The Vault (Grens & Sundkvist #2)

Dec 27, 2009 Tony rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: thrillers

Roslund, Anders, and Hellstrom, Borge. BOX 21. (2009). **. Hailed by many critics as the new thriller-blockbuster from Sweden, I got the feeling that it was a paint by numbers book assembled by two writers who only had bright day-glo colors to work with. The book is written in a hop-scotch style that revels in scenes of macabre sex and domination, and the investigation put on by a team of Swedish police is directed by flashbacks of the chief investigator of an accident that left his wife paralyz...more

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Nov 09, 2010 Brad Hodges rated it 3 of 5 stars

This novel centers around the trafficking of sex workers from the Baltic states to Sweden, which is apparently a big problem, as it seems to pop up in a lot of Swedish crime novels (and was the subject of a harrowing film called Lilya-4-Ever). Though I found this book tautly written and difficult to predict, it's awfully bleak.

The Russian mob does a nice business by hoodwinking young girls, with the promise of high-paying jobs, into leaving their humble origins in Russia or the Baltic states and...more

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Jun 20, 2010 Shawn rated it 4 of 5 stars

A book filled with frustrating characters, sensationalistic themes, and a masterfully constructed plot. Box 21 tells the story of Swedish police investigating a hostage/murder-suicide incident at a hospital. The perp is a young girl who has been kept as a sex slave for three years. The police have to uncover the dark secrets of modern slavery and sexual abuse, while struggling with the ethical behaviour of their own force. The blurb on the cover compares the novel to Stieg Larsson's Millenium tr...more

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May 31, 2010 Maddy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009-reads

PROTAGONIST: Detec. Ewert Grens
SETTING: Stockholm
RATING: 4.5

It’s really disheartening to think of the thousands (millions?) of women’s lives that have been destroyed by the sex slave industry. BOX 21 takes us deep into that world by focusing on the situation of two Lithuanian women who were forced into sex slavery in Sweden. The book tells their story in a very straightforward manner. The wrongs that they have to endure are heartrending. Locked into an apartment for three years and forced to ser...more PROTAGONIST: Detec. Ewert Grens
SETTING: Stockholm
RATING: 4.5

It’s really disheartening to think of the thousands (millions?) of women’s lives that have been destroyed by the sex slave industry. BOX 21 takes us deep into that world by focusing on the situation of two Lithuanian women who were forced into sex slavery in Sweden. The book tells their story in a very straightforward manner. The wrongs that they have to endure are heartrending. Locked into an apartment for three years and forced to service at least a dozen men each day, Lydia Grajauskas and Alena Sijusareva have adapted to their situation, both in different ways. Lydia performs extra acts for the men and keeps the money that she charges hidden from the pimp in hopes of eventually breaking away. Before she can do so, he beats her almost to death and ends up in the hospital. She escapes from her room and manages to hold several hospital workers hostage. It isn’t clear what she is seeking; only later, do all of her actions and the final resolution of the situation make horrifying sense.

Ewert Grens is the lead detective handling the case. He is a man who is renowned for the results of his investigations and his laser-like focus on every case he handles. However, he’s haunted by an incident that occurred many years earlier that resulted in the destruction of the woman he loves, who is now institutionalized. The man that he blames, Jochum Lang, is a mob enforcer who has just been released from prison; Ewert becomes consumed by his need to punish Lang. Despite the fact that he is known for his ethics and integrity, Grens begins to bend the rules in very inappropriate ways, tampering with evidence, in an effort to protect his best and only friend’s reputation. His younger partner, Sven Sundkvist, faces off with Ewert—but it’s hard to paint things black and white when it means that innocent people may be hurt.

The plight of the sex slaves was well rendered, factual without being sensational or prurient. It was sad to see how innocent young women were fooled and used so disgracefully. There are no happy endings; it’s something that is almost impossible to stop. There is always a gullible girl who will believe that she is escaping to a better life, unfortunately. The parallel story of Grens’ slide into compromising his integrity is riveting as well. In a twisted sense of justice, he allows a man he knows to be innocent to be convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, a kind of payback for the crimes that he did commit.

