Before I Burn

Longlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2015

Sunday, 4th January, 1978. A pyromaniac runs amok in the Finsland district, just outside Kristiansand. He has been spreading chaos for a whole month, and fear is mounting in the small community. KRIPOS has set up base in the old council rooms together with the local police. ‘But this is madness,’ people whisper to each other. The pyromaniac has to be caught, but there is little in the way of clues.The following day it will all be over, but only after the worst night so far.

That same Sunday a boy is christened at the font in Finsland Church. The boy’s name is Gaute Heivoll. And using this connection Before I Burn reconstructs the events of the spring in 1978 and what will turn out to be one of Norway’s most extensive and dramatic arson cases. Who was the man setting houses ablaze? Why did he do it? And what about the boy who was christened that day and has lived all his life with the story of the fires? What became of him?

By juxtaposing the pyromaniac’s story with his own, Gaute Heivoll lays bare the insanity in every human life in masterful fashion. For how much does it really take to touch rock bottom? To find yourself in danger of destroying everything you have?

An unusual story, a novel that has the power to shock, about the flames in your own life and the author’s literary break–through.

Foreign rights sold:
Brazil, L&PM Editores
Czech Republic, Vakát
Denmark, Rosinante & Co
Finland, WSOY
France, J.C. Lattés
Germany, Schöffling & Co.
Iceland, Mál & Menning
Israel, Modan
Italy, Marsilio
Korea, Balgunsesang
Mongolia, Bolor Sudar
Netherlands, Prometheus
Poland, Swiat
Russia, Corpus
Serbia, Carobna
Spain (Spanish), Salamandra
Spain (Catalan), Edicions Proal-Grup 62
Sweden, Norstedts
Turkey, Can Yayinlari
UK, Atlantic Press
USA, GrayWolf Press

Review quotes:

"A thrilling and poetic novel. In this dark and powerful examination of two men’s obsessions, Heivoll’s introspection and attention to detail are unparalleled. Fans of In Cold Blood and The Devil in the White City will appreciate the chilling true-crime angle, while Heivoll’s dazzling prose will quickly enchant those unfamiliar with this Scandinavian writer. An absorbing story of compulsion, obsession, and the power of desire.”—Booklist, starred review

"A masterful novel of levels and depths, beautifully written and stunningly realized."—New York Journal of Books

"[A] remarkable amalgam of mystery and memoir. . . . Readers of Scandinavian mysteries from authors like Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbo or Karin Fossum will surely enjoy Heivoll's superb sense of place and his depiction of this isolated village. . . . And readers of the quiet, piercing prose of Per Petterson . . . will especially appreciate Heivoll's spare, emotional telling of this life-changine episode."—BookPage

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