Anders Roslund

"Three Minutes," by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellström, is the compelling story of Piet Hoffmann, an ex-con who has been to hell and back. He was sentenced to life in a Swedish jail, was nearly killed, and escaped to South America with his wife and two young sons. Now, Piet is the bodyguard and right-hand man of El Mestizo (nicknamed Johnny), the psychopathic head of a Colombian drug cartel. Johnny does not suspect that Piet is also an informant for the U. S. Drug Enforcement Agency. show more Hoffmann sends the DEA the locations of cocaine factories and details of pending drug shipments. He hopes that, in return for the valuable intelligence he provides, he will be allowed to return Sweden as a free man. In his corner is Stockholm detective Ewert Grens, a curmudgeon whose one soft spot is the love he feels for his late wife.

This is a lengthy, complex, and violent thriller that derives its power from vivid figurative language, unpredictable twists and turns, and a stinging indictment of cynical and self-serving government officials in three continents. Piet knows that, ultimately, he can rely on no one but himself, since promises are made to be broken. Roslund and Hellström transport us to dense, insect-ridden jungles, and horrify us with accounts of Colombian boys trained to carry out assassinations in exchange for cash from drug lords. Timothy Crouse, the United States Speaker of the House, has a personal reason to despise drugs and those who peddle them for profit. He pays a visit to Colombia to oversee operations that he helped fund, not realizing that he is placing himself and his security force in grave peril.

This novel requires intense concentration, a large investment of time, and a strong stomach for scenes of murder and torture. "Three Minutes" is a powerful tale that conveys how cynicism and greed can motivate people to commit malicious and immoral acts. The characters are well-rounded—even Johnny shows occasional flashes of humanity—and Roslund and Hellström infuse their narrative with intriguing details about satellite imagery; encrypted communications; and even an undetectable way of smuggling cocaine. The book's last page is stunning and unexpected; it left me bewildered and disheartened. I am still pondering the finale. show less

Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström collaborated on six well-received thrillers before Hellström died in 2017. Roslund's latest novel is "Three Hours," ably translated from the Swedish by Elizabeth Clark Wessel. The hero is Detective Superintendent Ewert Grens, a dour, brusque, but still sharp sixty-four-year-old who has been a police officer for forty years. He is not doing well, either physically or emotionally. Grens is out of shape and has been depressed since his beloved wife, Anni, show more died after spending many years in a nursing home. So far, he is unwilling to let go of his long-standing guilt and bottomless grief.

At least, Ewert's job keeps him busy, and he is initially puzzled when five bodies that had never been logged in mysteriously turn up in two local morgues. Adding to the mystery, trained cadaver dogs find a shipping container containing sixty-eight corpses on a loading dock at Vartä Harbor. To his horror, Ewert learns that a band of well-connected and unscrupulous individuals are taking in large sums of money from refugees who are fleeing war and starvation. The desperate migrants are stuffed into overloaded and rickety vessels and promised admission to a welcoming country. Tragically, not everyone makes it to his or her destination.

"Three Hours" is a powerful, darkly poetic (an example: "Few scenes are as forlorn as a big city that's suddenly fallen silent."), and well-constructed tale of good vs. evil, although at times the lines between right and wrong become blurred. At almost four hundred pages, the story drags a bit now and then, but the second half is particularly suspenseful and mesmerizing. The author explores the intricacies of homicide investigations; his dialogue is incisive and often witty; and Roslund skillfully fleshes out his large cast of characters. Underneath Ewert's gruff exterior, he is compassionate and, much to his surprise, discovers that he has a soft spot for children. In addition, he relies a great deal on his dedicated, tireless, and brilliant subordinates, Mariana Hermansson and Sven Sundkvist. Because of the delicate nature of this operation, Ewert reluctantly recruits Piet Hoffman, a former undercover agent who has done time in prison. Hoffman is courageous, reckless, and a genius at handling weaponry and explosive devices. He is the only person that Grens knows who has the necessary skills to neutralize the conspirators. "Three Hours" is a chilling, compelling, and timely work of fiction that will anger anyone who is repelled by callous opportunists who are indifferent to the suffering of others. show less

Three Seconds is an engrossing read about the Swedish legal system, the influx of Eastern European criminals, and use of informers, delivered by a plot with many twists and turns.

The characters are well developed personalities that made the story current and believable. I was very drawn to Ewert Grens, the quirky Detective Inspector that starts off investigating a drug murder and ends up with a case of deep intrigue and political manoeuvrings. Piet Hoffman, the informer, earned my respect show more and care, his was a life of such extremes, a loving family man on the one hand, a desperate, betrayed informer on the other, living a lie, where one misstep could result in death.

The POV switches between these two and many other characters giving insight into the events as they happen. There is a lot of information and development to take in but the story is broken into many small segments which made for easy reading. The plot is laid out slowly at the beginning but the pace soon quickened and eventually drew me along at breakneck speed.

I found Three Seconds to be an intelligent, absorbing and dark thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed. show less

I do love a well-written crime novel and I've enjoyed the series that follows Ewert Grens, who is really not good at basic social interactions. He's a pudgy, older guy whose musical tastes were set deeply in stone in the sixties, who sleeps on the sofa in his office and is terrible about allowing his underlings a personal life. I think he probably smells a little, too, but the books don't mention it. In Cell 8, he takes on the case of a man holding a Canadian passport who is arrested after show more kicking another man in the head. He won't speak, is visibly frightened of being incarcerated and is not the man for whom the passport was issued. Grens is determined to find out who this man is, and when his identity is discovered it leads to a series of backroom political dealings that all end badly, with the already cranky Grens fuming (and yelling quite a bit) from the sidelines.

Grens is growing on me. He really is an unpleasant person. But the people he works with are patient with him and the authors are good enough to keep the characters three dimensional. Even the really bad guy in this book has motivation for his reprehensible actions. It all makes sense, up until the final twist, which did not work at all. This is not as fast paced as the other books in the series. It has a point to make, and no matter how valid and important that point, this book has all the failings of a book with a lesson to teach. It can be a little self-righteous at times, a lot self-righteous at others in a way that interfered with the telling of the story. Also, much of the book took place in the US, and those portions, no matter how well researched, felt "off". show less