Knock Knock

Written by Anders Roslund

Narrated by Simon Vance and Katharine Lee McEwan

The #1 international-bestselling thriller that tells the electrifying story of a police inspector and a former criminal informant in a race against time as they attempt to unravel past and present secrets.

He thought she was safe. Then the past came knocking.

Seventeen years ago, Criminal Inspector Ewert Grens was called to the scene of a brutal crime. A family had been murdered, and the only survivor--and witness--was the five-year-old daughter. The girl was placed in the witness protection program, and the case went cold, but years later, Grens is still haunted by the seemingly random slaying, and the little girl who was spared. So when he learns that the apartment where the crime occurred is now the scene of a mysterious break-in, Grens immediately fears that someone is intent on silencing the only witness. He races to find her...before they do.

Meanwhile, someone in the city's criminal underworld is executing weapons smugglers, and has placed former police informant Piet Hoffman's family in grave danger. He must unravel the secret threat to his family, all while keeping secrets of his own. Soon his hunt for answers intertwines with Ewert's, and the two men find themselves in the middle of a criminal conspiracy that is more complicated--and dangerous--than they could have imagined.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Audio
• Release date: Jan 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9780593287064

Anders Roslund

Roslund and Hellström are Sweden's most acclaimed fiction duo. Award-winning journalist Anders Roslund is the founder and former head of Kulturnyheterna (Culture News) on Swedish television, and for many years worked as a news reporter - specializing in criminal and social issues - and as an Editor-in-chief at Rapport and Aktuellt, Sweden's two foremost news programmes. Börge Hellström (1957-2017) was an ex-convict who brought a unique insight into the brutal reality of criminal life. He worked with the rehabilitation of young offenders and drug addicts, and was one of the founders of the crime prevention organization KRIS (Criminals Return Into Society). Their DCI Ewert Grens novels have won the Glass Key Award, the Best Swedish Crime Novel award, the CWA International Dagger, appeared on the New York Times bestseller list, been translated into 31 different languages, and their worldwide sales are approaching 3 million copies. Visit their website at www.roslund-hellstrom.com

Reviews for Knock Knock

[booklover1801 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Knock Knock," by Anders Roslund, was translated from the Swedish by Elizabeth Clark Wessel. Detective Superintendent Ewert Grens has not been joyful for years, but he is even more downcast than usual of late. Grens, who is sixty-four, fears that he will be forced to retire when he turns sixty-five. Since he has no other way of filling his time, Ewert cannot imagine leaving his job. Meanwhile, he is investigating a series of execution-style killings that bear eerie similarities to a seventeen-year-old scene of carnage that still haunts him. In addition, Piet Hoffmann turns up, asking for Ewert's help. Not only has Piet spent time in prison, but he subsequently went undercover in order to infiltrate and bring down criminal networks.

This convoluted tale involves a traumatized little girl who has lost everyone she loves; felons eager to corner the market in illegal arms; and a shadowy individual who pressures Piet to start a gang war in Sweden. If Hoffmann refuses, his wife and three young children will pay the price. Piet and Grens join forces in an effort to identify the mastermind behind the mayhem and prevent further bloodshed.

Roslund's central characters are vivid and well-defined. Grens is edgy, sleeps poorly, and suspects that a bent cop may be undermining him. Mariana Hermansson, Ewert's outspoken, hard-working, and competent subordinate, is offended when her boss questions where her loyalties lie. As for Piet, he had settled into a comfortable routine with his family, but now reverts to the warrior he once was—a cunning predator and strategist who will do whatever is necessary to neutralize his adversaries. The novel is a bit long and rambling, and readers may groan when Roslund introduces plot elements that do not ring true. In general, however, the author juggles most of his story lines skillfully, maintains a high level of suspense, and wraps things up with an intense and unanticipated finale. The bottom line is that brutality breeds brutality, and those who lust for vengeance will never know peace.

[edgoldberg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Policemen don’t believe in coincidences. Seventeen years ago, Ewert Grens was called to the scene of a brutal murder: a father, mother, son and daughter were shot in a systematic fashion. The only survivor was the youngest daughter, 5-year-old Zana Lilaj, who was hiding in a closet. Grens carried Zana to safety, made sure she was cared for and given a new witness protection identity. Grens was sure he knew who the killer was but the suspect was never convicted. It is the case Grens never forgot and Zana was always on his mind.

Today Grens was called to the same apartment because of a break in but nothing was taken. Soon after he was called to a murder scene where a Albanian gun smuggler exhibited the signature wounds as found on the Lilaj family. Coincidence? Maybe, but highly unlikely. It seems that the Lilaj family murderer is at it again. Grens soon learns that Zana’s witness protection file has disappeared from a secure police archive. Could she be in danger after 17 years?

Simultaneously, Piet Hoffman, a former undercover police infiltrator of the Stockholm criminal underworld whose code name was Paula is contacted by an unknown person who knows his true identity. This could only happen if the documents with his code name were stolen, indicating a traitor amongst the police force. The caller has a proposition, if you want to call it that. Start a gang war in Sweden using the most effective but thought to be non-existent machine gun in order to create a demand or his true identity will be made known, endangering his life. Oh, and also, if Hoffman doesn’t comply, his family will be killed.

How do these two disparate cases connect? That is for you to find
out when you read Knock Knock.

Even though it’s the fourth book in the Grens/Sundkvist series, the book stands alone. You really don’t need the back story.