ISKRA (2020)
Dick sträng published with his first spy thriller, Orion, a few years ago. The book dealt with
the problem of nuclear proliferation, and involved employees at Swedish authorities. The story was very exciting, and now comes the follow up, Iskra (Sparkle in Russian), also on the spy theme.
Dick worked in the years 1989-2010 at the Swedish Defence Research Agency, FOI (formerly FOA). In the final years at the agency he worked as a Senior Adviser close to the then Director General,
with international relations and foreign strategic issues and was responsible for establishing
and develop contacts with a number of countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. He's been in a
number of Swedish delegations for bilateral agreements under the Ministry of Defence. By the work and
his travels he has acquired a large international network.
In addition to the research and study activities conducted at FOI, the authority is also a part of the
Swedish military intelligence. This, of course, means that it is of great importance to
develop contacts, both with Swedish and foreign actors. The role that Dick had at FOI was to
sit like a spider in the net of his area of responsibility. By his role he had
a unique insight into how intelligence operations in Sweden worked and the role of different authorities
and political bodies played, which gives a great credibility to his stories, even when
the event is completely fictitious.
Also Dick has a stylistic ability to express himself straight and effectively, and with a large portion of
humor that makes the book easy to read. Like Orion, Iskra is very exciting....
Nils Olsson
Former Professor of Nuclear Physics at Uppsala University and head of department at FOI.
ISKRA (2020)
Dick sträng published with his first spy thriller, Orion, a few years ago. The book dealt with
the problem of nuclear proliferation, and involved employees at Swedish authorities. The story was very exciting, and now comes the follow up, Iskra (Sparkle in Russian), also on the spy theme.
Dick worked in the years 1989-2010 at the Swedish Defence Research Agency, FOI (formerly FOA). In the final years at the agency he worked as a Senior Adviser close to the then Director General,
with international relations and foreign strategic issues and was responsible for establishing
and develop contacts with a number of countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. He's been in a
number of Swedish delegations for bilateral agreements under the Ministry of Defence. By the work and
his travels he has acquired a large international network.
In addition to the research and study activities conducted at FOI, the authority is also a part of the
Swedish military intelligence. This, of course, means that it is of great importance to
develop contacts, both with Swedish and foreign actors. The role that Dick had at FOI was to
sit like a spider in the net of his area of responsibility. By his role he had
a unique insight into how intelligence operations in Sweden worked and the role of different authorities
and political bodies played, which gives a great credibility to his stories, even when
the event is completely fictitious.
Also Dick has a stylistic ability to express himself straight and effectively, and with a large portion of
humor that makes the book easy to read. Like Orion, Iskra is very exciting....
Nils Olsson
Former Professor of Nuclear Physics at Uppsala University and head of department at FOI.
Orion (2017)
The proliferation of nuclear technology is an international scourge for all states lacking their own ambition in this area, but of course also for those who have already established that capability. Something you want to prevent at all costs. The states that have the ambition aret hen forced to aquire technology and the necessary metals in the more shady international market. This is the outer framework of Orion.
The author makes a solid start in real events, and really existing people and organizations. Using Reality and putting oneself so close to reality makes it sometimes difficult to determine what is reality and what is literary creation. True, events and people are shifted in time and space, and probably become unrecognizable to someone who does not have the right background, but that should not bother anyone who chooses to read this as an ordinary thriller.
The author allows the protagonist to emerge through thoughts, what he does, and through the dialogue that occurs in the book. Thus, he chooses not to degrade the readers ability to create their own opinion.
The main character is realistic, a person of flesh and blood. Realism, of course, is very much guaranteed by the fact that the he has borrowed basically all of hes background from the author himself. He spent many years traveling across much of the world, and was constantly present in environments where representatives of military, intelligence, politicians, departmental officials, industry representatives and defense scientists is seen on a daily basis.
The book is exciting, and a reading experience far beyond the ordinary. While the multidimensionality of the plot makes demands on the reader, there is guaranteed something for all readers. In any case this is a book I undoubtedly recommend for reading.
Jan-Erik Rendahl
former Professor of psychology at Heidelberg University and head of department at FOI.
Orion (2017)
The proliferation of nuclear technology is an international scourge for all states lacking their own ambition in this area, but of course also for those who have already established that capability. Something you want to prevent at all costs. The states that have the ambition aret hen forced to aquire technology and the necessary metals in the more shady international market. This is the outer framework of Orion.
The author makes a solid start in real events, and really existing people and organizations. Using Reality and putting oneself so close to reality makes it sometimes difficult to determine what is reality and what is literary creation. True, events and people are shifted in time and space, and probably become unrecognizable to someone who does not have the right background, but that should not bother anyone who chooses to read this as an ordinary thriller.
The author allows the protagonist to emerge through thoughts, what he does, and through the dialogue that occurs in the book. Thus, he chooses not to degrade the readers ability to create their own opinion.
The main character is realistic, a person of flesh and blood. Realism, of course, is very much guaranteed by the fact that the he has borrowed basically all of hes background from the author himself. He spent many years traveling across much of the world, and was constantly present in environments where representatives of military, intelligence, politicians, departmental officials, industry representatives and defense scientists is seen on a daily basis.
The book is exciting, and a reading experience far beyond the ordinary. While the multidimensionality of the plot makes demands on the reader, there is guaranteed something for all readers. In any case this is a book I undoubtedly recommend for reading.
Jan-Erik Rendahl
former Professor of psychology at Heidelberg University and head of department at FOI.