Vilpittömästi sinun

Studio #1

by Pekka Hiltunen

Lia on paennut keskinkertaisuutta Lontooseen. Elämä on yksinäistä, koska tämän suomalaisen naisen on vaikea päästää ihmisiä lähelleen. Päivisin hän työskentelee graafikkona laatulehdessä, illat lenkkeilee ja kulkee puistossa puhumassa patsaille.

Mutta Lian elämään astuu vaara. Hän kohtaa raa'an rikoksen, joka ei jätä rauhaan. Kun hän pian sen jälkeen tapaa kiehtovan maannaisensa Marin, elämä muuttuu lopullisesti. Heistä tulee läheisiä ja Mari uskoutuu poikkeuksellisesta kyvystään. Mari osaa lukea ihmisiä, nähdä heistä enemmän kuin muut. Hänellä on myös epätavallinen työ. Hulppeassa Studiossa Banksidella työskentelee huippuammattilaisten tiimi, joka tarvittaessa ottaa oikeuden omiin käsiinsä taistellakseen kovaa poliitikkoa tai naisten hyväksikäyttöä vastaan. Lialle avautuu rikosten ja peiteltyjen operaatioiden vaarallinen maailma. Mutta Marin salaperäisyyttä on vaikea murtaa. Kuka tuo nainen oikeastaan on, ja mitä hän Liasta haluaa?

Vilpittömästi sinun on psykologinen trilleri, jonka juoni vetää vastustamattomasti eteenpäin. Se kertoo suomalaisten naisten ystävyydestä ja taitavasti tehdyistä huijauksista. Tapahtumien näyttämönä on kaunis ja kylmä Lontoo.

Genres: Crime, Finnish Literature, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Audiobook, Suspense

424 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Pekka Hiltunen (b. 1966) is an author and journalist living in Helsinki. He works as the managing editor at the Mondo magazine.
Hiltunen was nominated for the Helsingin Sanomat Literature Prize for debut novelists, and was awarded the Kaarle Prize for 2012, the Clue of the Year Prize in 2012 and the Laila Hirvisaari Prize in 2012. He was also awarded the Writing Editor prize for 2010 and nominated for the Scandinavian Glass Key Prize 2013 and Impac Dublin Award 2015. One of Pekka’s literary role models is Peter Høeg, especially Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow.
Publishing rights in Pekka Hiltunen's psychological thriller Cold Courage (2011), which started his Studio-series, have been sold to seven countries. The second novel in the series, Black Noise (2012), got also excellent reviews and has been translated to English, German and Czech languages and will come out in French. Hiltunen writes also general fiction; his third book BIG, a novel on obesity, was published with enormous media buzz in Finland in 2013. In 2015, he publishes his fourth novel in Finnish, the third book in the Studio-series, called Fear Me.

Reviews

[Graham Crawford · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a pretty dreadful book, but it has won awards and is apparently well liked by people in Finland. It might just be the case that the English translation is terrible. There are some interesting themes of social justice and violence to women that have merit, but the prose is unsophisticated to the point of blandness.

I think this book is a wanna be "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", written by someone punching way above their weight. It suffers from the fatal tendency of TELLING the reader things rather than SHOWING us. The vigilante genius is supposed to have a Sherlock-Holmesian skill of being able to read people's minds, but we never see this used to solve the crime, instead she simply uses her money to hire a batch of professionals with barely walk on parts. Our mysterious genius plays such a small role that it's hard to see why she is even needed in this book.

The plot mechanics are awkward and unbelieveable. All the clues are discovered by the main character being improbably told key information. This story could have worked if time was spent on a high octane caper or sting - but it wallows in self conscious exposition.

[Hallie]

This may not actually be that bad at all, but I'd listened for 2 hours or so and we were pretty much stalled out with an inebriated discourse between Lia and Mari about why Finnish girls are so fantastic, which either depends on lots of good vodka and plenty of sex or results in the consumption of both, I got too bored to be sure I followed closely. Just didn't care enough to keep listening until the mystery actually became part of the story proper.

