In 2009 the ship MV Arctic Sea was hijacked in the Baltic Sea. Following intense media scrutiny, Russian commandos seized the ship a month later. Though Russia still claims that the ship carried timber destined for Algeria, many observers assume that the actual cargo was military-related, and that the mission was thwarted by Israeli forces.

But what did really happen?

While in Hamburg, lawyer and former elite soldier, Torgrim Rygg, witnesses the assassination attempt on Marko Marin, a Russian journalist investigating the disappearance of a ship ostensibly carrying timber bound for Algiers. He gets drawn into a world of conspiracies, cover-ups and the relentless search for a missing ship. Disenchanted with his mundane office-life he agrees to help Mr. Marin, and together with Marin’s girlfriend, Lena, and their hacker, Sasha, he sets out on a journey to discover the truth about the missing ship.

Their truth seeking kicks off a series of life-threatening events and a relentless race against time to foil whoever is behind the disappearance of the ship, The Alpensturm. Their revelation puts not only their own lives at risk but the safety of the whole world …

About The Author

Chasing the Storm is Martin Molsted’s debut novel, although he has been actively engaged in writing shorter fiction, as well as screenplays since 2009. When he is not working as an Archivist in a Fortune 500 engineering company, he writes fiction and non-fiction.

He enjoys playing music, singing, travelling, nice food, great wine, tasty beer and awesome custom built motorcycles.

Martin Molsted lives in Asker, a small town between the greater cities Oslo and Drammen, in eastern Norway. He lives together with his French wife and their two daughters. No animals.

He is currently working on the storylines for a trio of further Rygg & Marin thrillers, so stay tuned for more compelling and intriguing action.

My Review

Chasing the Storm has shades of a Cold War spy story, with a modern twist. The premise is a simple one, but well told with believable characters and just the right balance between all out action and narrative of characters and scene setting. It will keep you on the edge of your seat at times, wanting to flip the pages as things move at a breakneck speed. At others the global trail of cities and scenes will make you feel the atmosphere and culture in each one.

I was never quite clear what was going to happen next, the book is well plotted and kept me guessing, with more than a twist or turn or two. I was invested in the characters from the start; Torgrim, Marin, Lena and Sasha, made a great combination. They were all believable, and it felt that the author had spent some time thinking about them and designing them to give them a sense of being real people.

As the start of a series, with recurring characters, I’m looking forward to the next instalment and will be adding Martin Mölsted to my list of authors to keep an eye on.

My Rating

4 out of 5 Stars – I Really Liked It.

Chasing The Storm is released on November 27th 2013, you can preorder your copy from Amazon US UK

The author provided me with a courtesy copy of his book in return for an honest review.