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Inspector Kari Vaara #1
Snow Angels
The first thriller in a new series featuring Inspector Kari the haunted, hardened detective who must delve into Finland's dark and violent underbelly.
Just before Christmas, the bleakest time of the year in Lapland. The unrelenting darkness and extreme cold above the Arctic Circle drive everyone just a little insane . . . perhaps enough to kill.
A beautiful Somali immigrant is found dead in a snowfield, her body gruesomely mutilated, a racial slur carved into her chest. Heading the murder investigation is Inspector Kari Vaara, the lead detective of the small-town police force. The vicious killing may have been a hate crime, a sex crime-or one and the same. Vaara knows he must keep this potentially explosive case out of the national headlines or else it will send shock waves across Finland, an insular nation afraid to face its own xenophobia.
The demands of the investigation begin to take their toll on Vaara and his marriage. His young American wife, Kate, newly pregnant with their first child, is struggling to adapt to both the unforgiving Arctic climate and the Finnish culture of silence and isolation. Meanwhile Vaara himself, haunted by his rough childhood and failed first marriage, discovers that the past keeps biting at his He suspects that the rich man for whom his ex-wife left him years ago may be the killer.
Endless night can drive anyone to murder.
Just before Christmas, the bleakest time of the year in Lapland. The unrelenting darkness and extreme cold above the Arctic Circle drive everyone just a little insane . . . perhaps enough to kill.
A beautiful Somali immigrant is found dead in a snowfield, her body gruesomely mutilated, a racial slur carved into her chest. Heading the murder investigation is Inspector Kari Vaara, the lead detective of the small-town police force. The vicious killing may have been a hate crime, a sex crime-or one and the same. Vaara knows he must keep this potentially explosive case out of the national headlines or else it will send shock waves across Finland, an insular nation afraid to face its own xenophobia.
The demands of the investigation begin to take their toll on Vaara and his marriage. His young American wife, Kate, newly pregnant with their first child, is struggling to adapt to both the unforgiving Arctic climate and the Finnish culture of silence and isolation. Meanwhile Vaara himself, haunted by his rough childhood and failed first marriage, discovers that the past keeps biting at his He suspects that the rich man for whom his ex-wife left him years ago may be the killer.
Endless night can drive anyone to murder.
306 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2010
99 people are currently reading
6646 people want to read
About the author
James Thompson
10 books314 followersJames Thompson was an American-Finnish crime writer based in Helsinki. He had a master's degree in English philology from The University of Helsinki, where he also studied Finnish, in which he was fluent. He studied six languages. He published four crime novels with the Finnish inspector Kari Vaara as the protagonist.
Helsinki Noir was published by Akashic Books November 2014. It is an anthology edited by Thompson and it includes one story he wrote.
Thompson died unexpectedly in his home town of Lahti, Finland in August 2014.
Helsinki Noir was published by Akashic Books November 2014. It is an anthology edited by Thompson and it includes one story he wrote.
Thompson died unexpectedly in his home town of Lahti, Finland in August 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 701 reviews
September 19, 2021
Brilliant debut crime novel
Snow angel. It sounds so innocent and even playful but this snow angel is the result of a brutal, horrific sexual assault and murder. The victim is a well known black actress. One of the few blacks living in Finland at the time. Inspector Vaara hopes against hope that the perpetrator is a tourist. That this is not a racial crime committed by a Finn. However it is December in the Arctic Circle. A time of more than one kind of darkness for Finns.
James Thompson was an American-Finnish author born in the U.S. of Finnish ancestry. He studied Finnish and five other languages at the University of Helsinki from which university he received a master's degree in English philology. Before his unexpected death in 2014 at the age of 49, he published four crime novels featuring the Finnish inspector Kari Vaara. He is known as one of the most famous Scandinavian and Finnish crime writers. Married to a Finnish woman, Thompson lived in Finland for 15 years before his death. He was a soldier, construction worker, bouncer and bartender prior to becoming recognized internationally as one of Finland's finest crime writers. His awards include the Anthony Award, Strand Critics Award, and an Edgar Award.
Definitely Scandinavian noir but not so dark as to discourage most readers. Inspector Vaara is a bit of a relief. Sure he has problems but he is not an alcohol or drug soaked depressed mess as are so many detectives in Scandinavian noir. In fact he is happily married. Outstanding work in my opinion.
Snow angel. It sounds so innocent and even playful but this snow angel is the result of a brutal, horrific sexual assault and murder. The victim is a well known black actress. One of the few blacks living in Finland at the time. Inspector Vaara hopes against hope that the perpetrator is a tourist. That this is not a racial crime committed by a Finn. However it is December in the Arctic Circle. A time of more than one kind of darkness for Finns.
James Thompson was an American-Finnish author born in the U.S. of Finnish ancestry. He studied Finnish and five other languages at the University of Helsinki from which university he received a master's degree in English philology. Before his unexpected death in 2014 at the age of 49, he published four crime novels featuring the Finnish inspector Kari Vaara. He is known as one of the most famous Scandinavian and Finnish crime writers. Married to a Finnish woman, Thompson lived in Finland for 15 years before his death. He was a soldier, construction worker, bouncer and bartender prior to becoming recognized internationally as one of Finland's finest crime writers. His awards include the Anthony Award, Strand Critics Award, and an Edgar Award.
Definitely Scandinavian noir but not so dark as to discourage most readers. Inspector Vaara is a bit of a relief. Sure he has problems but he is not an alcohol or drug soaked depressed mess as are so many detectives in Scandinavian noir. In fact he is happily married. Outstanding work in my opinion.
May 22, 2016
Gruesome and grisly hard-boiled Nordic noir police procedural set in Finland’s far north.
Author James Thompson (an American who lived in Finland for many years) adeptly describes a murder investigation in Finnish Lapland, in the country’s far north, which is actually in the Arctic Circle. The period is Kaamos, the dark period just before Christmas when the sun does not rise at all for a couple of weeks. This is traditionally a time of depression and alcoholic extreme as the stoic Finnish people deal with a tough time for anyone.
My brother in law lived in Alaska for six years and he described weird behavior when the skies remained dark for weeks at a time. The author states that Finland experiences an exorbitantly high trend of domestic violence anyway and hints that this time is worst of all. Thompson does a good job of describing a dark season of cabin fever that has become a pervasive part of the local culture.
Because of the wintry setting and the murder mystery, I could not help but think of the Coen brothers brilliant 1996 film Fargo starring Frances McDormand and William H. Macy. The author’s distinction between the “sophisticated” people in Helsinki and the relative backwoods of the rural ski resort Arctic village and their small town police inspector Kari Vaara also lends itself to this comparison.
Another similarity between Fargo and Snow Angels is the dark comedy elements amidst the gritty subject matter and the humanistic reality of the characters juxtaposed against the sobriety of the investigation.
All jokes aside, this is a mature and adult fiction. Thompson sheds light on a bad moon rising over a rural setting where everyone knows each other’s past. Thompson’s prose is economical and approachable while exhibiting a literary flair. His characterization and dialogue are spot on. Thompson's inclusion of and exploration of racism, sexuality, alcoholism and domestic violence serves to more fully describe his narrative and adds depth to his already potent story.
As an aside, and this is for the Nordic noir Scandinavian crime fiction genre as whole – just an observation – but this is a particularly earthy style of writing. In other works by Larsson, Mankell, and Nesbo (and others no doubt) we read frank images of urine, feces, vomit, smelly feet, bad breath, and armpits. It’s as though the Scandinavian writers feel compelled to include elements of stark and unpleasant realism to their prose.
A very good work from an author who, like Stieg Larsson, was taken from us far too soon.
Author James Thompson (an American who lived in Finland for many years) adeptly describes a murder investigation in Finnish Lapland, in the country’s far north, which is actually in the Arctic Circle. The period is Kaamos, the dark period just before Christmas when the sun does not rise at all for a couple of weeks. This is traditionally a time of depression and alcoholic extreme as the stoic Finnish people deal with a tough time for anyone.
My brother in law lived in Alaska for six years and he described weird behavior when the skies remained dark for weeks at a time. The author states that Finland experiences an exorbitantly high trend of domestic violence anyway and hints that this time is worst of all. Thompson does a good job of describing a dark season of cabin fever that has become a pervasive part of the local culture.
Because of the wintry setting and the murder mystery, I could not help but think of the Coen brothers brilliant 1996 film Fargo starring Frances McDormand and William H. Macy. The author’s distinction between the “sophisticated” people in Helsinki and the relative backwoods of the rural ski resort Arctic village and their small town police inspector Kari Vaara also lends itself to this comparison.
Another similarity between Fargo and Snow Angels is the dark comedy elements amidst the gritty subject matter and the humanistic reality of the characters juxtaposed against the sobriety of the investigation.
All jokes aside, this is a mature and adult fiction. Thompson sheds light on a bad moon rising over a rural setting where everyone knows each other’s past. Thompson’s prose is economical and approachable while exhibiting a literary flair. His characterization and dialogue are spot on. Thompson's inclusion of and exploration of racism, sexuality, alcoholism and domestic violence serves to more fully describe his narrative and adds depth to his already potent story.
As an aside, and this is for the Nordic noir Scandinavian crime fiction genre as whole – just an observation – but this is a particularly earthy style of writing. In other works by Larsson, Mankell, and Nesbo (and others no doubt) we read frank images of urine, feces, vomit, smelly feet, bad breath, and armpits. It’s as though the Scandinavian writers feel compelled to include elements of stark and unpleasant realism to their prose.
A very good work from an author who, like Stieg Larsson, was taken from us far too soon.
April 9, 2011
James M. Thompson, an American author, is married to a Finnish lady, and they live in Finland, and so quite fittingly, he sets his gritty police procedural there. My wife is of Finnish extraction (in fact, a minor character in the novel shares her surname). Therefore I wanted to read Snow Angels. I've also exchanged several emails with Jim and I guest posted once on his weblog, Jimland, so we aren't strangers.
At any rate, I was blown away by how Snow Angels excels on several levels: a sensitive romance between the Finnish cop and his American wife, a detailed homicide investigations with lots of twists, and a vivid look at the Finnish culture. There is beauty, and there is ugliness at work here. If grisly crime scenes leave you queasy, you might want to skim or skip over those parts. But don't overlook this polished gem of a crime fiction novel, easily one of the Top Ten I've read this year.
At any rate, I was blown away by how Snow Angels excels on several levels: a sensitive romance between the Finnish cop and his American wife, a detailed homicide investigations with lots of twists, and a vivid look at the Finnish culture. There is beauty, and there is ugliness at work here. If grisly crime scenes leave you queasy, you might want to skim or skip over those parts. But don't overlook this polished gem of a crime fiction novel, easily one of the Top Ten I've read this year.
