Forest dreams

Johan Theorin

Johan Theorin was born on 3 September 1963 in Gothenburg. From childhood, he spent every summer on the island of Öland, which had a fateful influence on his later literary work. His mother's family, which consisted mainly of sailors, fishermen, and farmers, had lived there for centuries, preserving the island's heritage, mysterious tales, and folklore. This almost mystical environment inspired him to create a series of stories in which he masterfully combines the genius loci of the island of Öland with a detective plot. He currently lives in Gothenburg and works as a journalist. It is for this reason, among others, that he is often compared to Stieg Larsson. The author began his literary career by writing short stories for various magazines and anthologies. His first novel, *Skumtimmen* (published in Czech as *Mlhy Ölandu*, MOBA - November 2011), was not published until the spring of 2007 and immediately became a bestseller. It has since been published in twenty countries, including Germany, the USA, Brazil, Thailand, and Slovakia, and in 2007 it won the Swedish Crime Writers' Academy award for Best Crime Novel of the Year. He followed up this first part of an intended loose tetralogy in 2008 with the novel *Nattfåk*, which also received many awards. Among others, it was named the best Swedish crime novel of 2008, received the Glass Key Award in 2009, and the CWA International Dagger in 2010. The third part of the series was published in 2010 under the title *Blodläge*, and the author is currently working on the final part of the series.