Down for the Count

Description

Harry Kvist walks out the gates of Langholmen jail into the biting Stockholm winter of 1935. He has nothing to his name but a fiercely burning hope: that he can leave behind his old existence of gutter brawls, bruised fists and broken bones. But the city has other ideas. Nazis are spreading their poison on the freezing streets, and one of Kvist's oldest friends has been murdered. Before he can leave Stockholm's underworld for good, he must track down the killer. As Kvist uncovers a trail of blood leading to the highest echelons of Swedish society, the former boxer finds himself in a fight to the death with his most dangerous opponent yet.

Born in 1974, Martin Holmen studied history, and now teaches at a Stockholm secondary school. Down for the Count is the second thriller in The Stockholm Trilogy, following on from Clinch. The trilogy will be completed with Slugger published by Pushkin Vertigo in 2018.

Holmen has Raymond Chandler's rare ability to evoke a character in a few deft strokes Mail on Sunday, best crime reads of 2016 Ferociously noir... If Chandler and Hammett had truly walked on the wild side, it would read like Clinch Val McDermid Atmospheric Scandi retro, but Chandleresque to its core The Sunday Times Crime Club If you're looking for a new addiction, try [Clinch]... it's a tough thriller that packs a punch Daily Star on Sunday A dark, atmospheric, powerful thriller, the best debut novel I've read in years Lynda La Plante A real tour de force... a fascinating race through 1930s Stockholm -- Kate Rhodes Clinch is a gritty, stylish debut from a Swedish history teacher and in Kvist he has created a brutal anti-hero quite unlike any seen in crime fiction before Express A clever plot woven into prose that depicts 1930s Stockholm in a detailed manner... it punches you in the face like one of Kvist's knockout blows. Definitely not for the faint-hearted Crime Scene Martin Holmen has created a remarkable novel that works well at many levels, ticking all the right boxes for the Scandi crime category Thriller Books Journal Gritty, stylish Scandinavian noir from one of Sweden's hottest emerging authors Booklover A ferociously noir revelation of Stockholm between the wars... the sort of novel Chandler and Hammett would have written if they'd been permitted to include sex! -- Val McDermid Sunday Times Crime Club Clinch is a fabulously classy twist on pulp fiction: it'll be a top-notch summer book for readers looking for something diverting but smart, as long as they don't mind a little blood and bonking Elle Thinks This is noir writing at its best and you won't want to give this book a miss if you are a fan of this genre The Bookbinder's Daughter (blog) A debut that rings of Chandler... Holmen has created a unique, equally idiosyncratic as remarkable, debut crime novel Boras Tidning Scandinavian Crime meets Film Noir, the crime novel of the year -- Alexander Bard A great read Expressen Brutally entertaining M-Magasin Praise for Clinch: -- _ _