The Boy at the Door - by Alex Dahl (Paperback)

About the Book

"Cecilia Wilborg has it all. A loving husband, two beautiful daughters and a home in an idyllic Norwegian suburb. When the receptionist at her daughter's swim club asks her to drop off a small boy who hasn't been picked up yet, she knows it is her duty to help. When Cecilia arrives at the address she was given, the house is empty. The boy begs her to take him home with her just for the night. Cecilia reluctantly agrees but she could never guess that this little boy would soon begin to unravel her carefully constructed life and shatter everything she holds dear"--]cProvided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Set against a stunning Scandinavian backdrop, a gritty novel of psychological suspense that asks the question how far would you go to hold onto what you have?

Cecilia Wilborg has it all--a loving husband, two beautiful daughters and a gorgeous home in the affluent Norwegian town of Sandefjord. And she works hard to keep it all together. Too hard. Because one mistake from her past could bring it all crashing down around her.

Annika Lucasson lives a dark life with her abusive, drug-dealing boyfriend. She's lost everything one too many times and now she's got one last chance to save herself, thanks to Cecilia. Annika knows her secret--and just how much she's willing to do to make it all go away...

When someone forgets to pick up their little boy at the local pool, Cecilia agrees to take him home, only to find an abandoned, empty house. It's the first step in the unraveling of her meticulously crafted life, as her and Annika's worlds collide...

Review Quotes

Praise for The Boy at the Door

"Dahl savagely delineates the price of living in a society that insists women must try to be perfect wives and mothers and have successful careers, too, or they'll be inevitably made to feel they're never good enough.″--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A tangled web, masterfully constructed and certain to satisfy fans of the genre."--Booklist

"Scandi Noir at its best...Atmospheric and beautifully written...combines complex and believable characters with a heart-breaking and head-spinning plot.″--Mary Torjussen, author of Gone Without a Trace and The Girl I Used to Be

"The Boy at the Door is a stunning debut! Alex Dahl has crafted an extraordinary plot; intricate and twisted with dark secrets emerging at every turn.″--Alexandra Burt, International Bestselling author of Remember Mia and The Good Daughter

"Suspenseful, vivid, and ice-cold, The Boy at the Door deftly shows that things are always messier than they appear.″--Kristen Lepionka, author of the Roxane Weary mystery series

"The Boy at the Door is a genuine page-turner, a fascinating psychological study and a must-read for people who can't resist twisty thrillers with unreliable narrators."--Saturday Reader

About the Author

Half-American, half-Norwegian, Alex Dahl was born in Oslo. She graduated with a B.A. in Russian and German linguistics with international studies and went on to complete an M.A. in creative writing at Bath Spa University, followed by an M.S. in business management at Bath University. Alex has published short stories in the U.K. and the U.S. She is a serious Francophile. The Boy at the Door is her first novel and she wrote it while living in Sandefjord.