Nordic Noir discussion

Information on James Thompson

With his first internationally published novel, Snow Angels, James Thompson proved himself Finland’s best and most popular representative in the rise of Nordic noir. It was selected as one of Booklist’ s Best Crime Novel Debuts of the Year and nominated for an Edgar Award, an Anthony Award, and a Strand Critics Award. His recent novel, Lucifer’s Tears, has already received tremendous critical acclaim and seems destined for international success. His next novel, Helsinki White, is scheduled for U.S. release in March, 2012. He is also a reviewer for The New York Journal of Books.

Thompson, an American, age forty-seven, has lived in Finland for over a dozen years. He resides in Helsinki with his Finnish wife. He has a Master’s degree in English Philology from The University of Helsinki, where he also studied Swedish and Finnish, in which he is fluent. Thompson is represented by literary agency Sobel Weber Associates. His U.S. publisher is G.P. Putnam’s Sons, and at present his works are distributed by ten publishers worldwide. International film rights for the entire Inspector Vaara series have been optioned.

In the past, Thompson has worked as a bartender, bouncer, construction worker, and soldier.

posted on Jim's FB this am - http://www.rittlit.com/tervetuloa/#mo...

looks like book 4 in the Vaara seris is going to be called Helsinki Blood - now if only we had a release date...

I loved Helsinki White-can't wait for the next one!

i'm torturing myself but holding off on Helsinki White until the release date of book 4 is announced

I got a note from James Thompson but am I in another world. It came today 6/12/12. But it said March 28, 2012. He said his next book was 95% written and that the name was "The Sleep of the Dead". His computer was playing games maybe that's what happened.

he did say that his computer has been possessed in a previous blog post - he lost a lot of emails and stuff apparently...

Hi Dee, they published the first 3 on March 15. I imagine it will be the same with Helsinki Blood in 2013. Damn, I hate the waiting.

Kenneth wrote: "I got a note from James Thompson but am I in another world. It came today 6/12/12. But it said March 28, 2012. He said his next book was 95% written and that the name was "The Sleep of the Dead"..."

My computer is possessed by demons. The book is done, goes off to copyediting today.

you hate the waiting!! imagine how we, your faithful followers feel...lol! :)

James wrote: "Hi Dee, they published the first 3 on March 15. I imagine it will be the same with Helsinki Blood in 2013. Damn, I hate the waiting."

Really??? You already know if Kari redeems himself..we have to wait! lol

Current projects: 2 short stories. A 10,000 word essay on the War On Terror for an anthologoly. Managing editor for an antholology of Finnish short stories for the Akashic noir series. Daydreaming the next Vaara tale. And today cleaning my house. Keeping busy.

Naomi wrote: "James wrote: "Hi Dee, they published the first 3 on March 15. I imagine it will be the same with Helsinki Blood in 2013. Damn, I hate the waiting."

Really??? You already know if Kari redeems himse..."
Hmm. Interesting philisophical question. The true meaning of redemption. It seems to me that it can take many forms. We can't undo the past, and can seldom right our wrongs, only wish we'd done things differently. To quote Vaara in the next book, "Once you let that bullet fly, there's no calling it back."

James wrote: "With his first internationally published novel, Snow Angels, James Thompson proved himself Finland’s best and most popular representative in the rise of Nordic noir. It was selected as one of Bookl..."

To update. 14 years in Finland. 12 publishers. Agented by Penn Whaling of Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency. And 1st 3 books optioned for film. Vaara books 5 & 6 will be offered for sale in the fall and I hope stay with my current U.S. publisher, Putnam. Then afterward film rights for 4-6 are for sale. 4 is already pretty much a done deal.

Have been thinking about your question and the themes of Helsinki Blood. Redemption is a theme, but I think the prevailing one is healing, for all the main characters. And personal growth. Those words sound odd describing the themes of a hardcore noir novel, and it is that, but that is at least my perception of them.

This question has been asked a few times and in a number of articulations. I think what a lot of people are really getting at is the question of will they be able to like Kari and Kate again. Yes, I believe so.

Actually, I didn't stop liking them; they're just in a tortured place right now.

James wrote: "Naomi wrote: "James wrote: "Hi Dee, they published the first 3 on March 15. I imagine it will be the same with Helsinki Blood in 2013. Damn, I hate the waiting."

Really??? You already know if Kari..."

Oh, I like that quote! ok..let's say it this way..Kari better get on my good side again!! lol

James wrote: "Have been thinking about your question and the themes of Helsinki Blood. Redemption is a theme, but I think the prevailing one is healing, for all the main characters. And personal growth. Those wo..."

WTH, Jim?? Are you writing a self help book?? New side of you coming out! roflmbo!!

Hoping to get my own talk show. Dr. Jim

Well aren't you the Renaissance man?!?!

I saw renaissance man and had visions of Danny Diveto in that old movie where he goes to teach on an army base and teaches the kids who need help Shakespeare...

I love that movie. It cracks me up!

me too...it was released as Army Intelligence in Australia...much better title IMHO

Huh??? I wonder why they didn't call it the same thing. I about busted out laughing when they were on the tower having to jump down it esp. with Danny Devito having to do it...hilarious.

Naomi wrote: "Well aren't you the Renaissance man?!?!"

Depends on how you define it. If you mean have I slogged through everything that I thought might hold any intellectual interest for me published during the past millenium, plus older religious tracts, I suppose so. If it means I've acquired a tremendous amount of knowledge about subjects of interest to almost no one, when I could have learned things of practical benefit for goals such as earning a living, I think you could view me as an idiot, wasting my time. I dunno. You decide.

See..and I took it as being a person with a great variety of talents and knowledge!! Damn, Jim..I was giving you a compliment!! rofl!!

