Three Seconds

THREE SECONDS
Roslund & Hellstrom
Silver Oak
Sterling Publishing Co.
January 2011
Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-4027-8592-4
486 pages
$24.95

Do all life threatening events come down to the three seconds it takes most of us to make a decision? Do those who do not hesitate have an advantage over those who think through their choices?

Informants can’t have an easy life while literally living in two worlds with the constant threat of death from one wrong move.

Piet Hoffman has worked for years as a police informant infiltrating the Polish mafia. As an ex-con, this opportunity actually put his real life back on track and allowed him to be successful financially while establishing a family including having two sons, who he truly loves. Even though he knows that his life is dangerous, Piet feels fortunate with his life until the incident.

In his role as an informant, Piet is placed in an awkward situation, either he is exposed or a policeman is killed during an illegal drug transaction. Even though many of the upper echelon of the police department are involved with the scenario, there are too many questions by those not directly involved. The questions cause the upper echelon to make a decision. Piet is to be permanently unavailable. The logical method is to have him arrested and to become the main drug supplier for the Polish mafia inside the prison system. Piet is guaranteed safety for this assignment.

Unfortunately, Ewert Grens, a Detective Inspector, will not let go of the investigation of the dead police officer. He decides to question Piet inside the prison. However, it is determined that Piet cannot be questioned and a burn notice is placed on him immediately.

This is an intense novel in which the action never stops. Granted that few of us are police informants, but the realism and the situations make this novel very genuine. The characters are logical and believable.

Rosland and Hellstrom are really Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström. Anders is a journalist and Börge has worked is an expert on the Swedish correctional system. Together they made their debut with THE BEAST in 2004. Their books are translated into German, English, and the Nordic languages.

With the recent interest in Stieg Larsson’s trilogy and The Wallander series on PBS, this Nordic twosome are obviously looking to the world of English for expanding their audience. Personally with a story this dark and intense, they will have a new welcome readership for their future novels.

Teri Davis November 28, 2010