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Crime by the Book

A girl investigates crime fiction from around the world, by the book.
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The Legacy Yrsa Sigurdardottir Square.jpg

Nordic Noir Excerpt: The Legacy by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

December 13, 2017

Nordic Noir Excerpt & Book Recommendation: 

THE LEGACY by Yrsa Sigurdardottir (2/13/18)

Have you read Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s books yet? If not, now is the time to start. Sigurdardottir is Iceland’s Queen of Crime, and in early 2018 her newest series will be launching in the US - the Children’s House Series. Book one, THE LEGACY, is an outstanding series launch: it’s a gripping thriller and an expertly plotted police procedural that cements Sigurdardottir as one of Nordic Noir’s authors to watch. There’s a certain intensity and darkness to Sigurdardottir’s writing that never fails to enthrall me, and THE LEGACY is a superb example of what a force she is in the crime writing space. THE LEGACY releases February 13, 2018, but you can sample this book for yourself today - I’m thrilled to share an excerpt from THE LEGACY here on Crime by the Book, courtesy of the publisher! 

While you wait for THE LEGACY to release, you can explore Sigurdardottir’s outstanding backlist. My personal favorite? THE UNDESIRED, a standalone thriller that blends the dark-yet-stunning atmosphere of rural Iceland with a touch of horror. Where THE LEGACY is a murder mystery, THE UNDESIRED is quite different: it doesn’t involve police officers, but rather explores the dark history of a juvenile detention center through the lens of a caseworker assigned to investigate allegations of abuse there. It’s an absolutely superb read - you can read my review of this book here. 

Many thanks to Minotaur for providing the below excerpt of THE LEGACY; no portion of the below excerpt may be reproduced without the permission of the publisher.


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Plot Summary: 

The only person who might have the answers to a baffling murder case is the victim’s seven-year-old daughter, found hiding in the room where her mother died. And she’s not talking.

Newly-promoted, out of his depth, detective Huldar turns to Freyja for her expertise with traumatized young people. Freyja, who distrusts the police in general and Huldar in particular, isn’t best pleased. But she’s determined to keep little Margret safe.

It may prove tricky. The killer is leaving them strange clues, but can they crack the code? And if they do, will they be next?


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EXCERPT: THE LEGACY by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
On Sale 2/13/18; Minotaur

Chapter 1

Thursday

It takes Elísa a moment or two to work out where she is. She’s lying on her side, the duvet tangled between her legs, the pillow creased under her cheek. It’s dark in the room but through the gap in the curtains a star winks at her from the vastness of space. On the other side of the bed the duvet is smooth and flat, the pillow undented. The silence is alien too; for all the times it has kept her lying irritably awake she misses the sound of snoring. And she misses the warmth that radiates from her permanently superheated husband, which requires her to sleep with one leg sticking out from under the covers.

Out of habit she’s adopted that position now, and she’s cold.

As she pulls the duvet over her again she can feel the goose­ flesh on her legs. It reminds her of when Sigvaldi was on night shifts, only this time she’s not expecting him home in the morning, yawning, hollow-eyed, smelling of the hospital. He won’t be back from the conference for a week. When he kissed her goodbye at the central bus station yesterday he had been more impatient than her to get their farewells over with. If she knows him he’ll come back reeking of new aftershave from duty-free and she’ll have to sleep with her nose in her elbow until she gets used to the smell.
 
Although she misses him a little, the feeling is mingled with pleasure at the thought of a few days to herself. The prospect of evenings in sole command of the TV remote control; of not having to give in to the superior claims of football matches. Evenings when she can make do with flatbread and cheese for supper and not have to listen to his stomach rumbling for the rest of the night.

But a week’s holiday from her husband has its downsides too; she’ll be alone in charge of their three children, alone to cope with all that entails: waking them, getting them out of bed, dropping them off and picking them up, helping with their homework, keeping them entertained, monitoring their computer use, feeding them, bathing them, brushing their teeth, putting them to bed. Twice a week Margrét has to be taken to ballet and Stefán and Bárdur to karate, and she has to sit through their classes. This is one of her least rewarding tasks, as it forces her to face the fact that her offspring display neither talent for nor enjoyment of these hobbies, although they don’t come cheap. As far as she can tell her kids are bored, never in time with the rest, forever caught out facing the wrong way, gaping in red-cheeked astonishment at the others who always do everything right. Or perhaps it’s the other way round: perhaps her kids are the only ones getting it right.

