# Read the first page of The Long Shadow by Liza Marklund Read the opening of The Long Shadow by Liza Marklund free, no signup. A reporter hunts a missing child on the Costa del Sol. - Page: https://uncovered.ink/read/the-long-shadow-liza-marklund - Genre: Nordic noir - Year: 2014 - ISBN: 9781451607031 - Read it blind (cover and title hidden): https://uncovered.ink/?b=9781451607031&s=read-page - Buy: https://bookshop.org/a/125786/9781451607031 - Borrow: https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=9781451607031 ## The opening The night was pitch-black. She could just make out the orange trees lining the road as black shadows on the edge of her vision. Three cats' heads stuck up out of a rubbish bin, the headlights catching their eyes. The rain had stopped, but the tarmac was still wet and shiny, reflecting the light from the streetlamps. She had the car window wound down and was listening to the wet hiss of the tires on the road surface, the crickets chirping, the wind rustling the trees. The air coming through the window was chill with damp. It was as peaceful as could be. She braked and stopped uncertainly at a crossroad. Was this where she was supposed to turn left, or was that the next one? She was clutching the steering wheel in a cramped ten-and-two grip. All this random building work; they didn't have any planning regulations, no town planning, and therefore no maps. Not even Google Earth had been able to help with these new districts. Well, this must be it. She recognized the golden knobs at the top of the gate to her right. Everything looked so different in the dark. She put the indicator on so that the truck behind her could see which way she was heading. The two vehicles were driving with dipped headlights; anything else would have been impossible on such terrible roads. And a car with no lights would arouse more suspicion than one with headlights on. She swerved to avoid a large pothole in the middle of the road, then checked in the rearview mirror that the driver following her did the same. Then the car's headlights swept across the gateway at the edge of the neighborhood, an overblown affair in black wrought iron with a pair of concrete lions on either side of the gates. She felt her shoulders relax in relief. She quickly tapped the code on the pillar below one of the lions, and the gates shuddered and then slid open. She peered up at the night sky. The clouds had rolled in from Africa during the afternoon and settled like a thick blanket over the whole coast. Somewhere behind them was a full moon. She noted that the wind was picking up and hoped they'd be finished before the cloud cover started to break. The roads inside the gates were, in marked contrast to those outside, smooth, with perfectly edged pavements and hedges that were absolutely straight. She passed three turnings before she swung off to the right and carried on down a slight hill. The villa was off to the left, with its terraces and pool facing south. She drove some ten meters past the house, parked by the pavement in front of a vacant plot, and waited patiently as the truck driver pulled up behind her. Then she took her briefcase, locked the car, went over to the truck, and clambered up into the cab. The men looked focused, slightly sweaty. She pulled on a pair of latex gloves, then took out the syringes for the injections and attached the first needle. "Lean forward," she said to one of them. The man groaned quietly and obeyed; there was hardly room for his fat stomach under the dashboard. She didn't bother cleaning the area on his buttock, just stabbed the needle quickly almost the whole way into the muscle and injected the liquid. ## Books with a similar feel - [The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-absent-one-jussi-adler-olsen.md) - [1222 by Anne Holt](https://uncovered.ink/read/1222-anne-holt.md) - [The Hard Way by Lee Child](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-hard-way-lee-child.md) - [Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica](https://uncovered.ink/read/local-woman-missing-mary-kubica.md) - [Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn](https://uncovered.ink/read/sharp-objects-gillian-flynn.md) - [The Searcher by Tana French](https://uncovered.ink/read/the-searcher-tana-french.md) --- Source: Uncovered (https://uncovered.ink). A short sample shown for reading and discovery. Rights holders can request removal at https://uncovered.ink/takedown.