December 23, 2017
Lo primero que descubro de este nuevo autor para mi sorpresa es que falleció repentinamente en 2014, con sólo 50 años, y una brillante carrera profesional por delante. Descanse en paz.
“Ángeles en la nieve” es un Nordic Noir, el primero del inspector Vaara. Nos sitúa en el Círculo Polar Ártico, en un pueblecito de Finlandia. Una bella inmigrante actriz somalí aparece brutalmente mutilada. ¿Delito de celos ó de odio racial? A través de los ojos del inspector, asistimos a una clase magistral sobre la sociedad finlandesa. Estamos en la época navideña, donde durante casi un mes el sol no aparece por el horizonte, y los habitantes se refugian en sus casas al abrigo de la calefacción central y la chimenea, sin parar de consumir alcohol y mostrarse sombríos. Me ha encantado la descripción del país y de sus costumbres. Es muy dificil poder sobrellevar un clima tan extremo sin que la mente se trastorne. Conozco Suecia y Noruega, y ambos países me enamoran, pero no pasaría un invierno por aquellos lugares ni por todo el oro del mundo. Claro que no he nacido allí.
La trama en sí no es que resulte gran cosa, pero Thompson nos lo cuenta todo de una forma sencilla, sin grandes alardes literarios, y en menos que canta un gallo has llegado a la última página. Como buen escritor de novela nórdica, incluye descripciones gráficas que no son muy agradables, así que avisados estáis.
Me alegro de que aún le haya dado tiempo a publicar tres novelas más de la serie. Ya tardo en leerme la segunda.
“Ángeles en la nieve” es un Nordic Noir, el primero del inspector Vaara. Nos sitúa en el Círculo Polar Ártico, en un pueblecito de Finlandia. Una bella inmigrante actriz somalí aparece brutalmente mutilada. ¿Delito de celos ó de odio racial? A través de los ojos del inspector, asistimos a una clase magistral sobre la sociedad finlandesa. Estamos en la época navideña, donde durante casi un mes el sol no aparece por el horizonte, y los habitantes se refugian en sus casas al abrigo de la calefacción central y la chimenea, sin parar de consumir alcohol y mostrarse sombríos. Me ha encantado la descripción del país y de sus costumbres. Es muy dificil poder sobrellevar un clima tan extremo sin que la mente se trastorne. Conozco Suecia y Noruega, y ambos países me enamoran, pero no pasaría un invierno por aquellos lugares ni por todo el oro del mundo. Claro que no he nacido allí.
La trama en sí no es que resulte gran cosa, pero Thompson nos lo cuenta todo de una forma sencilla, sin grandes alardes literarios, y en menos que canta un gallo has llegado a la última página. Como buen escritor de novela nórdica, incluye descripciones gráficas que no son muy agradables, así que avisados estáis.
Me alegro de que aún le haya dado tiempo a publicar tres novelas más de la serie. Ya tardo en leerme la segunda.
February 15, 2024
Eager to enjoy this debut thriller by James Thompson, I finally got around to reading it. Thompson offers up a stunning story set in the north of Finland, where darkness pervades the skies this close to Christmas. The murder of a foreign actress has many on edge, especially Inspector Kari Vaara, head of the rural police force. While Vaara tries to track down a killer, he’s faced with other daunting events that weigh heavily on his mind. Thompson proves himself with this great debut novel.
Kaamos is at its darkest just before Christmas. It’s in the Lapland area of Finland, located above the Arctic Circle, where cold has a new meaning. This level of darkness is sure to push anyone to the brink, where murderous thoughts occur with greater regularity.
Inspector Kari Vaara is the head of the rural police force in the region, trying to get used to the cold, the dark, and the way it changes residents. When he is called out to the scene of a brutal murder on a reindeer farm, Vaara can only expect the worst. A Somali actress has been brutally killed and a racial slur etched into her abdomen. Vaara is under great pressure to solve the crime, as the world soon learns of it and answers are not only needed, but demanded The young woman’s parents arrive from Helsinki, spouting their own form of demands and using their Muslim faith to fuel added fires. Vaara begins his investigation with few leads, though some forensics might help open up pathways. The cold has, oddly, preserved bodily fluids and Vaara uses this to come up with a list of suspects.
It would seem that the actress had been living a secret life, one few knew about, prospering in ways tat would have the tabloids raging. This ignites added pressure from the nation’s capital, where news travels fast and the Finnish police system is put under the microscope. Vaara will have to find a suspect and arrest them before things spin too far out of control.
With memories of his past washing over him while he works, Vaara’s American wife begins to doubt her choice to move so far out in the wilderness. Pregnant with their first child, she wonders if she ought to return to the America she knows well, even tough she knows this will push Vaara over the edge. As events around him begin to spin out of control, Inspector Kari Vaara will have to get a handle on it and make the most of the situation while a killer remains on the loose. His job and livelihood depend on it, with time slipping away. Thompson does a masterful job with this thriller and has an entire series for me to enjoy, as time permits.
While these novels caught my attention a few years ago, I never got around to reading them. James Thompson proves well worth the wait, as I dove right in and found myself transported back to Finland, a place I enjoyed visiting years ago, The description and development of the northern Finnish area makes for great scenes and adds a depth in the darkened days that pass while the crime is being investigated. Strong storytelling helps push things along, complemented greatly by characters that have a wonderful Finnish flavour to them. There is a great struggle for Inspector Kari Vaara throughout, which leaves the reader wanting to know more. I am eager to see how these faces and names will come to develop throughout the series, as Kari Vaara evolves.
The plot finds a way to develop effectively and provides the reader with some great twits throughout the piece. There are moments of linear movement, but much is unexpected and takes the reader on an adventure. The local customs and traditions are woven into the story and the non-Finnish reader will surely have to acclimate to them in order to fully understand the impact felt by the characters and plot developments. I am eager to see how James Thompson will tackle this in the novels to come and cannot wait to get my hands on the next novel in this series.
Kudos, Mr. Thompson, for a. Wonderful break from my usual reading fare.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
Kaamos is at its darkest just before Christmas. It’s in the Lapland area of Finland, located above the Arctic Circle, where cold has a new meaning. This level of darkness is sure to push anyone to the brink, where murderous thoughts occur with greater regularity.
Inspector Kari Vaara is the head of the rural police force in the region, trying to get used to the cold, the dark, and the way it changes residents. When he is called out to the scene of a brutal murder on a reindeer farm, Vaara can only expect the worst. A Somali actress has been brutally killed and a racial slur etched into her abdomen. Vaara is under great pressure to solve the crime, as the world soon learns of it and answers are not only needed, but demanded The young woman’s parents arrive from Helsinki, spouting their own form of demands and using their Muslim faith to fuel added fires. Vaara begins his investigation with few leads, though some forensics might help open up pathways. The cold has, oddly, preserved bodily fluids and Vaara uses this to come up with a list of suspects.
It would seem that the actress had been living a secret life, one few knew about, prospering in ways tat would have the tabloids raging. This ignites added pressure from the nation’s capital, where news travels fast and the Finnish police system is put under the microscope. Vaara will have to find a suspect and arrest them before things spin too far out of control.
With memories of his past washing over him while he works, Vaara’s American wife begins to doubt her choice to move so far out in the wilderness. Pregnant with their first child, she wonders if she ought to return to the America she knows well, even tough she knows this will push Vaara over the edge. As events around him begin to spin out of control, Inspector Kari Vaara will have to get a handle on it and make the most of the situation while a killer remains on the loose. His job and livelihood depend on it, with time slipping away. Thompson does a masterful job with this thriller and has an entire series for me to enjoy, as time permits.
While these novels caught my attention a few years ago, I never got around to reading them. James Thompson proves well worth the wait, as I dove right in and found myself transported back to Finland, a place I enjoyed visiting years ago, The description and development of the northern Finnish area makes for great scenes and adds a depth in the darkened days that pass while the crime is being investigated. Strong storytelling helps push things along, complemented greatly by characters that have a wonderful Finnish flavour to them. There is a great struggle for Inspector Kari Vaara throughout, which leaves the reader wanting to know more. I am eager to see how these faces and names will come to develop throughout the series, as Kari Vaara evolves.
The plot finds a way to develop effectively and provides the reader with some great twits throughout the piece. There are moments of linear movement, but much is unexpected and takes the reader on an adventure. The local customs and traditions are woven into the story and the non-Finnish reader will surely have to acclimate to them in order to fully understand the impact felt by the characters and plot developments. I am eager to see how James Thompson will tackle this in the novels to come and cannot wait to get my hands on the next novel in this series.
Kudos, Mr. Thompson, for a. Wonderful break from my usual reading fare.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
May 22, 2019
Casi me ha gustado más conocer pequeños detalles y chascarrillos de la sociedad finlandesa que la propia trama del libro. Un caso de asesinato que poco a poco se va complicando, afectando cada vez más de forma personal al inspector Kari Vaara.
He leído mucha literatura nórdica, pero en este libro me ha sorprendido la cantidad de pequeños detalles como que el idioma finlandés no distingue entre género masculino y femenino, por tanto una simple nota indicando quien tiene la culpa, se puede entender como que la culpa era de ella o de él. Que en el lenguaje coloquial se hablan entre sí utilizando el artículo neutro, como si fuesen cosas, supongo que será algo así como decir "lo Carmen" o "lo Antonio" - con todos los respetos, me resulta rarísimo, jajajaja-, que suele ser habitual regalar una dentadura en la confirmación, por que no suelen durarles los dientes mucho más allá de la pubertad al haber pocos dentistas, ...
El sentimiento de soledad, de aislamiento, de no manifestar las emociones, de los silencios, la forma de relacionarse entre ellos, especialmente en los momento difíciles, también está bien tratado y me ha chocado muchísimo comparándolo con nuestra cultura.
La ambientación, con una temperatura que oscila entre los 40 y los 16 grados bajo cero, en la época de oscuridad total, cercana a la navidad, también acompaña.
En cuanto al ritmo de la obra, acostumbrada a otros autores, en algún momento me ha parecido un poco plana.
En general me ha gustado el libro.
