55 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE

1944: In the trenches outside Leningrad, on the Eastern Front, a handful of Norwegians in German military uniforms are fighting for a sacred cause: a free Norway. They come from completely different social and political backgrounds. The bravest of all, Daniel Gudeson, falls dead from a bullet, and his body is buried in a mass grave. Shortly thereafter, in a military hospital in Vienna, a wounded soldier is being treated under the name Daniel Gudeson. There he will meet love in the form of Helene, a nurse. When the wounded man receives orders to head to the southern section of the Eastern Front, that is, a ticket to death, he and Helene will plan their escape.

1999: An elderly man wanders the streets of Oslo. Just before, his doctor has informed him that he has a few months left to live. He thinks about World War II. He knows he has one last mission to complete before he dies.

Harry Hole mistakenly shoots an American secret agent during President Clinton's visit to Norway. While awaiting his humiliating dismissal from the police force, Hole is transferred to the anti-terrorism unit (known as POT) and gets promoted. He is shoved into a dimly lit office and flips through reports on low-priority cases. However, the case that lands in his hands is particularly intriguing: a gang of arms dealers likely has ties to both old and new Nazis. A veteran from the Eastern Front of World War II is found murdered, and Harry Hole discovers evidence linking him not only to the present and recent past but also to the near future, and that is the most disturbing part...