BOX 21 is an intense book, with an unflinching view of reality. It goes beyond being a thriller or police procedural; reading the book forces one to consider the nature of justice and vengeance, women’s rights and how far we are willing to go to protect a loved one. The final resolution made my jaw drop; the beautifully wrapped package really masks a snake. On the minus side, the characterization was a bit flat and the narrative jumped around between time periods and points of view in a way that was at times confusing.

Anders Roslund is the former head of Culture News on Swedish television; Borge Hellstrom is an ex-criminal who helps rehabilitate drug addicts and young criminals. They’ve written several books together; I for one will eagerly await their translation into English.

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Feb 16, 2011 Anthony Pacifico rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another Swedish mystery set in a similar style as Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy. What is it with these Swedish mystery writers that makes their novels so gruesome and gritty? Is it the long, cold, dark winters? This was indeed a gruesome book, but well worth reading. The authors explore a seamy side of Swedish culture that I for one, was not aware of, and that is the sex slave business in Sweden, run mostly by Russian and Lithuanian mobsters. But it was also the rich characterization of the...more

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Apr 08, 2013 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 10, 2011 Kathleen Hagen added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-audio-books, 2011-mysteries

Box 21,by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom, A-minus, Narrated by Christopher Lane, Produced by Brilliance Audio, downloaded from audible.com.

I think that this book was written before “Three Seconds” and in my opinion it is a much better book. Alena and Lydia were teenagers in Lithuania who were lured by the promise of making more money in Sweden. They signed on and for three years were sex slaves in a Stockholm brothel. They were forced to “service” 12 men a day, to always act like they were e...more

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Aug 07, 2011 Yvonne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hmmmmm, not so much. A thriller set in Stockholm. The main character is a detective superintendent who, 30 years earlier, watched his partner, also the love of his life get gunned down. She lived, and resides in a facility where she is cared for, and has the brain function of a baby. She does not know Grens, her former lover. But he spends his entire life mourning her loss, alienating everyone in his life except the other police officer who was at the scene. They form a strong bond and friendshi...more

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Feb 09, 2013 Marlène rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime-thriller-suspense, scandinavian-literature

Un peu difficile de décrire l'effet Box 21 à chaud. Le thème noir y est exposé sans concession: Trafic et exploitation de la pauvreté des jeunes lituanienne en leur faisant miroiter la Suède, pour ensuite les enfermer dans le paiement d'une "dette" dans la prostitution forcée et déshumanisante.
À ce thème se mêle celui des hommes et femmes de l'autre côté du miroir, face à l'horreur de l'exploitation moderne en masse de ces jeunes filles, indignation, désensibilisation... et la honte, omniprésent...more

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Sep 14, 2012 Nenia Campbell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: x-2005s, x-series-bk-2, the-butler-did-it, translated-to-english, reviewed, wtf-did-i-just-read, i-abuse-you-because-i-love-you, icky-sex-fantasies, pedobear-seal-of-approval, scandinavia

One of my friends recently asked me, "What's the difference between a Swedish mystery and regular, English mysteries?" It was a little awkward answering her, because a little child happened to be in the aisle, so I said, "Have you heard of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?" She said yes. I said, "Well, they're translated from Swedish, first of all, and tend to be darker, pushing the envelope of morally acceptable subjects like" - sidelong glance at child - "I-N-C-E-S-T, and D-R-U-G-S, and P-E-D-O-P-H...more One of my friends recently asked me, "What's the difference between a Swedish mystery and regular, English mysteries?" It was a little awkward answering her, because a little child happened to be in the aisle, so I said, "Have you heard of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?" She said yes. I said, "Well, they're translated from Swedish, first of all, and tend to be darker, pushing the envelope of morally acceptable subjects like" - sidelong glance at child - "I-N-C-E-S-T, and D-R-U-G-S, and P-E-D-O-P-H-I-L-I-A, and P-R-O-S-T-I-T-U-T-I-O-N." And then we both looked at the cute little girl who was reading through coloring books, and exchanged one of those looks where you miss being a kid who doesn't know what any of those nightmarishly real things are, spelled-out or not.

