Three Seconds: Question for Authors, Anders Roselund and Borge Hellstrom?

[Vermontcozy]

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pen21 wrote:

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Vermontcozy wrote:

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literature wrote:

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pen21 wrote:

Croissants, coffee, fruit and juice for our authors and for everyone.

Stop by, relax and discuss Three Seconds.

What a great discussion we are having.

pen21 and Vermontcozy

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Very clever, ladies.  You're both great.  Only "trusted" friends would be so thoughtful.

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Thank you. literature  ..We try to do our "Cyber Catering"..Maybe later a little stronger Beverage...Will talk to my Associate  later.. VermontCozy and pen21 DBA "We Deliver"..There has been a lot of "Buzz" about "Three Seconds" around the web..All Kudo's to our Authors..

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Thank you literature.  Here are some treats suggested from VermontCozy.

Because of the time change I figured the authors would be ready for the grogg (recipe below for us who didn't know what the recipe was). Also the herring in cream sauce.

Everyone enjoy. VermontCozy and pen21

Glögg is hot, spiced wine, perfect for cold winter evenings. Just follow this easy Glogg recipe to make your own great-tasting spiced wine. Variations are optional and add great personalized taste to your own "Glögg"!

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes 

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle of red wine
• 0.5 Liter inexpensive brandy or vodka
• 10 cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick (broken down)
• 1/2 orange peel (dried or fresh)
• 1/2 lbs sugar (regular or lumps)
• Optional additions: 5 cloves, 1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 cup almonds, 5 dried figs

Preparation:

Heat the wine and brandy spices, fruit, and nuts in a pot (and any optional additions you might like.)

Be careful not to boil the mixture; just let it simmer for about 45 minutes.

Then, strain through a cloth to remove all additions.

Serve your Glogg hot over lumped sugar (or with regular granulated sugar).

Optional: You can also serve the Glogg with raisons or almonds. If you'd like the drink to be stronger, use more brandy.

This Glogg recipe makes approx 1.5 Liter (close to 1/2 gallon).

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pen ,You are Truly The Best!!!!  Everything Looks Perfect..Very Swedish...Glogg is so tasty..and Festive,that if you have it around the Holidays..Its sure to be a hit,,Now I love Herring..Its an acquired Taste..I was raised on having Herring every Sunday Morning with Lox and Bagels..I was surprised that my Swedish friends had the same taste for it as I did..."We can now do "Cyber Catering"  Around the Globe." lol..And when Anders and Borge have a look.They are  going to smile..Thank you pen..Will see you here at say 4PM for a 'Glass of Glogg"..Its Really a great Recipe that you found...So easy to make...Susan VTC...

[Anders-Roslund]

Thanks for your question.

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MomOf2Turds wrote:

Greetings Anders and Borge.

I wanted to start off by saying thank you so much for giving us this opportunity to not only read your book, but to discuss it with you.  It is such an honor.

I love the way you describe so many things in the book.  You guys have done a wonderful job in writing this novel.  

My question is this:

While writing this book, did you visit the places that you write about, or are they just places that are more well known to people in general and localized to you?

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We always do very thorough research on places, dates, people and even of certain events in our books. As for Three Seconds, we talked to a military sniper who has gave us some great insight. We often get advice from police officers, criminals,  and ex-cons. As for Aspsås prison, it is a fictional prison. However, we have taken many of the interiors of Aspsås prison from real prisons in Sweden that we have been to.Of course, we also visited the places in Poland, which we describe in the book. We try to do as much research as possible. 

-Anders and Börge 

[Anders-Roslund]

Hi, thanks for your interesting question Jane. Three Seconds is a long, exciting and thrilling story, written from many different perspectives and point of views. After reading, I promise you, you will, without thinking about it, have got a feeling for our visual way of telling it. We have had test readers for the Swedish, Italian and German editions, and this way of telling the story really worked out very well for everyone. The different styles; smaller letters, italic, smaller letters in italic, different ways of typing, all that follows a pattern which the reader soon gets

the hang of. Every time a certain style appears, for example in a police interview, or in a certain type of computer information, we use, to simplify, the same way of typing, the same size on letters. Your two examples, p. 6 italic for non-translated Polish and p.7, italics for Wilson's mental thought process, you were correct … again, thanks for writing such an interesting question, we have really worked hard with these visual parts hoping for the reader to experience the story also this way.

 - Anders and Börge 

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JaneM wrote:

Thanks to you gentlemen for sharing your book with us.  We love the First Look club and enjoy our dialogues with the authors.  My question has to do with the use of italics. 

What is confusing to me is the shift from italic to regular type, and what that indicates.  On p. 6 italic is used for non-translated Polish.  Then on p.7, italics are used again, and I interpreted it as part of Wilson's mental thought process.  Then on p. 9 italics are used to represent Piet's half of a phone conversation which saves the authors from having to use a lot of "Paula said" or "Erik said."  But on p.14 another conversation occurs between Grens and Susann with no change in type.  And on p.17, italics are used both as a reference to an internal thought ("Don't you trust me, you bastard") as well as to indicate emphasis ("I repeat, which section?") 

Did you work with your editors on the italics and do they have any significance other than what I presumed?  I look forward to finishing the book!

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[Anders-Roslund]

Thanks for your question Max. There are various mafias around the world, yes. With mafias we mean that there are organized criminal activities with a clear leadership hierarchy. The Polish mafia in Three Seconds is one of those groups. With regard to trafficking, all criminal activities around the world are dominated by: 1) Arms trade 2) Drug trafficking 3) Prostitution and human trafficking. Therefore, it´s quite obvious to us that if we write about the Polish mafia, we have to write about drug trafficking.

Swedish police say they have stopped using undercover agents now. But we believe that isn’t necessarily true, as an infiltrator is worth so much for the Swedish police.  However, it´s uncommon to have undercover agents of Piet Hoffman's caliber.

-Anders and Börge 

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maxcat wrote:

Hi, Anders and Borge, welcome to B&N First Look group. I do have a hard time with this book as I don't read anything that involves drug trafficking. It's interesting to find that there are different mafias around the world and it sort of surprised me as well. Are infiltrators often used to get to these bad guys in Sweden, etc.?

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[Anders-Roslund]

Hi, and thanks for your kind words; it’s energy for next week's writing. About our writing process … we are very open about most things. But there are two things we will never reveal: what our next book is about, and who does what in our work process. We both write the books. We believe that if we talked about who did what, our collaboration would suffer as so many other good writing partnerships have over the years. But what we can say is that the process is divided into three stages of about eight months each. The first is research, followed by story development, and then the final stage is the writing itself. A cycle of about two years.

-Anders and Börge 

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CAG wrote:

Welcome to both of you. I am really enjoying your book and know it will be a great success. I know just a little bit about your background and I am curious about your writing process. How do you come up with the ideas for your novels and do you each write different chapters/parts and then combine your writing? How long did it take for you to write "Three Seconds". Thank you for joining us.

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[Deltadawn]

Dear Anders and Borge,

Many, many thanks for sharing your book with us at B&N First Look and also for joining us here. As you can tell by our posts, we have been reading it voraciously and greedily. I, for one, am completely hooked!

My question also was related to your writing process - and how you divide it up (or collaborate). I completely understand why you do not share those specifics of it with others - whatever that process is - it is obviously the perfect formula!

Thank you again!

Dawn

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Anders-Roslund wrote:

Hi, and thanks for your kind words; it’s energy for next week's writing. About our writing process … we are very open about most things. But there are two things we will never reveal: what our next book is about, and who does what in our work process. We both write the books. We believe that if we talked about who did what, our collaboration would suffer as so many other good writing partnerships have over the years. But what we can say is that the process is divided into three stages of about eight months each. The first is research, followed by story development, and then the final stage is the writing itself. A cycle of about two years.

-Anders and Börge 

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CAG wrote:

Welcome to both of you. I am really enjoying your book and know it will be a great success. I know just a little bit about your background and I am curious about your writing process. How do you come up with the ideas for your novels and do you each write different chapters/parts and then combine your writing? How long did it take for you to write "Three Seconds". Thank you for joining us.

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[Peppermill]

Would appreciate knowing:

How did Grens wife end up in the nursing home?  In what book is that story told?  One that is available in English?

Pepper

[mommybooknerd]

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Peppermill wrote:

Would appreciate knowing:

How did Grens wife end up in the nursing home?  In what book is that story told?  One that is available in English?

Pepper

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That is explained in Three Seconds

[Bonnie824]

I hope I am not repeating as I'm hit and run posting today, but:

Do you see the police as mostly good or bad (anywhere or particularly in Sweden?) Have you personally had more experiences with fair honest cops or with thuggish bully ones?

[elaine_hf]

Anders and Borge,

Welcome to our board, and thank you for sharing your book! I know I speak for many, as you've already seen, when I say that I am thoroughly enjoying this read! It's more than just a story, it definitely gets 'under the skin' - there are some days I'm almost afraid to turn the page! 

I especially like the way that nobody in the book seems to be all evil or all good; it adds to the realism, for me. I know you mentioned that Borge has started a non-profit - I would love to know a little more about it. And it makes me wonder - if, in writing a book of this nature, does it make you more sensitive to the injustice in society? Or is writing, itself, cathartic? Is that what drives you to write this type of book? Now that we know just a teeny bit more about both of you, it seems that this story, and perhaps your others, are about more than just making a living.

Thank you again for a terrific book!