[Aneta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me a while to decide if not to go for five stars. I wasn't quite sure if this was my best purchase in the begining - first hundred pages didn't feel that moving... and then I got really hooked and began to like every character in the Studio. Just like that, in couple pages.

Moving towards the finish, the book was Finnish and absolutely brilliant. So, very strong 4 stars, more like 4.5!

Hiltunen is certainly an author I won't let out of my reader's sight.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Monet palkinnot saanut dekkari, joka ei kuitenkaan ollut minua varten. Sijoittuu Lontooseen, jossa parikymppinen graafikko Lia sattumalta näkee raa'an murhan uhrin, eikä saa näkyä mielestään. Lia tutustuu salaperäiseen Mariin. Tämä osoittautuu rikkaaksi multitalentiksi, joka mm. osaa liki lukea toisten ajatuksia. Marikin on alle kolmikymppinen, mutta johtaa silti muutaman huippuammattilaisen Studiota, joka oikaisee erilaisia vääryyksiä huijauksien ja monimutkaisten juonien avulla. Minun makuuni aivan liian mielikuvituksellista yli-ihmisyyttä ja arveluttavaa oman käden oikeutta.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

* I was provided with a hardback copy of this book by the First Reads Scheme on Good Reads.

{This review may contain a few spoilers}

My first impression of the cover was that it might well prove to be a very dark and forbidding read, and I wasn't particularly looking forward to it. So, I opened it not with a little trepidation.

Having just finished, I am happy to report that it exceeded my expectations, and then some. It just shows, one should not really judge a book by its cover!

I cannot deny that it wasn't difficult subjects being dealt with: murder, fraud, brutality, prostitution, domestic abuse and manipulation of a political party for personal gain and exploitation. However, it was dealt with very sympathetically.

Quite simply the writing was an exceptional quality, with well formed characters. We are treated to a well thought through plot and a nice pace that keeps the pages turning.

Lia in particular was written well. There were glimpses into her past, but the reader is not left to feel not that there wasn't sufficient back story to judge her abilities and vulnerabilities.

As far as Mari was concerned I was left with the distinct impression that there was much more to her than met the eye. She had a darker side, and it left me feeling more distrustful of her motives as the plot moved along. I still am not completely sure in my own mind whether she was likeable. Certainly she came across as somewhat manipulative, but was that really for the good of mankind of by way of her own self-service? Was it due to her past or her complex personality? Without a doubt Pekka wrote a multi-layered and complex personality, and maybe that Mari was intentionally written to be a 'shifting sands' character, with the reader making up his or her own mind about her.

The quality of the writing made me hope he will go on to write something more that will reveal further Mari and her work (be it for good of bad).

Having felt invested in Lia too, I'm left with a strong need to know more of her future.

Five stars for me for this book, highly recommended. Kudos to Pekka for an exception piece of writing, and fingers crossed he goes on to write a sequel.

[Ships · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely different, this is a slow burn with a noir type feel throughout.
Lia a Finnish graphic designer who has a life changing experience when a murdered Latvian prostitute is found dead in broad daylight, the tragic circumstances do not leave Lia she becomes somewhat obsessed with any progress on the case.
Lia meets Mari, an enigmatic woman with an almost supernatural power, who has an innate ability to read people, running a secretive organisation called 'The Studio' . Here they try to put right injustices which come in many wide and varied forms. they manipulate the system and are often on the wrong side of the law to gain the results they want.

A firm friendship ensues between Lia and Mari though Mari's motives are unclear, she's a multi-layered complex character as she handles challenges like, domestic abuse, corruption, prostitution, murder all sewn into the plot seamlessly.
They make an agreement if Lia helps to bring down a corrupt politician who is gaining momentum, Mari will use her own vast resources to help find out more information about the murder of the Latvian prostitute.
I found Mari's character almost frigid and could not warm to her, though the secrets she holds makes me want to investigate further.
Lia is much easier to understand and I loved how she developed and grew in strength as the story progressed.
The surrounding characters are strong and well defined, with a quality of writing that can't be denied. I found the slow pace increased my satisfaction towards the end and would decidedly read more by PH.

