Another Time, Another Life

The Story of a Crime (2)

By: Leif GW Persson

Narrated by: Erik Davies

In 1975, six young people stormed the West German embassy in Stockholm, taking the entire staff hostage. They demanded the immediate release of members of the Baader- Meinhof group being held as prisoners in West Germany, but twelve hours into the siege, the embassy was blown up, two hostages were dead, and many others were injured, including the captors. Thus begins Leif GW Persson’s Another Time, Another Life.

The story, based on real events linked to the still-unsolved assassination of Swedish prime minister Olof Palme, p icks up in 1989, as the seemingly unrelated stabbing death of a civil servant is investigated by officers Bo Jarnebring and Anna Holt. Under the supervision of their cantankerous, prejudiced, and corrupt superior, Evert Bäckström, the case gets surreptitiously swept under the rug, and the victim is tied to a string of sex-related crimes, despite evidence to the contrary.

Another ten years pass before the confounding truth about the murder victim is unearthed. Just as Lars Martin Johansson, a friend of Jarnebring’s, begins his tenure as the head of the Swedish Security Police, he inherits two files from his predecessor, one of which is on the murder victim—who turns out to have been a collaborator in the 1975 embassy takeover. Revealed now are not only the identities of the other collaborators but also the identity of the murderer: an intelligent, capable lawyer a heartbeat away from the top position in Sweden’s Ministry of Defense.

With masterfully interlaced plotlines pulled from the darkest corners of political power and corruption, Another Time, Another Life bristles with wit, insight, and intensity.

©2012 Leif GW Persson; 2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“An astonishing novel. Once again, Persson has written a masterpiece of a crime novel. Spectacular and thrilling, arrogant and titillating, entertaining and well written.” (Västerviks-Tidningen)

“Exceptional . . . Persson writes with a sure hand and sharp insight. His detectives are human, interesting, and fallible . . . Another winner from Persson. If anything, it’s even better than the first book. Fans of Scandinavian crime fiction will eat it up.” (Library Journal)

Interesting story, poorly written, badly narrated

This is a very interesting story involving all sorts of fascinating intrigue spanning 25 years. There's cold war spying, Stasi intrigue, and clever detectives who figure out who the Swedish collaborators are in an attack on the German embassy in Stockholm in 1975. However, the story is not well written and holds no surprise or suspense. Its basically just a simply account of what happened, not a clever who-done-it or suspenseful spy thriller, which a better author could have rendered. Also, I forgot what a lousy narrator Davies is. His characters sound like they're on quaaludes or are constipated. Why does he insist on those silly, inauthentic Swedish accents?! It completely detracts from the narration. I would not recommend this book, but I do think it could be a terrific movie if it were re-worked by a greater talent.

another time another life

What could Leif GW Persson have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

the story was not good, could not get into it.

Would you be willing to try another one of Erik Davies’s performances?

Erik is great, he did all he could with the material.

Any additional comments?

I wasted my team listening to this book, kept thinking it would get better. Huge disappointment.