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Ewert Grens #6
Two Soldiers
With over 4 million copies sold worldwide and translated in 28 languages The New York Times bestselling authors, ex-con Borge Hellstrom and investigative journalist Anders Roslund combine inside knowledge of the brutal realities of criminal life with searing social criticism in complex, intelligent plots that have propelled them into the forefront of international crime writing. Now in Two Soldiers comes an explosive thriller of drugs, gang warfare, and two fatherless teenage boys on the wrong side of the law.
In a bleak Stockholm suburb where juvenile gang crime is rapidly on the rise, two 19-year-old boys, best friends since third grade and drug addicts since age 9, have spent their young lives establishing a ruthless criminal enterprise--known as the Raby Warriors. With the recruitment of children as foot soldiers, the Warriors are now poised to become the most powerful syndicate in the region.
Twenty years on the force, Jose Pereira now heads the Organized Crime and Gang Section in Raby. If it was not so deadly, Pereira might appreciate the absurdity of watching boys like Leon and Gabriel, raised on Hollywood images, morph themselves into characterizations of gangsters.
After Leon and Gabriel execute a maximum-security prison break, in which a female guard is kidnapped and feared murdered, Pereira is joined in his investigation by Chief Superintendent Ewert Grens, whom Roslund and Hellstrom readers will recognize as the maverick detective who never gives up. For Grens, this case awakens troubled ghosts from his past. Soon all four men are on a violent collision course that will irrevocably change all their lives.
In a bleak Stockholm suburb where juvenile gang crime is rapidly on the rise, two 19-year-old boys, best friends since third grade and drug addicts since age 9, have spent their young lives establishing a ruthless criminal enterprise--known as the Raby Warriors. With the recruitment of children as foot soldiers, the Warriors are now poised to become the most powerful syndicate in the region.
Twenty years on the force, Jose Pereira now heads the Organized Crime and Gang Section in Raby. If it was not so deadly, Pereira might appreciate the absurdity of watching boys like Leon and Gabriel, raised on Hollywood images, morph themselves into characterizations of gangsters.
After Leon and Gabriel execute a maximum-security prison break, in which a female guard is kidnapped and feared murdered, Pereira is joined in his investigation by Chief Superintendent Ewert Grens, whom Roslund and Hellstrom readers will recognize as the maverick detective who never gives up. For Grens, this case awakens troubled ghosts from his past. Soon all four men are on a violent collision course that will irrevocably change all their lives.
596 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
56 people are currently reading
1173 people want to read
About the author
Anders Roslund
52 books410 followersAnders Roslund is a Swedish author and journalist. He is the founder and former head of Kulturnyheterna (Culture News) on SVT, Sweden's national television broadcaster. For many years he worked as a news reporter – specializing in criminal and social issues – and as an Editor-in-chief at Rapport and Aktuellt, the two major News programmes on SVT.
Roslund regularly collaborates with Börge Hellström, and together they make up the writing duo of Roslund & Hellström.
Roslund regularly collaborates with Börge Hellström, and together they make up the writing duo of Roslund & Hellström.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
July 13, 2013
Regardless of what anyone else says, I LOVED this book -- it's probably the most powerful book to come from Roslund and Hellstrom in their writing careers. As usual, you can keep reading for the short version or click here for the longer one.
Roslund and Hellstrom have consistently put out some incredible books that throughout the entire series have remained edgy, gritty and contemporary. Although this installment is a bit long and could have used some paring down, Two Soldiers remains true to form and is consistent with the fine writing and the focus on important issues that these authors bring to the table.