The Vault is a tricky book to finish because it's so dark and the subject matter is so unpleasant. Mind you, it's extremely well-written, and it does raise many valid issues, but that doesn't make it any easier to stomach. And lo and behold, it has a sticker on the front saying something to the extent, "FANS OF THE DRAGONS TATTOO WILL LOVE THIS BOOK." Maybe. I mean, I find it a little annoying that every Swedish book tends to be accompanied by a little advert saying it's just like Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It's a bit like saying that every BDSM erotica is just like Fifty Shades of Grey. Not hardly. I mean, they weren't the first, and they won't be the last, and many people have done it better. So yeah, that's my pet-peeve.

In this story, two cops - Grens and Sundkvist - are enmeshed in two very different, but overlapping, cases. On the one hand, Grens is trying to get revenge on the crime lord who put his girlfriend into a catatonic, semi-braindead state. But he's slippery as an eel, and Grens is considering stooping to illicit means in order to imprison the foul and insidious Lang for good. And his chance might just have arrived in the form of a dead drug-addict, tortured and then murdered for selling amphetamines tainted with prison-grade washing powder under Lang's name.

On the other hand Sundkvist and Grens also have a Baltic prostitute on their hands, beaten nearly to death by her sadistic pimp. Her name is Lydia Grajauskas, and she was sold into underage prostitution by her boyfriend, raped and threatened into cooperation with her captors, and now services at least twelve men a day. One day she'd had enough, and so her pimp whipped her, and broke her arm, until she passed out from the pain. It seems like a relatively open-shut case of assault, and Lydia is put into the hospital.

...But Lydia is not satisfied and decides to take justice into her own hands. Not against the pimp, but against the men who used her. Against the men who knowingly handed her to her fate, stole her innocence, and made her feel shameful to be alive. With the help of her friend/fellow prostitute Alena Sljusareva, Lydia obtains both plastic explosives and a gun, and takes five hostages in the hospital basement. Grens and Sundkvist try to negotiate with her, but her demands are strange - she requests a specific policeman, allegedly to translate for her - and since she's a woman with nothing more to lose, she seems unwilling to compromise.

Really, apart from being Swedish and dealing with unsavory subjects, The Vault has nothing in common with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The story wasn't quite as addictive, but it was definitely better written, and contained fewer ethnic slurs and descriptions of food/IKEA/how much kronor things cost. I also feel that the violence was kept as minimal as possible. No pornographic violence here! Roslund and Hellstrom give just enough details to make you cringe, but it's not a splatterfest. Which is good. Because the only thing I hate more than pointless sex in a book is pointless killing - in fact, the latter is far worse.

If you are a fan of Swedish mysteries, you will enjoy this book. If you like mysteries that make you think, even at the cost of offending your delicate sensibilities, you will like this book. I really enjoyed it, and I have one of the other books in the series, Three Seconds waiting for me in my TBR pile. Looks like I've finally found something to tide me over after the untimely conclusion of the Millennium series.

4.5 stars.(less)

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May 02, 2010 Dustin Manning rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: no one

Recommended to Dustin by: Library Journal

not very well written AT ALL.. not "bound to please fans of Stieg Larsson" because Steig Larssons characters jump off the page, you feel for them, understand them, care for them worry for them hate them. Box 21 is such a disappointment. These characters are so one dimensional that their actions do not make sense, and not in the artsy "well humans are complex creatures and do not always make complete sense". It's just simply poorly written.