[Anne Holappa · Rating 3 out of 5]

two finnish female in London. interesting setting. could not believe that the author is male, he had some feminine manners familiar with more to do with chick-lit novels. the plot went too slowly for me, I admit skipping a few pages - which is not good. overall rating: not bad.

[Linnea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mainio psykologinen trilleri vahvoista suomalaisista naisista, väkivallasta, epäoikeudenmukaisuudesta ja Lontoosta. Teos toimii itsekseen, mutta heittää sen verran koukkuja että toinen osa täytynee lukea.

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story that went nowhere with unrealistic situations and characters. The side characters where more interesting than the two mains, who were a pair of stilted automatons. Read in place of sleep aids.

[Sanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hieno, mukaansatempaava ja tiivistunnelmainen kirja. Jotenkin niin epäsuomalainen (hyvällä tavalla), vaikka suomalaisia naisia kirjassa esiintyikin. Innolla odotan seuraavan osan lukemista!

[Reetta Saine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erilainen dekkari, joka vähän vetää yli monellakin tasolla. Teksti kuitenkin pitää hyvin koukussa, kun ei ajattele ihan turhan kriittisesti.

[Timo Pietilä · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pienehkössä lehdessä graafisena suunnittelijana työskentelevä nainen tapaa baarikierroksella toisen suomalaisen naisen, psykologin, jolla on oma, erikoislaatuinen firma, joka suorittaa erilaisia aika erikoisia projekteja. Yhtenä kirjan alkuvaiheen projektin kohteena oli matkapuhelinfirma, joka oli nostanut liittymiensä hintaa. Tarkalla suunnittelulla firma nolattiin pahasti, sen pörssikurssi romahti ja se joutui peruuttamaan hinnankorotukset. (hiukan jäi auki mikä tämän kaiken, ilmeisen kalliin projektin, taustalla oli - tuskin halpojen puheluiden tarjoaminen ihan hyvää hyvyyttään, ei kai sellainen yhdestä firmasta kiinni olisi. Ihan täydellisen ilmiselvään mahdolliseen syyhyn - osakekurssikeinotteluun + sisäpiirikaupankäyntiin ei kirjassa vihjattu lainkaan. En tiedä oliko tässä kyseessä kirjailijan oveluus ja asioiden oman hoksaamisen varaan jättäminen vaiko juonenkehityksen naiivius takana. Epäilen vahvasti tuliko kirjailijalle edes mieleen kyseisen kaltaisen tempun aivan jättimäiset taloudelliset keinottelumahdollisuudet. Sopivilla futuurikaupoilla olisi todennäköisesti voinut tienata helposti satoja miljoonia. Sen verran suuria idiotismeja ja tietämättömyyden osoituksia kirjassa oli, että on todennäköistä, että kyseessä ei ollut mikään kirjailijan ovela juoni.
Muitakin erittäin ärsyttäviä typeryyksiä kirjasta löytyi. Kuinka kirjailija, joka kirjoittaa kirjan, jossa osajuonena on Englannin politiikka, voi olla niin pihalla Englannin vaalijärjestelmästä, että kuvittelee suositun hyvän äänisaaliin saavan poliitikon vetävän mukanaan muita ehdokkaita? Tai että puolueella, jonka kannatus on viiden prosentin tietämissä, olisi mitään käytännön mahdollisuuksia edes yhteen parlamenttipaikkaan, etenkin jos ajaa hiukan kiistanalaista ohjelmaa – jokaiseen paikkaan kun pitää saada omalla alueella enemmistö äänistä. Myös asetekninen tietämys oli kovin kyseenalainen, tuskin kovimmatkaan konnat sentään konekivääriä olisivat käyttäneet siten kuin käyttivät, konepistooli tai enintään rynnäkkökivääri olisivat olleet todennäköisempiä vaihtoehtoja. Kirjailijan tietotekninenkään tietämys ei ollut häikäisevää, keyloggerin asentamiseen ei kyllä tarvitse vaihtaa koko näppäimistöä, pelkkä simppeli ohjelma tai pieni välikappale näppäimistöjohtoon kyllä riittää mainiosti. Myös lääketieteellinen tietämys oli samalla tasolla, paniikkikohtauksen saaneelta otettiin päivystyksessä keskellä yötä EEG ja kaiken lisäksi se kuvattiin poikkeavaksi.
Kirjan tahdituksessa oli myös melkoisia ongelmia; kirjan alku oli erittäin hidas ja kohokohta tuli kovin varhaisessa vaiheessa, jonka jälkeen oli sitten pitkään tyhjäkäyntiä. Kirjan rikosjuoni oli hiukan kumma, toinen päähenkilö innostuu aika heikosti perustelluista syistä rajun murhan selvittelystä. Tapausta selvittelevä poliisikin viitsi tämän ihan satunnaisen maallikon kanssa käymään asiasta pitkän neuvottelun. Joo, varmaan. Plus täysin häikäilemättömän useita ihmisiä kylmäverisesti tappaneet konnat pitivät paria henkilöä vankina ilman mitään järkevää syytä – oikeastihan vanhempi olisi tapettu lähimpään katuojaan ja nuorempi nainen laitettu tienaamaan rahaa prostituutiossa.
Kirja aikanaan oli jossain vuoden parhaita listoillakin ja taisi voittaa vuoden dekkari palkinnon. En kyllä oikein käsitä, kyseessä oli selvästi keskitason alapuolella oleva dekkari sekä juonellisesti että loogisesti, eikä kielellinen asukaan mitenkään häikäisevää vaikutelmaa antanut.

