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Ewert Grens #5
Drie seconden
Ex-crimineel Piet Hoffman raakt verwikkeld in een levensgevaarlijke zaak. Hij werkt sinds zijn gevangenisstraf tien jaar geleden als infiltrant voor de Stockholmse politie. Inmiddels heeft hij het vertrouwen gewonnen van een Poolse drugsbende, en krijgt hij opdracht het imperium van de criminelen binnen de zwaarbewaakte gevangenis Aspsås uit te breiden. Daar wordt hij met succes opgenomen in de groep meest beruchte misdadigers van Zweden, maar door een lek komt zijn ware identiteit aan het licht. Opgejaagd door zowel de Zweedse politie als de Poolse maffia is Hoffman zijn leven niet meer zeker en weet hij dat het drie seconden kost om te sterven of om zich in veiligheid te brengen.
554 pages, Paperback
First published May 20, 2009
301 people are currently reading
5230 people want to read
About the author
Anders Roslund
53 books405 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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August 19, 2024
PER MORIRE BASTANO TRE SECONDI
Joel Kinnaman è il protagonista del film e i tatuaggi che sfoggia sono tra le cose migliori del film.
Guccini cantava, e i Nomadi con lui, che Per fare un uomo ci voglion vent'anni, per fare un bimbo un'ora d'amore, per una vita migliaia di ore, per il dolore è abbastanza un minuto….
Qui, invece, si narra che per morire bastano tre secondi.
Piet Hoffman è cittadino svedese nato a Kaliningrad, nell’oblast’ russo affacciato sul Mar Baltico incastonato tra Polonia Lituania – un exclave, un enclave all’estero della Grande Russia. Faceva parte della Prussia e fino al 1946 si chiamava Königsberg, città natale di Immanuel Kant. Così, Piet Hoffman parla più lingue, senza accento, può essere scambiato per svedese o polacco o russo.
Si parte bene.
Piet Hoffman è un ex tossicodipendente, ed ha scontato una pena detentiva di un anno: adesso è sposo e padre felice. In carcere è stato agganciato dalla polizia svedese e trasformato in informatore e infiltrato.
Il regista Andrea Di Stefano e il protagonista Joel Kinnaman.
Quando inizia il romanzo, Piet Hoffman all’apparenza è titolare di una ditta di security. In realtà, lavora per la polizia svedese all’interno della mafia polacca.
Di tutto questo, la sua amata famigliola è ovviamente all’oscuro.
Il suo nome in codice è Paula e la sua doppia vita di padre-marito affettuoso e informatore è sempre appesa al filo sottile della segretezza.
L’organizzazione criminale polacca lo incarica di farsi arrestare per prendere il controllo dello spaccio di droga all’interno delle prigioni di massima sicurezza svedesi, un giro di otto/nove milioni di corone al giorno (pari a circa ottocentomila euro al dì).
La polizia modifica il suo fascicolo nel registro Generale, i dati del suo file personale e lo trasforma in un criminale violento e instabile per renderlo più credibile come recluso di un carcere di massima sicurezza.
Ma…
E…
Poi, quando lui…
I due poliziotti che fanno a gara di ambiguità sono Clive Owen e Rosamund Pike.
Impressionante l’architettura del racconto, anche perché si sviluppa su un’impalcatura di 650 pagine.
Anders Roslund, giornalista, e Börge Hellström, ex criminale morto l’anno scorso, hanno lavorato in coppia sfornando sette romanzi che ruotano attorno all’ispettore Ewert Grens e ai casi che si trova ad affrontare (e risolvere), di cui questo è il numero cinque, oltre che essere è il più premiato, forse quello più di successo, e sta per diventare un film (in post-produzione).
Qui si parla di spie, informatori e infiltrati. Si parla di come la legge per sconfiggere il crimine usi sempre più criminali, o ex tali, fregandosene abbondantemente della giustizia, e della stessa legge. È un paradosso che colpisce. E spaventa.
Ana de Armas è la combattiva moglie del protagonista.
Due aspetti colpiscono sopra tutto, uno positivo e uno negativo. Il primo s’impone subito, il secondo emerge più avanti nel tempo.
Mi ha positivamente colpito la cura del dettaglio, la documentazione, la ricerca, l’indagine che precede la scrittura: si riesce a rendere credibile e verosimile ogni momento, ogni passaggio. Si respira verità e realtà. Da come si taglia la droga (anfetamine in questo caso), le percentuali, la confezione – alla graduatoria d’importanza dei carcerati (al posto più alto gli assassini, seguiti da chi ha trafficato in grande con la droga, poi i rapinatori – in fondo alla classifica, e questo si sapeva già, stupratori e pedofili) – a come si nascondono tre grammi di anfetamina nel bocciolo di ciascun tulipano di un mazzo da venticinque, che si fanno ‘aprire’ in un breve passaggio in forno (50°), si riempiono con un preservativo tagliato e annodato che contiene la droga, e si fanno richiudere mettendoli in frigo a 2° (dopo 48 ore di temperatura ambiente, si aprono da soli, e sboccia la dose) – le inchieste di polizia tutto meno che all’acqua di rose – autopsie, spari, armi smontate, pulite, caricate. Eccetera. Una delizia per uno come me che ama moto questo genere di particolari (anche in un film, anche in una serie TV – per esempio, penso subito alla memorabile scena in “Vivere e morire a Los Angeles” in cui si vede come si manifatturano soldi finti).
La vita in carcere non è una passeggiata.
L’aspetto che colpisce negativamente, e che invece in un primo momento sembra una scelta stilistica, sono le ripetizioni. Che si potrebbero scambiare per insistenza (su passaggi di trama, su singoli momenti della storia) e poi invece si capisce essere frutto della scrittura a quattro mani mai pienamente amalgamata da una buona redazione: i due autori si sono divisi i capitoli e nessuno ha speso il tempo che serviva per rileggere, rivedere, cancellare le ripetizioni. Un aspetto che ripetuto per 650 pagine diventa abbastanza irritante.
Il commissario Ewert Grens non è simpatico: anzi, è più antipatico della media. Non fa alcuna simpatia e si parteggia subito per la spia e il suo agente di riferimento.
Al colpo di scena finale, costruito con cura meticolosa, si arriva con tempi larghi, che risultano slabbrati perché è intuibile sin da subito, non ci si crede per un istante che…
Rosamund Pike sempre brava.
Quando aveva iniziato, la mafia era qualcosa che esisteva a migliaia di chilometri di distanza, in Italia meridionale o nelle grandi città americane. Oggi i regolamenti di conti, gli omicidi brutali come quello su cui cominciavano ora a indagare, erano diventati la norma. Tutto si era così insudiciato. In ogni commissariato della città i colleghi stavano a guardare impotenti mentre i diversi settori del crimine organizzato si dividevano i guadagni derivanti dal traffico di droga, armi, esseri umani.
Il film è ben al di sotto delle mie aspettative, l’esordio di Di Stefano alla regia mi aveva fatto sperare per il meglio: ma tutto, a cominciare dalla sceneggiatura, prende un modesto fastidioso taglio televisivo. Le interpretazioni sono standard, anche se Rosamund Pike regala qualcosa in più, mentre la bambolina cubana Ana de Armas qualcosa in meno.
Andrea Di Stefano, ha cominciato come attore in “Il principe di Homburg” di Marco Bellocchio. Ma la sua carriera non è mai decollata davvero. Da qualche anno ha aggiunto quella di regista che è molto più promettente perché tra le lingue che parla, i contatti internazionali che ha sempre avuto, e il talento che il suo esordio registico dimostra (“Escobar” interpretato dal premio Oscar Benicio Del Toro nel 2014), con questa seconda prova di regia potrebbe decollare. Se non che a me non sembra aver centrato il bersaglio e il risultato al botteghino è un grosso flop.
Joel Kinnaman è il protagonista del film e i tatuaggi che sfoggia sono tra le cose migliori del film.
Guccini cantava, e i Nomadi con lui, che Per fare un uomo ci voglion vent'anni, per fare un bimbo un'ora d'amore, per una vita migliaia di ore, per il dolore è abbastanza un minuto….
Qui, invece, si narra che per morire bastano tre secondi.
Piet Hoffman è cittadino svedese nato a Kaliningrad, nell’oblast’ russo affacciato sul Mar Baltico incastonato tra Polonia Lituania – un exclave, un enclave all’estero della Grande Russia. Faceva parte della Prussia e fino al 1946 si chiamava Königsberg, città natale di Immanuel Kant. Così, Piet Hoffman parla più lingue, senza accento, può essere scambiato per svedese o polacco o russo.
Si parte bene.
Piet Hoffman è un ex tossicodipendente, ed ha scontato una pena detentiva di un anno: adesso è sposo e padre felice. In carcere è stato agganciato dalla polizia svedese e trasformato in informatore e infiltrato.
Il regista Andrea Di Stefano e il protagonista Joel Kinnaman.
Quando inizia il romanzo, Piet Hoffman all’apparenza è titolare di una ditta di security. In realtà, lavora per la polizia svedese all’interno della mafia polacca.