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Jan 16, 2013 Jenny rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2012, fiction-in-swedish, contemporary, scandinavian-fiction, mysteries-and-thrillers

Box 21 var spännande och framförallt hemsk. Kuslig. Snuskig. Vidrig. Historien om de prostituerade kvinnorna var mycket bra skriven och jag kunde verkligen leva mig in i hur de upplevde sin värld och var/vad de kom ifrån. För att påkalla dessa känslor upprepades ord eller fraser kontinuerligt. Det intensifierade handlingen så väl som karaktärerna och känslorna, enligt min mening. Mycket smart. Shanti Roney var ett spännande val av berättare. Han har en ganska vanlig, trots att den är lätt att kä...more

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Apr 14, 2012 Nikki Finn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

Máte ve zvyku si přečíst poslední stranu knihy? Pokud se rozhodnete pro Box 21, tohle v žádném případě nedělejte.

Tohle je první detektivka, kterou jsem četla. Chci říct, první pořádná detektivka, pořádné krimi, s pořádně frustrovanými postavami, pořádně nechutná, pořádně ze života, pořádně pravdivá. Ano, po přečtení doslovu od autorů jsem byla zděšena, že něco takového mezi námi existuje. I když tušíte, že ano, možná si nechcete uvědomit v jaké míře. Autoři totiž pro svůj nevšední příběh čerpal...more Máte ve zvyku si přečíst poslední stranu knihy? Pokud se rozhodnete pro Box 21, tohle v žádném případě nedělejte.

Tohle je první detektivka, kterou jsem četla. Chci říct, první pořádná detektivka, pořádné krimi, s pořádně frustrovanými postavami, pořádně nechutná, pořádně ze života, pořádně pravdivá. Ano, po přečtení doslovu od autorů jsem byla zděšena, že něco takového mezi námi existuje. I když tušíte, že ano, možná si nechcete uvědomit v jaké míře. Autoři totiž pro svůj nevšední příběh čerpali ze zkušeností od žen, které se staly obětmi obchodu s bílým masem a jsou nuceny prostitucí "splácet" svůj dluh za to, že se z chudé země Litvy dostaly do Švédska. A jak sami autoři v doslovu píší, doufají, že některé z nich jsou ještě stále naživu.

Hlavními hrdinkami tohoto příběhu jsou Lydia a Alena. Obě uvěřily, že se budou mít lépe, že pro své rodiny vydělají spoustu peněz, když půjdou pracovat do Švédska. Chápejte, vydělat až dvacetkrát více za měsíc než tomu bylo doposud, kdo by potom netoužil. Netušily však, že jen co vstoupí na švédskou půdu, veškerá práva na jejich svobodný život končí. Obě pracují pro Dimitrije, svinského pasáka, tak se mu po celou dobu v knize říká, a každý výkyv v jejich chování je krutě potrestán. A tak se stane, že se po jednom takovém incidentu objeví policie v čele s Ewertem a Bengtem - nejlepšími přáteli, a věci se začnou dít. Zatímco Alena má v plánu se prostě jen dostat zpátky domů, Lydia bere spravedlnost do svých rukou. Začíná tak honba za pravdou, při níž se začnou dostávat na povrch nebezpečná tajemství.

Určitě byste se měli připravit na to, že na takovou četbu budete potřebovat trochu silnější žaludek. Autoři si opravdu neberou servítky a čtenáře nešetří různými nevkusnými praktikami jednotlivých postav. Začátek knihy byl tak pro mne vcelku - ehm - řekněme dost silné kafe. Hned několik linií příběhů se zde protíná, první kapitoly jsou vyprávěny z pohledů několika postav - prostitutky Lydie, feťáka Hildinga, policisty Ewerta, Bengta či Svena, nebo vyděrače Jochuma. Připravte se na to, že všechny postavy dodávají knize depresivní nádech. A všechny postavy vás také dovedou do depresivního konce bez satisfakce. Nejdříve jsem si říkala, proč to tak je? Proč nemůže tohle všechno skončit dobře? Proč? No, protože ve světě, o kterém budete číst, to nikdy neskončí. Natož tak dobře. Budete číst o problémech, které jsou neustále kolem nás, ale které nevidíme. Nevnímáme. Nemusíme řešit. A přesto společně v tomhle problému žijeme a dýcháme stejný vzduch jako ty, které jsou dennodenně ponižovány a bity. A v knize je právě tak ukázáno, jak nekonečný boj s tímto problémem je, a jak bezmocně můžeme jen přihlížet.