Set in Sweden, the "two soldiers" are two teens (18 to be exact), Gabriel Milton and his gang "brutha" Leon Jensen of what was formerly the Råby Warriors, now changed to Ghetto Soldiers. They see themselves as a family unit of brothers, and once you're in, you stay in until you're dead. Leon is in prison, but still runs things from his cell; outside, Gabriel and the other members of the gang carry out their usual business with the help of even younger kids, one of whom in this novel is only 12 and longs to be a true gang member and will do what it takes to become full fledged. The gang sets fires in their own area of Råby; when firefighters respond, they often find themselves forced by violence to just let things burn without being able to intervene. They have zero respect for others outside of the gang, demand protection money from local businesses without really providing protection, and have absolutely no fear of authority. As one character who lives in the area notes, "This is our everyday reality, a lawless country ruled by a mere few, and no one out there must fail to understand that."
Jose Pereira, who is the head of the Organized Crime and Gang Section, keeps his walls "decorated" with pictures of gangs, arranged in hierarchical order -- and Leon is seething at the fact that his group is not at the top of that wall. To get to the top, he realizes that the gang has to step up its game and do something no one else has done -- but first he has to get out. His escape from prison, carefully planned down to the last detail, brings Detective Superintendent Ewert Grens into the picture, after a young female guard (also 18) is kidnapped and later killed as part of the escape plan. His guilt at a past event eats away at him, causing even greater angst than normal, and he takes this particular case very personally, willing to pull out all the stops to get things under control, going up against the constraints of the law and authority. Grens realizes that time is running out -- not only does Jensen have to be captured, but evidence pointing to the making of a bomb has been discovered in one of the Råby apartments.
In reading over reviews of this novel, I came across one that noted the following:
"... I do wonder why so much modern literature coming out of Sweden has to portray, or consider, the darker side of life."
Yes, well...crime fiction may be a form of entertainment, but in the hands of these two authors and others, crime fiction has definitely become another medium for examining what's wrong in society -- a huge factor behind why I read any book. In this case, the problem is not localized to Sweden, but an issue that touches everyone pretty much everywhere. So, why bother to read crime at all if you don't deep down inside want to "consider the darker side of life?" Should it be all happy endings and sweetness all around where you refuse to believe that your little corner of the world doesn't have the problems that are portrayed here?
Personally, I feel like this novel could have been pared down without losing its shock value and portrayal of the "darker side of life," but overall, it's an amazing read, one I'd recommend without hesitation.
Roslund and Hellstrom have consistently put out some incredible books that throughout the entire series have remained edgy, gritty and contemporary. Although this installment is a bit long and could have used some paring down, Two Soldiers remains true to form and is consistent with the fine writing and the focus on important issues that these authors bring to the table.
Set in Sweden, the "two soldiers" are two teens (18 to be exact), Gabriel Milton and his gang "brutha" Leon Jensen of what was formerly the Råby Warriors, now changed to Ghetto Soldiers. They see themselves as a family unit of brothers, and once you're in, you stay in until you're dead. Leon is in prison, but still runs things from his cell; outside, Gabriel and the other members of the gang carry out their usual business with the help of even younger kids, one of whom in this novel is only 12 and longs to be a true gang member and will do what it takes to become full fledged. The gang sets fires in their own area of Råby; when firefighters respond, they often find themselves forced by violence to just let things burn without being able to intervene. They have zero respect for others outside of the gang, demand protection money from local businesses without really providing protection, and have absolutely no fear of authority. As one character who lives in the area notes, "This is our everyday reality, a lawless country ruled by a mere few, and no one out there must fail to understand that."
Jose Pereira, who is the head of the Organized Crime and Gang Section, keeps his walls "decorated" with pictures of gangs, arranged in hierarchical order -- and Leon is seething at the fact that his group is not at the top of that wall. To get to the top, he realizes that the gang has to step up its game and do something no one else has done -- but first he has to get out. His escape from prison, carefully planned down to the last detail, brings Detective Superintendent Ewert Grens into the picture, after a young female guard (also 18) is kidnapped and later killed as part of the escape plan. His guilt at a past event eats away at him, causing even greater angst than normal, and he takes this particular case very personally, willing to pull out all the stops to get things under control, going up against the constraints of the law and authority. Grens realizes that time is running out -- not only does Jensen have to be captured, but evidence pointing to the making of a bomb has been discovered in one of the Råby apartments.
