Review: Slugger by Martin Holmen

Synopsis:  It's summer in Stockholm, and the city is sweltering in the grip of a rare heatwave while fascists and communists beat each other bloody in the streets. Harry Kvist has had enough. It's time for him to leave. But first he has some business to take care of. His old friend and ex-lover, Reverend Gabrielsson, has been murdered, and the police are more interested in anti-Semitic rumours than finding the truth.

Kvist investigates the only way he knows how, with his fists, uncovering a Nazi terrorist plot and a cabal of corrupt cops. Before long he finds himself caught in the middle of a turf war between two of the city's most brutal gangs. Can he fight his way out of one last corner and find a way to freedom, or has Kvist finally taken a punch too many?

I will sum this up with a quote from the book and the character of Harry Kvist: " ... how in hell is one lonely man supposed to take on a whole conspiracy of gangsters, coppers and fuck knows what else ..."

Holmen certainly knows how to write gritty noir that is visceral, violent, memorable. The character of Harry Kvist (always refers to himself in the third person) is never forgotten, long after the final page has been turned.

Harry is an enigma, a contradiction, and yet - I don't want to say cliched - but he is your typical big old gorilla goon. However, underneath, this ex-con, ex-boxed, battle-scarred thug, a man not without friends or enemies, is a softee. He looks after his friends - and seek to settle things the old fashioned way - a man of few words but brutal action - "... hatred burns in my veins like petrol ..".

This is Harry's final job, told over the course of a number of days. Following the brutal murder of an old friend, Harry finds himself caught up in something much bigger than himself, a pawn in the hands or rival gangs and the police, who seek to use him to their own ends, often at odds with one another - and never in Harry's interests.

There will be no spoiler here - suffice to say ".. the last stretch is always walked alone .."

see also my review of "Down For the Count"

Review - Down For The Count by Martin Holmen

Despite a lack of geographical knowledge, this is a thriller of some consequence.

Set in 1930s Stockholm, an excon returns home to discover an old woman murdered and her son not only blamed but institutionalised. None of which makes any sense to Harry Kvist.

So Harry, in need of legitimate employment, goes to work for the local undertaker all the while trying to solve the murder, open a cigar shop, and await the impending release of his lover from prison.

The story ebbs and flows - shadow-boxing - ducking and weaving as the boxer does, as Harry does. And this old boxer doesn't know the meaning of going down with the count.

The story reveals itself at the end - you certainly never guess where its leading you - this is storytelling par excellence.

Whilst this is the second in a series, you can certainly read it as a stand-alone.

Also in the series:

• Clinch
• Slugger