John Kuipers wins Gouden Strop at Dutch Thriller Awards: ‘Irresistible’

John Kuipers has with his book Mussert’s shadow won the Gouden Strop, the prize for the best Dutch-language suspenseful book of the year. He received the prize at the presentation of the Dutch Thriller Prizes in the Neude Library in Utrecht.

“He has written a book that is exciting, but that also puts us in a unique location, at a unique time in the history of our country: The Hague in the summer of 1940,” says the jury about Kuipers, debuting thriller author. The story is about the Hague police during the Second World War. A murder investigation leads to NSB leader Mussert, among others. “The jury finds the combination of originality, tension, narrative voice and layering irresistible.”

The Golden Strop, which has been awarded to the best suspense novel of the year since 1986, has an amount of 10,000 euros. Kuipers received the prize from Marion Pauw, last year’s winner. The jury had nominated five books from 41 entries.

Kuipers was not the only winner today in Utrecht. Gerrit Barendrecht won the most important reader jury prize for exciting books. His book, The Ripper connectionwas chosen by the readers’ jury as the winner of the Hebban Thriller Prize.

According to the jury, “Barendrecht mixes fact and fiction to create its own story”. More than a hundred people chose five books from a longlist consisting of fifteen originally Dutch-language thrillers. A jury of booksellers, librarians and reviewers then determined the winner.

“The Ripper connection breathes atmosphere and describes life in Amsterdam at the end of the nineteenth century in accessible prose,” says the reader jury. “It provides interesting insights into the criminal brain. A book that also gives one of the most famous serial killers of all time a new face.”

The Goeken Prize, the prize for the best Dutch-language short exciting story, will also be announced tonight. This will take place on the Evening of the Exciting Book in the Neude Library in Utrecht.

At the same time there is also the kick-off of the Thriller Weeks, the successor to the Thriller Ten Days, which will last until 18 June.