Since I can't make up my mind whether to review this in Swedish or English, English wins despite the fact that I did read - well, listened to - this in Swedish. This book felt like an eternity project since I listened to it on audio. I'm a bit disappointed, I had hoped for a more riveting closure to the Öland quartet. Nonetheless, meeting good old Gerlof again was pleasant. There may or may not have been other familiar characters, I'm sorry to say I've forgotten most names from the previous books.

"Rörgast" moves between "present day" (end of the 90's) and the early 1930's, mostly. It is the story of an illegitimate boy, Aron, who moves to a "new country" with his step father. It is also the story of his return, and his vengeance against the family which would not recognize his existence. For all that he has lost.

A little boy, Jonas, a member of the rich family Kloss, gets in the way of Aron. One evening he drifts out to sea and boards a mystery vessel apparently loaded with zombies. When he hysterical arrives at shore, Gerlof's boathouse is the closest safe harbor. Gerlof tries to get Jonas to remember relevant details and to explain what the horrors he experienced really meant. Thus a friendship between Jonas and Gerlof arises. The latter tries to protect the boy from his own family, to no avail. They have their own secrets to keep, particularly about the lost ship.

The characters are wonderful, but the story is long-winded and quite far-fetched. I would have hoped for more. All in all I did enjoy it and I am sad that I will not be encounting Gerlof in any further books. It's quite rare to read books from the perspective of the very old - at least I encounter these quite seldom. Most such books look backward. Gerlof still lives, with his weaknesses and loss of social network.

If you've read the other books in this series, it's quite like you'll like this too, even if it isn't as good.