Di tutto questo, la sua amata famigliola è ovviamente all’oscuro.
Il suo nome in codice è Paula e la sua doppia vita di padre-marito affettuoso e informatore è sempre appesa al filo sottile della segretezza.
L’organizzazione criminale polacca lo incarica di farsi arrestare per prendere il controllo dello spaccio di droga all’interno delle prigioni di massima sicurezza svedesi, un giro di otto/nove milioni di corone al giorno (pari a circa ottocentomila euro al dì).
La polizia modifica il suo fascicolo nel registro Generale, i dati del suo file personale e lo trasforma in un criminale violento e instabile per renderlo più credibile come recluso di un carcere di massima sicurezza.
Ma…
E…
Poi, quando lui…
I due poliziotti che fanno a gara di ambiguità sono Clive Owen e Rosamund Pike.
Impressionante l’architettura del racconto, anche perché si sviluppa su un’impalcatura di 650 pagine.
Anders Roslund, giornalista, e Börge Hellström, ex criminale morto l’anno scorso, hanno lavorato in coppia sfornando sette romanzi che ruotano attorno all’ispettore Ewert Grens e ai casi che si trova ad affrontare (e risolvere), di cui questo è il numero cinque, oltre che essere è il più premiato, forse quello più di successo, e sta per diventare un film (in post-produzione).
Qui si parla di spie, informatori e infiltrati. Si parla di come la legge per sconfiggere il crimine usi sempre più criminali, o ex tali, fregandosene abbondantemente della giustizia, e della stessa legge. È un paradosso che colpisce. E spaventa.
Ana de Armas è la combattiva moglie del protagonista.
Due aspetti colpiscono sopra tutto, uno positivo e uno negativo. Il primo s’impone subito, il secondo emerge più avanti nel tempo.
Mi ha positivamente colpito la cura del dettaglio, la documentazione, la ricerca, l’indagine che precede la scrittura: si riesce a rendere credibile e verosimile ogni momento, ogni passaggio. Si respira verità e realtà. Da come si taglia la droga (anfetamine in questo caso), le percentuali, la confezione – alla graduatoria d’importanza dei carcerati (al posto più alto gli assassini, seguiti da chi ha trafficato in grande con la droga, poi i rapinatori – in fondo alla classifica, e questo si sapeva già, stupratori e pedofili) – a come si nascondono tre grammi di anfetamina nel bocciolo di ciascun tulipano di un mazzo da venticinque, che si fanno ‘aprire’ in un breve passaggio in forno (50°), si riempiono con un preservativo tagliato e annodato che contiene la droga, e si fanno richiudere mettendoli in frigo a 2° (dopo 48 ore di temperatura ambiente, si aprono da soli, e sboccia la dose) – le inchieste di polizia tutto meno che all’acqua di rose – autopsie, spari, armi smontate, pulite, caricate. Eccetera. Una delizia per uno come me che ama moto questo genere di particolari (anche in un film, anche in una serie TV – per esempio, penso subito alla memorabile scena in “Vivere e morire a Los Angeles” in cui si vede come si manifatturano soldi finti).
La vita in carcere non è una passeggiata.
L’aspetto che colpisce negativamente, e che invece in un primo momento sembra una scelta stilistica, sono le ripetizioni. Che si potrebbero scambiare per insistenza (su passaggi di trama, su singoli momenti della storia) e poi invece si capisce essere frutto della scrittura a quattro mani mai pienamente amalgamata da una buona redazione: i due autori si sono divisi i capitoli e nessuno ha speso il tempo che serviva per rileggere, rivedere, cancellare le ripetizioni. Un aspetto che ripetuto per 650 pagine diventa abbastanza irritante.
Il commissario Ewert Grens non è simpatico: anzi, è più antipatico della media. Non fa alcuna simpatia e si parteggia subito per la spia e il suo agente di riferimento.
Al colpo di scena finale, costruito con cura meticolosa, si arriva con tempi larghi, che risultano slabbrati perché è intuibile sin da subito, non ci si crede per un istante che…
Rosamund Pike sempre brava.
Quando aveva iniziato, la mafia era qualcosa che esisteva a migliaia di chilometri di distanza, in Italia meridionale o nelle grandi città americane. Oggi i regolamenti di conti, gli omicidi brutali come quello su cui cominciavano ora a indagare, erano diventati la norma. Tutto si era così insudiciato. In ogni commissariato della città i colleghi stavano a guardare impotenti mentre i diversi settori del crimine organizzato si dividevano i guadagni derivanti dal traffico di droga, armi, esseri umani.
Il film è ben al di sotto delle mie aspettative, l’esordio di Di Stefano alla regia mi aveva fatto sperare per il meglio: ma tutto, a cominciare dalla sceneggiatura, prende un modesto fastidioso taglio televisivo. Le interpretazioni sono standard, anche se Rosamund Pike regala qualcosa in più, mentre la bambolina cubana Ana de Armas qualcosa in meno.
Andrea Di Stefano, ha cominciato come attore in “Il principe di Homburg” di Marco Bellocchio. Ma la sua carriera non è mai decollata davvero. Da qualche anno ha aggiunto quella di regista che è molto più promettente perché tra le lingue che parla, i contatti internazionali che ha sempre avuto, e il talento che il suo esordio registico dimostra (“Escobar” interpretato dal premio Oscar Benicio Del Toro nel 2014), con questa seconda prova di regia potrebbe decollare. Se non che a me non sembra aver centrato il bersaglio e il risultato al botteghino è un grosso flop.
May 15, 2022
This is such an excellent thriller that takes some time to really get under steam but once it does it leaves you breathless and wanting more.
Ewert Grens is a police officer who does not ever let go of crime until solved, this time he has bitten down on what seems to be killing among criminal organisations, with a strange situation of somebody calling the cops trying to prevent a murder. But as it turns out the man executed was an informer for the Danish police trying to infiltrate into a crime organisation. Any way Grens turns he runs into a dead-end or a wall blocking his efforts.
Piet Hoffman is also an infiltrator working for the Swedish police and he called the police but is also involved in a large sting operation for the police nearing an important moment in hurting a major operation by a crime organisation who wants to take over the drugs selling in the Swedish jail system and thus binding major criminals to their organisation through heir addiction.
As it happens the politicians while interested at stopping this affair find out close to the ned of the operation that they find the risk to themselves far more dangerous than anything else and decide to burn the infiltrator.
For both men Grens and Hoffman it becomes a race to find a way to clear and survive this operation.
This is a really great example how a decent thriller should be written, and afterwards you really want to see what happens next. Great class of writing from Scandinavia who really have some well above average writers that can really deliver an original European thriller with interesting and recognisable world, albeit scary more often than not.
I will certainly revisit these gentleman in their writings.
Ewert Grens is a police officer who does not ever let go of crime until solved, this time he has bitten down on what seems to be killing among criminal organisations, with a strange situation of somebody calling the cops trying to prevent a murder. But as it turns out the man executed was an informer for the Danish police trying to infiltrate into a crime organisation. Any way Grens turns he runs into a dead-end or a wall blocking his efforts.
Piet Hoffman is also an infiltrator working for the Swedish police and he called the police but is also involved in a large sting operation for the police nearing an important moment in hurting a major operation by a crime organisation who wants to take over the drugs selling in the Swedish jail system and thus binding major criminals to their organisation through heir addiction.
As it happens the politicians while interested at stopping this affair find out close to the ned of the operation that they find the risk to themselves far more dangerous than anything else and decide to burn the infiltrator.
For both men Grens and Hoffman it becomes a race to find a way to clear and survive this operation.
This is a really great example how a decent thriller should be written, and afterwards you really want to see what happens next. Great class of writing from Scandinavia who really have some well above average writers that can really deliver an original European thriller with interesting and recognisable world, albeit scary more often than not.
I will certainly revisit these gentleman in their writings.
March 1, 2012
The latest book from Roslund & Hellström is about the crooked dealings between the Swedish police and their well-placed informants. Ex-con Piet Hoffman, now a “covert human intelligence source” for the Stockholm police, is deeply implanted into the Polish Mafia. He is attempting to stop the organization from controlling drug distribution in Sweden’s prisons, and all the while, Hoffman is also a family man with a wife and two young sons.
When Hoffman is involved in a fouled-up drug deal that leads to murder, investigating detective Ewert Grens inadvertently threatens to wreck the operation. Afraid that Hoffman will disclose the Swedish government’s illegal involvement in his assignment, his handlers blow his cover while he’s trapped in Aspsås prison,a maximum-security lockup. With the Swedish police, the Swedish government, and the Polish Mafia all wanting him dead, Hoffman utilizes Grens in his plan for escape from Aspsås.
In 2009, "Three Seconds" was awarded the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers' Award for Swedish Crime Novel of the Year, previously won by both Steig Larsson and Henning Mankell. The book was also a Top 10 bestseller for eight months in Sweden. Swedish crime fiction fans should not miss this one!