Já jsem nesmírně ráda, že jsem si tento tzv. reading copy od Knižního Klubu mohla přečíst, protože netuším, zda bych se k samotné koupi odhodlala, jelikož krimi příběhům moc neholduji a se severskými autory nemám vůbec žádnou zkušenost. Ale! Po dnešku vím, že tohle nebyla stoprocentně poslední kniha, kterou jsem si od autorů ze severu přečetla. Vyhovoval mi jednoduchý styl psaní, při kterém jsem i beztak musela dost přemýšlet, vyhovoval mi spád děje a kupodivu i náročnost na psychiku. Byla jsem nucena po knize sahat každou volnou chvíli. Box 21 doporučuji všem, kteří se do teď krimi báli. A všem, kteří se chtějí bát.(less)

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Aug 19, 2012 Stacia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime-fiction, nordic, 2012

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Dec 21, 2011 Ellie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: series, nordic-noir, crime, 2011ind-chal200bks

The Vault (in my translation, Box 21) by Anders Roslund is the second in a series following the gritty cases of hard-core police detectives Gresn & Sundkvist. There is passion but no sentimentality in this police procedural about a young girl kidnapped from Vilnius and forced into prostitution who seeks vengeance and the vengeance Detective Grens seeks on the man who destroyed the life of fellow detective (and love of his life) Anni, 20 years earlier.

The story is often sordid, filled with ju...more

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Apr 16, 2012 Alipeli rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hlavní hrdinkou tohoto románu je Lydia Grajaukas, která byla pod slibem zaměstnání a svobody přepravena z Litvy do Švédska (Stockholmu). Ale ukázalo se, že byla další obětí překupnictví s bílým masem a koupil ji pasák jménem Dimitrij. Když si Lydia po letech bokem něco ušetří, vždy za extra služby si řekla něco na víc, odmítne dále dělat kurvu. Dimitrij ji za to zbije do bezvědomí, ale s podezřením na domácí násilí do bytu vtrhne policie.

V Södermalmské nemocnici, ve které právě Lydia leží, se n...more Hlavní hrdinkou tohoto románu je Lydia Grajaukas, která byla pod slibem zaměstnání a svobody přepravena z Litvy do Švédska (Stockholmu). Ale ukázalo se, že byla další obětí překupnictví s bílým masem a koupil ji pasák jménem Dimitrij. Když si Lydia po letech bokem něco ušetří, vždy za extra služby si řekla něco na víc, odmítne dále dělat kurvu. Dimitrij ji za to zbije do bezvědomí, ale s podezřením na domácí násilí do bytu vtrhne policie.

V Södermalmské nemocnici, ve které právě Lydia leží, se nalezne mrtvé tělo feťáka. Alena, která byla také kurva patřící Dimitrijovi, propašuje do nemocnice pistoly, provaz a semtex. Díky těmto věcem Lydie zadrží 5 rukojmí v márnici nemocnice, všem zaváže ruce a připevní na ně semtex. Kvůli výbušnině na chodbách k márnici, se k ní a rukojmím ani policie nedostane. A jediné, co Lydie chce, je pomstít se člověku, který, podle ní, má život jaký žila na svědomí.