Elaine

[elaine_hf]

Just an interesting 'aside' here - I see this has been brought up by others, but I am also curious as to why this book isn't getting more publicity in the US. I picked up my new copy of the Kirkus Review, and it opens to a review of a book called, "The Terror of Living". Guess what - the first line of the description of the story begins, "After a drug drop goes awry,...." It's not like the subject matter is alien to American readers, so why don't we see more of you??

Thanks again,

Elaine

[Peppermill]

Mommybooknerd -- what pages do you consider those explanations to be on?  (I have read the entire book at this point.)

While I know there are a lot of tidbits, if the bigger story is there, I missed it.

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mommybooknerd wrote:

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Peppermill wrote:

Would appreciate knowing:

How did Grens wife end up in the nursing home?  In what book is that story told?  One that is available in English?

Pepper

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That is explained in Three Seconds

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[BookWoman718]

When I learned we would be reading this book, I checked one of the authors' earlier ones out of the library (Box 21 - although I think that's the US market title).  At any rate, the story of Grens' wife is also explained in that book, but it is in the past, already many years ago.  She is still alive, however, in that book.  MAY BE SPOILER ALERT:  she was a policewoman.  They were in a pursuit, she was unexpectedly pulled from the car as it was moving, and before he could stop, the rear wheels crushed her head.  Grens always blamed himself for not being able to hold her in the car. 

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Peppermill wrote:

Mommybooknerd -- what pages do you consider those explanations to be on?  (I have read the entire book at this point.)

While I know there are a lot of tidbits, if the bigger story is there, I missed it.

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mommybooknerd wrote:

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Peppermill wrote:

Would appreciate knowing:

How did Grens wife end up in the nursing home?  In what book is that story told?  One that is available in English?

Pepper

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That is explained in Three Seconds

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[Peppermill]

Thanks, BookWoman.  I had gathered that her head had been struck by a vehicle and Grens felt responsible.  Did the other story make clear whether or not he was driving, i.e., did he blame himself for his driving or for failure to hold her in the vehicle or both?  The word "crush" was also confusing to me, because obviously she survived for many years.  Also, I have wondered how young she was, since Grens expresses regret at their not having children. Your description suggests she was probably quite young, and that fits with the picture that is later seen in Grens's home.

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BookWoman718 wrote:

When I learned we would be reading this book, I checked one of the authors' earlier ones out of the library (Box 21 - although I think that's the US market title).  At any rate, the story of Grens' wife is also explained in that book, but it is in the past, already many years ago.  She is still alive, however, in that book.  MAY BE SPOILER ALERT:  she was a policewoman.  They were in a pursuit, she was unexpectedly pulled from the car as it was moving, and before he could stop, the rear wheels crushed her head.  Grens always blamed himself for not being able to hold her in the car. 

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Peppermill wrote:

Mommybooknerd -- what pages do you consider those explanations to be on?  (I have read the entire book at this point.)

While I know there are a lot of tidbits, if the bigger story is there, I missed it.

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mommybooknerd wrote:

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Peppermill wrote:

Would appreciate knowing:

How did Grens wife end up in the nursing home?  In what book is that story told?  One that is available in English?

Pepper

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That is explained in Three Seconds

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[rosia408]

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Anders-Roslund wrote:

Hi, thanks for reading Three Seconds … and thanks for your question. We think society often perceives crime victims and perpetrators in a stereotypical light. Society has created a picture of two different types of people, but in reality neither is black or white, there is an enormous grey area. One day you’re a perpetrator, the next a victim.

Börge is an ex-con, who was charged with assault, theft, fraud, and burglary. But, he was also the victim of numerous crimes, including being sexually abused as a child.  

So – he was both the perpetrator and the victim.

Was he good or evil?

As the perpetrator, he was in the wrong.

As the victim, however, he was the person who had been affected by a crime, and is someone we can sympathize with.

We have tried to explore this theme in our books. Who is evil, who is good? Who is right and who is wrong? Who is the perpetrator and who is the victim, or are they both?

Thank you,

Anders and Börge

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Dear Anders and Borge,

Thank you so much for allowing us to preview your book here in the First Look Book Club at Barnes and Noble. After reading your quote above about prortraying the theme of who is good, who is evil, and do they switch or are they both, shades of grey, I must say that you have done an excellent job!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The only thing, as an American who has not been exposed to to the names of places in Sweden, I found the names of people/places a bit difficult to follow at first.

I do have a question about the significance about Piet's son's firetruck and his running it over with his vehicle? I have my own thoughts about it, and don't even know if I put too much importance on it. Just curious.

Thanks,

Rose

[rosia408]

I have a question for the authors Anders and Borge. To my understanding, this is the first of your novels that you have had translated into English. Do you have any plans of having any others translated?