When Hoffman is involved in a fouled-up drug deal that leads to murder, investigating detective Ewert Grens inadvertently threatens to wreck the operation. Afraid that Hoffman will disclose the Swedish government’s illegal involvement in his assignment, his handlers blow his cover while he’s trapped in Aspsås prison,a maximum-security lockup. With the Swedish police, the Swedish government, and the Polish Mafia all wanting him dead, Hoffman utilizes Grens in his plan for escape from Aspsås.
In 2009, "Three Seconds" was awarded the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers' Award for Swedish Crime Novel of the Year, previously won by both Steig Larsson and Henning Mankell. The book was also a Top 10 bestseller for eight months in Sweden. Swedish crime fiction fans should not miss this one!
February 28, 2012
This is one of the best crime novels I have read in a long time. For me it exceeded the Larsson series everyone loved. It is so well written. There wasn't a single moment when I felt that even one word was extraneous, except maybe when I was confused with the foreign terms but that had nothing to do with the book itself.
The book is set in an unfamiliar place for most Americans, since it takes place mostly in Sweden. Every character has a unique purpose and is developed specifically in a way to define him/her. From the ever-grieving, cantankerous, curmudgeon Ewert Grens who is as rude an anyone can be, to the infiltrator whose behavior and actions are as smooth and courageous as anyone can be, even as he is forced to break the law to complete his assignment, to the cold and calculating handler who treats the infiltrators as things, not human beings, for the most part, I was constantly forced to look at both sides of the coin in the law enforcement and criminal world. I began to seriously question my own ideas of right and wrong.
I was thrilled by this tale of criminal espionage, kept on the edge of my seat, as the underbelly of the corruption in our society is exposed and made naked. The line between criminal and honorable behavior is so blurred that I was constantly wondering and questioning the underpinnings of my own ethical beliefs. After awhile, I didn’t know whom to root for, law enforcement or the law breaker. As I read I questioned the very foundation of all legal systems and the justice system and realized that it was hard to tell in this book, and probably in real life, just what is real and what is fiction even in the real drama of my life. Who is guilty, who is innocent? Both elements of society cross the lines of honorable activity into the realm of the underworld, to serve their own selfish purposes. Even if the end result is meant to be for the good of mankind, I found the behavior outrageous and unacceptable. There has to be a better way.
This book enraged me, but in a good way. It made me think about how I view things as a witness, to some event or other, everyday of my life. I realized that the system keeps the system alive at any expense! We all see what we want to see, what serves our needs. For some, the end justifies the means at all costs and I began to wonder, is the cost ever too great?
The book succeeds in all ways without gratuitous sex. However, it is very violent, but that too, is not gratuitous but absolutely necessary to the development of the plot and the unraveling of the tale. I can't recommend it highly enough to readers who enjoy exciting, crime fiction that walks the tightrope or the balance beam between the real world and the world of nightmares. You will question your own world once you begin.
The book is set in an unfamiliar place for most Americans, since it takes place mostly in Sweden. Every character has a unique purpose and is developed specifically in a way to define him/her. From the ever-grieving, cantankerous, curmudgeon Ewert Grens who is as rude an anyone can be, to the infiltrator whose behavior and actions are as smooth and courageous as anyone can be, even as he is forced to break the law to complete his assignment, to the cold and calculating handler who treats the infiltrators as things, not human beings, for the most part, I was constantly forced to look at both sides of the coin in the law enforcement and criminal world. I began to seriously question my own ideas of right and wrong.
I was thrilled by this tale of criminal espionage, kept on the edge of my seat, as the underbelly of the corruption in our society is exposed and made naked. The line between criminal and honorable behavior is so blurred that I was constantly wondering and questioning the underpinnings of my own ethical beliefs. After awhile, I didn’t know whom to root for, law enforcement or the law breaker. As I read I questioned the very foundation of all legal systems and the justice system and realized that it was hard to tell in this book, and probably in real life, just what is real and what is fiction even in the real drama of my life. Who is guilty, who is innocent? Both elements of society cross the lines of honorable activity into the realm of the underworld, to serve their own selfish purposes. Even if the end result is meant to be for the good of mankind, I found the behavior outrageous and unacceptable. There has to be a better way.
This book enraged me, but in a good way. It made me think about how I view things as a witness, to some event or other, everyday of my life. I realized that the system keeps the system alive at any expense! We all see what we want to see, what serves our needs. For some, the end justifies the means at all costs and I began to wonder, is the cost ever too great?
The book succeeds in all ways without gratuitous sex. However, it is very violent, but that too, is not gratuitous but absolutely necessary to the development of the plot and the unraveling of the tale. I can't recommend it highly enough to readers who enjoy exciting, crime fiction that walks the tightrope or the balance beam between the real world and the world of nightmares. You will question your own world once you begin.
May 16, 2022
*finishes book, snaps cover closed*
Queue Extreme Ways by Moby.
If you don't know this reference we can no longer be friends; I have no desire to speak with you further. If you actually know that reference, you need to let me know so I can congratulate you on Your Awesome. This book was like Bourne Identity meets Boondock Saints meets Shooter meets The Departed. But also with an extra shot of kick ass awesome. An informant working undercover is assigned to a prison. And while there...gets burnt. Which is to say, his handler abandons and betrays him. What's an ex-con, drug dealing, undercover informant to do? Enter: plot.
Probably maybe 15 times or something, I slapped my husband's leg explosively whilst reading this and yelled, "I can't wait for this to be a movie!" (which it's going to be, by the way; you heard it from me.) I.Am.Stoked.
One huge strength of this book is the power behind the research. These dudes aren't messing around. They interviewed convicts, prison wardens, law enforcement officers, doctors, you name it. Oh! Also, there's a small matter of one of the authors being an ex-con himself. The writing is dynamic and authoritative. There's no tiptoeing around areas in which they are uncertain. Because they aren't. Uncertain, that is. They bowl straight ahead. With swagger. With convict swagger (it's a thing).
The mild negative: honestly, yes. I pretty much knew where the book was going to end up. It's like seeing your destination at the top of a mountain. But you can't see the path that's going to get you there, so you're excited to take this adventure and whip your head back and forth to gawk out the car windows. That said, there were a few twists I didn't anticipate. A few, "What's he doing now? Why is he doing that? Oh, man. You better run, bro!" 'Twas smashing.
I'd highly recommend. Fun, adrenaline popping book. And I learned a few things. Hopefully nothing I ever need for the future...
I'd rate this book a mild R for prison and drug culture, violence, and gore.
Queue Extreme Ways by Moby.
If you don't know this reference we can no longer be friends; I have no desire to speak with you further. If you actually know that reference, you need to let me know so I can congratulate you on Your Awesome. This book was like Bourne Identity meets Boondock Saints meets Shooter meets The Departed. But also with an extra shot of kick ass awesome. An informant working undercover is assigned to a prison. And while there...gets burnt. Which is to say, his handler abandons and betrays him. What's an ex-con, drug dealing, undercover informant to do? Enter: plot.
Probably maybe 15 times or something, I slapped my husband's leg explosively whilst reading this and yelled, "I can't wait for this to be a movie!" (which it's going to be, by the way; you heard it from me.) I.Am.Stoked.
One huge strength of this book is the power behind the research. These dudes aren't messing around. They interviewed convicts, prison wardens, law enforcement officers, doctors, you name it. Oh! Also, there's a small matter of one of the authors being an ex-con himself. The writing is dynamic and authoritative. There's no tiptoeing around areas in which they are uncertain. Because they aren't. Uncertain, that is. They bowl straight ahead. With swagger. With convict swagger (it's a thing).
The mild negative: honestly, yes. I pretty much knew where the book was going to end up. It's like seeing your destination at the top of a mountain. But you can't see the path that's going to get you there, so you're excited to take this adventure and whip your head back and forth to gawk out the car windows. That said, there were a few twists I didn't anticipate. A few, "What's he doing now? Why is he doing that? Oh, man. You better run, bro!" 'Twas smashing.
I'd highly recommend. Fun, adrenaline popping book. And I learned a few things. Hopefully nothing I ever need for the future...
I'd rate this book a mild R for prison and drug culture, violence, and gore.
July 24, 2012
Though it took me a while (50 pages? 80? 100?) to get into the book, once it took hold it didn't let go. For the last 300+ pages, I couldn't put it down. It's a riveting look at detective work, criminal minds, and the enormous risks, both physical and psychological, that both sides take in doing what they do. I may have vaguely known that investigators use criminal elements to spur - if not enable - their efforts. But this book, written collaboratively by a former journalist and former criminal, blows us away with the 2 camps' mutual dependence, their degree of support for one another, and the callousness that must sometimes rule the game. The suspense is sometimes unbearable. Once you're in its grip, you care deeply about the central characters, particularly the criminal/agent at the story's core.
My only reservation - and the reason I don't give the book five stars - is that the names (people, places) are hard to follow. The names are all Scandanavian, unfamiliar, and hard to hold. There is, at the story's outset, a list of character names and identities, which helps, but not enough. Still, once the initial section is past, this is an 8 star read.
My only reservation - and the reason I don't give the book five stars - is that the names (people, places) are hard to follow. The names are all Scandanavian, unfamiliar, and hard to hold. There is, at the story's outset, a list of character names and identities, which helps, but not enough. Still, once the initial section is past, this is an 8 star read.
