Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new edition of Lil Red’s Book Club! In a spoiler free setting, as always, we are going to be discussing a Swedish mystery thriller called Knock Knock by Anders Roslund. Unbeknownst to me, this book is actually the newest edition of a series following a curmudgeon of a Detective Superintendent named Ewert Grens. Although a few nods to past books were scattered throughout Knock Knock, it didn’t alter the overall story line and was still a great read. In fact, I think I’ll go back and read the rest of the series! Before we begin, I will be placing a trigger warning on Knock Knock for graphic violence and highly disturbing content. Now, let’s get to it:
Ewert Grens has worked in the Homicide Unit for a long time and is getting close to his retirement. There is one case, however, that has still haunted him for close to two decades: An entire family murdered, minus one little girl safely hidden away. He rescued her from the crime scene three days later, took care of her, and was able to get her a new identity and placement with a new family. The case went cold quickly but he often wonders about that little girl. Where is she? How is she? What is she like now? Then, as if out of nowhere, her case resurfaces again. A break in occurs at the home where the crime took place and potential suspects from seventeen years prior end up murdered in the exact same fashion as the girl’s deceased family.
Piet Hoffmann, too, works with the police but in a completely different fashion. He isn’t a cop or a detective, he is an infiltrator specializing in organized crime. Piet has been an invaluable resource to the Swedish police and has ended countless smuggling rings of drugs, weapons, and people. Now, he has retired from his old life and is the definition of a family man to his wife and three small children. Sometimes, Piet muses about going back to his old life for a quick job or two but never acts on it. Until now.
On a lovely afternoon, Piet discovers that his young son is playing with a new toy that he found in the mailbox. It looked like a toy, played like a toy but was merely a hand grenade designed as one. In the package addressed for his sons, he finds a note with five damning typewritten words: “We know who you are.” Someone out there knows that code name Paula is Piet and plans on using that to their advantage. Through phone calls from an altered voice, Piet is given a new mission. Retrieve a cache of the most powerful machine guns known to man or your family dies.
Long ago, Detective Grens formed a fondness for Piet’s family and is one of the few men that Piet somewhat trusts. He knows he needs the resources of the police to turn the mission he has been given on its head. His family will survive, the guns will not fall in the wrong hands, and the organization will be taken down. As the former enemies (according to Knock Knock’s reference of past books) delve deeper into the cases, realization dawns that they are connected and time is running out. Will the old detective finally be able to resolve the case that evaded him all these years? Will Piet’s family make it out alive? Read Knock Knock to find out!
Outside of the very first chapter, Knock Knock started at an excruciatingly slow pace. It wasn’t that I was entering into a series that already had four previous books. There was just So. Much. Information. to set the scene and things didn’t really start picking up until around page one hundred fifty. I trudged through and am glad I did because when the book shifted, it turned into nonstop action, jaw dropping revelations, and twists and turns that continued until the very last page. Knock Knock was four hundred and forty pages long and once that turning point hit, I devoured the rest in two sittings.
Although I had just been newly introduced to Grens and Hoffmann, it felt like I had known them for forever. They were both so likeable in their own ways. Grens was cranky, set in his ways, and kept the soft spot he had for his dear ones well hidden. Hoffmann was like an action movie star – smooth, contained, and a master of every weapon imaginable while still maintaining his role as a father the best he could. It was the classic scenario of an old cop having a begrudging relationship with someone who can’t be told a damn thing and it worked so well.
It was so easy to grow fond for a majority of the characters in Knock Knock and it made for such a palpable sense of urgency as it twisted to the nitty gritty. Time was a major factor in this book and the countdown had me panicking. There was so much up in the air, so much room for error, and devastating consequences should the slightest thing go wrong. As I read, there were countless times when I found myself holding my breath and it was an absolutely gripping read once the pace picked up.
Overall, I am going to rate Knock Knock with a six and a half out of ten stars. Would I have liked it more had I read the other Ewert Grens novels? Who’s to say? I would have rated it higher had it not started out so freaking slow!
What are you currently reading? What should I read next? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah
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