Valoración: 8/10
Lectura: Mayo 2019
He leído mucha literatura nórdica, pero en este libro me ha sorprendido la cantidad de pequeños detalles como que el idioma finlandés no distingue entre género masculino y femenino, por tanto una simple nota indicando quien tiene la culpa, se puede entender como que la culpa era de ella o de él. Que en el lenguaje coloquial se hablan entre sí utilizando el artículo neutro, como si fuesen cosas, supongo que será algo así como decir "lo Carmen" o "lo Antonio" - con todos los respetos, me resulta rarísimo, jajajaja-, que suele ser habitual regalar una dentadura en la confirmación, por que no suelen durarles los dientes mucho más allá de la pubertad al haber pocos dentistas, ...
El sentimiento de soledad, de aislamiento, de no manifestar las emociones, de los silencios, la forma de relacionarse entre ellos, especialmente en los momento difíciles, también está bien tratado y me ha chocado muchísimo comparándolo con nuestra cultura.
La ambientación, con una temperatura que oscila entre los 40 y los 16 grados bajo cero, en la época de oscuridad total, cercana a la navidad, también acompaña.
En cuanto al ritmo de la obra, acostumbrada a otros autores, en algún momento me ha parecido un poco plana.
En general me ha gustado el libro.
Valoración: 8/10
Lectura: Mayo 2019
March 18, 2011
I was happy to find a new Scandinavian crime series – this one's set in Lapland (Finland) during kaamos, the two sunless weeks before Christmas. Given the setting and the echo of the author's name, I was hoping for something hard-boiled, juicy and joyless.
I got the joyless. The book's received high praise (it's a Booklist best crime novel debut, and it sports fulsome blurbs from Michael Connelly and Peter Høeg). But I won't be coming back for any more of Inspector Vaara. The crimes are so lurid as to be laughable, and Vaara's interminable monologue (even after being shot in the mouth) about love, family, justice and Finland parodies Jim Thompson's logorrheaic lunatics. Top this off with his pulsing paean to marital bliss, and you have a couple approaching the obnoxious acme of Spenser and Susan Silverman:
I look around and see all I have to be grateful for. I'm surrounded by family. My wife loves me, has her arms around me. Our babies are growing inside her. I look up at her. It hurts but I force a smile. "Merry Christmas, Kate."
Pass me the vodka and Percocet, Inspector.
I got the joyless. The book's received high praise (it's a Booklist best crime novel debut, and it sports fulsome blurbs from Michael Connelly and Peter Høeg). But I won't be coming back for any more of Inspector Vaara. The crimes are so lurid as to be laughable, and Vaara's interminable monologue (even after being shot in the mouth) about love, family, justice and Finland parodies Jim Thompson's logorrheaic lunatics. Top this off with his pulsing paean to marital bliss, and you have a couple approaching the obnoxious acme of Spenser and Susan Silverman:
I look around and see all I have to be grateful for. I'm surrounded by family. My wife loves me, has her arms around me. Our babies are growing inside her. I look up at her. It hurts but I force a smile. "Merry Christmas, Kate."
Pass me the vodka and Percocet, Inspector.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2012
Tenso. Inteligente. Hipnotizante. Fantástico. Mistério complexo. Obra magistral. Todas estas palavras que descrevem este livro são mais que merecedoras.
Adorei todos os pedacinhos que fala da cultura e sociedade finlandesas.
A forma como é perpetrado o crime "principal". . .
O outro realizado com um simples pneu e uma lata de gasolina de origem da África do Sul, macabro, mas que também sei que é uma maneira de assassínio no Brasil e por aí. . .
Todo o enredo e a personagem principal, ele próprio atormentado por acontecimentos passados. . . a época em que se desenrola. . . o clima. . .
A capa do livro, também ela de excelência e que penso retrata bem o cenário de toda a história, perfeita.
Por tudo o que se passa, as perguntas que se impõem são: Será que ao perseguirmos os nosso sonhos nos devemos sujeitar a tudo??
Até onde vamos por despeito, por dever/responsabilidade e sobretudo para descobrir a verdade, negligenciando os que mais nos são próximos?
E o que é a verdade? Será que queremos a todo o custo descobri-la? Faz-nos SEMPRE sentir melhor?
"Uma leitura obrigatória para os fãs de policiais nórdicos" - Booklist
Vou mais longe, uma leitura obrigatória para quem adora um bom policial.
Adorei todos os pedacinhos que fala da cultura e sociedade finlandesas.
A forma como é perpetrado o crime "principal". . .
O outro realizado com um simples pneu e uma lata de gasolina de origem da África do Sul, macabro, mas que também sei que é uma maneira de assassínio no Brasil e por aí. . .
Todo o enredo e a personagem principal, ele próprio atormentado por acontecimentos passados. . . a época em que se desenrola. . . o clima. . .
A capa do livro, também ela de excelência e que penso retrata bem o cenário de toda a história, perfeita.
Por tudo o que se passa, as perguntas que se impõem são: Será que ao perseguirmos os nosso sonhos nos devemos sujeitar a tudo??
Até onde vamos por despeito, por dever/responsabilidade e sobretudo para descobrir a verdade, negligenciando os que mais nos são próximos?
E o que é a verdade? Será que queremos a todo o custo descobri-la? Faz-nos SEMPRE sentir melhor?
"Uma leitura obrigatória para os fãs de policiais nórdicos" - Booklist
Vou mais longe, uma leitura obrigatória para quem adora um bom policial.
February 17, 2021
This started off quite powerfully in a totally alien, freezing and sunless country. Literally two weeks of total darkness, we think, known as Kaamos in Finland. We see a reindeer farm and characters at a ski resort. Immediately the strong sense of setting, the brutality of a murder, and conducting a murder investigation in such conditions swept me in.
Those elements sustained my interest, though the darkness seemed to merit no further comments by the author or hero Kari Vaara after the first couple chapters. I began to wonder whether I had misread the beginning, because wouldn’t an investigation in the dark prompt more references to the constant nighttime? We are reminded about the coldness, so that feature remains in place. But the reindeer disappear too—actually, we never see the reindeer, just their farm land, which is a disappointment.
In other words, the setting seemed very tantalizing and exotic at first, but those aspects faded into nothingness as the basic crime investigation persisted. But we do get a strong dose of Finnish culture, including apparently rampant stoicism, xenophobia, and alcoholism. That may sound pretty bad but it made for a fascinating cultural landscape behind the murder investigation.
My bigger problem was with Vaara’s investigation itself. He sat around spit-balling with other police or his wife about what might have happened, much of it wild, unfounded speculation. He did not appear to conduct the basic investigative work that detectives in American, British, Australian, or French police dramas do. He hardly attempted to question suspects to establish their alabis. He barely seemed to document an exact timeline for the crime. He did not take advantage of the opportunity to question detainees; rather, he took some odd enjoyment in leaving them detained without questioning them. There was some forensic evidence but rather than confront the suspects about why this hair or that fluid ended up in such and such a location, he would concoct his own theories to how it arrived there, making further decisions on that basis, only be smacked upside the head later on with the truth.
Maybe this is what real police work is like, and I have no idea about facts because I read too much crime fiction. Or maybe I’d be right about Anglo based investigations, but Finnish law enforcement is more . . . imaginative. Yet even so it seems a bit strange since we are frequently told what a great cop Vaara is.
The related problem is that even if this is exactly how real crimes in Finland are investigated, it undermined the mystery and structure of the novel. It took me out of the story, made me question the bona fides of the hero, and led me to identify false leads and red herrings immediately, because I doubted everything that seemed so poorly corroborated.
I realize much of the above sounds very negative, but three stars is a very solid, favorable rating for me to give any book. Despite my complaints about some missed opportunities with the setting and bungled sleuthing, this was an ideal mystery to plow through like the snow in winter.
Those elements sustained my interest, though the darkness seemed to merit no further comments by the author or hero Kari Vaara after the first couple chapters. I began to wonder whether I had misread the beginning, because wouldn’t an investigation in the dark prompt more references to the constant nighttime? We are reminded about the coldness, so that feature remains in place. But the reindeer disappear too—actually, we never see the reindeer, just their farm land, which is a disappointment.
In other words, the setting seemed very tantalizing and exotic at first, but those aspects faded into nothingness as the basic crime investigation persisted. But we do get a strong dose of Finnish culture, including apparently rampant stoicism, xenophobia, and alcoholism. That may sound pretty bad but it made for a fascinating cultural landscape behind the murder investigation.
My bigger problem was with Vaara’s investigation itself. He sat around spit-balling with other police or his wife about what might have happened, much of it wild, unfounded speculation. He did not appear to conduct the basic investigative work that detectives in American, British, Australian, or French police dramas do. He hardly attempted to question suspects to establish their alabis. He barely seemed to document an exact timeline for the crime. He did not take advantage of the opportunity to question detainees; rather, he took some odd enjoyment in leaving them detained without questioning them. There was some forensic evidence but rather than confront the suspects about why this hair or that fluid ended up in such and such a location, he would concoct his own theories to how it arrived there, making further decisions on that basis, only be smacked upside the head later on with the truth.
Maybe this is what real police work is like, and I have no idea about facts because I read too much crime fiction. Or maybe I’d be right about Anglo based investigations, but Finnish law enforcement is more . . . imaginative. Yet even so it seems a bit strange since we are frequently told what a great cop Vaara is.
The related problem is that even if this is exactly how real crimes in Finland are investigated, it undermined the mystery and structure of the novel. It took me out of the story, made me question the bona fides of the hero, and led me to identify false leads and red herrings immediately, because I doubted everything that seemed so poorly corroborated.
I realize much of the above sounds very negative, but three stars is a very solid, favorable rating for me to give any book. Despite my complaints about some missed opportunities with the setting and bungled sleuthing, this was an ideal mystery to plow through like the snow in winter.
May 2, 2013
Book Info: Genre: Mystery/Noir
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of dark mysteries, stories set in Scandinavia, well-developed characters, well-done mysteries
Trigger Warnings: murder, hate-crime, sexual assault, use of racist and sexist language (n-word, w-word, and c-word), religious zealotry
My Thoughts: This is a very dark story. It seems that most murder mysteries set in Scandinavia are very dark, which is interesting considering how few murders overall are committed there. In fact, looking at the statistics regarding serial killers in the US vs. just about everywhere else in the world was mighty sobering.
Like any mystery, there is not much I can tell you about the plot because I don't want to give out spoilers. However, there are red herrings a-plenty, and I had no idea what to expect with the ending. The character development is very good, and Finland sounds like a place that is dear to the author's heart, in all its sometimes dismal and dreary reality. If you enjoy mysteries that wander off into the noir realm, if you enjoy stories based in Scandinavia, then you'll want to be sure to check out this series of books.
Series Information: Snow Angels is the first book in the Inspector Vaara series.
