A review by ridgewaygirl
Three Seconds by Anders Roslund

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.