[Jittishodan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tämä palkittukin dekkari oli jälleen yksi kirjahyllyyni kymmeneksi vuodeksi lukemistaan odottamaan jäänyt yllätys. Joulukuussa flunssaisena otin sen viimein luettavaksi. Dekkarin alku oli lupaava ja mysteerimurhaa ryhdyttiin selvittämään mutta, mutta…

Sitten toiseksi juoneksi tuli oikeistolaisuuden vastustaminen ja suvaisevaisuusideologia. Kaiken ideologian tuputtaminen ärsyttää aina ja erityisesti, jos suvaitsevaisuusideologian varjolla voi kirjan mukaan astua lain väärälle puolelle halutessaan. Pelkkä mysteerimurhan selvittäminen olisi ollut yksinään hyvä ja kantava juoni.

Päähenkilö, Lian isosiskoksi saapuva Mari - kaikkivoipa Supernainen salaisen tiedustelu- ja tuholaisorganisaationsa kanssa - on epäuskottavuudessaan kuin suoraan toiselta planeetalta.

Tuskin tulee luettua Hiltusen Studio-sarjan seuraavas dekkaria.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young woman on a bus in London notices a car surrounded by police.
Later she finds out that the woman had no face and was brutally
murdered. Lia from Finland, a graphic designer finds herself
wanting to know more about this woman. In the process she
ends up meeting another Finnish woman and the world becomes
a different place for Lia. Great thriller. Lots of twists and turns.
Definitely a good book for people who enjoy mystery thrillers.

[Titta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tarina kertoo vähän erikoisista suomalaisista ystävyksistä Lontoossa. Hiukan arvelluttavat toimintatavat tuolla salaseuralla, johon toinen heistä kuuluu. Tämä oli kirjoitettu best selleriksi, muttei ihan yltänyt sellaiseksi. Yritystä silti oli, mutta jotenkin päälleliimattuja juttuja oli vähän liikaa. Liian kliseiset henkilöt ja liian kliseinen tarina höystettynä väkivaltaisilla tapahtumilla ja niihin liittyvillä moraalisilla ongelmilla. Jospa jatko-osat yltävät parempaan.