Book 2: Lucifer's Tears, to be read next, provided by publisher for an honest review
Book 3: Helsinki White, upcoming, provided by Amazon Vine for an honest review
Book 4: Helsinki Blood, I do not have, but it is on my wishlist
Disclosure: I bought this book for myself. All opinions are my own.
Synopsis: It is called kaamos—two weeks of unrelenting darkness and soul-numbing cold that falls upon Finnish Lapland, a hundred miles into the Arctic Circle, just before Christmas. Some get through it with the help of cheap Russian alcohol; some sink into depression.
This year, it may have driven someone mad enough to commit murder. The brutalized body of a beautiful Somali woman has been found in the snow, and Inspector Kari Vaara must find her killer. It will be a challenge in a place where ugly things lurk under frozen surfaces, and silence is a way of life.
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of dark mysteries, stories set in Scandinavia, well-developed characters, well-done mysteries
Trigger Warnings: murder, hate-crime, sexual assault, use of racist and sexist language (n-word, w-word, and c-word), religious zealotry
My Thoughts: This is a very dark story. It seems that most murder mysteries set in Scandinavia are very dark, which is interesting considering how few murders overall are committed there. In fact, looking at the statistics regarding serial killers in the US vs. just about everywhere else in the world was mighty sobering.
Like any mystery, there is not much I can tell you about the plot because I don't want to give out spoilers. However, there are red herrings a-plenty, and I had no idea what to expect with the ending. The character development is very good, and Finland sounds like a place that is dear to the author's heart, in all its sometimes dismal and dreary reality. If you enjoy mysteries that wander off into the noir realm, if you enjoy stories based in Scandinavia, then you'll want to be sure to check out this series of books.
Series Information: Snow Angels is the first book in the Inspector Vaara series.
Book 2: Lucifer's Tears, to be read next, provided by publisher for an honest review
Book 3: Helsinki White, upcoming, provided by Amazon Vine for an honest review
Book 4: Helsinki Blood, I do not have, but it is on my wishlist
Disclosure: I bought this book for myself. All opinions are my own.
Synopsis: It is called kaamos—two weeks of unrelenting darkness and soul-numbing cold that falls upon Finnish Lapland, a hundred miles into the Arctic Circle, just before Christmas. Some get through it with the help of cheap Russian alcohol; some sink into depression.
This year, it may have driven someone mad enough to commit murder. The brutalized body of a beautiful Somali woman has been found in the snow, and Inspector Kari Vaara must find her killer. It will be a challenge in a place where ugly things lurk under frozen surfaces, and silence is a way of life.
February 9, 2017
Things I learned about Finland: Apparently it's dark all the time and people are always drunk.
The main character is a typical fictional detective with a whiny pregnant (American) wife who apparently won't learn Finnish and is offended when people won't speak English to her - he loves her more than anything and between her bouts of complaining about being in Finland, we're not really given a reason why. He also has (yawn) a troubled, painful childhood. The mystery itself is pretty convoluted, with one red herring after another, to the point where I just wanted to get to the end. It's mercifully short at 260-some pages.
Thompson is in love with the f-word, the n-word, "whore" (in two languages!) and graphic, squirm-inducing descriptions of the victim's injuries, which he seems to delight in describing over and over and over again throughout the book. Got it the first time, thanks. I might read another one, but if it's as full of sex and violence as the first, I'll stop halfway through and call it a day. Which they apparently don't have in Finland.
The main character is a typical fictional detective with a whiny pregnant (American) wife who apparently won't learn Finnish and is offended when people won't speak English to her - he loves her more than anything and between her bouts of complaining about being in Finland, we're not really given a reason why. He also has (yawn) a troubled, painful childhood. The mystery itself is pretty convoluted, with one red herring after another, to the point where I just wanted to get to the end. It's mercifully short at 260-some pages.
Thompson is in love with the f-word, the n-word, "whore" (in two languages!) and graphic, squirm-inducing descriptions of the victim's injuries, which he seems to delight in describing over and over and over again throughout the book. Got it the first time, thanks. I might read another one, but if it's as full of sex and violence as the first, I'll stop halfway through and call it a day. Which they apparently don't have in Finland.
January 12, 2015
I have only been to Finland in the spring, probably when life is at its most cheerful in that country. My friend and I looked around the small town we were staying in and decided that there is a good reason that so many heavy metal bands come from Finland: during the long winters, the parents look at their teenage sons and say, “Right, get yourself out to the garage and do something.”
Thompson has captured the Scandinavian tone very well. Finland has obviously embraced him, identifying him as a Finnish author, despite his American birth. The Finns are not warm & fuzzy & welcoming—when I was there, it was difficult to make eye contact with anyone and if you wished them good morning, they fled. I have since learned that they are a very shy people—and given to silence, as Thompson portrays them. [The standard joke: how do you tell that a Finnish person likes you? They’re staring at your shoes, not their own].
Finland was also the first place that I ever saw skinheads—we ran into them several times in the restaurants that we stopped at. Finnish culture appears to be very homogenous, very white, with some hostility to immigrants. I think Finns appreciate Thompson because he tells the truth about Finland in his fiction, including the racism, the alcoholism, the depression and the silence.
And despite all of that, I like the Finns and their no-nonsense, don’t-talk-things-to-death attitude. I like Inspector Vaara and I’m glad I gave James Thompson’s fiction a try. Four frozen, bloody stars.
Thompson has captured the Scandinavian tone very well. Finland has obviously embraced him, identifying him as a Finnish author, despite his American birth. The Finns are not warm & fuzzy & welcoming—when I was there, it was difficult to make eye contact with anyone and if you wished them good morning, they fled. I have since learned that they are a very shy people—and given to silence, as Thompson portrays them. [The standard joke: how do you tell that a Finnish person likes you? They’re staring at your shoes, not their own].
Finland was also the first place that I ever saw skinheads—we ran into them several times in the restaurants that we stopped at. Finnish culture appears to be very homogenous, very white, with some hostility to immigrants. I think Finns appreciate Thompson because he tells the truth about Finland in his fiction, including the racism, the alcoholism, the depression and the silence.
And despite all of that, I like the Finns and their no-nonsense, don’t-talk-things-to-death attitude. I like Inspector Vaara and I’m glad I gave James Thompson’s fiction a try. Four frozen, bloody stars.
January 18, 2015
Firstly, i have never been a big fan of the crime-thriller genre, but lately for a some reason i've been reading these, part of the blame goes to Lee Child (16 Jack Reacher books under the year). What got my attention was an American writer doing a Finnish crime-thriller book. Yeah, i'm from Finland and i actually live not so far from where this book is set, Kittilä.
I always cringe in movies when a foreign films shows Finland scenes, there is snow, it's cold and a one wooden building. I was surprised how right Thompson got the Finn culture, yes it's bleak, not so in a summer, but we have the veeeeryy long and cold winter and 'stuff' happens. I live in a city, Kemi, which is always tops the crime statistics, so Kittilä is a 'Mickey Mouse' league when it comes to the 'bleak'. All the racist stuff is true, we just 'don't get kindly' all those foreign people, okay it's small minority, but loud one.
The main character, Inspector Vaara, narrates as the readers were not Finns, it's a good way to get to know these weird people from Lapland. The murder mystery kept me guessing to the end. Characters were interesting. Vaara is a good main protagonist, with an average baggage, nothing major and felt three dimensional. The dialogue worked, and in the end, there were couple of touching bits, so all good. A Quick read, i must read the whole series and that's a time away from the fantasy, horror and scifi genres, but i don't mind.
I always cringe in movies when a foreign films shows Finland scenes, there is snow, it's cold and a one wooden building. I was surprised how right Thompson got the Finn culture, yes it's bleak, not so in a summer, but we have the veeeeryy long and cold winter and 'stuff' happens. I live in a city, Kemi, which is always tops the crime statistics, so Kittilä is a 'Mickey Mouse' league when it comes to the 'bleak'. All the racist stuff is true, we just 'don't get kindly' all those foreign people, okay it's small minority, but loud one.
The main character, Inspector Vaara, narrates as the readers were not Finns, it's a good way to get to know these weird people from Lapland. The murder mystery kept me guessing to the end. Characters were interesting. Vaara is a good main protagonist, with an average baggage, nothing major and felt three dimensional. The dialogue worked, and in the end, there were couple of touching bits, so all good. A Quick read, i must read the whole series and that's a time away from the fantasy, horror and scifi genres, but i don't mind.
November 17, 2011
This story is from the shores of Finland a police procedural. The murder that starts the story is very brutal and the victim is a lady from an ethnic minority, she comes from a people who have lost their homeland to civil war, the author covers well their cultural practices and the religious rights of various parts of their religion. The murder brings out old wounds to the main protagonists life and one main thorn in is side becomes his ex-wife. The main protagonist is a detective married to an American woman. His partner tries to settle into the Finnish life with some difficulties one being the language barrier and another the lack of 24hr sunlight or darkness, which they experience at various times of the year. The web of suspicion becomes bigger as the death toll rises and a few more lives are claimed. The lifestyle and previous partners of the first woman killed are investigated and a religious fathers honor becomes tainted. The author turned out quite an interesting novel and the plot keeps you hooked.
I can see now why this was on the short list for the Edgar awards.
I can see now why this was on the short list for the Edgar awards.
December 1, 2013
4,5*! O que se pode dizer de um livro que se lê em algumas horas? Só pode ser muito bom! O protagonista, o inspetor Kari Vaara, surge como uma personagem muito forte e, ao mesmo tempo, mostra toda a sua fragilidade, retrato de tudo o que já viveu. A trama está muito bem urdida e, para além de ser um excelente policial, caracteriza bastante a sociedade finlandesa. Não sei se este livro terá tido muito sucesso lá na Finlândia, já que o autor deixa a imagem de uns finlandeses xenófobos e permanentemente embriagados! :) Mas se assim for, eles não sabem o livro que perdem... Recomendo vivamente!
December 2, 2025
Reading this book on a gray, overcast, & cold day fit perfectly with the setting of the book & even the time of year (all the events in the book take place during the week leading up to Christmas).
I think it's probably typical scandi noir, a bit gruesome, & includes themes of racism & immigrants in the Finnish community. The ending seemed kind of implausible but I did like his descriptions of the settings & the people, giving more insight on to Finnish silences. Overall a well-written, good, solid, scandi murder mystery/thriller. I also think this initial book in the series was doing a bit of setting up for future books for Inspector Vaara. (Sadly, it looks like the author passed away suddenly about ten years ago when only four books were completed.) I will read more of the series as it looks like my library has all of the Inspector Vaara books.