She waits for her drowsiness to recede, aware of the radio­active green glow of the alarm clock on the bedside table. She normally begins the day by hating it, but doesn’t experience the usual longing to fling it across the room as the luminous numbers show that she’s got several more hours to sleep. Her tired brain refuses to calculate exactly how many. A more important question is niggling at her: why has she woken up? To avoid the fluorescent glare of the clock, Elísa turns over, only to choke back a scream when she makes out a dark figure standing by the bed. But it’s only Margrét, her firstborn, the daughter who has always been a little out of step with other children, never really happy. So that’s what woke her.

‘Margrét, sweetie, why aren’t you asleep?’ she asks huskily, peering searchingly into her daughter’s eyes. They appear black in the gloom. The mass of curly hair that frames her pale face is standing on end.

The child clambers over the smooth duvet to Elísa’s side. Bending down she whispers, her hot breath tickling her mother’s ear and smelling faintly of toothpaste. ‘There’s a man in the house.’

Elísa sits up, her heart beating faster, though she knows there’s nothing wrong. ‘You were dreaming, darling. Remember what we talked about? The things you dream about aren’t real. Dreams and reality are two different worlds.’

Ever since she was small, Margrét has suffered from night­mares. Her two brothers conk out the moment their heads hit the pillow, like their father, and don’t stir until morning. But the night seldom brings their sister this kind of peace. It’s rare that Elísa and her husband aren’t jolted awake by the girl’s piercing screams. The doctors said she would grow out of it, but that was two years ago and there has been little sign of improvement.

The girl’s wild locks swing to and fro as she shakes her head. ‘I wasn’t asleep. I was awake.’ She’s still whispering and raises her finger to her lips as a sign that her mother should keep her voice down. ‘I went for a wee-wee and saw him. He’s in the sitting room.’

‘We all get muddled sometimes. I know I do—’ Elísa breaks off mid-sentence. ‘Shh . . .’ This is more for her own benefit. There’s no sound from the hallway; she must have imagined it. The door is ajar and she strains her eyes towards it but can’t see anything except darkness. Of course. Who’d be out there, anyway? Their possessions are nothing special and their badly painted house is unlikely to tempt burglars, though their home is one of the few in the street that doesn’t have all its windows marked with stickers advertising a security system.

Margrét bends down to her mother’s ear again. ‘I’m not muddled. There’s a man in the house. I saw him from the hall.’ The girl’s low voice sounds wide awake, betraying no hint of sleepiness or confusion.

Elísa switches on the bedside light and gropes for her mobile phone. Could her alarm clock have stopped? It’s had to put up with all kinds of rough treatment over the years and she’s lost count of the times it’s ended up on the floor. It’s probably not worth putting Margrét back to bed; probably time to start the morning chores, pour out three bowls of buttermilk, shovel over some brown sugar, and hope she’ll be given a chance to rinse the shampoo out of her hair while they’re eating. But the phone’s not on the bedside table or on the floor, though she could have sworn she’d brought it in with her last night before turning off the lights. She wanted it to hand in case Sigvaldi rang in the early hours to let her know he’d arrived safely.

‘What time is it, Margrét?’ The girl has never wanted to be called Magga.

‘I don’t know.’ Margrét peers out into the dark hallway. Then, turning back, she whispers: ‘Who comes round in the middle of the night? It can’t be a nice man.’
 
‘No. It can’t be anyone at all.’ Elísa can hear how uncon­vincing she sounds. What if the child’s right and someone has broken in? She gets out of bed. Her toes curl up as they encounter the icy floor. All she’s got on is one of Sigvaldi’s T-shirts and her bare legs prickle with gooseflesh again. ‘Stay here. I’m going to check on things. When I come back, we won’t have to worry any more and we can go back to sleep. Agreed?’
Margrét nods. She pulls her mother’s duvet up to her eyes. From under it she mutters: ‘Be careful. He’s not a nice man.’ The words echo in Elísa’s ears as she goes out into the hallway, making an effort to appear unconcerned, confident that there’s no intruder. But Margrét has sown a seed of doubt in her mind. Oh, why couldn’t this have happened last night when Sigvaldi was home? Would that have been too much to ask?

Elísa hugs herself against the cold, but it doesn’t help.

When she turns on the light, the brightness hurts her eyes.

