The books "The Sandman" and "Lazarus" have been combined into one story in the thriller series "Nocturne", which premieres on Apple TV on October 30.
Liev Schreiber plays Jonah Lynn, a former cop desperately searching for a kidnapped girl. He suspects that imprisoned serial killer Jurek Walter (Stephen Graham) knows more than he is letting on.
Gloomy
Liev Schreiber thinks Lars Kepler's books are ideal for a crime series, and he is a big fan of Nordic noir, the international term for dark Scandinavian crime literature.
"There's something about the bleakness and the vastness, the loneliness, the fragile and lonely people that define the books. I really love that, but it was also a challenge to translate it into an American context," he says.
The plot of the television series has been moved from Scandinavia to the US state of Pennsylvania.
When you think of Nordic noir, you see a lot of shadows. And snow. It's black and white. And the place in the US that it most resembles is western Pennsylvania, with 6.5 million hectares of forest. So it's very Scandinavian in that way, says screenwriter and executive producer John Hlavin.
After "Adolescence"
British actor Stephen Graham chose to play the manipulative and terrifying Jurek Walter after the success of “Adolescence,” the acclaimed drama series he created and starred in. Mostly because it was a type of role he hadn’t done before, but he is also a big fan of the Nordic noir genre.
"We have a lot of Scandinavian crime dramas on Channel 4 (in the UK). I think we have become obsessed with the Scandinavian way of life," he says.
He wonders what the darkness during Sweden's long winters does to a person's psyche.
"Either you become one with nature and gain greater peace or you go Scooby Doo and go completely crazy," he says with a laugh.
Alexander Ahndoril and Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril have written a long series of crime novels under the pseudonym Lars Kepler. If “Nocturne” is successful, more TV series could follow, according to John Hlavin.
In a perfect world, we'd have a lot of stories to tell. But right now, we've been trying to create the best dinner, without thinking about dessert, if you know what I mean.
Lars Kepler has written ten crime novels starring police officer Joona Linna. The TV series “Nocturne” is based on both “The Sandman” and “Lazarus”.
The first Joona Linna book, "The Hypnotist" from 2009, was adapted into a film by Lasse Hallström in 2012, starring Tobias Zilliacus, Mikael Persbrandt and Lena Olin.
Lars Kepler's books have sold 20 million copies and been translated into 40 languages.