In reading over reviews of this novel, I came across one that noted the following:
"... I do wonder why so much modern literature coming out of Sweden has to portray, or consider, the darker side of life."
Yes, well...crime fiction may be a form of entertainment, but in the hands of these two authors and others, crime fiction has definitely become another medium for examining what's wrong in society -- a huge factor behind why I read any book. In this case, the problem is not localized to Sweden, but an issue that touches everyone pretty much everywhere. So, why bother to read crime at all if you don't deep down inside want to "consider the darker side of life?" Should it be all happy endings and sweetness all around where you refuse to believe that your little corner of the world doesn't have the problems that are portrayed here?
Personally, I feel like this novel could have been pared down without losing its shock value and portrayal of the "darker side of life," but overall, it's an amazing read, one I'd recommend without hesitation.
February 28, 2018
Το ''Τwo Soldiers'' δεν είναι το τυπικό σουηδικό police procedural, είναι ένα βιβλίο που απαιτεί τη συγκέντρωση του αναγνώστη ώστε να εξοικειωθεί με το φαινόμενο της νεανικής/παιδικής παραβατικότητας, που, ως θεματική, διατρέχει σχετικά λίγα αστυνομικά μυθιστορήματα, τουλάχιστον όσον αφορά την λεπτομερή περιγραφή του συγκεκριμένου τρόπου ζωής. Οι Roslund και Hellstrom, έχοντας εμπειρία ως δημοσιογράφος ο μεν, ποινικός κρατούμενος ο δε, αναλώνονται στο πρώτο 1/3 του βιβλίου, στην περιγραφή και κριτική παρατήρηση του ''κώδικα τιμής'' μιας συμμορίας εφήβων που σπέρνουν στην κυριολεξία τον τρόμο και τον όλεθρο στην Στοκχόλμη του σήμερα. Η συνοικία του Raby, που είναι αποκλειστικά προϊόν μυθοπλασίας, στα νότια προάστια της πρωτεύουσας είναι το ορμητήριο της μαφίας των πιτσιρικάδων, με αρχηγούς να είναι δύο παιδιά 18 και 19 χρονών αντίστοιχα, ο Leon και ο Gabriel. O Leon βρίσκεται έγκλειστος στην (επίσης φανταστική) φυλακή του Aspsas, την οποία συναντήσαμε και στο ''Three Seconds'', και ο Gabriel έχει καταστρώσει ένα σχέδιο απόδρασης τόσο για τον Leon όσο και για τα υπόλοιπα κρατούμενα μέλη της ομάδας. Αυτή είναι και η αρχή της κύριας ιστορίας, η οποία διακρίνεται από το μεγάλο πλήθος των πληροφοριακών ψηγμάτων για το τι σημαίνει να ζείς στην παρανομία. Πραγματικά, αν και συμφωνώ με πολλούς που υποστηρίζουν ότι το πρώτο 1/3 σε κάποιο βαθμό κουράζει, από το δίδυμο Roslund/Hellstrom μπορεί να μάθει κανείς πώς να κλέβει αυτοκίνητα, πώς να φτιάχνει όπλο και μηχάνημα για τατουάζ από τα υλικά που επιτρέπονται στη φυλακή, τον αποτελεσματικότερο τρόπο χρήσης εκρηκτικών πάσης φύσεως και πολλά άλλα.
Το μόνο μειονέκτημα του βιβλίου είναι ότι πιστεύω πως η σκιαγράφηση των χαρακτήρων του Leon και του Gabriel είναι κάπως μονοδιάστατη και σε κάποια σημεία καταντά, σχεδόν, καρικατουρίστικη. Κατά τα άλλα, πρόκειται για ένα βιβλίο στα υψηλά στάνταρ που μας έχουν συνηθίσει οι συγγραφείς του. Συνίσταται.