The door of the boys’ room emits a faint creak as she looks into check that they’re sleeping peacefully. They’re lying in their bunks, eyes closed, mouths open. She pulls the door quietly to behind her.

There’s no one in the bathroom. In Margrét’s room her gaze is met by a row of dolls and teddy bears lined up on a shelf. Their eyes seem to follow her as she hastily closes the door again. She wonders if this arrangement might explain Margrét’s nightmares. Personally if she woke up in the night she wouldn’t want to be confronted by those rigid stares. In the gloom there seems to be an air of malevolence behind their cuddliness. It might be worth moving them to see if that would help Margrét sleep any better. She’ll do it after work this evening.


Book Details: 

Series: Children's House (Book 1)
Hardcover: 464 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books (February 13, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1250136268

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this post. All opinions my own. 

Crime by the Book is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This in no way affects my opinion of the above book.

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In Excerpt Tags Excerpt, Icelandic Crime Fiction, Iceland, The Children's House, Yrsa Sigurdardottir
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Happy #WorldBookDay, friends!!! 🤓📖 if you could transport yourself to *any* reading spot today, where would you go?! 🕵🏻‍♀️
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Today on the blog I’m so excited to share a Q&A with Robert Bryndza, internationally-bestselling author of THE GIRL IN THE ICE - on sale in paperback tomorrow from Grand Central!! 🔎 in our Q&A, Robert and I discuss the explosive success of his Erika Foster series (this is book 1 - but the series has many installments out overseas!), his writing process, and a whole lot more 🤓 direct link in my profile!! •
In reading news: I’m absolutely loving THE GOOD SON by You-jeong Jeong so far 🙌🏻 guys, if you love psychological thrillers with visceral descriptions & in-your-face openers, this book will absolutely work for you 👌🏻 so far, it’s reminding me a bit of BLOOD WEDDING by Pierre Lemaitre - which is a huge compliment, bc that’s one of my all-time favorite psychological thrillers!! It’s raw, unsettling, and totally addictive. I’m still early on in the book, but I’m so excited to see where it goes 😍
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Hope everyone has had a great Monday — and I’m excited to hear about YOUR fave/dream reading spots!! 📖
Few things make me happier than a giant latte ☕️ + translated crime fiction 🕵🏻‍♀️🖤
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Thank you so much to everyone who voted on which book I should read next!!! 🤓 it was an extremely close call, and in the end I went with my gut — and picked up this highly-anticipated read!! 🔎 THE GOOD SON by You-jeong Jeong releases June 5th, and marks the first time this celebrated South Korean author’s work will appear in English!! I’ve been dying to dig into this book for a while, and I’m so excited to start reading it today 😍
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You guys already know how much I love international crime fiction — Scandinavian being my fave! This year, one of my goals is to continue expanding my reading horizons. 🌏 Reading is such an incredible way to travel to new places and appreciate perspectives other than our own, and I absolutely love adding new international crime novels to my collection 🙌🏻 THE GOOD SON is a psychological thriller that sounds *right* up my alley, and it’s also the first South Korean crime novel I’ve read — so cheers to expanding horizons through great reads!! 🤓📖
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THE GOOD SON begins with the discovery of a body. 26 year old Yu-jin was a up to a strange metallic smell... and discovers his mother’s murdered body lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of the stairs in their stylish Seoul home. Yu-jin often has trouble with his memory, and all he can recall if that night is a faint memory of his mother calling his name. But was she calling for help? Or begging for her life? 😱
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Okay, how GOOD does this book sound?!? I’m so excited about this read, and can’t wait to hear if it sounds up your alley too!!🖤
Sock... Saturday? 😂 spending my day with my head buried in blog things 🤓📚
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Have you ever had one of those days where you’re just like... nope. 😂 I was planning to run a bunch of errands today, but am honestly just plain exhausted and decided to stay home instead. So I’m putting my quiet day to good use - currently doing some bookcase organizing, and getting blog posts prepped for the week ahead!!🕵🏻‍♀️❤️
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I’m ALSO choosing what to read next, and could use your help!! 🔎 I have two options that are both really catching my eye. Option 1: a psychological thriller from a country that I’ve been wanting to incorporate into CBTB’s books coverage more 🤓 and Option 2: a just-plain-addictive looking serial killer thriller that begins with the body of a girl found in a cage, and follows the FBI as they try to hunt the killer down 😱
