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Raid #7
Raid ja poika
Hard-nosed hit man Raid is lying low at his farmhouse in northern Finland when the son of a local shopkeeper stumbles onto his property with bloodthirsty Bolivian drug traffickers on his heels. Raid comes to the boy's aid, and arouses the ire of the Bolivian cartel. Further south, Detective Lieutenant Jansson and his colleagues find the bodies of a Bolivian warehouse worker and a Finnish flight attendant in a Helsinki home, along with a closet brimming with stolen goods. In this twisting tale of cops, criminals, and those who blur the lines, Jansson and his team struggle to connect the dots behind the case. Were the killings the work of a jealous lover, the result of a theft racket gone awry, or something else entirely? And how might a shady PI and a decades-old prostitution case be linked to the murders?Harri Nykanen is a Finnish author who has written nearly 30 books, the best known of which are his Raid novels. Nykanen's work has been translated into several languages, but only recently has it become available in English, first with Raid and the Blackest Sheep, and now with Raid and the Kid. A TV series based on the Raid character has appeared in Finland and select U.S. markets, and a Raid movie screened in theaters across Finland.
First published January 1, 2003
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About the author
Harri Nykänen
64 books33 followers Harri Nykänen was a long-time crime journalist for the largest Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, and then a full time author. He won the Finnish crime fiction award "The Clue" both in 1990 and in 2001.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 25, 2015
Nykanen is a Finnish writer of noir. I stumbled on his name in a review of other Finnish authors and thought I would give him a try. Despite its 280 pages, it felt like a novella.
Raid is an assassin who stumbles on a kid being chased by some South American drug runners. The kid had found several kilos of cocaine being smuggling in shipments of bananas. Son of the grocer where the bananas had been mistakenly shipped, the kid (who is much older than I would consider as a kid) decided to sell what he could, naively unworried about those who actually thought they owned the coke. Raid gets the kid out of his immediate predicament, but he knows they’ll be back so he decides to have the police get involved to take the heat of the kid and his family. Enter police Lt. Jansson who unwittingly has been investigating two murders seemingly unrelated to the coke.
The irony of this book is that it’s about 75% police procedural and really very little of the title character. Not a problem, just an observation. I would hope the author might have plans to develop a series around the police characters who, in the main, are far more interesting than Raid. Fast, uncomplicated read. Sometimes complications can be a good thing.
Raid is an assassin who stumbles on a kid being chased by some South American drug runners. The kid had found several kilos of cocaine being smuggling in shipments of bananas. Son of the grocer where the bananas had been mistakenly shipped, the kid (who is much older than I would consider as a kid) decided to sell what he could, naively unworried about those who actually thought they owned the coke. Raid gets the kid out of his immediate predicament, but he knows they’ll be back so he decides to have the police get involved to take the heat of the kid and his family. Enter police Lt. Jansson who unwittingly has been investigating two murders seemingly unrelated to the coke.
The irony of this book is that it’s about 75% police procedural and really very little of the title character. Not a problem, just an observation. I would hope the author might have plans to develop a series around the police characters who, in the main, are far more interesting than Raid. Fast, uncomplicated read. Sometimes complications can be a good thing.
March 30, 2025
There isn't much of the kid and Raid in the book, but there is a lot of the killing of José Hernando and Nina Leljeblad. The killings are worked by Detective Lieutenant Jansson and Detective Huusko. Matti Porola is the kid and he found cocaine in with the bananas. He and his friend tried to sell the cocaine and his friend ended up killed by the South Americans. He was saved by Raid and ended up getting rid of the cocaine. Raid killed the South Americans and then it goes back to José Hernando and Nina Liljeblad. It's and neat and interesting book with some explanations given.
March 20, 2017
Another Ice-cold crime
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This review is from: Raid and the Kid (Kindle Edition)
A hit man with some conscience. This may seem unlikely but nearly every criminal I have known, had something he would not do. Something about which he could feel morally superior to some other type of criminal. Also some criminals feel that their specialty makes them part of an elite group looking down on lesser criminals. So it is not a stretch to have a professional hit man who will not assist in selling a small fortune in drugs. Nor will he lead a boy into a criminal career. This story is told from the point of view of Raid the hit man, the boy & the police. The book almost lost me when Raid shot to wound two dangerous criminals instead of killing them. However the author provides a sensible explanation for Raid's actions. So far as Raid being able to shoot that well under stress, maybe. I wouldn't take a chance on it, but Raid has considerably more experience than me, my friends & former co-workers. This is an interesting story of death, smuggling, drug trafficking, theft, people, & a small dog. Well written with good character development. The physical presence of Finland & her people are also a part of the story.
Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Raid and the Kid (Kindle Edition)
A hit man with some conscience. This may seem unlikely but nearly every criminal I have known, had something he would not do. Something about which he could feel morally superior to some other type of criminal. Also some criminals feel that their specialty makes them part of an elite group looking down on lesser criminals. So it is not a stretch to have a professional hit man who will not assist in selling a small fortune in drugs. Nor will he lead a boy into a criminal career. This story is told from the point of view of Raid the hit man, the boy & the police. The book almost lost me when Raid shot to wound two dangerous criminals instead of killing them. However the author provides a sensible explanation for Raid's actions. So far as Raid being able to shoot that well under stress, maybe. I wouldn't take a chance on it, but Raid has considerably more experience than me, my friends & former co-workers. This is an interesting story of death, smuggling, drug trafficking, theft, people, & a small dog. Well written with good character development. The physical presence of Finland & her people are also a part of the story.
February 13, 2021
Still not a series I'm interested in reading fully; but, since there are only two translated into English and I had read the other, I thought why not.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews