The Sons: Made in Sweden, Part II

“Not only is The Sons an excellent thriller, it is also an examination of family relationships, of the toxic damage done by child abuse and domestic violence.”

The Sons, a sequel to Anton Svensson’s Publisher’s Weekly Best Mystery/Thriller of the Year, The Father, is a continuation of the story of the dysfunctional Duvnjac family, in which twisted relationships result in inevitable crime and violence.

Leo Duvnjac is the last son released after a long prison sentence for bank robbery. His father, Ivan, and younger brothers Felix and Vincent, accomplices in the robberies, reluctantly in the case of his brothers, served much shorter sentences. They were not the planner, after all.

Although Leo, his brothers and father have committed nearly a dozen robberies, they are convicted of only two. The biggest heist of which Leo is not charged, because his guilt cannot be proven, is the largest weapons theft in the history of Northern Europe. The weapons have never been found.

While an unrepentant Leo serves his time, his father, a male Mommy Dearest figure, but even worse, reforms himself, at least outwardly: he stops drinking. Alcohol fuels his rage, or rather, increases it and voids any impulse control he has, which is little.

The beginning of the novel describes the seminal event in Leo’s life when Ivan nearly beats his wife to death, save for Leo’s intervention. Before calling the police Leo “rubs away the last patches of blood . . . What happened here has to stay here. That’s how it works in a family.”

In two short sentences Mr. Svensson defines what kind of family the Duvnjacs are: whatever brutality occurs, one must hide it, cover it up, never speak of it to outsiders. To Ivan, blood is thicker than water, even if his demands for family solidarity both creates and illustrates an abusive pathology that condemns his sons their own self-destruction.

Felix and Vincent, who never wanted to commit any crimes, but participated in the bank robberies out of a sense of family loyalty instilled by their father, both vow to never commit an unlawful act again, no matter how much pressure Leo may exert.

Leo is the Duvnjac who has no intention of reforming himself; in fact, he spends the latter part of his sentence planning a historic heist unlike any ever done in Sweden or elsewhere. With two accomplices met in prison, Leo plans to steal over a 100 million Kronor from inside a police station where it is stored prior to being destroyed. But Leo has only a few days to commit the robbery and disappear.

The first step of Leo’s ambitious plan involves an armed car robbery in order to obtain the operating capital that he needs. Like a legitimate business, a criminal heist requires capital for expenses. The robbery goes wrong, and one of his accomplices is killed, an inconvenient event, but not one that will stop his plan.

What is a serious matter is the fact the accomplice left behind one of the weapons Leo had stolen and cached from his theft six years before. That will bring police attention that Leo would rather avoid, not only because being interrogated will waste valuable time he doesn’t have, but because it will worry his mother, which he doesn’t want to do.

Leo loves his mother as much as he is capable of loving anyone, but it is not enough to make him leave the road of criminality that he has been traveling since he was he was 14 years old.

He does not feel the same about his father. When he agrees to meet for dinner with Ivan, Leo’s intention is not to enjoy a good meal. Vincent tries to warn Ivan against trusting Leo. “Haven’t you thought that he went there, to the restaurant, because he was using you?”

Leo is using the meeting with his father to set up his alibi for the armored car robbery, and he will use Ivan and both his brothers if it’s necessary for his plan to succeed.

Leo’s plan is multifaceted. Not only does he intend to pull off his heist, but also plans to exact revenge on the cop who arrested him and built the case that sent him to prison: John Broncks. If Broncks wants to find the weapons Leo stole, then Leo will arrange for that to happen.

There is another facet to Leo’s plan that he considered serendipity: the other accomplice involved in the armored car robbery, the man who will be his partner in the big heist he is planning, is John Broncks’s brother, Sam Larsen. Sam has been released from prison a few weeks before Leo after serving a sentence for murdering his and John’s father.

The man was an abusive monster, similar to Ivan Duvnjac, who chose to beat his younger son, John, on every occasion—until Broncks called his older brother for help. After the murder, 12-year-old, traumatized John Broncks calls the police.

Sam’s possible involvement in Leo’s plans is uncovered by Elisa Cuesta, a young detective best described as bulldog once he takes on a case. Broncks is sickened by the thought of his brother partnering with Leo. “We have only seen each other four times in twelve years, most recently when I told you in the visitors’ room that our mother was dead—and you didn’t even want to touch me.”

Not only is The Sons an excellent thriller, it is also an examination of family relationships, of the toxic damage done by child abuse and domestic violence. Guilt and family loyalty are also emotions that drive the characters’ actions, and in the case of John Broncks, are the reasons he tries to protect his brother.

Well-written, psychologically sound in its presentation of damaged children growing into damaged men, The Sons is gritty, frequently graphic, but is a compelling study of the roots of crime. Highly recommended.