August 21, 2016
PROTAGONIST: DI Ewert Grens; infiltrator Piet Hoffman
SETTING: Sweden
SERIES: #5 of 5; 3rd book translated into English
RATING: 4.75
One of the tools that police departments often use is to develop a network of informants, people on the street who have access to the kind of information that they would be hard pressed to uncover. In some cases, the informant goes even further, with the subject actually infiltrating an organization that is of interest to the authorities. Such is the role of Piet Hoffman who over the course of many years has infiltrated the Polish Mafia in Sweden. His police contact, Erik Wilson, goes to extreme lengths to protect Hoffman. Recently, Hoffman has established himself with the upper echelons of the Poles and is on the verge of providing the police with an unparalleled opportunity to bring down their drug distribution network.
But then the unthinkable happens. While working through a drug deal, Hoffman realizes that one of the buyers is also an infiltrator. He can’t blow the cover that he has worked so hard to develop; the other man is murdered by Piet’s criminal cohorts. Hoffman anonymously calls the police to report the death, and the case is assigned to Detective Inspector Ewert Grens. Wilson goes through his chain of command to protect Hoffman, while Grens becomes increasingly frustrated because his investigation is going nowhere. At the same time, Grens is finally working through a personal situation that has consumed him for years, shedding the guilt he feels for an accident involving a colleague.
The undercover operation continues. Hoffman commits a minor crime so that he can go to prison and work on establishing the Polish Mafia as the source for drugs for the inmates with the Mafia’s ultimate goal being to control the drug distribution in the country’s fifty-six prisons. Before being committed, he has met with the police authorities and been reassured that he will be released from the prison within two years and that he will be protected while he is there. Before he is incarcerated, he takes several actions to plan for what he will do in the event that he is exposed and the guarantee conveniently forgotten.
Although the start of THREE SECONDS is somewhat slow, it rapidly evolves into an unputdownable narrative. The character of Piet Hoffman is an intriguing one. He is devoted to his wife and two sons; yet, he is willing to sacrifice those relationships in his unwavering commitment to the task that he has been assigned. It was fascinating to watch him plan for his prison stay, without quite knowing why he was doing what he was doing. It all made sense in the end. In an interesting quandary, I found myself hoping that somehow the brilliant and dedicated Grens would falter in his investigation. The book builds to an explosive climax and a most satisfying conclusion. Although the story of Piet Hoffman was what kept my adrenalin pumping, the whole issue of the government lies that Grens uncovers was quite compelling as well.
I found THREE SECONDS to be an engrossing and exciting read. Certainly, the fact that it received the Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year in 2009 was justified.
SETTING: Sweden
SERIES: #5 of 5; 3rd book translated into English
RATING: 4.75
One of the tools that police departments often use is to develop a network of informants, people on the street who have access to the kind of information that they would be hard pressed to uncover. In some cases, the informant goes even further, with the subject actually infiltrating an organization that is of interest to the authorities. Such is the role of Piet Hoffman who over the course of many years has infiltrated the Polish Mafia in Sweden. His police contact, Erik Wilson, goes to extreme lengths to protect Hoffman. Recently, Hoffman has established himself with the upper echelons of the Poles and is on the verge of providing the police with an unparalleled opportunity to bring down their drug distribution network.
But then the unthinkable happens. While working through a drug deal, Hoffman realizes that one of the buyers is also an infiltrator. He can’t blow the cover that he has worked so hard to develop; the other man is murdered by Piet’s criminal cohorts. Hoffman anonymously calls the police to report the death, and the case is assigned to Detective Inspector Ewert Grens. Wilson goes through his chain of command to protect Hoffman, while Grens becomes increasingly frustrated because his investigation is going nowhere. At the same time, Grens is finally working through a personal situation that has consumed him for years, shedding the guilt he feels for an accident involving a colleague.
The undercover operation continues. Hoffman commits a minor crime so that he can go to prison and work on establishing the Polish Mafia as the source for drugs for the inmates with the Mafia’s ultimate goal being to control the drug distribution in the country’s fifty-six prisons. Before being committed, he has met with the police authorities and been reassured that he will be released from the prison within two years and that he will be protected while he is there. Before he is incarcerated, he takes several actions to plan for what he will do in the event that he is exposed and the guarantee conveniently forgotten.
Although the start of THREE SECONDS is somewhat slow, it rapidly evolves into an unputdownable narrative. The character of Piet Hoffman is an intriguing one. He is devoted to his wife and two sons; yet, he is willing to sacrifice those relationships in his unwavering commitment to the task that he has been assigned. It was fascinating to watch him plan for his prison stay, without quite knowing why he was doing what he was doing. It all made sense in the end. In an interesting quandary, I found myself hoping that somehow the brilliant and dedicated Grens would falter in his investigation. The book builds to an explosive climax and a most satisfying conclusion. Although the story of Piet Hoffman was what kept my adrenalin pumping, the whole issue of the government lies that Grens uncovers was quite compelling as well.
I found THREE SECONDS to be an engrossing and exciting read. Certainly, the fact that it received the Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year in 2009 was justified.
December 15, 2010
Scandinavian crime fiction has been hot for many years now, but in the wake of the unexpected success of the Steig Larsson books, it appears to be even more ubiquitous. This latest example (the third in a series, following The Beast and Box 21) takes a very straightforward and familiar plot about an undercover operative working for the Swedish police, and manages to milk it for more than 400 pages of not particularly engaging prose. The premise is that former drug addict and ex-con Piet Hoffman was recruited by the cops while still in jail to become an informant. He has since risen to a fairly prominent position with a Polish gang, and is on the brink of being able to provide information to his handler that will bring the gang entire drug-smuggling operation down. Of course, as is the case in many such stories, something goes wrong and Hoffman's role of informer is put at risk -- along with his life.
The ostensible hero of the story (and the series) is dour, misanthropic, middle-aged Detective Inspector Grens, who in the course of investigating a murder, comes into contact with Hoffman and smells something fishy. So, you have one set of police officials trying to cover for Hoffman and keep him off the radar, and D.I. Grens and his team chasing down Hoffman from the other side. Now don't get me wrong, I love police procedurals, but this one is very slow going for the first 2/3 or so of the book. There's a lot of fat in the writing, and it often feels very clumsy. For example, the authors have this really annoying technique that emerges in pivotal scenes, where a line of dialogue is followed with a line describing what the speaker is thinking and feeling as they say it. This is incredibly awkward, and sometimes it's not even clear who is thinking what. This is made even more complicated by the occasional use of italics to set off such interior thoughts.
But if you stick with it long enough, the story suddenly lights up in a flurry of well-conceived activity in the final third. I just finished re-reading the classic thriller The Day of the Jackal, and aspects of Hoffman's story are very reminiscent of the methodical planning undertaken by the assassin that book (and film). Unfortunately, like that book, the characters never really come alive off the page, and mainly exist to serve the plotting. (It's possible that some on the police side would feel more fleshed-out if I'd read the first two books in the series.) The overall story is really not that fresh or interesting, but the mechanics of how certain things are done may be enough for some readers to emerge satisfied. I read a lot of international crime fiction, and this one felt pretty marginal to me.
Note: One aspect that's somewhat interesting is the not-so-subtle implication that the Swedish police are importing techniques (like the heavy cultivation and use of informers) from America that end up taking them into some very morally dubious territory, such as turning a blind eye to crimes committed by valuable informants.
The ostensible hero of the story (and the series) is dour, misanthropic, middle-aged Detective Inspector Grens, who in the course of investigating a murder, comes into contact with Hoffman and smells something fishy. So, you have one set of police officials trying to cover for Hoffman and keep him off the radar, and D.I. Grens and his team chasing down Hoffman from the other side. Now don't get me wrong, I love police procedurals, but this one is very slow going for the first 2/3 or so of the book. There's a lot of fat in the writing, and it often feels very clumsy. For example, the authors have this really annoying technique that emerges in pivotal scenes, where a line of dialogue is followed with a line describing what the speaker is thinking and feeling as they say it. This is incredibly awkward, and sometimes it's not even clear who is thinking what. This is made even more complicated by the occasional use of italics to set off such interior thoughts.
But if you stick with it long enough, the story suddenly lights up in a flurry of well-conceived activity in the final third. I just finished re-reading the classic thriller The Day of the Jackal, and aspects of Hoffman's story are very reminiscent of the methodical planning undertaken by the assassin that book (and film). Unfortunately, like that book, the characters never really come alive off the page, and mainly exist to serve the plotting. (It's possible that some on the police side would feel more fleshed-out if I'd read the first two books in the series.) The overall story is really not that fresh or interesting, but the mechanics of how certain things are done may be enough for some readers to emerge satisfied. I read a lot of international crime fiction, and this one felt pretty marginal to me.
Note: One aspect that's somewhat interesting is the not-so-subtle implication that the Swedish police are importing techniques (like the heavy cultivation and use of informers) from America that end up taking them into some very morally dubious territory, such as turning a blind eye to crimes committed by valuable informants.
