Jesper och Patrick Ersgård
Jesper Ersgård has previously written screenplays in the USA, including Living in Peril starring Rob Lowe and Jim Belushi, and Rancid starring Matthew Settle and Pernilla August. The screenplay for Rancid was nominated for the Europa Cinema Award.
In 2009, Jesper made his debut as a novelist with the thriller Out Came the Wolves. Since then, he has published a long list of titles, including the audiobook successes 1986, Sky & Fall, and Black Star. His books have been translated into several languages and published in 17 countries.
Jesper lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and two children.
Patrick Ersgård is one of the two creators of the Swedish cult film The Visitors, in which he also played the banana-eating postman. He made his acting debut at the age of twelve and has appeared in a number of films alongside, among others, Gösta Ekman and Janne Carlsson in Sweden, as well as Jim Belushi and Rob Lowe in the USA.
Patrick’s love of thrilling stories later led him to work as a screenwriter. He has written more than 30 film and TV scripts, but the Sam Milton thriller Trial by Fire is his first novel.
Patrick lives in Thessaloniki, Greece, with his family.
Over 800,000 copies sold to date.
Several of his titles have been sold in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Spain, the USA, and the UK.
Instagram: jesperersgard
Trial by fire
An author on a spy mission meets an infamous arms dealer. What could possibly go wrong? Absolutely everything!
Author Sam Milton’s debut novel became a global success, but after a personal tragedy he has grown lost and uncertain about where his life is headed. When a secret division within Swedish intelligence unexpectedly asks him to help with an assignment in Greece, he agrees—hoping to shake up his life and make a fresh start. The mission seems simple and harmless: establish contact with a notorious arms dealer who happens to be a fan of Milton’s debut novel, build trust, and then hand over to a professional agent.
But Sam Milton had no idea what he was signing up for. He must use all his creativity as a writer to survive in a world far removed from his romanticized vision of the spy life. Soon he discovers that everyone is after the same person—to capture or to kill: Sam Milton.
Trial by Fire (Elddopet) is a gripping action thriller filled with humor, twists, and multiple layers. Its protagonist, Sam Milton, is an unlikely hero and a most reluctant agent.
Jesper & Patrik Ersgård are brothers, both with backgrounds as screenwriters in the film industry. Jesper is also the author of the hit series Black Star, 1986, and Sky & Fall.
Original title: Elddopet
Publication: Lind & Co 2023
Pages: 428
Lights, Camera, Die!
If you are guilty, you must be punished. Sam stares at the text message in confusion. Guilty of what, and punished how? One thing is certain: someone is after him.
Sam Milton has landed in Hollywood. A film based on his novel The Trial by Fire is in production, and he’s juggling neurotic movie stars, demanding directors, and eccentric producers. Suddenly Mona, head of the ultra-secret Sector U—whom he hoped never to meet again—calls. Could he do her a personal favor and check in on her cousin who lives in Hollywood? Sure, how dangerous could that be? The answer: very, very dangerous.
In the middle of filming, Sam is pulled into a tangled web that leads him to ruthless killers, but also to the elite of America’s film and business world. Assassins, corrupt cops, drug-fueled producers, and a greedy multinational corporation with the power to influence the entire world all seem united in one goal: find Sam Milton and kill him.
Original title: Tystnad, tagning, dö!
Publication: Lind & Co 2024
Pages: 422
The Beauty and the Killer
Sam Milton travels to the Cannes Film Festival, where The Trial by Fire, based on his book of the same name, is competing. But he has barely landed when Mona, head of the Swedish intelligence unit Sector U, contacts him. Sam must assist another agent on a mission in Marseille’s most dangerous district. This time, she assures him, the task is simple: just sit in a car and keep watch. But as always, everything goes very, very wrong.
Sam is drawn into the hunt for the Engineer, the brutal and ruthless leader of Europe’s largest drug empire. The trail leads him to a secret terror cell, but when contact with Sector U is lost, Sam is left on his own to stop both the Engineer and a looming terrorist attack. In the midst of the chaos, the mysterious Russian agent Jasmina reappears with a mission for Sam that is as impossible as it is deadly. And just when he thinks things can’t get any worse, an enemy from his past resurfaces—an enemy who has sworn to kill Sam and his entire family.
Original title: Skönheten och mördaren
Publication: Lind & Co 2025
Pages: 412
Reviews:
“Full speed ahead. It’s well-written, the pace is top-notch all the way through, and there isn’t a dull moment.”
— Peter Westberg, author
“The Trial by Fire is fast-paced, exciting, and full of surprises.”
— Peter Carlén, Ljudboksbloggen
“A smart, entertaining, and damn thrilling read.”
— Eksjö Bookstore
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