Maybe he's been in Finland way too long... to take a compliment? ;)

Guess So...Learned my lesson!! Taught me!! lol

Thought this was really cool on Jim's FB page..It is a Finnish Pronunciation Guide for his books.

http://jamesthompsonauthor.com/site/m...

Yeah, sorry, it's true. Life here makes it hard to get a compliment and just say 'thank you.' I'll try again. Thank you.

tehehehe!!We're always a soft spot for you to fall, Jim!!

James wrote: "Yeah, sorry, it's true. Life here makes it hard to get a compliment and just say 'thank you.' I'll try again. Thank you."

Double length sigh. Life in Finland, after acclimation, means never having to say you're sorry, unless you just want to, which is rare. Feeling that if you can't do something to absolute perfection, you shouldn't do it at all, and since nothing is ever perfect, feeling guilt about all your failings and being self-deprecating, no matter your successes. Depression because of all of the above. I compliment my wife, who is quite beautiful, and she doesn't say 'thank you', but instead answers with a Finnish sound, probably something like .mmmm to your ears. It's a big difference, and not a healthy one, between Finland and most of Scandinavia. I DO appreciate compliments. It's just easier for me to respond to criticisms than lauds. I try. And thanks. The lauds are appreciated.

Oh, talking about the Finnish "mmmh" and "joo" type of replies in any discussion... well, my hubby doesn't speak Finnish but one of these days we're gonna figure out how long he can seem to understand everything someone says in Finnish. Like on one of the next trips, or around the next party where we might run to some Finns. "Mmmh", "mm-hm", "joo", "mm", "mmmh-m", "mh", "mmh", "mhmm" etc. It could take a while...

I do have a vague recollection of having tried that actually with my mum one day on phone, and I don't think she noticed at all that I didn't really say anything other than variations of "mmhm" for quite a while. Then again, when it's kind of just trying to acknowledge you're listening to someone's monologue, it's easy. And way too many discussions I've seen (well, heard rather) in Finnish seem to be just two people monologing a few phrases at a time, both in their own worlds and without interacting with what the other says.

Double length sigh. Life in Finland, after acclimation, mean..."

This is pure gold. When I read your first novel, I didn’t realize you were not a native Finn. Reading along, I was immediately struck by the details illustrating how Finnish society differed from U.S such as the comment about citizens practicing their voting rights instead of speaking of them. Different approaches to crime solving etc. I am mostly an armchair traveler so these insights are priceless.

The appeal (to me) of international crime novels is learning about how countries by seeing how their investigators and legal system treat victims and crime.

The Finnish system of law has a different basis that the U.S. system. Can't remember the names of either. Somebody help me out? Criminals are treated differently. Convicts aren't treated like sub-humans and villified. It's more like, a crime costs you so many years of your life. You pay it, and that's it. Like how much a carton of milk costs. Very few crimes are even kept in the police database after 5-10 years, depending on the offense. Ancient history, paid for, forgiven and forgotten.

I'm not familiar with the terminology Jim, but what always ... Well, didn't amuse me, was how the sentences are so low. Kill or murder someone, you get eight years. But once you behave like a born again Christian you're out in three. Three years for killing someone is nothing. On the same time, if I had to kill someone and get the prison for it in some country, I'd choose Finland any day over US (and Norway if I could pick any).

Anna and Jim,
Do they have lower recidivism rates?

I was thinking about sex offenders. No registry??

No clue of recidivism figures or sex offenders either. (But hey, if the sex offender registry works as intended in the US, at least 25 % of the teens with a mobile phone equipped with a camera would be on it for taking and sending pictures of their privates.)

Anna wrote: "No clue of recidivism figures or sex offenders either. (But hey, if the sex offender registry works as intended in the US, at least 25 % of the teens with a mobile phone equipped with a camera woul..."

How 'bout it, Anna?? So stupid...Kids who are supposed to be so computer literate, don't understand that future employers/schools CAN/DO background checks!!

Sorry to take so long to answer. I've been away at a noir festival in Spain. Honestly, I can't remember about the sex offender registry and have to look it up. But there is no informing the community that a predator lurks in your neighborhood kind of thing. Some years ago, a man who raped and killed two girls, age 9 and 10, was released. The details are vague to me now, but I think he spent 10-12 years in a mental institution. His release caused national fury. Any Finns here remember the details? I knew a guy who was released from prison by presidential pardon because he was the oldest inmate in the nation's penal system. He told me the story of committing the rather horrific murder. Not a trace of remorse. He paid his price and in his mind, I think, it made all things equal again. Nice old man. Really.

James wrote: "Sorry to take so long to answer. I've been away at a noir festival in Spain. Honestly, I can't remember about the sex offender registry and have to look it up. But there is no informing the communi..."

Well, there you go again with an amazing story.....thanks for sharing that. Opens thought on many issues....

Congrats Jim on having Helsinki White nominated for an Edgar Award

Sharon, I have strange karma. I meet the most interesting people. I don't know how or why.

Dee wrote: "Congrats Jim on having Helsinki White nominated for an Edgar Award"

Hi Dee, thank you, but I must clarify. HW was submitted, "put forward" for the award, but not nominated. Simply put, it's on the long list, not the short list of 5 books. The long list is still an honor, but I want to make sure I don't take credit for something I haven't earned.

Since I "stalk" Jim on facebook, it so kindly informed me that it was his birthday - so Happy birthday Jim!!

Happy Birthday Jim!!

Thanks Naomi and Dee. And Dee, you can stalk me any time.

Happy birthday Jim!

GREAT new post by Jim you guys should check out!

http://www.jamesthompsonauthor.com/bl...