[Pauliina Lassila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olen taas itselleni tyypillisesti lukenut sarjaa väärässä järjestyksessä ja nyt tämä ensimmäinen osa selvensi aiemmin lukemiani kirjoja. Luin kirjan juuri Lontoosta palattuani ja siksikin tykkäsin; oli helppo sijoittaa tapahtumat paikoilleen. Tykkään näiden kirjojejn viipyilevästä tyylistä.

[Jane B · Rating 3 out of 5]

The basic story was good, but it wasn’t a page turner. It wasn’t so bad that I wanted to give up, but I also wasn’t rushing to get through it . Glad I completed it , but would never read it again .
It’s an easy uncomplicated read. But not something I’d recommend to anyone.

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down. I kid you not, I read the whole book in one sitting. It was so good. And the suspense was honestly killing me. I had to know who committed the murders. And the suspense is present until the last few pages.
This is definitely one of my favourite books.

[Anni · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars!

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, steady story but disappointed with the ending.

[Päivi Brink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luin tän nopeasti ja aloitin heti seuraavan osan. Hyvä.

[Merja · Rating 2 out of 5]

Helmet haasteen kohtaan 12. En oikein ymmärrä millä meriiteillä kirja sai sen palkinnon jonka sai, mielestäni se oli mitäänsanomaton.

[Eitzu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lua ja Mari. Hyvä alku, tyhmä keskiosa, mutta kohtuullinen loppu.

[Suvituulia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trillerin sivuilla oli kiva palata Lontoon kaduille. Hyvä kirja, mutta ihan kaikkiin kysymyksiini ei lopussa vastattu. Pitänee etsiä jatko-osa käsiin 🕵️‍♀️

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn’t finish this book, lost interest…didn’t particularly like the storyline or the characters.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lia Pajala is a Finnish expat living in London who becomes involved with the Studio, a small organisation that operates slightly below the law to manipulate social justice as its owner Mari Rautee, another Finnish expat, sees fit. When Lia witnesses the results of a brutal murder in central London and the police investigation stalls due to a lack of evidence, she works with the Studio to investigate the crime and bring the perpetrators to account. Mari is also working on a campaign to remove the political ambitions of Arthur Fried, the leader of the ultra-right Fair Rule party, likely to gain a foothold in Parliament at the next election. Hiltunen's characters and plot were interesting enough to keep me reading to the end. The idea of placing Finns in Britain added an extra layer that showed evidence of a sly inventiveness in the author's imagination and the freedom to make a loose social commentary without borders. An occasional clash of cultures (Finnish vs British) also caused some amusement, although this was not really played up much in the story. Lia's experience of the sometimes isolated expat life was realistic and her PTSD well-described - it was nice to see some less common themes novelised in more detail than is usual in popular fiction.

Unfortunately, there was plenty not to like about this book. First and foremost, the author has enjoyed a career of over 20 years as a journalist. A journalist has the potential to be an excellent novelist, but the problem here was that he seemed to forget that his format was supposed to be different. The result was short, pointed sentences and paragraphs that read more like an online newspaper report than a novel. Second, it was translated from Finnish. Translated works can be very, very good, but they have to be properly fluent; this one read so that it was painfully obvious that it was a translation. Narrative flow was sacrificed for an almost complete grammatical accuracy, and the characters spoke and thought in a bland language almost entirely without idiom, unless it was highlighted to show "Yes this person is ", as when the Finns used Finnish words that have no English equivalent. In reality, it's very difficult to remove slang, lifelong linguistic habits and idiomatic expressions from thought processes and regular speech, and a distinct lack of them sounds unnatural - every competent writer knows that speech idiosyncrasies are part of characterisation in fiction. Third, the male Latvian characters were bad-guy pimps, whose female Latvian victims were prostitutes, cardboard characters who were either entirely good or entirely bad, reinforcing eastern European stereotypes without depth or dimension. Fourth, the book was set in London, but I got no sense of place from it - a few place names and bus routes are not enough. Where were the smells, the tastes, the sounds, the bustle, the crowdedness? Part of the story happened around Christmas, but there was barely any mention of Yuletide London - the city virtually transforms itself at that time of year, as any local or tourist will tell you, but the author failed to evoke any seasonal feeling whatsoever. Fifth, the Studio was just a bit too full of overtalented stereotypes (the computer nerd, the grizzled detective, etc.) that never disagreed with each other, so it could do no wrong and never fail, which robbed the story of any suspense. This is supposed to be a crime novel. Suspense is what makes the story work.