In a weird coincidence, a few days ago, I came across a webcam at a Finnish ski resort which made me immediately realize that Thompson's settings are based on real locations in Finland (here's the Levi ski resort in Finland, around where all the the book's action takes place).
3.5 stars, rounding up for the well-drawn Finnish setting.
I think it's probably typical scandi noir, a bit gruesome, & includes themes of racism & immigrants in the Finnish community. The ending seemed kind of implausible but I did like his descriptions of the settings & the people, giving more insight on to Finnish silences. Overall a well-written, good, solid, scandi murder mystery/thriller. I also think this initial book in the series was doing a bit of setting up for future books for Inspector Vaara. (Sadly, it looks like the author passed away suddenly about ten years ago when only four books were completed.) I will read more of the series as it looks like my library has all of the Inspector Vaara books.
In a weird coincidence, a few days ago, I came across a webcam at a Finnish ski resort which made me immediately realize that Thompson's settings are based on real locations in Finland (here's the Levi ski resort in Finland, around where all the the book's action takes place).
3.5 stars, rounding up for the well-drawn Finnish setting.
December 21, 2024
Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell got me a while ago back into the never ending international crime, suspense, and thriller binge. And after seeing the selection in my local bookstores, I was amazed how even Icelandic authors are better represented than the Finns. Why? I'm not sure. They can't market their books? That surely, at least partly. Or they write only to people who know how everything works in Finland, where all the small cities are located, and who know what is normal for a Finn behavior? Or do they think that they won't sell? In the search of authors, I only knew of Jarkko Sipilä as a Finnish author that has recently (read: since the 1970s) been translated and made available in English (by Ice Cold Crime... I yet am to see a booke to come by second hand, so there is a lot to do for marketing. Such as, start with giving out a few freebies of the new releases in Goodreads). That said, as an aficionada and an addict of international suspense and crime, I think I have to place Kentucky-born and raised Thompson as my favorite Finnish crime author, and for a lot of reasons.
First, you can actually find his books easily enough, in normal bookstores and not only online.
Secondly, he does not assume everyone knows how Finland works. He's lived there for over a decade, and it shows in the details. The recent history, recent politics, the mentality of the people there (towards the Somali refugees, other foreigners, Swedish speaking minorities, their liberal dole policies, small religious minorities etc), the details that many locals would miss are all there. Aurora borealis has a smell, the rosolli Christmas potato salad has its ingredients listed, the people are detailed and give a bit of air of being from a Kaurismäki movie. It's nicer when you don't have to have lived in Finland for decades to understand the details or the people. The people come out as authentic Finns, like seen not only in Lapland but any less urban area and outside Helsinki. And even just these two reasons are huge.
The story is written as the inspector Kari Vaara from a small town in the most Northern parts of Finnish Lapland. He's married to an American lady, and this helps Kari see the place better. He can see what is exotic and what is normal there, and because of Kate he's not telling the story only to the Finnish audiences. A few days before Christmas the Kittilä police department get their biggest ever murder case when a Somali B-movie star Sufia Elmi is found brutally murdered in Kari's jurisdiction. The case is screaming both a racial hate and a sexual crime on the same time, and the medias label it quickly as the Finnish Black Dahlia murder. It doesn't take long before they get some prime suspects, one of them being the common-law husband of Kari's ex-wife. He (like a few others) drives a dark BMW 3-series car, smokes the brand of cigarettes and drinks the type of beer of which there were remains in Sufia's room. Add a bunch of interesting characters, all of which have something odd in them, and the depressing, dark time of year known as kaamos (pronounced as if it was in Spanish) that makes many Finns go crazy, and a wife who not only is depressed because of the Finns and the kaamos, but also pregnant with twins and a broken leg. A perfect amount of action and pages, and I'll definitely look for the next books in the series - my friends tell that they just keep getting better.
A few of my favorite spots in the book:
"It's like trying to learn Chinese", she says, "except it has a Roman alphabet." (Kate about learning Finnish language).
"The silence, the misery, the months of darkness. It's too extreme, like living in a desert made of snow instead of sand." (Kate about living in Finland in winter).
Notes added in August 2014:
Above is my review for this book when I first read it. I fell in love with the series. Snow Angels resonated so well with me. I ended up becoming a Goodreads friend with Jim. Many discussions about many topics later, in emails and in goodreads, I and my husband and a few of my close friends met Jim on our trip to Helsinki. A wonderful evening in Hilpeä Hauki, the pub mentioned in Jim's later books. What an amazing cool guy. I am so happy I had a chance to meet him in the real life.
He was also very active in some goodreads groups, e.g. Nordic Noir - which wouldn't even have existed without him.
To my great shock I discovered that Jim has passed away last weekend. Way too early, he wasn't even 50...
The readers will miss many more Kari Vaara books, and everyone I know who is also Jim's friend is in shock.
I am in a great shock.
My own mum died a week before Jim, which is why I had to come from home in Texas to Finland, and I'm honored to be able to attend Jim's memorial soon. Losing my mum, a friend, and one of my favorite authors all in the course of one week (Jim being both the friend and the author) is too much. Well, I'm in the correct country now to say my goodbyes also to him. Having a nice night of drinks with your favorite author in his favorite pub, which also was mentioned in many of his books was wonderful, and to a reader - isn't that just awesome? Many discussions, a lot of help (both ways)... Now... Well, you never know what happens next in life, or when, or why. Do cherish life as it is, never be afraid to show your feelings (when they are good). Don't leave things unsaid or for later.
I will find out if there is anything I (or any goodreads friend or fan of Jim) could do to help his family.
First, you can actually find his books easily enough, in normal bookstores and not only online.
Secondly, he does not assume everyone knows how Finland works. He's lived there for over a decade, and it shows in the details. The recent history, recent politics, the mentality of the people there (towards the Somali refugees, other foreigners, Swedish speaking minorities, their liberal dole policies, small religious minorities etc), the details that many locals would miss are all there. Aurora borealis has a smell, the rosolli Christmas potato salad has its ingredients listed, the people are detailed and give a bit of air of being from a Kaurismäki movie. It's nicer when you don't have to have lived in Finland for decades to understand the details or the people. The people come out as authentic Finns, like seen not only in Lapland but any less urban area and outside Helsinki. And even just these two reasons are huge.
The story is written as the inspector Kari Vaara from a small town in the most Northern parts of Finnish Lapland. He's married to an American lady, and this helps Kari see the place better. He can see what is exotic and what is normal there, and because of Kate he's not telling the story only to the Finnish audiences. A few days before Christmas the Kittilä police department get their biggest ever murder case when a Somali B-movie star Sufia Elmi is found brutally murdered in Kari's jurisdiction. The case is screaming both a racial hate and a sexual crime on the same time, and the medias label it quickly as the Finnish Black Dahlia murder. It doesn't take long before they get some prime suspects, one of them being the common-law husband of Kari's ex-wife. He (like a few others) drives a dark BMW 3-series car, smokes the brand of cigarettes and drinks the type of beer of which there were remains in Sufia's room. Add a bunch of interesting characters, all of which have something odd in them, and the depressing, dark time of year known as kaamos (pronounced as if it was in Spanish) that makes many Finns go crazy, and a wife who not only is depressed because of the Finns and the kaamos, but also pregnant with twins and a broken leg. A perfect amount of action and pages, and I'll definitely look for the next books in the series - my friends tell that they just keep getting better.
A few of my favorite spots in the book:
"It's like trying to learn Chinese", she says, "except it has a Roman alphabet." (Kate about learning Finnish language).
"The silence, the misery, the months of darkness. It's too extreme, like living in a desert made of snow instead of sand." (Kate about living in Finland in winter).
Notes added in August 2014:
Above is my review for this book when I first read it. I fell in love with the series. Snow Angels resonated so well with me. I ended up becoming a Goodreads friend with Jim. Many discussions about many topics later, in emails and in goodreads, I and my husband and a few of my close friends met Jim on our trip to Helsinki. A wonderful evening in Hilpeä Hauki, the pub mentioned in Jim's later books. What an amazing cool guy. I am so happy I had a chance to meet him in the real life.
He was also very active in some goodreads groups, e.g. Nordic Noir - which wouldn't even have existed without him.
To my great shock I discovered that Jim has passed away last weekend. Way too early, he wasn't even 50...
The readers will miss many more Kari Vaara books, and everyone I know who is also Jim's friend is in shock.
I am in a great shock.
My own mum died a week before Jim, which is why I had to come from home in Texas to Finland, and I'm honored to be able to attend Jim's memorial soon. Losing my mum, a friend, and one of my favorite authors all in the course of one week (Jim being both the friend and the author) is too much. Well, I'm in the correct country now to say my goodbyes also to him. Having a nice night of drinks with your favorite author in his favorite pub, which also was mentioned in many of his books was wonderful, and to a reader - isn't that just awesome? Many discussions, a lot of help (both ways)... Now... Well, you never know what happens next in life, or when, or why. Do cherish life as it is, never be afraid to show your feelings (when they are good). Don't leave things unsaid or for later.
I will find out if there is anything I (or any goodreads friend or fan of Jim) could do to help his family.
September 18, 2015
I started this book last night and already it's right up there with the best crime novel's I've read. The writing is superb. It's drawn me in and has me totally hooked. The novel is set in Finland, a country I know absolutely nothing about but am enjoying immensely so far. James Thompson does amazing spirit of place and I'm feeling the ice, struggling through the cold and freezing my bits off along with the lead detective Kari, who comes over as an extremely intelligent, engaging cop. Married to an American, Kate, he's dealing with his first major crime: first murder in the tiny Arctic Circle community he lives in. All the ingredients for a great story are here: isolated, incestuous settlement; outsider murdered in a hideous way; nothing is as it seems.
I'm particularly interested (having just set a novel of my own in the Arctic (Svalbard) Enduring Night) to read the description of the mental stress living in perpetual dark has on everyone: the drunkenness, and high suicide and mental disorder rates. Think 30 Days of Night without vampires but with a serial killer, and you've got the picture.
I'll update when done. I can't see at the moment how this could fail, but I've been disappointed before...
Finished
I've gone straight onto the second in the series, Lucifer's Tears which pretty much says it all as far as I'm concerned. This first novel was superb. It engaged me from start to finish. It's incredibly densely packed. Other authors could have spun this book out to thousands more pages, but this author doesn't. It's almost like watching life through a strobe effect, in every flash of light something critical happens, then cut to black while characters move into position and then another flash, which makes it sound disjointed, but it's not. Told in first person narration by Kari, his strong, authentic voice holds this punch-in-the-gut thriller together. So much happens in the book, so much detection and resolution and death that it's a book that will stay with me for a long time. Fascinatingly (and bravely) Thompson tackles the subject of immigrant migrants in Finland as the first murder is of a Somali refugee, and the arrival of her devout Islamic father to the crime scene adds untold complications.
