11.11.11

I’ll admit: I picked up *11.11.11* expecting a taut true-crime thriller, but what I got was something far weirder—and way more entertaining. Mads Brügger doesn’t just report the story of Pierre Flensborg’s ill-fated attempt to spirit Saif al-Islam Gaddafi out of Libya; he dissects the man’s psyche with the precision of a surgeon and the glee of a stand-up comic. Flensborg isn’t a criminal mastermind—he’s a wannabe player, a man who mistook his own salesmanship for geopolitical influence, and Rønnelund’s narration *gets* that. His delivery is understated but razor-sharp, especially when voicing Flensborg’s increasingly unhinged justifications. You can hear the eye-roll in his tone when the plot spirals into farce (a fake passport? *Really?*). That said, the audiobook isn’t without flaws. The middle act drags slightly as Brügger dives deep into Libyan political factions—necessary context, but the momentum stalls. And while Rønnelund’s deadpan works for most of the book, his voice lacks the gravitas for the heavier moments, like the human cost of Gaddafi’s regime. Still, those are minor quibbles. The real triumph here is how Brügger turns what could’ve been a forgettable footnote in history into a darkly hilarious character study. If you’ve ever wondered how a guy with a PowerPoint deck and a god complex ends up in a Mexican jail cell, this is your answer. Just don’t expect to root for anyone by the end.