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vegantrav 's review for:
Easy Money
by Jens Lapidus
The blurb on the cover of Easy Money promises that it is a "thriller to rival the Stieg Larsson books."
Well, Easy Money is a thriller, and entertaining enough in its own right, but it definitely does not rival the Millennium Trilogy.
Easy Money tells the story three criminals: Mrado, a high-ranking member of a Serbian organized crime ring in Stockholm; Jorge, a lower-ranking cocaine dealer who, after being burned by Mrado, is plotting revenge against Mrado and the other Serbs whose actions put him in prison; and JW, a young college student who is just starting out as a cocaine dealer and who is wildly successful at it.
For most of the novel, the chapters rotate among the three main characters, telling their respective stories. While all three are definitely criminals and, excepting JW, guilty of committing some very violent crimes, they all do have redeeming qualities and are actually rather likable individuals.
The plot is driven by two main elements: (1) a major cocaine buy that will bring millions of dollars worth of the drug to Sweden and (2) Jorge's quest for revenge against the Mrado and the Serbs. A minor but still very prominent subplot involves JW's sister's disappearance and his efforts to discover what happened to her. In the end, the author wraps up these story-lines quite nicely.
Easy Money is an enjoyable read with a lot of action and violence and a focus on the extravagant lifestyles of the rich and drug-addled. It's not great literature by any stretch of the imagination, and it's not even on a par with Larsson's novels, but it's a fun book: it's a good, down-and-dirty, trashy crime novel.
Well, Easy Money is a thriller, and entertaining enough in its own right, but it definitely does not rival the Millennium Trilogy.
Easy Money tells the story three criminals: Mrado, a high-ranking member of a Serbian organized crime ring in Stockholm; Jorge, a lower-ranking cocaine dealer who, after being burned by Mrado, is plotting revenge against Mrado and the other Serbs whose actions put him in prison; and JW, a young college student who is just starting out as a cocaine dealer and who is wildly successful at it.
For most of the novel, the chapters rotate among the three main characters, telling their respective stories. While all three are definitely criminals and, excepting JW, guilty of committing some very violent crimes, they all do have redeeming qualities and are actually rather likable individuals.
The plot is driven by two main elements: (1) a major cocaine buy that will bring millions of dollars worth of the drug to Sweden and (2) Jorge's quest for revenge against the Mrado and the Serbs. A minor but still very prominent subplot involves JW's sister's disappearance and his efforts to discover what happened to her. In the end, the author wraps up these story-lines quite nicely.
Easy Money is an enjoyable read with a lot of action and violence and a focus on the extravagant lifestyles of the rich and drug-addled. It's not great literature by any stretch of the imagination, and it's not even on a par with Larsson's novels, but it's a fun book: it's a good, down-and-dirty, trashy crime novel.