-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
by Joakim Zander
An intricately plotted and brilliantly conceived stand-alone sequel to the international bestseller The Swimmer that turns the hottest political topics of our times into a complex, resonant thriller in the vein of John LeCarré.
Yasmine Ajam has fled her past in the rough Stockholm borough Bergort, reinventing herself as a trendspotter in New York City. One day she receives a startling message: there are riots erupting on the streets of Stockholm and they appear to be connected with the disappearance of her brother, Fadi.
Following rumors that Fadi was radicalized and died fighting for ISIS in Syria, Yasmine returns to Stockholm to discover what really happened to her brother. There she becomes entangled in a dangerous web of allegiances and violence that stretches far beyond the gangs on her childhood streets.
Meanwhile, in London, Klara Walldéen has landed a job at a human rights research institute working on a report to predict the effects of privatizing police forces. When Klara travels to Stockholm to present her findings to European Union policymakers, her laptop is stolen and one of her colleagues is pushed in front of an oncoming subway train. As her path collides with Yasmine's, Klara begins to realize that she may unwittingly be contributing to the sinister agendas of powerful interests who will stop at nothing to attain their goals.
With The Believer, Joakim Zander delivers another "page-turning" (Entertainment Weekly) novel of suspense that is as sophisticated and timely as it is compelling.
"Starred Review. Zander has written another compelling, timely, and character-centered thriller, and many readers will look forward to what he does next." - Booklist
"Impressively complex characters and stark atmospherics make this a thematically profound read." - Publishers Weekly
"Suspenseful and primed for Hollywood adaptation, this is escapist fiction at its best." - Kirkus
This information about The Believer was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Joakim Zander was born in Stockholm, has lived in Syria and Israel, and graduated from high school in the United States. He earned a PhD in law from Maastricht University in the Netherlands and has worked as a lawyer for the European Union in Brussels and Helsinki. Rights to his debut novel The Swimmer were sold in twenty-eight countries. Zander lives in southern Sweden with his wife and two children.
If you liked The Believer, try these:
by Lea Ypi
Published 2026
The author of Free returns with an extraordinary inquiry into historical injustice, dignity, truth, and imagination.
by Maria Reva
Published 2026
Set in Ukraine, an eccentric scientist breeding rare snails crosses paths with sisters posing as members of the marriage industry to find their activist mother. As Russia invades, they embark on a wild journey with kidnapped bachelors and a last-of-its-kind snail. This darkly comic novel explores survival, love, and the impact of war.
Looking at Women Looking at War
by Victoria Amelina
Published 2025
Destined to be a classic, a poet's powerful look at the courage of resistance.
L.A. Women by Ella Berman
Two ambitious writers in 1960s LA face betrayal when one writes a novel based on the other's life.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
