The Stringer opens with a murder… or does it?

The surface is orange-brown clay, and behind protagonist Paul Dalby, Casper Ruud’s star is rising. Just like Ruud, Paul thinks that persistent and patient training will pay in the long run. At the same time, he lacks something important – the ability to say no. Or the urge to speak out. The ability to resist temptation. He is ambitious enough, but he is also young and has a lust for life.

We follow Paul and his coach, Edgar, through both highs and lows in the professional tennis circuit, to an intense and unexpected climax in Marbella. Along the way, the footsteps of the two Norwegians are dogged by stringers, or perhaps we might call them spiders that want to trap tennis stars in their webs. On one level, The Stringer is a novel about the rise and painful fall of a young person. Deeper down, it is a story about a friendship spanning two generations. Even deeper, it is a gripping novel about how we try to absolve ourselves. What do you do when you’ve painted yourself into a corner – and when you also know that you need to fumble a match against an opponent who is much worse than you? Is there a way out?