The Tunnel

April 15, 2017

When a friend entices 40-year-old Jorma Hedlund, a pianist and former burglar, into joining the planned hijacking of an armored car in Stockholm, everything goes wrong. Jorma's acquaintance is killed, and Jorma goes on the run. Meanwhile, Danny Katz, a former friend of Jorma's and an ex-junkie skilled at languages and computing, is investigating an addict's suspicious death when he gets help from another drug-period friend, public prosecutor Eva Westin. All three characters' stories come together in a nightmarish House of Pain that involves drugs and sex trafficking, illegal immigrants and high-level corruption. This, plus a prostitute's family seeking vengeance, lead to a violent conclusion. VERDICT In this second volume in Vallgren's gritty crime series (after The Boy in the Shadows), the violence and drug scenes are graphically haunting, the pace is frenetic, and the terror palpable. There are some loose ends, but this is a strong entry in the gripping Scandinavian noir tradition.--Roland Person, formerly with Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale

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