The Library of Shadows »

MIKKEL BIRKEGAARD lives in Copenhagen. The Library of Shadows is his first novel. It was first published in his native Denmark where it was a national bestseller, and has now gone on to be published in seventeen languages.

An engrossing literary thriller of intrigue and conspiracy.

When Luca Campelli dies a sudden and violent death, his son Jon inherits his second-hand bookshop, Libri di Luca, in Copenhagen. Jon has not seen his father for twenty years since the mysterious death of his mother.

When Luca's death is followed by an arson attempt on the shop, Jon is forced to explore his family's past. Unbeknown to Jon, the bookshop has for years been hiding a remarkable secret. It is the meeting place of a society of booklovers and readers who have maintained a tradition of immense power passed down from the days of the great library of ancient Alexandria. Now someone is trying to destroy them, and Jon finds himself in a fight for his life and those of his new friends.

Publishers Weekly

Birkegaard's debut, a bestseller in Denmark, is intended as a thriller, but feels relatively sedate, perhaps because of the less than fluent translation. Jon Campelli, an up and coming lawyer, has been estranged from his father, Luca, ever since his mother's suicide years ago. When Luca dies under mysterious circumstances, Jon, as sole heir to his father's antiquarian bookstore, finds himself drawn into a mysterious world of secret societies that use book-related psychic powers to manipulate politicians and other public figures. After Jon begins to investigate his father's death, the bookstore is firebombed and one of his father's confederates also appears to commit suicide, while Jon comes to realize he has strange abilities of his own. This very literary tale has some appeal but is likely to be too slow for fans of more traditional thrillers. (Nov.)