Really, if this book won awards, it must have lost something essential in translation. Some press reviews have compared him to Stieg Larsson, but he doesn't come anywhere close. I want to give this novel a higher grade, but there's far too much wrong with it - every other Nordic crime writer I've read (all in English translation) has done far better work, even the ones to whom I've only given three stars. I'm not going to read the sequel, nor any more by this writer. It just didn't impress me enough, and life's too short to read authors that I don't like.

[Elizabeth Sulzby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most unusual book. Metacognitive, high tech, great and unusual characters. Almost every sentence grabbed me.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mon opinion sur ce livre est assez partagée: l'histoire est bonne mais elle ne m'a pas donné tout ce que j'en attendais.



Je commence par le côté technique, puisqu'il s'agit du moins intéressant en terme de critique. Cependant, plusieurs éléments sont la preuve du manque d'attention de l'auteur envers son oeuvre.

Une entreprise créée par Mari se nomme Asking. Or, elle se retrouve, en une occurrence, écrite Aksing. Il me semble qu'une simple relecture aurait suffit à éviter cette erreur. (*1)

Il manque également, sauf erreur de ma part, le mot "que" dans la portion de phrase "est-ce nous devrions". (*2)

Enfin, le verbe "on invertit" aurait, à mon avis, plutôt dû être remplacé par "on intervertit". (*3)



Je fais la transition, chers téléspectateurs, avec ce qui m'a le plus dérangé avec ce livre: la manière qu'à l'auteur de mettre sur papier les dialogues de son récit.

En effet, sur toute la longueur du livre, et ce n'est pas rien de la dire vu la taille de l'objet, il est impossible de savoir si on est en train de lire la réplique d'un des personnages ou du texte narratif. Et là, vous êtes étonné. Ce n'est pas possible, me direz-vous? On sait forcément s'il s'agit d'une parole à voix haute, du fait de la présence d'un tiret en début de paragraphe ou de guillemets? Eh bien ici, je vous assure que non.
Ce problème (du moins, ça l'a été pour moi) venant du fait que, dans un texte écrit de la même manière qu'un passage naratif, les mots le terminant sont, par exemple ", répondit-elle". Et cela m'a totalement empêché de conserver un rythme soutenu de lecture, puisque beaucoup de portions de texte, que l'on a pris pour narratives, du genre "Il y avait habituellement beaucoup de femmes Lettonnes à fréquenter cet endroit, dit Mari." nous font nous rendre compte qu'il ne fallait pas juste prendre ce qu'on a lu pour de la description mais pour un dialogue de personnage, modifiant totalement la mise en scène que l'on s'est mis en tête.



Pour terminer, j'explique ce dont j'ai parlé dans la première phrase de cette critique.

La quatrième de couverture nous vend une ambiance sombre et difficile, à travers le meurtre et la prostitution. Certes, le livre en contient, mais pas de là à mériter de nous faire croire que'il n'y aura que cela. La protagoniste ne se retrouve dans les bas fonds d'une boîte de nuit, poursuivie par un méchant qu'une seule fois. De plus, l'intrigue principale est secondée par une histoire de politique et de candidat à démettre, qui n'a rien à voir avec la précédente. Je sais qu'il y a souvent 2 intrigues dans un récit, mais là elles sont carrément de même taille. Si vous vouliez pouvoir vous concentrer sur l'histoire présentée sur la couverture, c'est raté.



En conclusion, et surtout si toutes mes remarques ci-dessus ne vous rebutent pas, n'hésitez pas à lire ce livre. Il contient de l'action, de l'implication de la part des personnages mais aussi de fortes relations entre eux. Bref, un bon moment à passer.