I particularly enjoyed the insights to the Finish culture and ways of thinking in this novel. All cultures on the brink of extinction should be preserved and it was nice to have this remote, Nordic one examined.
James Thompson is a real find.
Edited in after this review. I went to read some other reviews and discovered that James Thompson, the author, died suddenly aged 49 a couple of years ago. I'm terribly saddened by this discovery as he had just begun to succeed in this seemingly impossible writing world. He was an army veteran. He was intensely private about his life. He had strong political opinions. We had things in common; I think we'd have enjoyed corresponding. I think I'll try to do something fun today and remember life is short. Enjoy it while you can.
November 14, 2010
One of my goals over the next year is to extend my reading and try to read books set in various locations around the world, aside from the typical United States, England settings which seem to occur quite often. The book was one that I saw recommended on another reader's list, a murder mystery set in the northern part of Finland.
I was pleasantly surprised by the novel, it was the first that I had read set in this part of the world, tightly written, and I didn't identify the killer until it came to the conclusion. Or rather, I thought it might have been the person, but I dismissed it because it seemed too out of character for them, based on what I knew as a reader.
Interspersed throughout the novel as Vaara tries to solve the murder, are the struggles of his wife, Kate - an American citizen, trying to adapt to life in Finland; where she doesn't speak the language. In that instance, it was similar to another novel that I read recently called City of Veils: A Novel, which has experiences of a woman who moved to Saudi Arabia interspersed throughout the novel.
I would highly recommend this for people who like reading mysterys; or books set in exotic locales around the world.
I was pleasantly surprised by the novel, it was the first that I had read set in this part of the world, tightly written, and I didn't identify the killer until it came to the conclusion. Or rather, I thought it might have been the person, but I dismissed it because it seemed too out of character for them, based on what I knew as a reader.
Interspersed throughout the novel as Vaara tries to solve the murder, are the struggles of his wife, Kate - an American citizen, trying to adapt to life in Finland; where she doesn't speak the language. In that instance, it was similar to another novel that I read recently called City of Veils: A Novel, which has experiences of a woman who moved to Saudi Arabia interspersed throughout the novel.
I would highly recommend this for people who like reading mysterys; or books set in exotic locales around the world.
December 16, 2011
Considering that this garnered such high praise, I was expecting much, much better. Instead I got some trite nonsense coupled with gratuitous violence. I mean, alright, I did read a crime novel. So I guess the gratuitous violence should've been expected. However, I found it to be a bit ludicrous. The development of the case seemed really odd and unbelievable and jumped a lot of points. The writing lacked subtlety and twists that made it enjoyable.
I also kind of hated that it was written by an American author. I know the dude lives in Finland and all, but, ugh. He tries to mirror this in the book with his Finnish protagonist married to an American woman, who was just a two-dimensional piece of cardboard. In fact, most people were not well fleshed-out. EVERYONE IS JUST DRUNK AND DEPRESSED UP THERE, APPARENTLY.
Not to mention the weird racial piece of this story. It seemed like the author's intention was to draw attention to how racist Finland is, which is (a) unsurprising if you have a country that's predominantly white and has been white for forever and (b) done in such a creepy way and referred to so oddly that it felt racist????? I don't even know. This book had a lot of issues.
TRY AGAIN, THOMPSON. BUT I PROBABLY WON'T READ IT.
I also kind of hated that it was written by an American author. I know the dude lives in Finland and all, but, ugh. He tries to mirror this in the book with his Finnish protagonist married to an American woman, who was just a two-dimensional piece of cardboard. In fact, most people were not well fleshed-out. EVERYONE IS JUST DRUNK AND DEPRESSED UP THERE, APPARENTLY.
Not to mention the weird racial piece of this story. It seemed like the author's intention was to draw attention to how racist Finland is, which is (a) unsurprising if you have a country that's predominantly white and has been white for forever and (b) done in such a creepy way and referred to so oddly that it felt racist????? I don't even know. This book had a lot of issues.
TRY AGAIN, THOMPSON. BUT I PROBABLY WON'T READ IT.
July 14, 2013
This book's real title is the two-word slur repeated 20+ times.
In the small (population ~6,000) town of Kittilä in Finnish Lapland, home to the popular Levi ski resort, a beautiful young female Somali immigrant, a relatively famous minor film star name Sufia, is found murdered. Her body has been mutilated in ways suggestive of a sexually and racially motivated hate crime, including an ugly racist and sexist slur carved into her skin. Enter our hero, Inspector Kari Varaa, to sort it all out.
As the story proceeds, the author takes great pains to place the same racist/sexist slur that was carved in the victim's skin into the mouths of as many characters as he can place it — even that of our hero's wife, pregnant with twins and laid up with a broken leg. The characters who repeat the slur are mostly, of course, simply "repeating the facts of the case," and Vaara (in whose voice the novel is written) is reliably dutiful in condemning those who use the slur in ugly ways as being the distasteful scum that of course they must be.
And yet. The continual and gratuitous use of the slur in so many mouths left me feeling that the author was just as luridly a participant in the misogynistically-tinged racist rubbernecking as was his stereotypical creepy tabloid reporter character Jaako Pahkala. For the record, I did a count using the search function in my $11.99 Kindle ebook: the English version of the complete two-word slur appeared 20 times in the book, the Finnish version of the slur appears once. Variations on the n-word in English appear on their own another 12 times, and the misogynist slur "whore" another 7 times; the Finnish versions of these words appear a couple of times each. And these were not the only gratuitous uses of sexist and racist imagery in the novel. In the end, this imagery completely dominates the character of Sufia and erases her as a person. She, the victim of a vicious crime, becomes no more than those two words, endlessly repeated: one never really learns to care for her. She is only a prop for Vaara's drama.
It is the novel's greatest fault.
But there are others. For example, the uneven quality of Thompson's depiction of relationships between characters. I had a strong sense of the respect and friendship between Kari Vaara and his second-in-command, Valttari. Then Vaara would go home to his wife of one-and-a-half years — Kate, a ski-resort manager originally from Aspen, Colorado — and flat flat flat flat. They love each other? Sorry, can't see it. Kate serves some uses to the story, certainly: as an American who hasn't been in Finland all that long, she provides an excuse for Vaara to explain Finnish cultural characteristics to the largely American reading audience. But her relationship with Vaara is very cardboard; she herself is cardboard. In a notable speech near the end of the book, she gives her husband a complete rundown of the various (and mainly stupid and improbable) theories he has of the crimes that have so far occurred (of which there are a number by that time). But she has none of the emotion that a real woman would have in rendering such an account. Twice she uses that famous two-word slur without the least twinge or indication of discomfort past or present about using those words. Who is she, Sgt. Joe Friday? — "just reporting the facts, ma'am." A real person would at least use air quotes.
Kate is also problematic in her continual complaints about Finns in Finland insisting on speaking Finnish, instead of English, to her. Hello? Aside from her "Ugly American" whininess about this, do you really expect me to believe that she was hired to run a popular Finnish ski-resort without her employers first making sure she knew the language that most of her workers and customers would use? I am reliably informed by many native Finns that it's pretty tough for to get a job in Finland without knowing the language. Thompson, who has lived in Finland for many years and has a Finnish wife, should know better.
This is not even to go into Vaara's problems as an investigator and police officer, including actions he take that would almost certainly get him fired or even prosecuted — rather than promoted to the very top of the Finnish law enforcement hierarchy, as he apparently is in a later installment of this series. Nor have I gone into all the red herrings thrown willy-nilly into the plot like badly aimed paintballs. It would also be nice if he'd temper his stereotyping about endlessly drunk and depressed Finns by including a character or two based on some of the numerous real people in Finland — yes, I'm sure there are some even in Kittilä (which is, yes, a real town; as Levi is a real ski resort) who lead happy and functional lives, maybe even lives that don't involve sexual exploitation of others.
Etc.
All this said, there were some good things about this story too — if there weren't, I wouldn't have gotten all the way through the book, and wouldn't have given it two stars instead of just one. Thompson is not without skill as a writer; in particular, he succeeded in providing a sense of place and atmosphere: Finnish Lapland above the Arctic Circle during kaamos, the sunless dark of the year. (We've got that in parts of Alaska, too.) As a Finnish-American who has not yet had opportunity to visit Finland, I really appreciated that. Mainly, though, I regarded this novel as very instructive on how one can be a relatively decent writer & still really screw the pooch.
I understand that Snow Angel is Thompson's first novel, as well as the first in the Inspector Vaara series. I hope he improved in the later ones, maybe even enough to deserve the Edgar nominations he's received. But I won't be plopping down 12 bucks to read any of them. If I get curious, I might consider using some of the credit at my local used book store.
UPDATE: On second thought, the inherent racism & sexual degradation of black women in this book leaves no excuse: downgraded to 1 star. In fact, the descriptions of the dutifully-described-as-creepy bad guys' sexual relationships with the victim of this story leave me wondering if the southern-U.S.-born white male author of this novel typed every part of the manuscript with both hands.
In the small (population ~6,000) town of Kittilä in Finnish Lapland, home to the popular Levi ski resort, a beautiful young female Somali immigrant, a relatively famous minor film star name Sufia, is found murdered. Her body has been mutilated in ways suggestive of a sexually and racially motivated hate crime, including an ugly racist and sexist slur carved into her skin. Enter our hero, Inspector Kari Varaa, to sort it all out.
As the story proceeds, the author takes great pains to place the same racist/sexist slur that was carved in the victim's skin into the mouths of as many characters as he can place it — even that of our hero's wife, pregnant with twins and laid up with a broken leg. The characters who repeat the slur are mostly, of course, simply "repeating the facts of the case," and Vaara (in whose voice the novel is written) is reliably dutiful in condemning those who use the slur in ugly ways as being the distasteful scum that of course they must be.
And yet. The continual and gratuitous use of the slur in so many mouths left me feeling that the author was just as luridly a participant in the misogynistically-tinged racist rubbernecking as was his stereotypical creepy tabloid reporter character Jaako Pahkala. For the record, I did a count using the search function in my $11.99 Kindle ebook: the English version of the complete two-word slur appeared 20 times in the book, the Finnish version of the slur appears once. Variations on the n-word in English appear on their own another 12 times, and the misogynist slur "whore" another 7 times; the Finnish versions of these words appear a couple of times each. And these were not the only gratuitous uses of sexist and racist imagery in the novel. In the end, this imagery completely dominates the character of Sufia and erases her as a person. She, the victim of a vicious crime, becomes no more than those two words, endlessly repeated: one never really learns to care for her. She is only a prop for Vaara's drama.
