Cell 8 http://www.fishpond.com.au/Books/Cell-8-Anders-Roslund-Borge-Hellstrom/9781849161480

By Anders Roslund, Borge Hellstrom, Kari Dickson (Translated by)

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About the Author

Award-winning journalist Anders Roslund and ex-criminal Borge Hellstrom are Sweden's most acclaimed fiction duo. Their unique ability to combine inside knowledge of the brutal reality of criminal life with searing social criticism in complex, intelligent plots has put them at the forefront of modern Scandinavian crime writing.

Reviews

Two intriguing yet apparently unconnected story lines power Roslund and Hellstrom's stellar follow-up to Three Seconds (2011), once again featuring Det. Supt. Ewert Grens of the Stockholm police. An Ohio death row inmate, convicted of killing his 16-year-old girlfriend when he was 17 years old, dies of heart disease. Six years later, the police arrest a Canadian expatriate living in Sweden for repeatedly kicking a drunken man in the head. The narrative takes a wild turn after the cantankerous Grens discovers that the foreigner in their jail cell is a convicted murderer, the same death row inmate who supposedly died in America six years earlier. Thriller fans will relish the bitter Nordic atmospherics, relentless pacing, and brilliant twist ending, but it's the authors' deep exploration into the personal and political fallout from the use of the death penalty that makes this novel such a provocative reading experience. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

It would be hard to miss the tidal wave of Nordic noir gaining popularity in American mystery circles. The Swedish writing partnership of Roslund and Hellstrom (a criminologist and an ex-criminal, respectively) has produced a series featuring Detective Inspector Ewert Grens of the Stockholm police. Available in English translation only now, this title was originally published in Sweden in 2006. The action starts rolling with the arrest of John Schwartz, a musician on the ferry running between Stockholm and Finland, for assaulting a passenger. He eventually is found to have assumed this identity-in actuality, he is escaped con John Meyer Frey, who fled death row in Marcusville, OH, six years earlier. How this was accomplished, the reasons for it, and Frey's journey from Sweden back to death row fill out the novel. Also included is a bit of social commentary on the evils of the death penalty. VERDICT Although the action is gripping, the narrative point of view jumps around, which is a challenge for the otherwise adequate reading by Christopher Lane. Overall, a solid purchase for fiction collections. ["Those who appreciate socially conscious crime fiction should be intrigued by this European take on a hot-button American topic," read the review of the Silver-Oak: Sterling hc, LJ 11/1/11.-Ed.]-Kristen L. Smith, Loras Coll. Lib., Dubuque, IA (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

'Powerful' The Times. 'Astonishing ... Passionate ... Taut with suspense' Sunday Times. 'Mesmerizing' Independent. 'for crime with a political purpose, it's hard to beat Cell 8 by Ander Roslund and Borge Hellstrom, where an outburst of violence on a late-night ferry heading for Sweden links to the fate of an American on death row' Sunday Times. 'Cell 8 is marked by the same surprise element that made their earlier novel, 'Three Seconds', such a spectacular read' Time Out.