August 14, 2025
3,5/5
Me gusta mucho como escribe este duo de escritores, y me gusta el personaje principal de esta serie, Ewert Grens, cada novela que he leido de ellos me ha gustado un poco más que la anterior, salvo ésta que en mi opinión es la más floja hasta ahora, y totalmente diferente en estructura a las demás.
La novela trata sobre Piet Hoffmann, un infiltrado de la polícia sueca que debe ingresar en la cárcel de Apsas, para desarticular una red de narcotráfico polaca, no me gustan mucho las novelas que tratan sobre espías o infiltrados pero ese no ha sido el problema con esta novela, en mi opinión se habla demasiado del día a día de Piet hasta que ingresa en la cárcel, tanto de lo que hace en su vida con su mujer e hijos como en su otra vida, hasta el punto que el libro se me ha hecho lento y algo aburrido.
Por otra parte, la aparición de Ewert Grens y su equipo en la primera mitad del libro, practicamente brilla por su ausencia, algo que no me ha gustado. En esta novela nos encontramos a un Ewert Grens bastante más viejo y melancólico, que intenta dejar atrás el dolor y la culpa por cosas de su pasado.
La segunda mitad del libro, me ha gustado más, la parte de Hoffmann en la cárcel es más interesante, y en esta parte ya sale más Ewert Grens, dándole un arreón a la investigación que tenía estancada.
El final esta bien, pero no es nada sorprendente, pero está mejor que la primera mitad del libro, aún así os recomiendo esta serie si no la habéis leido.
Me gusta mucho como escribe este duo de escritores, y me gusta el personaje principal de esta serie, Ewert Grens, cada novela que he leido de ellos me ha gustado un poco más que la anterior, salvo ésta que en mi opinión es la más floja hasta ahora, y totalmente diferente en estructura a las demás.
La novela trata sobre Piet Hoffmann, un infiltrado de la polícia sueca que debe ingresar en la cárcel de Apsas, para desarticular una red de narcotráfico polaca, no me gustan mucho las novelas que tratan sobre espías o infiltrados pero ese no ha sido el problema con esta novela, en mi opinión se habla demasiado del día a día de Piet hasta que ingresa en la cárcel, tanto de lo que hace en su vida con su mujer e hijos como en su otra vida, hasta el punto que el libro se me ha hecho lento y algo aburrido.
Por otra parte, la aparición de Ewert Grens y su equipo en la primera mitad del libro, practicamente brilla por su ausencia, algo que no me ha gustado. En esta novela nos encontramos a un Ewert Grens bastante más viejo y melancólico, que intenta dejar atrás el dolor y la culpa por cosas de su pasado.
La segunda mitad del libro, me ha gustado más, la parte de Hoffmann en la cárcel es más interesante, y en esta parte ya sale más Ewert Grens, dándole un arreón a la investigación que tenía estancada.
El final esta bien, pero no es nada sorprendente, pero está mejor que la primera mitad del libro, aún así os recomiendo esta serie si no la habéis leido.
May 24, 2018
3 секунди делят живота от смъртта: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/3...
Шведите просто са (от) най-добрите, това е положението. “3 секунди” ми бе препоръчана като подходяща за запознаване с тандема Андерс Руслунд и Бьорг Хелстрьом, разследващ журналист и бивш затворник, които обединяват сили за написване на трилър, почиващ на реална фактология. История за човек с двойна самоличност – на високопоставен мафиот и агент под прикритие, но без холивудската розова окраска. Един мъж, който повече от всичко жадува да е с жена си и децата си – и да спре да ги лъже за работата си. Само че не може, поне не до момента, в който ножът опира до кокала.
Izdatelstvo ERA
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/3...
Шведите просто са (от) най-добрите, това е положението. “3 секунди” ми бе препоръчана като подходяща за запознаване с тандема Андерс Руслунд и Бьорг Хелстрьом, разследващ журналист и бивш затворник, които обединяват сили за написване на трилър, почиващ на реална фактология. История за човек с двойна самоличност – на високопоставен мафиот и агент под прикритие, но без холивудската розова окраска. Един мъж, който повече от всичко жадува да е с жена си и децата си – и да спре да ги лъже за работата си. Само че не може, поне не до момента, в който ножът опира до кокала.
Izdatelstvo ERA
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/3...
July 26, 2019
Przez szwedzką Akademię Literatury ,,3 sekundy" zostały uznane za najlepszą powieść roku. Moim zdaniem to nagroda trochę "na wyrost". Książka określana mianem sensacyjnej powinna zapewnić czytelnikowi zdecydowanie więcej emocji. Jest oczywiście powieścią dobrze napisaną, poprawną i niezłą na czytelnicze odmóżdżenie, ale nic ponad to. Może się podobać i sprawić przyjemność, jednak nie będzie satysfakcjonująca dla każdego.
Najgorzej czytało mi się początek. Ze względu na mnogość jeszcze nieznanych mi bohaterów i szybkie przeskoki fabularne ciężko było mi się wkręcić w klimat powieści. Zdarzyło się parę mało interesujących i nużących momentów. Na szczęście z czasem akcja nabrała tempa, a mnie odrobinę zawrócił w głowie główny bohater, Piet Hoffman. Obok świetnie przeprowadzonego wywiadu na temat przemytu narkotyków, Hoffman był zdecydowanie najmocniejszym atutem ,,3 sekund". Odważny, zdecydowany i konkretny facet, który nie cofnie się przed niczym, by zrealizować swój cel. Do gustu przypadł mi także gburowaty, ale uparty komisarz Grens, bardzo charakterystyczna postać. Tajemnicze wątki z jego życia osobistego nadały smaczku lekturze.
Fabuła trafiła w moje czytelnicze upodobania - wątek polskiej mafii, przemytu narkotyków i współpracy między tajnymi informatorami a policją zdecydowanie na plus.
Brawa należą się też za szczegółowy research i umiejętne odmalowanie więziennej rzeczywistości.
Ale zabrakło mocniejszych wrażeń i większej ilości zwrotów akcji. Dla mnie wydarzenia okazały się przewidywalne, niezbyt zaskakujące, ale czytelnicy, którym literatura sensacyjna jak dotąd była obca, będą bawić się dobrze.
,,3 sekundy" moje oczekiwania spełniły tylko częściowo i sprawiły mi przyjemność raczej jako luźne czytadło. Były fajnym urozmaiceniem oraz alternatywą dla spędzenia czasu z nieco innym typem literatury niż ten, na który zazwyczaj się decyduję.
Najgorzej czytało mi się początek. Ze względu na mnogość jeszcze nieznanych mi bohaterów i szybkie przeskoki fabularne ciężko było mi się wkręcić w klimat powieści. Zdarzyło się parę mało interesujących i nużących momentów. Na szczęście z czasem akcja nabrała tempa, a mnie odrobinę zawrócił w głowie główny bohater, Piet Hoffman. Obok świetnie przeprowadzonego wywiadu na temat przemytu narkotyków, Hoffman był zdecydowanie najmocniejszym atutem ,,3 sekund". Odważny, zdecydowany i konkretny facet, który nie cofnie się przed niczym, by zrealizować swój cel. Do gustu przypadł mi także gburowaty, ale uparty komisarz Grens, bardzo charakterystyczna postać. Tajemnicze wątki z jego życia osobistego nadały smaczku lekturze.
Fabuła trafiła w moje czytelnicze upodobania - wątek polskiej mafii, przemytu narkotyków i współpracy między tajnymi informatorami a policją zdecydowanie na plus.
Brawa należą się też za szczegółowy research i umiejętne odmalowanie więziennej rzeczywistości.
Ale zabrakło mocniejszych wrażeń i większej ilości zwrotów akcji. Dla mnie wydarzenia okazały się przewidywalne, niezbyt zaskakujące, ale czytelnicy, którym literatura sensacyjna jak dotąd była obca, będą bawić się dobrze.
,,3 sekundy" moje oczekiwania spełniły tylko częściowo i sprawiły mi przyjemność raczej jako luźne czytadło. Były fajnym urozmaiceniem oraz alternatywą dla spędzenia czasu z nieco innym typem literatury niż ten, na który zazwyczaj się decyduję.
July 11, 2021
587 sidor, läste för sådär 12 år sen och nu, kom tydligen inte ihåg huvuddelen...=)
Händelserik & grymt spännande från början till slut, oväntade vändningar och slutet som .....
karaktärena sätter sin olika prägel till handlingen, bara att läsa om du inte gjort det.
Förbannat bra räcker eg. som läsbetyg.!!
Händelserik & grymt spännande från början till slut, oväntade vändningar och slutet som .....
karaktärena sätter sin olika prägel till handlingen, bara att läsa om du inte gjort det.
Förbannat bra räcker eg. som läsbetyg.!!
November 20, 2010
I won this hot-off-the-torturous-translation-table Swedish thriller in a goodreads giveaway contest. My review is of an uncorrected advance reading copy, so it is possible that changes may be made to the text before it is released in January 2011. Three Seconds is the first novel I've read by Roslund & Hellstrom.