Το μόνο μειονέκτημα του βιβλίου είναι ότι πιστεύω πως η σκιαγράφηση των χαρακτήρων του Leon και του Gabriel είναι κάπως μονοδιάστατη και σε κάποια σημεία καταντά, σχεδόν, καρικατουρίστικη. Κατά τα άλλα, πρόκειται για ένα βιβλίο στα υψηλά στάνταρ που μας έχουν συνηθίσει οι συγγραφείς του. Συνίσταται.
March 23, 2014
I was given a copy of Two Soldiers by Anders Roslund through Goodreads in exchange for an honest review. It is rare for me to give less than two stars but in this case I simply had to.
The book is about two gang members who start their own gang and recruit children to do so. One of them is in prison at the beginning of the book. The other is on the outside. I will be honest, it took me a week to read 112 pages and I just can't get any further. I had to re-read the first several pages three times just to get an understanding of what was going on.
Characters are really important especially in a book like this. They need to invoke strong feelings from the reader whether that be hate or love. I did not feel strongly for any of these characters.
Quite frankly if nothing grabs my attention or at least intrigues me within the first 100 pages, I have a really hard time moving forward with it. I gave this book a try, but I just couldn't bring myself to read anymore and you shouldn't have to force yourself to read a book, it should be pleasurable. This was not.
The book is about two gang members who start their own gang and recruit children to do so. One of them is in prison at the beginning of the book. The other is on the outside. I will be honest, it took me a week to read 112 pages and I just can't get any further. I had to re-read the first several pages three times just to get an understanding of what was going on.
Characters are really important especially in a book like this. They need to invoke strong feelings from the reader whether that be hate or love. I did not feel strongly for any of these characters.
Quite frankly if nothing grabs my attention or at least intrigues me within the first 100 pages, I have a really hard time moving forward with it. I gave this book a try, but I just couldn't bring myself to read anymore and you shouldn't have to force yourself to read a book, it should be pleasurable. This was not.
January 25, 2016
GR's Nancy Oakes is correct: this series is "edgy, gritty and contemporary;" however, this book was at least 200 pages too long. Heck, Superintendent Detective Ewert Grens did not even come into the novel until almost page 240. The story centers on Stockholm’s youth gangs, and typically kids from broken homes, becoming hardened criminals to find "family." Gabriel Milton and Leon Jensen are the leaders of the Raby Warriors (Ghetto Soldiers) gang, with its Bob Marley philosophy of “one love, brother.” In one single night of mayhem, Leon breaks out of prison, breaks out his brothers from other prison, kills a guard, and seeks refuge in the Raby ghetto. Then, to become the most feared gang, they detonate a bomb, killing the head of the police's gang unit in his office. Things begin to go awry when Gabriel discovers he is going to be a father, and discovers real versus artificial love. My ratings for this series have moved from 4 to 3 to 2 stars.
May 15, 2024
Grens & Sundkvist book #6
This is a bleak tale of teen gang running amok.
Stockholm is being terrorized by a teenage gang’s reign. The crime wave is being directed from inside a maximum security prison by an 18 year old named Leon. His blood brother Gabriel’s girlfriend Wanda regularly smuggle in pills as a mule. The gang has no reservation about recruiting 12 years old ....and the book goes on. I suggest you read the synopsis to get a better idea what you’ll be into....I lost interest and abandoned it before I reached to end...Now did I bailed out too fast? Maybe.
The premise of this book sounded so good that I finally brought it up from my very long TBR list to give it priority. Frankly it should have stayed at the bottom even forgotten. The beginning is very disjointed and difficult to follow. I had a hard time getting into a narrative that is not told in chapters but in short clips of a page or two where we have point of view that changes on a wimp. This choppy narrative and the merry-go-round changing point of view are very confusing.
“Two Soldiers” is a difficult 600 pages read that focusses on the street gang, it is raw and brutal.