It is the novel's greatest fault.
But there are others. For example, the uneven quality of Thompson's depiction of relationships between characters. I had a strong sense of the respect and friendship between Kari Vaara and his second-in-command, Valttari. Then Vaara would go home to his wife of one-and-a-half years — Kate, a ski-resort manager originally from Aspen, Colorado — and flat flat flat flat. They love each other? Sorry, can't see it. Kate serves some uses to the story, certainly: as an American who hasn't been in Finland all that long, she provides an excuse for Vaara to explain Finnish cultural characteristics to the largely American reading audience. But her relationship with Vaara is very cardboard; she herself is cardboard. In a notable speech near the end of the book, she gives her husband a complete rundown of the various (and mainly stupid and improbable) theories he has of the crimes that have so far occurred (of which there are a number by that time). But she has none of the emotion that a real woman would have in rendering such an account. Twice she uses that famous two-word slur without the least twinge or indication of discomfort past or present about using those words. Who is she, Sgt. Joe Friday? — "just reporting the facts, ma'am." A real person would at least use air quotes.
Kate is also problematic in her continual complaints about Finns in Finland insisting on speaking Finnish, instead of English, to her. Hello? Aside from her "Ugly American" whininess about this, do you really expect me to believe that she was hired to run a popular Finnish ski-resort without her employers first making sure she knew the language that most of her workers and customers would use? I am reliably informed by many native Finns that it's pretty tough for to get a job in Finland without knowing the language. Thompson, who has lived in Finland for many years and has a Finnish wife, should know better.
This is not even to go into Vaara's problems as an investigator and police officer, including actions he take that would almost certainly get him fired or even prosecuted — rather than promoted to the very top of the Finnish law enforcement hierarchy, as he apparently is in a later installment of this series. Nor have I gone into all the red herrings thrown willy-nilly into the plot like badly aimed paintballs. It would also be nice if he'd temper his stereotyping about endlessly drunk and depressed Finns by including a character or two based on some of the numerous real people in Finland — yes, I'm sure there are some even in Kittilä (which is, yes, a real town; as Levi is a real ski resort) who lead happy and functional lives, maybe even lives that don't involve sexual exploitation of others.
Etc.
All this said, there were some good things about this story too — if there weren't, I wouldn't have gotten all the way through the book, and wouldn't have given it two stars instead of just one. Thompson is not without skill as a writer; in particular, he succeeded in providing a sense of place and atmosphere: Finnish Lapland above the Arctic Circle during kaamos, the sunless dark of the year. (We've got that in parts of Alaska, too.) As a Finnish-American who has not yet had opportunity to visit Finland, I really appreciated that. Mainly, though, I regarded this novel as very instructive on how one can be a relatively decent writer & still really screw the pooch.
I understand that Snow Angel is Thompson's first novel, as well as the first in the Inspector Vaara series. I hope he improved in the later ones, maybe even enough to deserve the Edgar nominations he's received. But I won't be plopping down 12 bucks to read any of them. If I get curious, I might consider using some of the credit at my local used book store.
UPDATE: On second thought, the inherent racism & sexual degradation of black women in this book leaves no excuse: downgraded to 1 star. In fact, the descriptions of the dutifully-described-as-creepy bad guys' sexual relationships with the victim of this story leave me wondering if the southern-U.S.-born white male author of this novel typed every part of the manuscript with both hands.
August 22, 2020
A new author for me. Originally, I wanted to read the Helsinki Noir novel, which he edited, but at these times it’s more a case of reading what you can get hold of……
My first venture into Nordic Noir, Finnish style!
We get a good insight into the Finnish Psyche in the opening chapters which is on point, the author doesn’t hold back, their baggage/hang-ups laid bare…. We also meet the main characters, the detective as named on the book, Inspector Kari Vaara & his American wife Kate who is the general manager of the Levi Center a complex of bars, restaurants, hotel & entertainment centre in the Ski resort of Hullu Poro within the Arctic circle. Its deep mid-winter where night is for 24 hours a day, the scene is set……. For a VERY violent murder which is relayed in horrific detail as the Inspector records the crime scene investigation onto his phone…. I have to say it’s pretty nasty stuff for any fainthearts out there, there goes the PG warning.
Had me gripped from the first pg. I warmed to the inspector, found him very engaging both in the now & with the flashbacks which fill in the information blanks along the way. A police procedural is what we have but there is a human element to it which should appeal to many who follow this genre. There are also a plethora of other characters who all have stories to tell all revolving about Kari.
To tell you more would require spoilers……. And I don’t do them as we all know.
Certainly, will be reading more about the Inspector as a series has been spawned. Well worth a read for those that follow Nordic Noir as not many authors cover Finland & it’s somewhat unique culture compared to the rest of Scandinavia, it certainly seems to have more cultural ties with Russia imo.
4 Stars for me
My first venture into Nordic Noir, Finnish style!
We get a good insight into the Finnish Psyche in the opening chapters which is on point, the author doesn’t hold back, their baggage/hang-ups laid bare…. We also meet the main characters, the detective as named on the book, Inspector Kari Vaara & his American wife Kate who is the general manager of the Levi Center a complex of bars, restaurants, hotel & entertainment centre in the Ski resort of Hullu Poro within the Arctic circle. Its deep mid-winter where night is for 24 hours a day, the scene is set……. For a VERY violent murder which is relayed in horrific detail as the Inspector records the crime scene investigation onto his phone…. I have to say it’s pretty nasty stuff for any fainthearts out there, there goes the PG warning.
Had me gripped from the first pg. I warmed to the inspector, found him very engaging both in the now & with the flashbacks which fill in the information blanks along the way. A police procedural is what we have but there is a human element to it which should appeal to many who follow this genre. There are also a plethora of other characters who all have stories to tell all revolving about Kari.
To tell you more would require spoilers……. And I don’t do them as we all know.
Certainly, will be reading more about the Inspector as a series has been spawned. Well worth a read for those that follow Nordic Noir as not many authors cover Finland & it’s somewhat unique culture compared to the rest of Scandinavia, it certainly seems to have more cultural ties with Russia imo.
4 Stars for me
August 22, 2013
A gruesome crime intertwined with a domestic drama where family members, past, present and departed play pivotal roles. Small town detective Kari Vaara is called out to the scene of murdered high profile Somali immigrant, Sufia Elmi. The crime, akin to the famous Black Dahlia resembles the same forced brutality yet this Finnish crime is no Ellroy noir. No truer to fact or fiction yet small linkages can be drawn.
The body is mutilated, dubbed early on as a sex and hate crime, Vaara is forced to deal with something foreign to his experience and small community lifestyle. Author James Thompson takes readers on a journey which not only expands the plot but also Vaara as a person and officer of the law.
I liked the easy way Thompson rationalises Vaara’s ex-wife’s involvement by virtue of her current boyfriend and prime suspect Seppo. Once taken in for questioning, the scenarios come thick and heavy with everyone from Vaara’s ex to his own father coming under scrutiny.
The place setting added much to this police procedural. It provided something a little out of the norm and showcased some of the difficulties Vaara had to content with both in people and environment.
As the first novel in the series, SNOW ANGELS certainly has me keen for more. A solid first up police procedural with plenty of unforseen twists and turns.
The body is mutilated, dubbed early on as a sex and hate crime, Vaara is forced to deal with something foreign to his experience and small community lifestyle. Author James Thompson takes readers on a journey which not only expands the plot but also Vaara as a person and officer of the law.
I liked the easy way Thompson rationalises Vaara’s ex-wife’s involvement by virtue of her current boyfriend and prime suspect Seppo. Once taken in for questioning, the scenarios come thick and heavy with everyone from Vaara’s ex to his own father coming under scrutiny.
The place setting added much to this police procedural. It provided something a little out of the norm and showcased some of the difficulties Vaara had to content with both in people and environment.
As the first novel in the series, SNOW ANGELS certainly has me keen for more. A solid first up police procedural with plenty of unforseen twists and turns.
December 30, 2016
Noir suspense is, by far, my favorite genre and I get giddy each time I find a new author of this style. James Thompson was unusual in that he was born in the US but moved to Lapland so his writing represented that of both countries with which he was familiar. He had a smooth, conversational flow when describing the thoughts and actions of his characters, but his characters have the sardonic, dry wit and speech pattern that is typical of Nordic Noir.
In Snow Angel, Thompson's debut novel, we are introduced to Detective Kari Vaara who is tasked with finding the killer of a beautiful young actress who also happens to be black. Through Vaara's investigation, we see the dark underbelly of the country's racism, alcoholism, spousal and domestic abuse, seasonal depression and more yet Thompson brings us, the reader to the point where we see these problems, not just as belonging to this country, this setting and to these people but to all of us worldwide.
It was to my great dismay upon completing Snow Angels that I found James Thompson had suddenly and tragically died. I encourage you, as shall I, to read all of the books he has available for us.
In Snow Angel, Thompson's debut novel, we are introduced to Detective Kari Vaara who is tasked with finding the killer of a beautiful young actress who also happens to be black. Through Vaara's investigation, we see the dark underbelly of the country's racism, alcoholism, spousal and domestic abuse, seasonal depression and more yet Thompson brings us, the reader to the point where we see these problems, not just as belonging to this country, this setting and to these people but to all of us worldwide.
It was to my great dismay upon completing Snow Angels that I found James Thompson had suddenly and tragically died. I encourage you, as shall I, to read all of the books he has available for us.
July 29, 2012
Gostei muito. Está bem escrito, sem “palha” e as personagens (vivas e mortas) e enredo estão bem estruturados. Achei bastante interessante “conviver” um pouco com a sociedade finlandesa.
December 31, 2019
Un libro muy agil. No costó leerlo. Y la intriga fue muy buena. James Thompson me deleitó con el estilo de vida finlandes. Un libro que deberia leer todo amante de la intriga, suspenso.
A very agile book. It was easy to read. And the intrigue was very good. James Thompson delighted me with the Finnish lifestyle. A book that should read every lover of intrigue, suspense.
A very agile book. It was easy to read. And the intrigue was very good. James Thompson delighted me with the Finnish lifestyle. A book that should read every lover of intrigue, suspense.
