Life Deluxe

July 7, 2014
Lapidus takes a fascinating look at moral ambiguity and ruthless ambition in the compelling conclusion to his Stockholm Noir trilogy, which follows the power struggle between members of Stockholm’s underworld and the police. Radovan Kranjic—the “godfather of godfathers” who controls the Yugo mafia—has built a massive criminal enterprise that his 22-year-old daughter, Natalie, a law student, may inherit. Ex-convict Jorge Salinas Barrio, who despises his job as a restaurateur, longs to find the perfect heist with his band of mismatched crooks. Deputy Insp. Martin Hägerström, a brilliant cop with personal demons, goes undercover to infiltrate drug dealer Johan “JW” Westlund’s gang. Despite the book’s expansive length and, at times, dense prose, Lapidus keeps the storylines straight, including the large cast of supporting characters, some of whom were the major focus in the series’s first two installments, Never Fuck Up and Easy Money.

September 15, 2014
The conclusion to Lapidus' monstrously ambitious Stockholm Noir trilogy (Never Fuck Up, 2013, etc.) is every bit as dark, sprawling, rambunctious and volcanic as you'd expect. At the fade-in, Radovan Kranjic is still controlling Sweden's Yugo Mafia, serenely unaware that an assassin has him in his sights and surprisingly unruffled after a hit on him falls through. Long-escaped criminal Jorge Salinas Barrio is still looking for the big score, this time a heist on which he's collaborating with a silent partner named the Finn. Drug dealer Johan "JW" Westlund is still biding his time in the Salberg Penitentiary, waiting for his parole. A complication to their schemes comes when hotshot DI Lennart Torsfjal recruits Deputy Inspector Martin Hagerstrom to go undercover as a corrections officer in Salberg in order to worm his way into JW's confidence. A second comes when another assassination attempt against Kranjic leaves his daughter Natalie, 22, holding the reins of her father's criminal empire, battling former Kranjic lieutenant Stefan Stefanovic for control. A third comes when Jorge decides to double-cross the Finn and hold on to his share of the loot. Since Lapidus is as inventive as he is unblinkered, other complications soon follow. A trip to Thailand away from all but one member of the Stockholm County Police throws Jorge together with JW and Hagerstrom, who seriously compromises his mission when he falls into bed with Jorge's friend "megagangster" Javier Fernandez. Natalie, who has little appetite for her father's legacy, finds herself growing into it anyway. Jorge discovers unexpected reserves of nobility under pressure. Through it all, Lapidus wastes no opportunity to explore the labyrinthine affinities between his heroes and villains. Better put aside the whole weekend for this guided tour of his Swedish hell.

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September 1, 2014
After serving his sentence for coke dealing, JW emerges from prison with a new future in money laundering. But Stockholm police haven't forgotten his cunning potential, and he's targeted by a powerful police captain. Martin Hgerstrm is a by-the-book cop somehow chosen for an off-the books undercover operation poised to take down three tiers of Stockholm's criminal world, from street criminals to money launderers to an international syndicate. Jorge and Mahmud are street gangsters turned caf' owners lured from straight life by a robbery plot virtually guaranteed to net millions. Radovan Kranjic, the city's top criminal boss, is introducing his daughter to his empire while dodging a world-class hit man. This final chapter of this trilogy (following Never Fuck Up, 2013) is steeped in detail that sometimes slows the three tandem story lines. But Stockholm criminal defense attorney Lapidus' clear objective is to create a portrait of Stockholm's underworld, and fans of the first two installments will enjoy this solid conclusion, whose well-painted characters drive the gritty, matter-of-fact exploration of the chinks in modern Swedish society.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)