I don't know what it is about Sweden as a country that makes it inclined to produce crime novels that are so much more interesting, insightful and refreshing than the formulaic Koontz and Patterson car-chase-explosions-sex-with-a-hot-girl-gun-fight that is the standard fare of American thrillers, but I do know that Three Seconds does not break with Swedish tradition. In all fairness, there actually is an explosion in Three Seconds too, but it's an intelligent explosion, rather than just a testosterone-laden male-orgasm substitute. Even keeping in mind the fact that most Swedish books have been translated out of their original language for English-speaking audiences, thereby losing some of the natural ebb and flow of the prose that can never be 100% recaptured by words of a different language, they still manage to blow American crime writing out of the water.
I found Three Seconds to be an incredibly suspenseful and intelligent thriller with deep, emotionally-developed characters. I won't talk much about the plot, because there are so many twists even within the first 50 pages that it's hard to talk about the plot at all without revealing spoilers, but I will say that it was perfectly paced - fast enough to keep me reading non-stop for an entire night, and then slowing down just enough to tease me in the sections where I was dying to know a resolution. What I loved most about this book though was how thought-provoking and meaningful it managed to be while simultaneously being entertaining and gripping. Unlike the last thriller I won in a giveaway, the fun but somewhat shallow The Insider, Three Seconds is chock full of subtle social and political commentary that forces you to think about issues as varied as drug addiction, the morality and boundaries of police work, civilian rights, undemocratic loopholes in constitutional law and the effectiveness of prisons in decreasing crime and rehabilitating criminals - all this while thoroughly entertaining the reader!
I also enjoyed the fact that there was little romance or focus on random love interests in this book. I like my steamy casual sex-scenes as much as the next happily-single woman, but sometimes it's nice to have a break from every single character in a book always having to have a love interest or every detective having hot, young women just fall into bed with them. As for the writing, I liked the italicized internal dialogue that was written into the normal dialogue. Perhaps some readers might have found the frequent italics a bit jarring, but personally I really enjoyed it. I thought it genuinely read like a realistic depiction of the brain's thought processes and how we talk to ourselves inside our head, and reminded me of how easy it is to go off on your own train of thought or have unspoken conversations right in the middle of a real, verbal conversation with someone else. The psychology of a wide-variety of characters was very well-developed. I could understand the motivations of and sympathize with characters as different as a grieving, guilt-ridden, eccentric and old-fashioned detective, a drug mule who risks their own body for a bit of money, a stressed out civilian police informant who just wants a better life for his family and a prison warden who wanted to advance his career without losing every last ounce of integrity.
For the first 50 or 60 pages, it did seem like there were a few too many characters to keep track of. Initially, all the jumping back and forth between different characters, locations, and scenarios was a bit confusing, but once I had sorted out who was who and whether they worked for the bad guys, the good guys, or the kinda-bad, corrupt, democracy-bypassing bureaucrats, it was quite easy to follow.
My only other complaint was that it was perhaps a bit on the lengthy side. If half of the descriptions of getting and drinking a cup of coffee could have been cut out, along with the constant mapquesting, that alone could easily have cut it down by 30 pages. What do I mean by mapquesting? Well, the authors had a weird habit of constantly naming every single street that the characters walked or drove down, the turns they took, and sometimes even describing lane changes, which after a while started to read a bit like a set of mapquest directions on every few pages. Maybe if I lived in Stockholm and actually knew some of the steets then I wouldn't have noticed it as much, but for any readers who lives outside of Stockholm the street names are pretty meaningless and as such, become tiresome. Aside from that, it was a highly enjoyable, difficult-to-put-down crime novel and I hope to read more of Roslund and Hellstrom's work.
I don't know what it is about Sweden as a country that makes it inclined to produce crime novels that are so much more interesting, insightful and refreshing than the formulaic Koontz and Patterson car-chase-explosions-sex-with-a-hot-girl-gun-fight that is the standard fare of American thrillers, but I do know that Three Seconds does not break with Swedish tradition. In all fairness, there actually is an explosion in Three Seconds too, but it's an intelligent explosion, rather than just a testosterone-laden male-orgasm substitute. Even keeping in mind the fact that most Swedish books have been translated out of their original language for English-speaking audiences, thereby losing some of the natural ebb and flow of the prose that can never be 100% recaptured by words of a different language, they still manage to blow American crime writing out of the water.
I found Three Seconds to be an incredibly suspenseful and intelligent thriller with deep, emotionally-developed characters. I won't talk much about the plot, because there are so many twists even within the first 50 pages that it's hard to talk about the plot at all without revealing spoilers, but I will say that it was perfectly paced - fast enough to keep me reading non-stop for an entire night, and then slowing down just enough to tease me in the sections where I was dying to know a resolution. What I loved most about this book though was how thought-provoking and meaningful it managed to be while simultaneously being entertaining and gripping. Unlike the last thriller I won in a giveaway, the fun but somewhat shallow The Insider, Three Seconds is chock full of subtle social and political commentary that forces you to think about issues as varied as drug addiction, the morality and boundaries of police work, civilian rights, undemocratic loopholes in constitutional law and the effectiveness of prisons in decreasing crime and rehabilitating criminals - all this while thoroughly entertaining the reader!
I also enjoyed the fact that there was little romance or focus on random love interests in this book. I like my steamy casual sex-scenes as much as the next happily-single woman, but sometimes it's nice to have a break from every single character in a book always having to have a love interest or every detective having hot, young women just fall into bed with them. As for the writing, I liked the italicized internal dialogue that was written into the normal dialogue. Perhaps some readers might have found the frequent italics a bit jarring, but personally I really enjoyed it. I thought it genuinely read like a realistic depiction of the brain's thought processes and how we talk to ourselves inside our head, and reminded me of how easy it is to go off on your own train of thought or have unspoken conversations right in the middle of a real, verbal conversation with someone else. The psychology of a wide-variety of characters was very well-developed. I could understand the motivations of and sympathize with characters as different as a grieving, guilt-ridden, eccentric and old-fashioned detective, a drug mule who risks their own body for a bit of money, a stressed out civilian police informant who just wants a better life for his family and a prison warden who wanted to advance his career without losing every last ounce of integrity.
For the first 50 or 60 pages, it did seem like there were a few too many characters to keep track of. Initially, all the jumping back and forth between different characters, locations, and scenarios was a bit confusing, but once I had sorted out who was who and whether they worked for the bad guys, the good guys, or the kinda-bad, corrupt, democracy-bypassing bureaucrats, it was quite easy to follow.
My only other complaint was that it was perhaps a bit on the lengthy side. If half of the descriptions of getting and drinking a cup of coffee could have been cut out, along with the constant mapquesting, that alone could easily have cut it down by 30 pages. What do I mean by mapquesting? Well, the authors had a weird habit of constantly naming every single street that the characters walked or drove down, the turns they took, and sometimes even describing lane changes, which after a while started to read a bit like a set of mapquest directions on every few pages. Maybe if I lived in Stockholm and actually knew some of the steets then I wouldn't have noticed it as much, but for any readers who lives outside of Stockholm the street names are pretty meaningless and as such, become tiresome. Aside from that, it was a highly enjoyable, difficult-to-put-down crime novel and I hope to read more of Roslund and Hellstrom's work.
January 14, 2011
Call him Paula. That’s what his handlers in the Stockholm police do.
Codename Paula is their inside man within the dangerous Polish mob, which has infested Sweden’s underworld with drugs and other nefarious activities. At their behest, he walks a terrifying path — turning a blind eye to death and murder as he commits some crimes in order to stop others. And at every moment, with each new crime and deception, he knows that one wrong word or off action could cause his long-standing deception to collapse around him, leaving him exposed amongst killers.
Leaving him dead, or lost to the wife and children he dearly loves.
In the midst of the dangerous deception comes a chance at the best sting of his life. The mob wants him to enter a maximum security prison, and take over its methamphetamine supply and distribution on their behalf. His underworld bosses think it will be a major coup, and so do his police employers. All he has to do is have his record adjusted to make him sound even more dangerous than he is, and then arrange to have him arrested on a bogus but heinous charge, and off to prison he goes, there to betray one set of friends for the other, and maybe get out of this double life once and for all.
But it’s never that simple.
Just before the opportunity came a disaster — a killing Paula was only tangentally involved in, but involved enough to get a different side of the Stockholm police looking for him. That’s just enough heat to make the secretive portion of the police that handles him wonder if they should drop him rather than implicate themselves in his crimes on their behalf.
And if they drop him while he’s in prison — in an environment where found out snitches die rather quickly – there’s no way Paula could get out before angry inmates tore him apart
Except that Paula is no ordinary snitch, and no ordinary man. He can see the writing on the wall. He’s got plans within plans, and interesting areas of expertise that even his police employers are largely ignorant of…
If the police think they can play him and walk away clean, then they don’t know Paula. But readers of this fantastic follow-up to “Box 21″ will not only know him, but root for him as the danger slow-burns to a riveting conclusion.
Fans of exotic thrillers should snap this book up as soon as they can. It is not, as the advertising would have you believe, “the next Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” — it’s something altogether different and exciting, and hopefully a sign of more good things to come from the stellar writing team of Borge Hellstrom and Anders Roslund.
