I initially thought this book might be a bit grim and depressing, but found it a compelling and morbidly fascinating read. It describes the underworld of drug smuggling and police informants in Sweden in all its gory detail, focussing on ex-criminal and police informant Piet Hoffman. It follows his involvement in a drug deal gone wrong that ends in murder, his infiltration into the Polish mafia and drug dealing in the prison system, and subsequent poor treatment by the authorities ending in an explosive finale. Piet makes is a great protagonist and I found myself gripped throughout wanting to find out what happens to him and whether he would manage to stay alive. The only thing that wasn’t really explored in enough detail was his motivation for taking such huge risks, especially as he had so much to lose with a wife and young family. Inspector Ewert Grens, who is assigned to the drug related murder but has no knowledge of Piet’s informant status, is also an interesting character and his honest search for the truth highlights the inherent problems in the informant system. The subject matter doesn't make for particularly pleasant reading, and paints a pretty black view of the Swedish police and government, but overall it is absorbing and obviously well researched thriller in the style of Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy.

For me this started out with everything against it. Due to a family wedding I was pushed for reading time, I'd found my previous journey into Swedish Crime, one of the Wallender novels, a bit bleak & not to my taste & I could not see how 2 authors could write a work of fiction. However it had won Swedish Crime Novel of the Year & I felt I should give the genre another chance. I'm glad I did. This is a well crafted thriller & I will finish it. Begin by reading the Authors Notes. Lovers of Swedish Crime will give it 6 stars, for others it's a good way into the genre. It begins with a murder, can Detective Ewert Grens solve it before he is stopped by the Polish mafia or others in the Swedish Police? It's a race against time & time is running out.

As with any book that has been translated, there are bound to be some areas that still cause problems for the language barrier. With "Three Seconds" I found this problem came in the form of both character and place names, but that could partly be due to Sweedish being a completly foreign language to me.! After the first couple of chapters I was tempted to stop reading because the story was moving at a fast rate and I was struggling to keep track of the characters and place names. However, if you find yourself in this position I would seriously recommend perseveering, it will get easier to follow, I promise. As you make your way through the book you will find yourself being drawn further and further into the world of Piet Hoffman and Ewert Grens. A world of false identities, amphetamine smuggling, tulips and so much more. This book is not going to make records for being the best ever written, but it is definitely a good read. One that you will probably end up reading again and again in order to see what you missed first time around.

This is a thriller for those who, like me, don't normally read thrillers. From the start it grips the reader by the neck and doesn't let go. Piet Hoffman is a Swedish police informer infiltrating the Polish drugs mafia. He has a beloved wife and two small sons who know nothing of his secret existence. Piet's life is a tangled web and it starts to unravel when a shooting takes place during one of his 'deals'. Things go from bad to worse when he attempts to infiltrate the drugs business within a Swedish prison. As the climax of the novel approaches it's impossible to second guess Piet's actions. My copy of the book bore the sticker 'From the publishers of Stieg Larsson' but although Piet is an intelligent and meticulous hero, he isn't as unique as Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tatto trilogy. Nevertheless 'Three Seconds' deserves your time and promises you a roller-coaster ride.

I really enjoyed this book although I was drawn to buy it by an advert which said 'The new Steig Larsson' and I don't think it is as good as the Millennium Trilogy - but then what is?