The Swimmer

With the "intensity of a Jason Bourne adventure," this thriller about a spy racing to save the daughter he gave up is a "page-turner with unexpected heart" (Kirkus Reviews).

Klara Walldéen was raised by her grandparents on a remote archipelago in the Baltic Sea, learning to fish and hunt and sail a boat through a storm. Now, as an EU Parliament aide in Brussels, she is learning how to navigate the treacherous currents of international politics: the lines between friend and enemy, truth and lies.


But Klara has accidentally seen something she shouldn't have: a laptop containing information so sensitive that someone will kill to keep hidden. Suddenly, she is thrown into a terrifying chase across Europe, with no idea who is hunting her or why.


Meanwhile, in Virginia, an old spy hides from his past. Once, he was a man of action, an operative so dedicated that he abandoned his infant daughter to keep his cover. Now, he is the only man who can save Klara . . . and she is the only woman who can allow him to lay old ghosts to rest.


"Truly polished and compelling. . . . But it is the depth of Zander's characters and the quality of the writing, which at times touches elegance, that make The Swimmer a winner." —Booklist, starred review


"Page turning . . . [This] hypnotic first book is already drawing comparisons to the work of famed spy novelist John le Carré." —Entertainment Weekly

"[Zander is] a smart, fluid observer." —New York Times Book Review 

"Entertaining . . . [the] novel owes more to Forsythe and Ludlum than to Larsson and Mankell. . . . it's easy to see why this thriller has been a bestseller in Europe." —Publishers Weekly