(From the review here.)
Codename Paula is their inside man within the dangerous Polish mob, which has infested Sweden’s underworld with drugs and other nefarious activities. At their behest, he walks a terrifying path — turning a blind eye to death and murder as he commits some crimes in order to stop others. And at every moment, with each new crime and deception, he knows that one wrong word or off action could cause his long-standing deception to collapse around him, leaving him exposed amongst killers.
Leaving him dead, or lost to the wife and children he dearly loves.
In the midst of the dangerous deception comes a chance at the best sting of his life. The mob wants him to enter a maximum security prison, and take over its methamphetamine supply and distribution on their behalf. His underworld bosses think it will be a major coup, and so do his police employers. All he has to do is have his record adjusted to make him sound even more dangerous than he is, and then arrange to have him arrested on a bogus but heinous charge, and off to prison he goes, there to betray one set of friends for the other, and maybe get out of this double life once and for all.
But it’s never that simple.
Just before the opportunity came a disaster — a killing Paula was only tangentally involved in, but involved enough to get a different side of the Stockholm police looking for him. That’s just enough heat to make the secretive portion of the police that handles him wonder if they should drop him rather than implicate themselves in his crimes on their behalf.
And if they drop him while he’s in prison — in an environment where found out snitches die rather quickly – there’s no way Paula could get out before angry inmates tore him apart
Except that Paula is no ordinary snitch, and no ordinary man. He can see the writing on the wall. He’s got plans within plans, and interesting areas of expertise that even his police employers are largely ignorant of…
If the police think they can play him and walk away clean, then they don’t know Paula. But readers of this fantastic follow-up to “Box 21″ will not only know him, but root for him as the danger slow-burns to a riveting conclusion.
Fans of exotic thrillers should snap this book up as soon as they can. It is not, as the advertising would have you believe, “the next Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” — it’s something altogether different and exciting, and hopefully a sign of more good things to come from the stellar writing team of Borge Hellstrom and Anders Roslund.
(From the review here.)
April 11, 2019
Amazing and exciting reading ! !
“Three Seconds” is written by Anders Roslund (journalist) and Borge Hellstrom (ex-criminal).
I had a good time reading this book despite that it was not easy at first. The authors were in no hurry to bring their story into focus and they took a lot of time to "set up" the context what gave a "false" pace until the half of the book. They gave many details about the characters which allow readers to anticipate their reactions and understand their decisions. Readers should be patient until passing the third of the book, and then ...... suspense and action do not stop until the end. I think this is typical of Scandinavian literature.
The plot takes place in Stockholm, Sweden, and evolves a delicate investigation conducted by Detective Inspector Ewert Grens who does not appreciate new methods introduced by the police to fight against organized crime groups. The other main character is Piet Hoffman a "former" criminal who is in the same time a devoted husband and father of two young sons. Piet is working with the police and infiltrated for years the Polish Mafia in Stockholm whose he became a key player in drug trafficking. Now the Polish mafia’s plan is to expand supplying drugs to Swedish prisons. His new assignment is to be the big boss.
Ewert Grens and Piet Hoffman clash and meet each other in different ways. Grens's investigation threatens to expose Piet's true identity. It may also reveal crimes involving the highest levels of politicians and police top management. These ones will not remain without reacting and will do anything to stop him. And also give up Piet.....
Readers will discover different sides of the prison which is here targeted by drug traffickers like any other economic environment.
I highly recommend this book, particularly for those who like Scandinavian literature.
Read - March, 2019.
Published - 2009
“Three Seconds” is written by Anders Roslund (journalist) and Borge Hellstrom (ex-criminal).
I had a good time reading this book despite that it was not easy at first. The authors were in no hurry to bring their story into focus and they took a lot of time to "set up" the context what gave a "false" pace until the half of the book. They gave many details about the characters which allow readers to anticipate their reactions and understand their decisions. Readers should be patient until passing the third of the book, and then ...... suspense and action do not stop until the end. I think this is typical of Scandinavian literature.
The plot takes place in Stockholm, Sweden, and evolves a delicate investigation conducted by Detective Inspector Ewert Grens who does not appreciate new methods introduced by the police to fight against organized crime groups. The other main character is Piet Hoffman a "former" criminal who is in the same time a devoted husband and father of two young sons. Piet is working with the police and infiltrated for years the Polish Mafia in Stockholm whose he became a key player in drug trafficking. Now the Polish mafia’s plan is to expand supplying drugs to Swedish prisons. His new assignment is to be the big boss.
Ewert Grens and Piet Hoffman clash and meet each other in different ways. Grens's investigation threatens to expose Piet's true identity. It may also reveal crimes involving the highest levels of politicians and police top management. These ones will not remain without reacting and will do anything to stop him. And also give up Piet.....
Readers will discover different sides of the prison which is here targeted by drug traffickers like any other economic environment.
I highly recommend this book, particularly for those who like Scandinavian literature.
Read - March, 2019.
Published - 2009
February 9, 2011
I love Scandinavian Crime Fiction. This book cover says it is the best book of the year. It is good but not the best Scandinavian crime fiction you can read. I don't know all the books that came out in the last year, but I know that this is not at the level or Henning Mankel, Arnarldur Idridisson, Helen Turston, Sjowall and Wahloo, Karen Fossum, Ake Edwardson, Hakkan Nesser and certainly is no Stig Larsson. This book also does not compare to the quality of England's Peter Lovsey, or the U.S. authors, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais or Andrew Vachs.
This book has a theme, which is the blurred line when law enforcement agencies use criminal undercover agents. It has become a practice in several countries to allow or overlook or even generate some crime to be able to get into bigger crime. Crime is crime and the power to blur the lines can be a power that leads to abuse. See what happens.
The characters are good and this would be a great film. The idea that there is a team working on a crime is very European and so there is some development of several characters but not as much as usual from this area of the world. The tough senior detective Ewart Grens is an attempt at a compilation of the great detectives from this part of the world like, Van Veteran, Wallander, Peter Diamond, and others and falls short. He is tortured by his wife's death, lives alone, sleeps in the office, is falling apart physically and walks with a limp. Too much.
The book ends with a Hollywood touch that could have been left out.
I would read another one from these two.
I am just starting The Big Squeeze by Jim Cirni and will report back.
Brian Oldham
This book has a theme, which is the blurred line when law enforcement agencies use criminal undercover agents. It has become a practice in several countries to allow or overlook or even generate some crime to be able to get into bigger crime. Crime is crime and the power to blur the lines can be a power that leads to abuse. See what happens.
The characters are good and this would be a great film. The idea that there is a team working on a crime is very European and so there is some development of several characters but not as much as usual from this area of the world. The tough senior detective Ewart Grens is an attempt at a compilation of the great detectives from this part of the world like, Van Veteran, Wallander, Peter Diamond, and others and falls short. He is tortured by his wife's death, lives alone, sleeps in the office, is falling apart physically and walks with a limp. Too much.
The book ends with a Hollywood touch that could have been left out.
I would read another one from these two.
I am just starting The Big Squeeze by Jim Cirni and will report back.
Brian Oldham
October 15, 2016
Fantastic Swedish crime when one starts to sympathise with the villain, against all odds.
A calculated, intense, and dark story about an underworld that almost certainly exists and leaves me questioning why people do what they do.
Underneath it all, criminals are people too, who make choices, have feelings, and are just as vulnerable and fragile.
A calculated, intense, and dark story about an underworld that almost certainly exists and leaves me questioning why people do what they do.
Underneath it all, criminals are people too, who make choices, have feelings, and are just as vulnerable and fragile.
July 22, 2014
so realistic!
July 2, 2019
פייט הופמן הוא סוכן סמוי של משטרת שוודיה במאפיה הפולנית שמנסה לשלב חיי משפחה בעוד הרבה מאוד גורמים ישמחו להרוג אותו.
ספר מתח שוודי נחמד ולא מדמם כמו שוודים אחרים.
ספר מתח שוודי נחמד ולא מדמם כמו שוודים אחרים.
March 11, 2021
Piet Hoffman lever ett dubbelliv. Ett med fru och barn, en fantastisk familj som han vill skydda. Ett hemligt liv där han varje dag riskerar att förlora allt.
På uppdrag av polisen tvingas han att ta makten på ett av Sveriges tyngsta fängelser. Inne på fängelset inser han att han är ensam, ingen kan hjälpa honom om han skulle bli avslöjad.
WOW, de här är så bra!
Tre sekunder innehåller allt jag vill att en riktigt bra bok ska göra. Den är intensiv och trotts sina nästan 600 sidor så går de i ett naffs att läsa då en har ett riktigt bra tempo. Den är spännande hela tiden och blir aldrig någonsin tråkig eller ointressant. Här får vi möta tvivelaktiga metoder och vara med när en myndighet börjar täcka brott med nya brott. Vi får vara med när en infiltratör som jobbar åt polisen blir sviken av alla som skulle hjälpa honom.
På uppdrag av polisen tvingas han att ta makten på ett av Sveriges tyngsta fängelser. Inne på fängelset inser han att han är ensam, ingen kan hjälpa honom om han skulle bli avslöjad.
