Detective Harry Hole embarrassed the force, and for his sins he's been reassigned to mundane surveillance tasks. But
while monitoring neo-Nazi activities in Oslo, Hole is inadvertently drawn into a mystery with deep roots in Norway's
dark past, when members of the government willingly
collaborated with Nazi Germany. More than sixty years later,
this black mark won't wash away-and disgraced old
soldiers who once survived a brutal Russian winter are
being murdered, one by one. Now, with only a stained and guilty conscience to guide him, an angry, alcoholic, error-prone policeman must make his way safely past the traps
and mirrors of a twisted criminal mind. For a conspiracy is taking rapid and hideous shape around Hole . . . and Norway's darkest hour may be still to come.