Recently, CrimeHQ’s own Laura K. Curtis hosted a discussion with Swedish crime writer Jens Lapidus. He was in New York to promote the U.S. release of his novel Easy Money, the first in his “Stockholm Noir” trilogy, which also includes Never F*ck Up and Life Deluxe.
Lapidus is a criminal defense attorney in Stockholm whose clients include some serious heavies not unlike the drug lords and Mafiosi in his books. If you like your crime fiction blunt like your murder weapons, Lapidus will appeal to you. It’s safe to say he knows whereof he writes.
Originally published in 2006, Easy Money (Snabba Cash in Swedish) was a best seller in Sweden. Not surprisingly, that success led to a movie adaptation of the book.
But this might be a surprise:
Take a good look at that photo of the actor starring as Johan “JW” Westlund in Snabba Cash.
Yes, fans of The Killing . . . it’s Holder!
Joel Kinnaman, aka Detective Stephen Holder of the Seattle P.D., was born and raised in Sweden and he’s appeared in a number of TV shows and films there, including police series Johan Falk. Snabba Cash seems to have been his calling card for Hollywood.
Want to see more? Easy Money/Snabba Cash is set to be released in the United States in July, and as we speak (according to IMDB) Kinnaman is finishing up production on Easy Money II in Sweden. Meanwhile, there have been rumors of a possible U.S. remake of Easy Money starring Zac Efron floating around since the Swedish film came out in 2010. And Joel Kinnaman’s next film project is a retooling of RoboCop. (Bet he’d have no trouble finding out who killed Rosie Larsen!)
Leslie Gilbert Elman is the author of Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous, and Totally Off the Wall Facts. Follow her on Twitter @leslieelman.
Read all posts by Leslie Gilbert Elman for Criminal Element.
Kinnaman is great. I can’t wait to see him in Lola Versus and Easy Money.