This is one book that will indeed divide readers.....It was far from being my cup of tea....
This is a bleak tale of teen gang running amok.
Stockholm is being terrorized by a teenage gang’s reign. The crime wave is being directed from inside a maximum security prison by an 18 year old named Leon. His blood brother Gabriel’s girlfriend Wanda regularly smuggle in pills as a mule. The gang has no reservation about recruiting 12 years old ....and the book goes on. I suggest you read the synopsis to get a better idea what you’ll be into....I lost interest and abandoned it before I reached to end...Now did I bailed out too fast? Maybe.
The premise of this book sounded so good that I finally brought it up from my very long TBR list to give it priority. Frankly it should have stayed at the bottom even forgotten. The beginning is very disjointed and difficult to follow. I had a hard time getting into a narrative that is not told in chapters but in short clips of a page or two where we have point of view that changes on a wimp. This choppy narrative and the merry-go-round changing point of view are very confusing.
“Two Soldiers” is a difficult 600 pages read that focusses on the street gang, it is raw and brutal.
This is one book that will indeed divide readers.....It was far from being my cup of tea....
October 17, 2025
Efter 165 sidor (av 686) ger jag upp. Tre sekunder var fenomenal. Trodde att denna skulle vara lika bra, men blev ordentligt besviken. Den kom igång efter knappt 100 sidor, därför läste jag vidare men nu har jag tappat intresset igen och då får det vara. Livet är för kort för att läsa andra böcker än de som verkligen fångar en!
March 7, 2022
Uppläsaren var jättedålig och jag led genom hela boken och sen var slutet inte ens bra…
September 2, 2018
A book that was okay. An awful lot of pages to describe much more than the lives of Leon & Gabriel alone.
The book was filled with hatred, brotherly love, mother's love, gang formation, wishes to belong, and much more.
I disliked the style of writing, the fragmentation, often I did not know whether there were 2 he's in a sentence (and who did what), or that there was just one. I disliked Leon as a character as well.
At the end of the book, a full circle has been made. Will life start anew with the next one?
The book was filled with hatred, brotherly love, mother's love, gang formation, wishes to belong, and much more.
I disliked the style of writing, the fragmentation, often I did not know whether there were 2 he's in a sentence (and who did what), or that there was just one. I disliked Leon as a character as well.
At the end of the book, a full circle has been made. Will life start anew with the next one?
February 14, 2022
kanske skildrar olika perspektiv av kriminalitet i sverige på ett bra sätt, kanske inte. vad vet jag?
May 7, 2014
Too long, but the author(s) did cover a lot of ground in their story about Leon Jensen and Gabriel Milton, born to single mothers, two kids growing up in apartment tenements in the suburbs of Stockholm surrounded by drugs, violence and gangs. It's a little hard to get into at first because it's written mostly in sentence fragments. Maybe that happened during the translation process. But, once you get used to reading those fragments, you are drawn into quite the story about these two kids and their lives spiraling out of control. And we do have our police detective Ewert Grens who keeps digging and digging until he knows the whole story. I like these authors, but this time the book was too long.
June 25, 2018
This started well, with the tale of a young urban gang of whom half are in jail but still running a ring of underage hoods to sell drugs and undertake various robberies. The gang has big plans to free its members and take revenge on the pigs. There were a few references to "Clockwork Orange" and there is a similar level of senseless violence. But the escape was too me implausible, the constant repetition of thoughts became nauseating, the characters never developed and there really was no big climax. A big book of words that needed a lot of pruning.
October 7, 2014
Skip the first 185 pages to "Today". Somewhere in the next 488 pages is about 20 pages of story. This could be made into an exciting movie using about 20 pages of carefully edited story from the book.
December 18, 2018
I read the Previous author books, and I read them eagerly. When I took this book, I was full of expectations. I survived about 50 pages in continuous reading. I only didn't connect and decided that it was a pity. It does not happen to me much that I give up. But I respect the author who writes a book to keep on trying to read. This time I decided it was better to move on. Maybe one day I'll come back to it to reread it.
Merry Christmas!!!
Merry Christmas!!!
February 10, 2017
Interesting with lots of twists, but hard slogging. The first third is pretty slow. Many incidents are told from different points of view. Still recommended.
February 25, 2024
One of the worst Scandinavian police novels I have ever read. It's amazing how you can stretch a flimsy story for over 700 pages.
June 9, 2013
At 600 pages, this is a long book, but you wouldn’t want it any shorter.
This is the first Scandinavian thriller that I have read and I must admit I felt a little confused at the beginning of the book with character and place names. I also felt that in setting the scene, the authors jumped backwards and forwards in time and place with the same / different characters. I thought that I might have to re-read the beginning to come to grips with who was who, but I didn’t need to as once I got into it, it was compelling and fast-paced.
The main characters in this book are basically young hoodlums. They do not seem to have any positive side to them, but you're hooked. You want them to be stopped, but then again you don't. You want to know how things pan out.
It’s only towards the end of the book you find out what is being planned. You are kept thinking and wondering throughout.
This book is violent and depressing at times, but it’s also a very good story, well put together. I didn’t think that I would enjoy it, but I’m glad I stuck with it.
This is the first Scandinavian thriller that I have read and I must admit I felt a little confused at the beginning of the book with character and place names. I also felt that in setting the scene, the authors jumped backwards and forwards in time and place with the same / different characters. I thought that I might have to re-read the beginning to come to grips with who was who, but I didn’t need to as once I got into it, it was compelling and fast-paced.
The main characters in this book are basically young hoodlums. They do not seem to have any positive side to them, but you're hooked. You want them to be stopped, but then again you don't. You want to know how things pan out.
It’s only towards the end of the book you find out what is being planned. You are kept thinking and wondering throughout.
This book is violent and depressing at times, but it’s also a very good story, well put together. I didn’t think that I would enjoy it, but I’m glad I stuck with it.
April 9, 2015
This book is part of a series starring Chief Superintendent Ewert Grens. But it is much more than a vehicle for the detective. More than anything, it is a social commentary on the problem of youth crime in Sweden (although it could be set anywhere). The characters are excellently drawn and the story is absorbing. I would add a cautionary note, however: This is definitely a downer. I came away feeling depressed and a little anxious about a world in which crime is increasingly a nearly irresistible option for young people who feel thrown away by society. The only thing that saves it from pure bleakness is the main character, but even he is somewhat of a misfit, albeit on the right side of the law.
January 16, 2015
Brilliant book! It grabbed me by the throat and would not let go until it was finished. There were passages I read and reread simply because they hurt my heart; mothers so long past the heartache of their children's actions but still suffering. Such anguish knowing that so many young children were so desperate to belong to "family" even though that family is a gang. Some day I'll reread this; it's a classic.
May 22, 2013
Confronting! Disturbing! Violent! Definite page turner for me. Not the 'usual' read for me, but felt empathy for the two 'soldiers'... and their battle. The fact that the author combo is one journalist and one ex-crim, gave the book the stark truth it is written by. Will read more of this duo for sure! Will recommend this in the bookstore for those who are not faint of heart!
March 8, 2015
I doubt I would have read this book if I'd known the topic (gangs in Sweden) combined with how long it was (600 pages). Luckily, I knew neither. An UNBELIEVABLE book. It took me a bit to get hooked, and from that point on, I couldn't put it down. Beautifully written by an ex-con (!!) and a journalist, it was such a realistic view of a world I knew nothing about that it took my breath away.
December 24, 2015
Dark tale told with spare language. Gang violence, a society that looks the other way, and constant antagonism between the police and young (very young) gang members. The story follows two gang leaders and a cop who has a personal interest in resolving a series of events that he feels responsible for triggering 18 years earlier. Hard-hitting, ugly but deeply moving.