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I’d love your votes: which book sounds more appealing to you?! I’ll post about & start reading whichever one you guys choose tomorrow! 😍
Weekend plans: bookstore trips. 📚🔎 This photo was snapped the day I discovered I was quoted in the paperback edition of a book by one of my fave authors - any guesses which book that might be?! 🤓
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Today on the blog I have a review up for YOU WERE MADE FOR THIS by Michelle Sacks — a June release about a New York couple who leaves the big city for rural Sweden (my dream) and then finds their lives falling apart in their new picture-perfect home (not so much my dream😂). I spent a LONG time working through this review - and I have to say, the process of writing it made me appreciate the read even more. This is a book that’s sure to spark some seriously divided opinions - make sure to check out my review to see how it will work for you!! 🕵🏻‍♀️ Link in my bio!
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I wrapped up THE BOY NEXT DOOR last night, and *may* have cried a bit on the train while doing so. 😂 More to come on this book... but for now, I’m on the hunt for my next read!! 🔎🖤 what are you reading this Friday?! 🤓
Early morning coffees ☕️ aka a great way to start the day 📖🖤
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I’m a bit sad this afternoon, guys - I was supposed to be headed to Florida this evening to spend a long weekend with my Grammy, but unfortunately she’s come down with a bad germ so we had to reschedule. 😩 First priority is for her to get better - if you could send some good vibes her way, that would be great ❤️ I’ll make the most of my time here by catching up on blog stuff, but I’m still bummed out to be missing out  on this trip. 😢
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In better news, I’m continuing to breeze through THE BOY AT THE DOOR - I’ll most likely be finishing it tonight! This has been one heck of a fun read, and I’m excited to see how it comes together. I will say; even though this is a “fun” book, it definitely tackles some dark topics as well. Drug addiction, abusive relationships, and mental illness are all topics delve into here - but the author does this in a way that isn’t *too* brutal or heavy, if that makes sense. I also have lots of thoughts on the trend we seem to be seeing of unlikeable protagonists in summer thrillers... but more on this to come in my full review! 😉
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As soon as I’m home from work, I’m going to see what I can do to turn my day around - including finishing up my current read. 📖 Hope you guys have a great evening!!❤️
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I’ve had such a fun day today, guys. I got to meet up with some crime fiction-loving friends for work, which was such a highlight!! I’m so fortunate to get to work with books I’m so passionate about - I really just can’t get over it. 😍 I had a great afternoon of fangirling over some fave crime writers & plotting exciting things for my work books this summer!! 🕵🏻‍♀️
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In reading news, I’m continuing to devour THE BOY AT THE DOOR by Alex Dahl🔎 it’s really just a fun read - I’m cruising through it, and enjoying every page!! I will say that the book just had a twist that I totally saw coming — but that really tends not to bother me as a reader, as long as there’s enough other good stuff surrounding it to prop up the story, and there definitely is here 👍🏻 it’s NOT a super dark or serious read, but it’s fast-paced and fun with a great (and gloomy) atmosphere. Really a fun one!! 🤓
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How do you feel about plot twists? My general feeling: a great twist is awesome, but it’s NOT essential. I care much more about rich character development and strong plotting - a twist is just an added bonus!
Busy days call for extra coffee ☕️ & a good book to help you unwind afterwards 🤓
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After being stuck in a reading slump for quite a while, I’m finally back on track - which is the BEST feeling!! 📖 I’m cruising through THE BOY AT THE DOOR by Alex Dahl - a Scandinavian suspense novel that releases this July. 🔎 If you caught my insta stories last night, I shared a few of my early thoughts - but I’ll share them below, too!!🖤
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What’s particularly fascinating to me is to see how the author blends a Scandinavian crime novel with a really current, trendy suspense plot line. In many ways, this book will be best suited for readers of modern psychological suspense novels, no matter where they take place. Fans of Clare Mackintosh, Fiona Barton, and more will love the pacing of Dahl’s suspense story - so far it’s not super twisty, but it has lots of tension and underlying menace to it. 👌🏻 it’s definitely a much lighter story than your standard Nordic Noir (I wouldn’t call it Nordic Noir at all - rather, I’d call it Scandinavian suspense!), but its backdrop has the gloomy atmosphere of Scandinavian crime fiction that I love. ❤️