WOW, de här är så bra!
Tre sekunder innehåller allt jag vill att en riktigt bra bok ska göra. Den är intensiv och trotts sina nästan 600 sidor så går de i ett naffs att läsa då en har ett riktigt bra tempo. Den är spännande hela tiden och blir aldrig någonsin tråkig eller ointressant. Här får vi möta tvivelaktiga metoder och vara med när en myndighet börjar täcka brott med nya brott. Vi får vara med när en infiltratör som jobbar åt polisen blir sviken av alla som skulle hjälpa honom.
January 7, 2019
Da budem iskrena, nisam mnogo očekivala od ove knjige. Prije svega jer me prethodni dijelovi nisu baš oduševili. I ova mi je na početku bila razvučena, dosadna, smarala me. Ali nisam odustajala i to se na kraju isplatilo. Negdje na polovici knjige radnja se zahuktala i bilo mi je žao kada sam morala da ostavim knjigu. Do pola jedva, od pola sam je progutala. :D
April 12, 2017
Gostei muito, principalmente a partir do meio do livro.
July 6, 2022
tako dobra priča, ali tako nepotrebno duga knjiga
February 14, 2022
Väldigt spännande slut men första tre fjärdedelarna av boken var väldigt långsamma och ointressanta😔
October 29, 2022
Grabbed me from the first page, one of the most clever books i've ever read. Roslund & Hellström never disappoints, i was in the beginning stages of a reading slump when i started this and now my will to read is back and better than ever.
February 2, 2011
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher.
Many writers are currently being touted as the next Stieg Larsson. These writers are no exception. Many librarians are struggling with what to recommend to readers who want more in the style of Larsson's Millenium trilogy. I'm not sure that this book qualifies.
Piet Hoffman is a devoted husband and father but he hides a secret. He is also an ex-con who has been working undercover as a mole for the Stockholm police for the last nine years. Hoffman has risen through the ranks of the Polish mafia and is selected to head up the mafia's new attempt to take over the methamphetamine trade in the Swedish prisons. In order to accomplish his objective, Hoffman must get himself arrested and placed in a maxium security prison where he will set up the new drug trafficking trade. However, he will have no contact with his police handler and will be completely on his own. If he is found out as a mole, his life will be in jeopardy.
The first half of this book lays the groundwork for the story. It explains how Hoffman came to be a mole, how the undercover agent operation works and what Hoffman's work inside the prison will entail. There is A LOT of setup. I was confused for a good portion of the book because the writers waited to explain that the police use female code names for their informants. It wasn't clear to me that "Paula" was the same person as Piet. The book didn't really pick up for me until about halfway through when Hoffman begins his prison operation. The last half was very good. Once I found out what the title of the book was referencing, I really got hooked.
Many readers may get bored and/or frustrated by the first half of the book. It moves pretty slowly and the number of characters can be confusing. However, the second half really redeems the book. Since one of the writers is an ex-con himself, he really gives us an accurate view into how the whole police/prison system works.
BOTTOM LINE: Recommended. If you can get past the first half of the book, you will be rewarded by fast-paced and gripping story with a clever twist at the end.
Many writers are currently being touted as the next Stieg Larsson. These writers are no exception. Many librarians are struggling with what to recommend to readers who want more in the style of Larsson's Millenium trilogy. I'm not sure that this book qualifies.
Piet Hoffman is a devoted husband and father but he hides a secret. He is also an ex-con who has been working undercover as a mole for the Stockholm police for the last nine years. Hoffman has risen through the ranks of the Polish mafia and is selected to head up the mafia's new attempt to take over the methamphetamine trade in the Swedish prisons. In order to accomplish his objective, Hoffman must get himself arrested and placed in a maxium security prison where he will set up the new drug trafficking trade. However, he will have no contact with his police handler and will be completely on his own. If he is found out as a mole, his life will be in jeopardy.
The first half of this book lays the groundwork for the story. It explains how Hoffman came to be a mole, how the undercover agent operation works and what Hoffman's work inside the prison will entail. There is A LOT of setup. I was confused for a good portion of the book because the writers waited to explain that the police use female code names for their informants. It wasn't clear to me that "Paula" was the same person as Piet. The book didn't really pick up for me until about halfway through when Hoffman begins his prison operation. The last half was very good. Once I found out what the title of the book was referencing, I really got hooked.
Many readers may get bored and/or frustrated by the first half of the book. It moves pretty slowly and the number of characters can be confusing. However, the second half really redeems the book. Since one of the writers is an ex-con himself, he really gives us an accurate view into how the whole police/prison system works.
BOTTOM LINE: Recommended. If you can get past the first half of the book, you will be rewarded by fast-paced and gripping story with a clever twist at the end.
August 11, 2011
This was a fantastic Sweedish read By Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom and written in the style of the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series by Stieg Larsson. This story takes place in Stockholm and surrounds the plight of "Paula" (the main character is male) who is caught up in the Polish mafia's attempt to flood the Sweedish drug trade as well as being hung out by the justice system. Until the conclusion, it is difficult to predict who will survive and who will fall to their respective life choices.
"Three Seconds" has received many well deserved awards awards in Sweeden and was on the Sweedish best seller list for many months. At 500+ pages, it will take a time commitment as well as a stomach for violence. Sweedish names and places were difficult so I made up my own English names and simplified the read. Be patient with the title, "Three Seconds", its explanation comes 3/4 of the way into the book and fits the action packed storyline and the daring life of Paula. He makes many sacrifices to achieve his goal and risks it all.
This is not the first book by the authors, just the first to make it to the English speaking market. I hope the others make it to my booklist. "The Beast" will be released as a motion picture this winter (in Sweedish) and "The Vault" has been published in the UK (originally titled "Box 21".) "Redemption" is in the process of being translated into English without a known release date.
"Three Seconds" has received many well deserved awards awards in Sweeden and was on the Sweedish best seller list for many months. At 500+ pages, it will take a time commitment as well as a stomach for violence. Sweedish names and places were difficult so I made up my own English names and simplified the read. Be patient with the title, "Three Seconds", its explanation comes 3/4 of the way into the book and fits the action packed storyline and the daring life of Paula. He makes many sacrifices to achieve his goal and risks it all.
This is not the first book by the authors, just the first to make it to the English speaking market. I hope the others make it to my booklist. "The Beast" will be released as a motion picture this winter (in Sweedish) and "The Vault" has been published in the UK (originally titled "Box 21".) "Redemption" is in the process of being translated into English without a known release date.
February 10, 2012
Piet Hoffman, Swedish undercover police informer, has climbed very high in the ranks of the Polish Mafia when he haplessly witnesses a murder during a drug deal gone terribly wrong. While Inspector Ewert Grens investigates the murder, Hoffman's Mafia masters want him in prison to take over drug operations there. A secret arm of the law agrees, and offers him and his family protection and new identities for breaking the drug operations of the Mafia in the Swedish prison system. But they reckoned without the indefatigable Grens, intent on solving his case all unaware of the secret agenda.
A stunningly well-written police procedural meets thriller meets psychological suspense novel; this book succeeds in all three genres. At times the suspense was so well drawn, and had so drawn me in, that I had to put the book aside for awhile to regain my composure. The details of the drug trade, particularly the description of the 'mules' in the early chapters, were disgusting to read but nonetheless set the story up perfectly.
This gritty, breathtaking story of colliding cases featuring corrupt officials, a barely sane investigator, and a nimble and likable ex-con has lingered in my mind.
A stunningly well-written police procedural meets thriller meets psychological suspense novel; this book succeeds in all three genres. At times the suspense was so well drawn, and had so drawn me in, that I had to put the book aside for awhile to regain my composure. The details of the drug trade, particularly the description of the 'mules' in the early chapters, were disgusting to read but nonetheless set the story up perfectly.
This gritty, breathtaking story of colliding cases featuring corrupt officials, a barely sane investigator, and a nimble and likable ex-con has lingered in my mind.
unfinished
January 20, 2021Два пъти започвам тази книга - при това с големи очаквания и два пъти не успявам да я довърша. Първия път я оставих след първите страници заради странния начин на изразяване на автора, втория път я преполових, но след като установих, че очаквам едва ли не с ужас да посегна отново към нея, реших, че е време да се призная за победена.
Под странен начин на изразяване имам предвид кратките, откъслечни изречения, неяснотата по отношение на героите, защото авторът често не използва имена, а само местоимения, липсата на логика в развитието не на цялостния сюжет, а в изразяването, което съчетано с един куп ненужни детайли, превърна за мен четенето в истинско изпитание.
Под странен начин на изразяване имам предвид кратките, откъслечни изречения, неяснотата по отношение на героите, защото авторът често не използва имена, а само местоимения, липсата на логика в развитието не на цялостния сюжет, а в изразяването, което съчетано с един куп ненужни детайли, превърна за мен четенето в истинско изпитание.
October 25, 2016
Vond het wel een goed verhaal maar nog al lang gerekt. Boek had best 100 pagina's minder dik mogen zijn. Wel een realistische thriller.
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