Review: Three Seconds by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom

Piet Hoffman, a former criminal,  is an undercover police informant who has worked hard to attain his high ranking in the Polish Mafia.  After witnessing a murder that took place during a drug deal gone bad, Piet is offered one last “mission” to accomplish: infiltrate the worst prison in Sweden & take over the drug trade. Once this mission has been completed he’s promised a life of safety and anonymity with his family.  Completion of this mission will bring down some of the most important and powerful members of the Swedish drug trade.

Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Ewert Grens has been put on the murder case. He’s not aware of Piet’s existence as an informant.  When he gets a little too close to the prison operation, those “powers that be” who guaranteed Piet’s safety decide to “burn” him by denying any knowledge of his existence or of the mission he is to complete. It is up to Piet, on his own, to complete this mission & out those who abandoned him.

Roslund & Hellstrom are not new to fame.  While Three Seconds was awarded with the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award 2009 for “Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year”, their other novels have received  recognition as well. They are a stunning crime-writing duo who are able to capture the essense of the Swedish drug world. Roslund is a crime news reporter & Hellstrom is a former criminal himself, so they had both talent & experience to pull this off successfully.  While it takes some time for the tempo to build up, ultimately Three Seconds is a dark, stunning, fast-paced read.  I was fully engrossed in this book, certain I had figured out the ending.  Boy, was I wrong! Never before have I been taken on quite the roller-coaster ride: Dozens of ups & downs, unforseen loops.  The authors’ method for detailing and describing Swedish prison life was haunting; I too felt the pain & desperation felt by Piet himself.  Detective Inspector Grens has a past himself; I would be interested in reading more about this characer!

Roslund & Hellstrom have often been compared to Stieg Larsson.  While all are/were Swedish crime fiction writers , the comparison ends there.  Roslund & Hellstrom have the talent to stand on their own in the world of Swedish crime fiction.  I cannot wait to read the authors’ other work that has been translated into English. Highly recommended.