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

Review: Outsider In Amsterdam

"This now-classic novel, first published in 1975, introduces Janwillem van de Wetering’s lovable Amsterdam cop duo of portly, wise Gripstra and handsome, contemplative de Gier. With its unvarnished depiction of the legacy of Dutch colonialism and the darker facets of Amsterdam’s free drug culture, this excellent procedural asks the question of whether a murder may ever be justly committed."

This was my first dip into crime fiction from the Netherlands - and I wasn't disappointed. It was a little slow moving to begin with - and here I may have been comparing it with UK & US crime fiction - but my interest was never for a moment left idle, and before you know it, the denouement is upon you.

We have all the elements of a great crime novel - murder, plot twists, interesting characters, police procedural - all things the avid crime reader will be familiar with. Add into this mix an exotic European location (Amsterdam), and you have an intriguing and punchy story-line.

While de Gier telephoned Grijpstra picked up the stool and put it right and climbed on top of it. He cut the rope with his switchblade, an illegal weapon that he carried against all regulations. The rope wasn’t thick and the knife very sharp. De Gier wanted to catch the corpse but van Meteren was quicker. He put the corpse down, very carefully, on the bed. No one thought that Piet would start breathing again.

He didn’t.

I actually kept forgetting this this was published in 1975 - so to the uninitiated in Dutch fiction, one would hardly have known the difference - some of the "attitudes" prevalent in the novel, whilst dated, could still be applicable in today's world.

I am going to source other novels in this series as this first outing was highly enjoyable.

see review here @ goodreads