The friend / Joakim Zander ; translated from the Swedish by Elizabeth Clark Wessel.

First published as "Vännen" in Sweden in 2018 by Wahlström & Widstrand.

What should be a trip of mourning for Klara Walldeen to bury her grandfather with her friend, Gabriella, quickly turns perilous when Gabi is arrested under suspicion of terrorist activity. After finding notes about a clandestine meeting with a young Swedish diplomat, Klara is determined to clear her friend's name. Meanwhile, Jacob Seger, an aspiring diplomat, arrives in Lebanon ready to embrace his future, starting with an internship at the Swedish embassy in Beirut. On his first night, he meets the handsome and mysterious Yassim. Their relationship ignites into a passionate affair that renders everything else in Jacob's life insignificant. But when terrorist claims against Yassim are brought to light, Jacob is faced with an impossible decision and must confront his role in a complicated game he is wholly unprepared to play. Following Gabi's trail, Klara comes face-to-face with Jacob, whom Gabi was trying to help, as well as George Loow, a lobbyist from her past to whom she finds herself inexorably drawn to. Now Klara, George and Jacob set off on a race across Europe to stop a pending terrorist attack and get to the bottom of Yassim's identity.

Translated from the Swedish.