Pověsila telefon zpátky do vidlice na zdi. Zapnula mobilní telefon, zmáčkla tlačítko se zeleným symbolem a zvolila čtyřmístný kód, jak ji to naučil starší lékař.
Čekala jenom několik vteřin.
Ozvalo se zvonění, přesně jak očekávala.
Nechala telefon chvíli zvonit, potom ho zvedla, ten černý, který visel na zdi.
„Čas vypršel.“
Hlas Bengta Nordwalla.
„Lydie, potřebujeme…“
Prudce udeřila do telefonu.
„Udělali jste, o co jsem vás žádala?“
„Potřebujeme trochu víc času. Jenom chvíli. Abychom stačili vyřídit nedorozumění s telefony.“
Po čele jí stékal studený pot. Každý nádech cítila jako bodnutí do žeber. Bylo jí zatěžko se soustředit, udržet bolest v šachu. Uhodila ústím pistole do telefonu. Tentokrát víckrát, důrazněji. Ale neřekla ani slovo.
Bengt Nordwall čekal, slyšel její vzdalující se kroky. Věděla, že se opět otáčí ke kolegům, kteří tam stáli se sluchátky a snažili se porozumět. Chytil telefon, po chvíli zavolal, tak hlasitě, jak mu to dovoloval strach.
„Haló!“
Slyšel, jak se ozvěna odráží ode zdí, jak jeho slova tančí místností.
„Haló!“
Potom uslyšel to, co slyšet nechtěl.

Box 21 není kniha pro slabší povahy. Nejen, že se dozvíme o nelegálním obchodu se sexem, více než bychom chtěly, ale i policejním systému ve Švédsku. Během knihy stále měníme vlastní názor na většinu postav – s odpornými postavami můžeme po čase cítit soucit a naopak. Žádný člověk z knížky není vyloženě ten dobrý a ten špatný.

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Feb 21, 2012 Blanca rated it 3 of 5 stars

Oh,dear! So much for justice! Why is it that one wants the criminal meet their comeuppance and feels truly disappointed when it is not so? This novel is too near to the truth in its rawness and leaves you with despair on the system.

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Sep 13, 2010 Bridget rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one of the best thrillers I have read in a really long time. I liked everything about it, the writing style, the characters, everything was perfect. This would be the perfect gift for the reader in your life.

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Feb 07, 2013 John McCarthy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A prostitute is found beaten and near death setting off an investgation into the lurid sex slave trade. I liked the first part of this book. The prostitute tells her story and plots revenge on her captors. The second part of the book is filled with dull minded cops who can't seem to solve the crime and are too willing to breach ethics in a misguided effort to help a friend. A subplot involves a drug addict and a mob enforcer whom the lead detective has been trying to convict for years. There is...more

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Jan 16, 2010 Hans rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I wanted to like this book, but it was just too heavy-handed and predictable. The social issue though is shocking, disturbing, and very sad.

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Oct 14, 2012 Per added it · review of another edition

The International Thriller that Stockholm City hailed as the Best Crime Novel of the Year has finally crossed the Atlantic! Three years ago, Lydia and Alena were two hopeful girls from Lithuania. Now they are sex slaves, lured to Sweden with the promise of better jobs and then trapped in a Stockholm brothel, forced to repay their “debt.” Suddenly they are given an unexpected chance at freedom, and with it the opportunity to take revenge on their enslavers and reclaim the lives and dignity they o...more

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Dec 12, 2012 Hikerdee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

I enjoyed two other books by the team of Roslund and Hellstrom, and I borrowed it from my library's collection.
The subject matter, the physical and mental abuse of two sex slaves and the international human trafficking, may be difficult for some adult readers. The scenes move through time and location so the reader is intrigued by the questions how will this all come together for the reader trusts the authors would not tell and show us something if it were not important. I was surprised by the...more

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Apr 15, 2012 Marcel Kupka rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rozjezd pomalý... ale vypadá to dobře.

Dočteno, jsem plný dojmů... Nebál bych se Box 21 přirovnat ke Spasiteli Jo Nesba - i tady čtenář celou dobu něco předpokládá a nakonec ho autor docela slušně na samotný závěr překvapí.

