The boy in the suitcase by Agnete Friis & Lene Kaaberbol. You think that you are doing a friend a favour and you are even doing it reluctantly. However, you do indeed go to the luggage depot where the lockers are to pick up something for your friend. She told you that you would be better in taking care of it.
Inside the locker is a suitcase. You pick it up but while hauling it to the car curiosity gets the upper hand. You find a quiet spot to open the suitcase. Inside the suitcase, as per the title, you find a boy. What would you do?
Would you drop the suitcase and run? Would you call the cops? Would you try to see whether the boy is dead or alive? What if we add a violent man to this?
That is the situation that Nina Borg finds herself in when she does a favour for a friend. The friend ends up murdered and Nina is faced with a few possibilities: hand over the child to the authorities knowing that the child will end up with Social Services and eventually in the foster care system or, keep the boy with her and try to find his family through her extensive network of colleagues and friends or, keep the boy herself.
Why is the boy in a suitcase? Is this a case of human trafficking, child slavery or prostitution? Was he stolen to be sold to people who themselves could not get children? And if so, who put him up for sale?
The authors Friis & Kaaberbol tell the story through the eyes of several characters who all play a role in the boy’s life. Some story tellers are obvious but some are not and they make the suspense grow until you discover the true reason the boy was placed in the suitcase.
Facing several armed people who are ready to kill for the boy, Nina flees and leaves behind her very own family. Her first goal is to understand the boy. He does not speak her language. So Nina sets out to find someone who does and, someone who will not be a threat to them. Ultimately, she gets the help of an unexpected character.
This book might feel confusing in the beginning until you remember who all the characters are when they start telling their story. And when that happens, you cannot stop reading! The book rambles at times however, “The boy in the suitcase” is an excellent book with twists and turns that get one more push at the end.
Highly recommended reading!