It's summer in Stockholm, and the city is sweltering in the grip of a rare heatwave while fascists and communists beat each other bloody in the streets. Harry Kvist has had enough. It's time for him to leave. But first he has some business to take care of. His old friend and ex-lover, Reverend Gabrielsson, has been murdered, and the police are more interested in anti-Semitic rumours than finding the truth. Kvist investigates the only way he knows how, with his fists, uncovering a Nazi terrorist plot and a cabal of corrupt cops. Before long he finds himself caught in the middle of a turf war between two of the city's most brutal gangs. Can he fight his way out of one last corner and find a way to freedom, or has Kvist finally taken a punch too many?

About the Author
Born in 1974, Martin Holmen studied history, and now teaches at a Stockholm secondary school. Slugger is the third thriller in The Stockholm Trilogy, following on from Clinch and Down for the Count.

Reviews
Longlisted for the 2019 CWA International Dagger Award

"Excellent series... gripping finale." - Crime Review

"Holmen's sharp dialogue and unerring eye for the grim details of everyday life are still there, as in 'Clinch' and 'Down for the Count', lending huge power to the story and adding a dimension that lifts this novel head and shoulders above the noir canon." - Thriller Books Journal

"Holmen is an author on the cutting edge of an art form, pushing deeper into the myre opened up by Jean-Claude Izzo, Derek Raymond and Massimo Carlotto. There is something genuinely cathartic about this reading experience." - New Books Magazine (5 out of 4 stars)

"Tragic and moving, with a spectacular denouement, it's a fitting ending to a superb trilogy." - Guardian


Praise for The Stockholm Trilogy:
'Sin City meets Raymond Chandler in this atmospheric and compulsive series' - Attitude
'A brilliant new talent' - Sunday Times Crime Club
'A dark, atmospheric, powerful thriller, the best debut novel I've read in years' - Lynda La Plante
'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
'Gritty stylish Scandinavian noir from one of Sweden's hottest emerging authors' - Booklover
'Atmospheric Scandi retro, but Chandleresque to its core' - The Sunday Times Crime Club



Book Information
ISBN 9781782272199
Author Martin Holmen
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint Pushkin Vertigo
Publisher Pushkin Press