Darkland

What if the good guys suddenly become the bad guys? What if the people who have put a huge effort into leading and rebuilding the West after World War Two suddenly start using undemocratic and illegal methods to, as they see it, defend and ‘save’ civilization? Suspected corruption at the highest levels of government is found to have its source at the very heart of Danish democracy. A young clerk at the Ministry of the Interior is murdered the day before an election is declared. Veteran journalist, Ulrik Torp, who after a round of layoffs has ended up on welfare payments, is placed on an internship at Dagbladet newspaper and starts writing about the murder. The young clerk had gotten wind of a huge fraud scandal and Ulrik Torp’s probing leads him to a small circle of politicians and senior officials whose motto seems to be: ‘the desired ends justify the horrible means’ in their fight against an illiberal agenda driven by keyboard warriors, tweets and FB entries. Darkland is a standalone continuation of the novel King’s Game that was made into a film by Nimbus Film, producer Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen and director Nikolaj Arcel. The film sold over half a million admission tickets. The next Ulrik Torp novel is set for release in autumn 2020.

About the author 

Niels Krause Kjær (b. 1963) is a journalist and news anchor for DR2 Deadline, a daily current affairs programme broadcast by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). Prior to that, Krause-Kjær worked as a press officer and SPAD for the Danish conservative Party.

Text translated by Paul Larkin