfunctional and violent passing through generations acts as a trigger for the monster’s realization but also opens the question of who is the real monster. (…) The boy, whose mom falls victim to Dylan’s bloodlust, becomes a metaphor for Dylan’s own life and what he missed growing up; the need to protect the child is awakened, both the physical and Dylan’s inner child. In these passages, the underlying and prominent horror element is at its strongest. The author skillfully manages to portray Dylan as someone who can be trusted and sympathized with – a crack in the monster’s mind that shows that people are more complex than good or evil.”

Västerbottens-kuriren

“Wonderfully well-written and heartbreakingly sad. Debutant William Älgebrink’s suspense novel The House by Pearl River is a story that refuses to let me go and holds me in a tight grip, even though at times, I just want to close my eyes and stop reading.”

Nerikes Allehanda