August 11, 2014
Brutal. Grim. Characters who refuse redemption on both sides of the conflict.
I didn't enjoy this book. But I had to keep reading it. And I'm glad I did.
Full of exhausting, terrible truth. One lone spark of hope flickering faintly in the final pages.
I didn't enjoy this book. But I had to keep reading it. And I'm glad I did.
Full of exhausting, terrible truth. One lone spark of hope flickering faintly in the final pages.
October 7, 2012
Starts of really good, but then Ewert Grens enters and the pace and thrill is all gone. And that's how the remaining parts of the book are... Unfortunately.
April 14, 2022
Good, but not as good as the previous books (3 seconds and box 21)
January 28, 2022
This is a very long book. I almost gave up on it but decided to persevere because the subject intrigued me enough. That subject was teen gangs in Sweden, Stockholm specifically, and how to attack them, control them and, eventually, eliminate them. This is the self-assigned task of heavy, aging, balding Siw Malmqvist fan, and DCI Ewert Grens. After losing his wife in an accident a few years earlier, Grens has become even more dour than usual. One of his officers, a female coop named Hermansson, tries to pull him out of it non-romantically. She simply admires him and the way he approaches cases. In this case, the perpetrators are the Råby Warriors, re-named the Ghetto Soldiers. From inside prison their leader, Leon, organizes a complex plot. He is nineteen. The plot involves breaking out of one prison, into another to free Soldiers and strike at the “pig bastards”—the police. Leon’s task is to organize the whole thing, Grens’s is to stop him and eliminate the gang. The route to the end is tedious at times, as things unfold very slowly and very violently. A female prison warden is killed by Leon, another officer crushed in an explosion that is key to Leon’s plan and various women are terribly abused along the way. Leon’s second-in-command, Gabriel, decides he has had enough. His reward is to have his face burned in five places with a lit cigarette, his girlfriend, pregnant with his child, is threatened and general havoc within the gang erupts. In the process we learn much about the gangs of Sweden and the police as well. It is a depressing story, made even sorrier by the fact that, as even Grens admits, any of the Soldiers he imprisons will only be replaced by others, hungry for the fame, attention and money that the gangs can make, mostly selling drugs. The book was written in 2013 but the reader can only assume that the problems with gangs in Sweden still exist. The authors, Roslund and Hellström are uniquely qualified to write such novels: Roslund was a long-time journalist before turning to novel writing and Hellström is an ex-con. Stick with it. Grens is a fascinating character who goes to incredible lengths to fulfill what he sees as his destiny and his surrounding cast is rich in its diversity.
December 16, 2023
Hele sterke roman. Je kunt hem puur lezen als een politiethriller, maar er zit zoveel meer in dit boek. Als je op zoek bent naar een "who-done-it" verhaal, kun je dit boek beter laten liggen. Het is eerder een maatschappijkritisch verhaal. Je krijgt een inzicht in de vorming van misdaadbendes, over hoe jonge mensen vanop zeer jonge leeftijd de behoefte hebben om "ergens bij te horen" terwijl de maatschappij ze eigenlijk als vrij waardeloos en verloren beschouwd. Het gaat ook over de gedragscode binnen zo'n bende, hoe je kunt opklimmen. Maar het gaat ook over de buurtbewoners die zien hoe hun eigen buurt meer en meer in handen komt van bendes waar hun eigen kinderen zelfs toe behoren. En hoe zij zoeken naar manieren om het tij te keren, wat keer op keer mislukt. Het boek gaat ook over de politie en hulpverleners die ook vrij machteloos staan. Het is eigenlijk dweilen met de kraan open. Het boek kent een aantal vrij dramatische aflopen, maar de grootste boodschap is eigenlijk een vrij pessimistische: met ieder element dat je kan neutraliseren staat er een nieuw element op. De geschiedenis blijft zich herhalen.