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Make sure to sample the book’s first chapter on my blog, if you haven’t already!! 🤓
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Have you ever read a crime novel (or a novel in general!) that seemed to blur lines between genres? When it’s done well, I always love the change of pace this can provide!!
Sunday’s with Scandinavian crime novels 🕵🏻‍♀️🖤 and Starbucks, obviously 😉
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Today on the blog I’m SO excited to share a preview of a summer read that’s very much on my radar 🔎 THE BOY AT THE DOOR by Alex Dahl releases July 24th from Berkley, and CBTB readers can sample the first chapter of the book on crimebythebook.com today!! 🤓 Direct link in my bio! 🖤
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THE BOY AT THE DOOR is particularly intriguing to me because a) it’s a Scandinavian crime novel and b) it’s ALSO psychological suspense - a combo of my two favorite kinds of crime novels 🤓 Nordic Noir always has a strong psychological component, but it’s also much more oriented towards police investigations — where this book, instead, sets a very current psychological suspense plot against a Norwegian backdrop 👌🏻 it sounds like a really compelling blend, one that I’m so excited to dive into!! 🤓 •
In THE BOY AT THE DOOR, an affluent Norwegian woman’s life is turned upside down by a mysterious young boy. Our main character, Cecilia, has worked incredibly hard to keep her life as picture-perfect as it is. If she doesn’t, one secret from her past could send it all crashing down. But one day at a local pool, she finds a young boy whose parents seem to have forgotten to bring him home. Cecilia agrees to help out... only to discover that the home that’s supposed to be his is actually abandoned, and totally empty. This quickly becomes the first step in unraveling her meticulously crafted life... 😱
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What do you guys think?! Does this one sound like fun summer reading to you? 🤓🖤
Part 1 of what’s promising to be a lovely Saturday ☕️📖🙌🏻
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I’m back in Connecticut this weekend to celebrate my dad’s birthday 🎉 and I started off my day with this A+ latte & a little reading time 🤓 and now I’m off to enjoy the gorgeous weather with my family!! (See my stories!)🙌🏻
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I feel like I’ve been talking about my current read for absolutely ages now 🙈 I’m planning to wrap it up this evening, and I’m super excited to see how it ends!! I’m loving the book, I think my week was just crazy enough that it majorly cut into my attention span for it. BUT I’m sharing a super exciting summer read on the blog tomorrow, and have yet another highly-anticipated psychological thriller on my TBR after that 😍🎉
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Since I continue to be stuck on this book, I’d love to hear from you guys: have you ever gotten stuck on a read? Even one you were enjoying? How did you end up getting out of that stuck zone? 🙈
A little flashback Friday 🖤 bc today it’s 70ish degrees in NYC and I’m officially retiring my cozy sweaters for the season 😢 the countdown is on to fall 😉
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Today on the blog I’m sharing the horror-inspired post I hinted at a few days ago!! 🕵🏻‍♀️ it’s Friday the 13th today, and that can only mean one thing: I’m in the mood for some scary movies 👻 SO on the blog today, I’m pairing a few of my fave horror movies with crime books!!🤓 All the books I’ve selected for this list are crime fiction, though some have more horror leanings than others — what they all have in common is that they’re connected, thematically, plot-wise, you name it, with the movies I’ve paired them with. 🎥 You can find this blog post linked in my profile - I would LOVE to hear what you think of it!! 🖤
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In the spirit of Friday the 13th: tell me YOUR fave scary movie or book!! 😱

Twitter

  • Crime by the Book
    RT @TheRealBookSpy: World Book Day: 20 Great Thrillers To Read If You Haven’t Already https://t.co/6sdJK7chdX
    about 21 hours ago
  • Crime by the Book
    RT @ReviewCafe: https://t.co/fvf0AYbKXC @crimebythebook @RobertBryndza
    about 21 hours ago
  • Crime by the Book
    Happy #WorldBookDay, friends!!! 🤓📖 if you could transport yourself to *any* reading spot today,… https://t.co/uSSter1Sw9
    about 23 hours ago
  • Crime by the Book
    Great to see @sarablaedel #TheMidnightWitness in @LibraryJournal October mysteries preview!! @GrandCentralPub https://t.co/ysh5JEGHCX
    about a day ago
  • Crime by the Book
    Thrilled to welcome @RobertBryndza to CBTB today for a Q&A on The Girl in the Ice - on sale tomorrow from… https://t.co/grcNvppris
    about a day ago

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