Přidám recenzi:

Lydia je kurva. Litevská kurva, aby bylo jasno. Kurva z donucení. To mají muži ve Švédsku rádi. Holka, kterou můžeš ponížit, chutná jinak než emancipovaná Švédka. Trvá to už tři roky. Dost dlouho na to, aby Lydia znala úchylky stálých zákazníků. Ví, kdo si rád...more

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Mar 02, 2013 Alison Miller-astor rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: abandoned

I abandoned this book about halfway through. Although I expected it to be dark and depressing (which it is), it failed to live up to any of its hype as "gripping", "taut" or "a mind-blowing psychological thriller of the highest order". Whoever likened it to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo did the latter book a great disservice IMHO.

Bottom line: I didn't care about any of the characters, I was bored, and when I started asking myself why I was reading this when I had so many books calling to me fr...more

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Jun 14, 2011 Toni Osborne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Also published under the title “The Vault” in the UK

Book 2 in the Ewert Grens series

The novel holds two main stories that are dark, extraordinarily sad and definitely not for the faint at heart. Both threads involve one of Stockholm’s best detectives Ewert Grens.

The first plot opens, with the release from prison of a notorious criminal; Jochum Lang. Detective Grens who has personal and professional reasons, feels Lang is a threat to the public, a hard core criminal and he makes it his mission to...more Also published under the title “The Vault” in the UK

Book 2 in the Ewert Grens series

The novel holds two main stories that are dark, extraordinarily sad and definitely not for the faint at heart. Both threads involve one of Stockholm’s best detectives Ewert Grens.

The first plot opens, with the release from prison of a notorious criminal; Jochum Lang. Detective Grens who has personal and professional reasons, feels Lang is a threat to the public, a hard core criminal and he makes it his mission to put him back behind bars. Grens strong feelings are based on an incident that happened twenty five years earlier. His colleague and girlfriend at the time was beaten to within an inch of her life and has been institutionalized ever since, a case that haunts him to this day. When Grens discovers that criminal bosses are hiring Lang as a strong arm he seizes the chance to send him back to prison.

The second plot is fast paced and full of credible action with a sad tone, another case Detective Grens is working in parallel that is demanding much of his time and skill. Lydia Grajauskas and Alena Sljusareva are two Lithuanian girls who have been tricked into leaving their country only to become sex slaves and property of the man they call Dimitri-Bastard-Pimp. We first learned about the girls when they are into a three year old nightmare servicing 12 clients a day, their moral at the extreme low and often beaten into submission. One day Lydia was so badly beaten that the neighbours called the police and was transported to the hospital. Her terrifying ordeal is revealed and at the same time she seizes the opportunity to fulfill a dream, take matters into her own hands and escape the hands of her captor.

The writing is crisp and steadfast with short chapters that shift back and forth between several colourfully portrayed characters: the criminals, the victims and the cops. I found it rather hard to get into this tale at first but once I became familiar with the writer’s style and phrasing, it all fell into place, at this point the story gelled and I was hooked.

I like this novel; it is a complex and intense psychological thriller that delivers a brutally intimate view into the drug and sex slave trade.(less)

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Mar 24, 2011 Celina Araujo rated it 4 of 5 stars

A book filled with frustrating characters, sensationalistic themes, and a masterfully constructed plot. Box 21 tells the story of Swedish police investigating a hostage/murder-suicide incident at a hospital. The perp is a young girl who has been kept as a sex slave for three years. The police have to uncover the dark secrets of modern slavery and sexual abuse, while struggling with the ethical behaviour of their own force. The blurb on the cover compares the novel to Stieg Larsson's Millenium tr...more

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Jun 01, 2011 Paula rated it 3 of 5 stars

Box 21 was written by the mystery team of Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom, whose acquaintance I made when I read their later book, Three Seconds, which was terrific. Box 21 is a great, fast read featuring detective superintendent Ewert Grens, who continued on into Three Seconds. However, Box 21 is set at an earlier time and finds Grens still haunted by his wife’s accident and encumbered by rather poor social skills. The early chapters of the book set up each of the main characters in a rapid-...more

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Jul 07, 2010 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

So, the dust jacket was printed earlier and the blurbs make no comparison to Steig Larsson, but a sticker on the front says, "bound to please fans of Stieg Larsson's "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" - Library Journal.

