A landmark Scandinavian crime novel by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. First published in 1975, it is the 10th and final novel in the acclaimed Martin Beck series and is widely regarded as one of the foundations of modern Nordic noir.

Detective Martin Beck and his Stockholm homicide squad are drawn into multiple investigations that gradually converge. A ruthless international assassin is believed to be planning the murder of a visiting foreign senator, demanding an enormous security operation. At the same time, Beck's team investigates an apparently unrelated murder and uncovers evidence of corruption, political maneuvering, and systemic failures within Swedish society.

As the pressure mounts, Beck and his colleagues must untangle a web of terrorism, organized crime, bureaucracy, and political intrigue. Rather than focusing solely on action, the novel emphasizes careful police work, realistic investigative procedures, and the everyday frustrations of detectives working within an imperfect justice system.

Like the rest of the series, The Terrorists uses the murder investigation as a vehicle for sharp social and political commentary. Sjöwall and Wahlöö examine inequality, abuse of power, media influence, government bureaucracy, and the widening gap between public institutions and ordinary citizens. Their understated prose, believable characters, and meticulous attention to procedural detail helped define the style later popularized by Nordic crime writers.