Summary
Jonas Jonasson's picaresque tale of how one person's actions can have far-reaching--even global--consequences, written with the same light-hearted satirical voice as his bestselling debut novel, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.
On June 14th, 2007, the King and Prime Minister of Sweden went missing from a gala banquet at the Royal Castle. Later it was said that both had fallen ill: the truth is different. The real story starts much earlier, in 1961, with the birth of Nombeko Mayeki in a shack in Soweto. Nombeko was fated to grow up fast and die early in her poverty-stricken township. But Nombeko takes a different path. She finds work as a housecleaner and eventually makes her way up to the position of chief advisor, at the helm of one of the world's most secret projects.
Here is where the story merges with, then diverges from reality. South Africa developed six nuclear missiles in the 1980s, then voluntarily dismantled them in 1994. This is a story about the seventh missile . . . the one that was never supposed to have existed. Nombeko Mayeki knows too much about it, and now she's on the run from both the South African justice and the most terrifying secret service in the world. She ends up in Sweden, which has transformed into a nuclear nation, and the fate of the world now lies in Nombeko's hands.
Jonas Jonasson was born Per Ola Jonasson on July 6, 1961 in Southen Sweden. He is a Swedish journalist and writer who is best known for his book, The Hundred-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Dispappeared. He studied Swedish and Spanish at the University of Gothenburg and started working as a journalist for the Vaxjo newspaper "Smalandsposten" and the Swedish evening tabloid "Expressen". He also used his talents for writing and founded a media company, OTW with 100 employees. In 2007 he finished his first book, The Hundred-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. His writing has been honored with the Swedish Book Award, German Pioneer Prize, Danish Audio Book and Prix Escapades.
(Bowker Author Biography)