Perhaps, but really there isn't much of a comparison, other than the contemporary Swedish setting. The first Larsson book is a thriller/mystery in which the police hardly figure while Box 21 is a much more traditional police procedural. There are no characters in Box 21 who are as i...more

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Feb 17, 2010 Nancy Oakes rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: scandinavian-crime-fiction-and-myst, translated-fiction

Having read somewhere that fans of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo would also like this book, I picked it up. It's nothing like Stieg Larsson's book at all. In his novel, there's a mystery to be had as well as a strong heroine who lives by her own inner sense of morality and never wavers. Here, what you've got is a police procedural, a story of revenge and betrayal, and at its heart, an ethical and moral dilemma. That's not to say that this isn't a good book (it is), but it's a different animal alto...more Having read somewhere that fans of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo would also like this book, I picked it up. It's nothing like Stieg Larsson's book at all. In his novel, there's a mystery to be had as well as a strong heroine who lives by her own inner sense of morality and never wavers. Here, what you've got is a police procedural, a story of revenge and betrayal, and at its heart, an ethical and moral dilemma. That's not to say that this isn't a good book (it is), but it's a different animal altogether than Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

The main focus of this novel centers around the sex-slave trade. Young girls Lydia Grajauskas and Alena Sljusareva lived in Lithuania until promises of good jobs in Sweden brought them there, only to realize the first night on the boat trip to their new home that they had been horribly misled. They find themselves locked in the rooms of a house, prisoners, kept there by a nasty piece of work named Dmitri, brutalized into submission and forced to perform twelve times a day for various regular clientele. Their situation has lasted three years and comes to a head one day, bringing the police into the situation, beginning a story that will absolutely make you cringe and want to look away as you read it. But you can't.

Aside from Lydia and Alena, the main characters in the novel are policemen, especially Ewert Grens, a detective who has been obsessively gunning for a criminal named Jochum Lang who years earlier, caused Grens' partner Anni to live in a permanent state of brain damage and to be confined to a wheelchair. Grens is a puzzle to his co-workers -- his crime-solving rate is high, and he's good at his job, but since Anni's accident, he's been a loner, spending his time as a chronic workaholic, finding some solace in the music of a pop singer from the 1960s. As Grens works the case involving Lydia and Alena, he comes into possession of some information that leads him to a critical juncture both in his life and in his career. His partner, Sundqvist, can't figure out what's going on until an order from above sends him off to find out the truth.

This is a dark book all the way through to the last page, which actually made my blood run cold. There are no feel-good or warm fuzzy moments here, no happy endings, and you will definitely have food for thought after you've finished. It's well written, the plotlines hang together well and all in all it is a great read.
I'd recommend it to people who like Scandinavian crime fiction, or crime fiction in general on a somewhat more gritty and realistic level than the usual fare. (less)

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Nov 24, 2009 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries

Set in Stockholm, the novel follows two stories: A savagely beaten Lithuanian prostitute takes a group of doctors hostages at the hospital where she is being treated — the same hospital where a junkie has just been found dead after a visit from a drug lord’s hit man. Detective Ewert Grens and his colleagues on the police force juggle both cases and end up with more information than they’d hoped for.
Story trumps characters most of the time in “Box 21,” and the twisty plot carries readers along s...more

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title link	preview: The Vault
avg rating	preview: The Vault Goodreads rating: 3.57 (823 ratings)
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The Vault (Grens & Sundkvist #2)

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