Het boek is ook goed geschreven zoals we van dit duo gewend zijn. Knappe karakter- en situatieschetsen. Niet elk detail hoeft verteld te worden om bij te dragen tot het verhaal.
Het boek is ook goed geschreven zoals we van dit duo gewend zijn. Knappe karakter- en situatieschetsen. Niet elk detail hoeft verteld te worden om bij te dragen tot het verhaal.
March 3, 2025
Boken må vara skriven för 13 år sedan men temat, hur gäng skapas i förorterna är fortfarande aktuellt. En berättelse om hur unga människor som startar livet i socialt utsatta områden är enkla mål för kriminella gäng, hur enkelt det är att rekrytera unga människor som inte ser någon framtid men genom gängen kan få en. Hur unga män som inte ser att de har något att förlora agerar utan att bry sig om konsekvenserna. Hur de ser på respekt, hur man skaffar sig respekt men själva inte visar något respekt överhuvudtaget. Hur våldet är respekt. De här pojkarna växer upp att bli riktigt farliga. Det finns delar av historian som är rätt långdragna, inledningen där vi får följa kriminellas tankar är tröttsam men den kanske behövs för att skapa förståelse för boken. I slutet känns boken något för lång.
April 16, 2021
Üldiselt on lugu täitsa hea. Raamat oli täis ülepulbitsevat viha ja vägivaldset eneseväljendust. Young, angly and wired! Rootsist olen kuulnud ja lugenud paljudest põletamistest ja tohutust gängielust, kuid see, mis raamatus toimub tundus ikka veidi over the top. Aga see selleks, ikkagi ilukirjandus.. Tavaliselt raamatus tekivad isikud, kelle poole rohkem hoiad, aga selles raamatus oli raske leida endale sellist isikut. Isegi politseinike ajenditest ja probleemidest ja miks nenedest probleemidest räägitakse ei saanud lõplikult aru.
Mulle tõesti ei meeldinud kasutatud katkendlik kirjutusstiil, mida oli väga raske jälgida.
Positiivse külje pealt sai palju targemaks igasugustest gängi protsessidest.
Mulle tõesti ei meeldinud kasutatud katkendlik kirjutusstiil, mida oli väga raske jälgida.
Positiivse külje pealt sai palju targemaks igasugustest gängi protsessidest.
March 27, 2018
This was a difficult book to read initially. The descriptions of what was going through a criminal's mind, although necessary to the plot, was quite laborious reading. Once the main action was happening the plot really got moving and the book was delightful to read. One criticism I would make is that the incidents leading to the action have undoubtedly happened to prisoners but all to the one person???! Some of the "building" was quite MacGyverish and would have not been out of place in a typical American crime drama. A good read but, for me at least, not one of their better ones.
July 21, 2024
En bok som visserligen är en roman men på ett träffsäkert sätt skildrar vad som faktiskt pågår i Sverige idag.
Högaktuell, skulle jag vilja säga.
Barn som lockas in i grov kriminalitet och utnyttjas för att dom inte kan straffas, visiteras eller förhöras utan målsmans sällskap.
Två soldater berättar om utanförskap och om viljan att höra till.
De som inte har något att förlora, som inte bryr sig om konsekvenserna. De som talar om respekt, men själva inte respekterar....
Det är dom som blir farliga.
Jag ryckte boken var bitvis något långdragen. Men annars på det stora hela riktigt bra.
Högaktuell, skulle jag vilja säga.
Barn som lockas in i grov kriminalitet och utnyttjas för att dom inte kan straffas, visiteras eller förhöras utan målsmans sällskap.
Två soldater berättar om utanförskap och om viljan att höra till.
De som inte har något att förlora, som inte bryr sig om konsekvenserna. De som talar om respekt, men själva inte respekterar....
Det är dom som blir farliga.
Jag ryckte boken var bitvis något långdragen. Men annars på det stora hela riktigt bra.
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