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tobinlopes's review against another edition
3.0
I found this book through my reading Larsson's Millennium Trilogy. The authors, and this book, won the same prize Larsson did. I wasn't expecting another Salander character but the same flavor of narrative and, mostly, I wasn't disappointed. The book moves well and I was utterly involved until a pivotal plot point occurred, without any explanation of the motivation behind the character's actions. I was pretty disgusted because I thought it might be a cop out in order to move to the more exciting part. Then I realized something.
My love and immersion in U.S. crime drama in books and T.V. (but not L&O...eeeesshhh) gave me a fairly deep picture on how Americans handle crime. What I realized was that the Swiss do things differently than we do - WOW huh? ;) It's normally not a big deal but I think in the case of this story it suffers from translation. What was such a BIG deal in Sweden was not such a big deal here, and was a critical plot point that was weakened in the U.S.
The story was still strong and the two main characters were pretty awesome. I gave it a 7/10 on my scale.
-tpl
My love and immersion in U.S. crime drama in books and T.V. (but not L&O...eeeesshhh) gave me a fairly deep picture on how Americans handle crime. What I realized was that the Swiss do things differently than we do - WOW huh? ;) It's normally not a big deal but I think in the case of this story it suffers from translation. What was such a BIG deal in Sweden was not such a big deal here, and was a critical plot point that was weakened in the U.S.
The story was still strong and the two main characters were pretty awesome. I gave it a 7/10 on my scale.
-tpl
katemoxie's review against another edition
1.0
Three nights of reading and I'm still not 100 pages in (as compared to 75 pgs per night with Connelly, Coben, or Balducci) I'm just not getting into this one. I guess I need a shelf for "couldn't finish"
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
4.0
This is a relentless thriller of a book. Piet Hoffman is a police informer who has worked his way up in the Polish mafia as it seeks to take over the drugs trade in Sweden. Shortly after he watches a man be shot at close range, he is introduced to the top members of the criminal group and is given a job by them that will allow the Swedish police to close down their Swedish activities. He is to go into a high security prison as an inmate and take over the drugs trade for the Polish mafia. This will provide the Swedish police the chance to catch the bad guys and to destroy the drug supply to the prison. The problem is that the detective assigned to solve that initial murder is getting close to the truth, which would expose a lot more than the identity of a murderer.
The book then follows Piet, as he navigates increasingly perilous waters and Grens, a troubled but relentless investigator. The success of one means a failure for the other, but I was rooting for both of them. The plot is intricate, but doesn't rely on coincidence or leaps of logic. Lastly, the book itself was bound with unusual care, with decked edges, smooth, high quality paper and beautiful end pages. It was a pleasure to read.
The book then follows Piet, as he navigates increasingly perilous waters and Grens, a troubled but relentless investigator. The success of one means a failure for the other, but I was rooting for both of them. The plot is intricate, but doesn't rely on coincidence or leaps of logic. Lastly, the book itself was bound with unusual care, with decked edges, smooth, high quality paper and beautiful end pages. It was a pleasure to read.
surfmonkey01's review against another edition
4.0
Equal parts glacial and gripping, this read like the Swedish love child of Burn Notice and Prison Break. Parts of it dragged, and the dialogue seemed a little "off" at times, but overall it was a terrific read. I'm definitely not sorry I took a chance on this one.
hannipanni66's review against another edition
5.0
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.
roycuiper's review against another edition
4.0
This is a great book.
This was the first crime novel I read and I enjoyed every page of it. It's a good story with well written characters.
The only thing I personally had difficulty with sometimes where the Swedish (street) names.
Overall I enjoyed this book very much and I'm going to check out the other books in this series for sure!
This was the first crime novel I read and I enjoyed every page of it. It's a good story with well written characters.
The only thing I personally had difficulty with sometimes where the Swedish (street) names.
Overall I enjoyed this book very much and I'm going to check out the other books in this series for sure!
benedetto21's review against another edition
3.0
Per me è difficile scrivere di questo libro, che non è stato facile da leggere. Ho un rapporto eccezionale con i gialli scandinavi, ed ero sicuro che sarebbe stato una bomba... mi sono ritrovato a chiedermi per circa 200 pagine dove gli autori andassero a parare. "Tre Secondi" sembra essere già scritto per una serie tv, i dialoghi sono brevi, spesso ripetitivi, veloci, si passa da un personaggio all'altro con una rapidità che disorienta, fino a quando non si arriva al momento clou della narrazione, che salva un po' tutto.
Forse con 150/200 pagine in meno sarebbe stato più godibile, di certo il tipo di scrittura è affascinante... la storia è simile a "Prison break" (la nota serie tv), e per questo potrebbe piacere a molti. Io ho dubbi sul fatto di leggere il sequel. Lo consiglio, però, a chi è appassionato di polizieschi e thriller scandinavi, meglio ancora se lo si legge in autunno, con un clima che mi avrebbe aiutato ad immergermi ancora di più nella trama e nelle atmosfere.
Forse con 150/200 pagine in meno sarebbe stato più godibile, di certo il tipo di scrittura è affascinante... la storia è simile a "Prison break" (la nota serie tv), e per questo potrebbe piacere a molti. Io ho dubbi sul fatto di leggere il sequel. Lo consiglio, però, a chi è appassionato di polizieschi e thriller scandinavi, meglio ancora se lo si legge in autunno, con un clima che mi avrebbe aiutato ad immergermi ancora di più nella trama e nelle atmosfere.
sammy_'s review against another edition
4.0
Det tog lite tid att gripas av denna boken, eftersom jag inte hade läst Grens & Sundkvist förut, och jag trodde att hela boken skulle handla om narkotikahandeln och polisutredningar, som kan vara lite tråkigt. Men den är faktiskt en spännande thriller om en konspiration; det är allt jag säger just nu, men jag ser fram emot att läsa 'Tre Minuter' och 'Tre Timmar'!