February 26, 2011
If you are primarily a crime fiction buff who thrives on putting pieces of the puzzle together in a case, then you will not be overly impressed with the outcome of this series debut. If (as I imagine) you have read countless novels on murder cases, you may wince at the immodest and implausible coincidences (even for a small town!) that occur. You will embrace the noir, Arctic atmosphere of Finland during its most glacial and darkest time of year, known as Kaamos, or polar night (as cold as -40 degrees). The lean, sinewy prose will hook you in immediately. But will that be enough to sustain a veteran private-eye reader? Probably not. The climax is a bit overwrought and will cast a long, thin shadow over the landscape of this book. However, you will appreciate the solid, rich forensics as well as the ever-engaging Inspector Kari Vaara and his American wife, Kate. Their relationship draws you in, and the residents of this provincial Finnish town are vivid and stark and chillingly felt. But the payoff for a crime-novel enthusiast may inspire a few dreaded eye-rolls.
So why the four-stars? Because, although I do love an intrepid, byzantine murder mystery (and would have given it five stars if this were more the case here), I am even more devoted to a scintillating, character-driven story where the prose sparkles like stars in an inky sky and falls like accumulating snowflakes. In short, James Thomson delivers a haunting, icy tale of a fascinating, bleak population largely unfamiliar to most North Americans. He writes with empathy and wit, and with a fresh, clear, effortlessly engaging style. He penned a moving profile of the inhabitants north of the Arctic Circle and a story of their inner lives, as well as the reverberation of a shameful tragedy on their customary isolation and repression.
The Finnish culture and environment is lucidly characterized--the language, topography, relationships, and sociological underpinnings. The reader becomes educated into the silent, bottled-up nature of the townspeople and the heavy toll--religious, political, and personal--that the murder and mutilation of a beautiful Somalian actress bequeaths. Much of the population is alcoholic, due to the seasonal darkness, the bitter temperatures, and the attendant isolation. This is certainly true of the hinterlands of Vaara's jurisdiction. The confined community is under the influence of either the strict, almost medieval manifestation of the Laestadian church or the allure of its many bars. The suppressed racial and sexual tensions drive the story further forward while class and ethnic distinctions hover. Thomson does this organically, without ever pontificating. The writing stays lustrous with an economy of words that create sharp, striking images. Additionally, the private history and agonies of Inspector Vaara are sensitively and smartly portrayed by Thomson.
I am equally fascinated by the biography of this American-born author. Raised in Kentucky, he studied and is fluent in both Finnish and Swedish, and he has actually lived in Finland for the past decade. He has forged a colorful life with many professions, including (but not limited to) photographer, bartender, bouncer, and soldier. It is evident from his narrative that he has an intimate grasp of the convoluted and insular complexion of this region. I was also piqued by the attendant struggles of Kate and her difficulty acclimating to this culture and climate. This added a frothy antagonism to the story.
This is the first in a series of crime novels featuring Inspector Vaara, and I am confident that the seemingly preposterous coincidences are confined to this debut. I suspect that the agenda here was to introduce Kari and Kate, to add subtext to the terrain, and to heighten the admixture of the Inspector's personal biography with the behavior and mores of the people he routinely investigates. Like Peter Hoeg's Smilla's Sense of Snow and Karin Fossum's The Water's Edge and The Indian Bride (Inspector Sejer Mysteries), this murder mystery is a thrilling vehicle but not an end in itself. The deeper exploration is of individuals and societies--how a harrowing murder affects a socially parochial, Arctic town, and how its citizens operate in these frigid, insular conditions.
So why the four-stars? Because, although I do love an intrepid, byzantine murder mystery (and would have given it five stars if this were more the case here), I am even more devoted to a scintillating, character-driven story where the prose sparkles like stars in an inky sky and falls like accumulating snowflakes. In short, James Thomson delivers a haunting, icy tale of a fascinating, bleak population largely unfamiliar to most North Americans. He writes with empathy and wit, and with a fresh, clear, effortlessly engaging style. He penned a moving profile of the inhabitants north of the Arctic Circle and a story of their inner lives, as well as the reverberation of a shameful tragedy on their customary isolation and repression.
The Finnish culture and environment is lucidly characterized--the language, topography, relationships, and sociological underpinnings. The reader becomes educated into the silent, bottled-up nature of the townspeople and the heavy toll--religious, political, and personal--that the murder and mutilation of a beautiful Somalian actress bequeaths. Much of the population is alcoholic, due to the seasonal darkness, the bitter temperatures, and the attendant isolation. This is certainly true of the hinterlands of Vaara's jurisdiction. The confined community is under the influence of either the strict, almost medieval manifestation of the Laestadian church or the allure of its many bars. The suppressed racial and sexual tensions drive the story further forward while class and ethnic distinctions hover. Thomson does this organically, without ever pontificating. The writing stays lustrous with an economy of words that create sharp, striking images. Additionally, the private history and agonies of Inspector Vaara are sensitively and smartly portrayed by Thomson.
I am equally fascinated by the biography of this American-born author. Raised in Kentucky, he studied and is fluent in both Finnish and Swedish, and he has actually lived in Finland for the past decade. He has forged a colorful life with many professions, including (but not limited to) photographer, bartender, bouncer, and soldier. It is evident from his narrative that he has an intimate grasp of the convoluted and insular complexion of this region. I was also piqued by the attendant struggles of Kate and her difficulty acclimating to this culture and climate. This added a frothy antagonism to the story.
This is the first in a series of crime novels featuring Inspector Vaara, and I am confident that the seemingly preposterous coincidences are confined to this debut. I suspect that the agenda here was to introduce Kari and Kate, to add subtext to the terrain, and to heighten the admixture of the Inspector's personal biography with the behavior and mores of the people he routinely investigates. Like Peter Hoeg's Smilla's Sense of Snow and Karin Fossum's The Water's Edge and The Indian Bride (Inspector Sejer Mysteries), this murder mystery is a thrilling vehicle but not an end in itself. The deeper exploration is of individuals and societies--how a harrowing murder affects a socially parochial, Arctic town, and how its citizens operate in these frigid, insular conditions.
August 10, 2010
James Thompson’s SNOW ANGELS is filled with bad language, horrific details about mutilation, brutal murders, characters who are victims of their geography, and a culture about which most of us know very little. There is repeated use of a term that most Americans shun. I started reading and didn’t stop until I finished the book.
I have to clarify that; I did skim the most lurid details but once the book is started, it is impossible to put it down. This is the first in a series of books featuring Inspector Kari Vaara, assigned to an area in Lapland, above the Arctic Circle. Kari is married to Kate, an American, the reverse of the author’s relationship, he, an American, married to a Finnish woman. Kate’s difficulty in adjusting to the perpetual darkness of winter likely mirrors the author’s experience with a night that doesn’t end.
The book begins with the discovery of the mutilated body of actress Sufi Elmi, an immigrant from Somalia. “Finland has a … lot of violent crime….We kill the people we love… almost always in drunken rages…. We don’t talk about hatred, we hate in silence. It’s our way. We do everything in silence.” Sufi Elmi’s death is different. It screams hatred and as Vaara tries to discover motive and murderer, the circle of suspects expands, drawing in people who seemingly would never have known Sufi. The circle of victims expands as well, all, at some time, in some way, having been touched by the beautiful woman whose death started it all.
There is a harshness to this book that directly reflects the harshness of the setting. The author frequently reminds us that things happen in the dark of winter that could not happen in the light of summer; some crimes are born because of the darkness. But Vaara tells us, “In winter, twenty-four hours a day, uncountable stars outline the vaulted ceiling of the great cathedral we live in. Finnish skies are the reason I believe in God.” Vaara’s salvation is Kate; he survives the problems of investigating a high profile murder in the town in which he grew up, where suspects can be close friends from childhood and some can be even closer than that.
This is going to be a series well worth following.
April 20, 2012
I can see why Snow Angels was short-listed for an Edgar Award and was selected as one of Booklist’s best Crime Novel Debuts! Finnish resident and American, James Thompson’s writing style is lean and sinewy and reflects the “Nordic Noir” atmosphere of the Finnish setting and his characters. I felt the bitter cold and desolation of the kaamos and its effects upon each of characters. The forensics and investigating techniques of Vaara and his small police force are well researched and are strategically told. I admit the perpetrator(s) were not who I thought and that is what makes Snow Angels a fantastic read. Thompson offers up many potential suspects as well as a haunting story of racism, religiosity, and relationships as Inspector Kari Vaara seeks the truth behind the brutal murder of a gorgeous Somali starlet.
On the pristine snow in a field of a reindeer farm 100 miles into the Artic Circle lays a beautiful woman. Her arms are above her head at 45 degree angles with signs she made herself an exquisite snow angel in death, except for the brutal mutilation of her body. She is naked. She is black. She is Muslim. She is a rising Finnish starlet. And Police Chief Kari Vaara knows he has a major headache on his hands. The investigation will be of national importance. Sex crime? Racial crime? Religious crime? All of the above, given who she is, wonders Vaara. He doesn’t know yet, but this kaamos will be one of the most difficult and dangerous he has ever experienced when evidence soon points to the common law husband of his first wife. He should recuse himself, but his need to search for the truth is far greater. As Christmas inches closer, fissures deepen within the relationships of his small team, his pregnant American wife, and his father. More dead bodies are discovered and Vaara knows this kaamos will be the most difficult and dangerous season he has ever experienced. Will the new father be able to solve this brutal crime with his integrity intact? Are the other bodies linked to this murder? If so, will his world ever be the same? It is worth the few hours to find out.
On the pristine snow in a field of a reindeer farm 100 miles into the Artic Circle lays a beautiful woman. Her arms are above her head at 45 degree angles with signs she made herself an exquisite snow angel in death, except for the brutal mutilation of her body. She is naked. She is black. She is Muslim. She is a rising Finnish starlet. And Police Chief Kari Vaara knows he has a major headache on his hands. The investigation will be of national importance. Sex crime? Racial crime? Religious crime? All of the above, given who she is, wonders Vaara. He doesn’t know yet, but this kaamos will be one of the most difficult and dangerous he has ever experienced when evidence soon points to the common law husband of his first wife. He should recuse himself, but his need to search for the truth is far greater. As Christmas inches closer, fissures deepen within the relationships of his small team, his pregnant American wife, and his father. More dead bodies are discovered and Vaara knows this kaamos will be the most difficult and dangerous season he has ever experienced. Will the new father be able to solve this brutal crime with his integrity intact? Are the other bodies linked to this murder? If so, will his world ever be the same? It is worth the few hours to find out.
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