Kennedy's brain

All signs indicate that the death of young Henrik Cantor is a suicide. However, his parents don't agree and begins an investigation of their own. Kennedy's brain is the new thriller by Henning Mankell.

One day in the fall of 2004 the Swedish archaeologist Louise Cantor leaves her excavation in Greece to attend a conference in Stockholm. She is to meet her son Henrik there, but he does not turn up. When Louise manages to get into his flat she finds Henrik dead. Everything indicates a suicide, but Louise refuses to believe it.

Together with her ex-husband, Aron Cantor, Louise tries to trace the whereabouts of Henrik in the last period of his life. This leads into a underworld that has been created in the wake of the aids epidemic, a world populated by people trying to exploit the victims of the catastrophe. There are cynical businessmen selling infected blood, research teams carrying out dubious and dangerous tests in their hunt for a vaccine, and not least there are drug dealers who in the aids medicine have found a new object to sell.

Louise and Aron soon realise that exactly like Henrik they are risking their lives when following the tracks that lead upwards and upwards to mighty financial institutions and into the corridors of power. And for those who have started this journey there is no return.

Kennedy's brain (Kennedys hjärna) is a breathtaking tale about the great collective lie under which Europe and the Western world is living in the time of aids.

Facts

Kennedy's brain by Henning Mankell. Original title: Kennedys hjärna. Approx 400 pages. Issued in Swedish by Leopard Förlag, Stockholm, June 2005.

Some English language editions:
Knopf, Canada (October 16, 2007)
Harvill Secker, UK (September 6, 2007)
New Press, USA (September 1, 2007)

Updated: May 6, 2007.