--------
Pages:
(*1) 97
(*2) 141
(*3) 205

[Julia Molloy · Rating 2 out of 5]

With the successful trend of European thrillers comes the translation Cold Courage by Pekka Hiltunen. When a Latvian woman is brutally murdered in the middle of London, Lia, a Finnish graphic designer, is more than usually affected by the event despite not knowing the victim. On her quest to find out what happened, she encounters Mari and the Studio, an enigmatic group attempting to deliver its own justice on the world. Will Lia succeed in discovering the truth or will she lose herself and her morality along the way?

Relatively new to this particular genre, I expected to find out what all the fuss surrounding psychological thrillers was about. Hiltunen has certainly succeeded in creating a dark murder story that at times becomes quite graphic in its description of the killings whilst still keeping the realistic element of modern day London. The setting is easy to relate to and Hiltunen clearly knows London well enough to be able to recreate it accurately in his psychological thriller.

Yet whilst Hiltunen’s novel reads well and is intriguing, Cold Courage ended up being a little lukewarm for me. The main problem is the characters. Hiltunen’s character-building is very precise and even now I could tell you the foibles of each particular character, yet I felt little if any emotion for any of them. The murdered woman fades into the background despite her death forming the whole story, Mari is something of a control freak and Lia is far too gullible and subordinate to sympathise with. The result was that I read Cold Courage with a sort of detachment, which for a psychological thriller is disappointing.

It was also irritating to have Lia’s thoughts constantly interspersed throughout the main text in italics, which felt like a flat attempt to put the ‘psychological’ in ‘psychological thriller’. The brief insights into Mari’s thoughts done through short chapters written in the present tense were also unnecessary. The mystery and intrigue surrounding her character would have been better maintained without these excerpts, which added nothing to the plot and only increased a dislike of her.

My first foray into this genre wasn’t what I expected it to be. Cold Courage, whilst having a good plot, certainly left me feeling cold. The conclusion was rushed and left far too much white space at the end – Mari’s character was understandably left open but Lia’s future was as equally uncertain and lonely. It was difficult to feel any sort of closure at the end of the book.

Although not the worst the novel I’ve ever read, Cold Courage didn’t quite ignite for me. An interesting read, but perhaps meant for the avid fan of this particular genre.

[Sarah-Jayne Briggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I did think this book was quite good. The characters were fairly interesting and I found myself continuing to read, eager to see what was going to happen. The book was quite hard to put down.

I'm not sure I really liked Mari. Even though she was doing things that turned out to be good, I'm not sure that she was really doing them to help people - only to get something for herself. She was very manipulative. I also think that her 'gift' came across more as a psychic thing than just mere observation - which isn't a problem, but she clearly wasn't a mentalist, since she seemed to have visions at various times.

Lia was an interesting character and I did like her. I found her fairly believable in her attempts to bring the murderer to justice. I couldn't really call this book a suspense thriller, though - there were very few actual twists; and very little true investigating going on. (And I have to say that, about the investigating that did happen, Lia was an idiot. But then, those stupid actions did have consequences, so I think it all worked out).

Lia did keep coming across as older than she was actually meant to be. I also found a lot of telling, not showing, going on. Lia was described as being this really hard woman with a strong sense of humour... the latter of which, I have to say, I saw no evidence of.

I did also find that there seemed to be a lot of info-dumping in the guise of speech-that-actually-wasn't. Instead of having the characters actually talking, there were parts that were written as thoughts - which was extremely confusing when the other characters responded to said thoughts.

The other characters from the Studio were mostly interesting, but I kept getting confused about Berg. In comparison to the others, he didn't really seem to have much to make him stand out.

I did like the entwining of the two storylines. Both worked well to keep my attention and I found myself also wanting Fried brought down - and the murderer brought to justice. I can't say I was all that comfortable with the resolution to it all, but I felt that it was a resolution that worked.

I did find the random slipping into present tense in at least two chapters to be confusing and unnecessary, though.

I did like this book and I'd recommend it to people looking for this type of book to read. It's good because it doesn't fit neatly into a little box.