Rose

[bmxmom]

Hello authors and thank you for this very interesting novel! Wow is all I can say. I was wondering where the inspiration for this novel came from. Some of the details have become a bit graphic for my taste but I can also understand why it was necessary. Thank you for sharing this with the book club.

[MBSpencer]

I'm ready for the sequel and some much needed payback.

[BookWoman718]

Ok, it's past midnight on the East Coast, and I'm going to gamble that it's Ok to start  questions about the next sections of the book, although there haven't been leading questions posted by Rachel yet.   Here's mine:

Hi again Anders and Borge,

I’ve been waiting all week to ask this question.   Central to the whole plot is that Grens must be stopped from continuing his investigation about the drug meet murder, and when he sniffs out the connection to Piet, who is already in prison, he decides to doggedly pursue him, requesting interview time from the warden.  That’s when the stuff really starts to hit the fan, and the hasty decision is made by Goransson and the bureaucrats to burn Piet.

I could understand Erik being concerned about Grens in the first part of the book.  The two of them are of equal rank;  Erik doesn’t have the authority to order Grens to back off.  But Goransson is Grens’ superior.   I don’t understand why he couldn’t tell Grens that there was another investigation underway that superseded the drug meet murder, and that he – Grens – needed to back off until that operation was concluded.

In this country we are accustomed to a certain amount of jostling among the various law enforcement branches as to who has authority over an investigation.  In a big case, maybe the FBI will move in and take it over, whether the locals like that or not.   Or a case that has several elements will be given to one specialty or another, Major Crimes taking over from Vice or Drugs.  All police understand they must be discreet and not blow the cover of someone who is “dark.”   So perhaps my confusion is due to some basic differences between Swedish law enforcement and that of the US.   But I kept thinking, “Why are you (Goransson) getting panicked about GRENS?   You’re his BOSS, for heaven’s sake!  Call him off!  You know how important this operation is; why on earth would you all go to the extreme of setting up an informant to be murdered?   Just put an end to Grens investigation, temporarily.  You can turn him loose again when the prison sting is finished.  And then, if necessary, put Piet in witness protection.  You don’t have to kill him!  And how very much worse for all of you to be involved in burning him.   It makes you all vulnerable to one another’s possible lack of discretion."

Please understand that I was really enjoying the suspense of the book and all the detail, so essentially I just put my objections aside and went along for the ride.  It was great!   But I’m really puzzled about that aspect, which was pretty key to the plot, so I’m really pleased to have a chance to ask you about it.

Thanks very much for joining us here.   The book is really a winner. 

[Peppermill]

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BookWoman718 wrote:

Ok, it's past midnight on the East Coast, and I'm going to gamble that it's Ok to start  questions about the next sections of the book, although there haven't been leading questions posted by Rachel yet.   Here's mine:

Hi again Anders and Borge,

I’ve been waiting all week to ask this question.   Central to the whole plot is that Grens must be stopped from continuing his investigation about the drug meet murder, and when he sniffs out the connection to Piet, who is already in prison, he decides to doggedly pursue him, requesting interview time from the warden.  That’s when the stuff really starts to hit the fan, and the hasty decision is made by Goransson and the bureaucrats to burn Piet.

I could understand Erik being concerned about Grens in the first part of the book.  The two of them are of equal rank;  Erik doesn’t have the authority to order Grens to back off.  But Goransson is Grens’ superior.   I don’t understand why he couldn’t tell Grens that there was another investigation underway that superseded the drug meet murder, and that he – Grens – needed to back off until that operation was concluded.

In this country we are accustomed to a certain amount of jostling among the various law enforcement branches as to who has authority over an investigation.  In a big case, maybe the FBI will move in and take it over, whether the locals like that or not.   Or a case that has several elements will be given to one specialty or another, Major Crimes taking over from Vice or Drugs.  All police understand they must be discreet and not blow the cover of someone who is “dark.”   So perhaps my confusion is due to some basic differences between Swedish law enforcement and that of the US.   But I kept thinking, “Why are you (Goransson) getting panicked about GRENS?   You’re his BOSS, for heaven’s sake!  Call him off!  You know how important this operation is; why on earth would you all go to the extreme of setting up an informant to be murdered?   Just put an end to Grens investigation, temporarily.  You can turn him loose again when the prison sting is finished.  And then, if necessary, put Piet in witness protection.  You don’t have to kill him!  And how very much worse for all of you to be involved in burning him.   It makes you all vulnerable to one another’s possible lack of discretion."

Please understand that I was really enjoying the suspense of the book and all the detail, so essentially I just put my objections aside and went along for the ride.  It was great!   But I’m really puzzled about that aspect, which was pretty key to the plot, so I’m really pleased to have a chance to ask you about it.

Thanks very much for joining us here.   The book is really a winner. 

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THANKS BookWoman!  You explained the motivation et al that I missed.  And your questions now are dead on for me too.

Pepper