I promise, there are articles to come. I just want to share a few thoughts first. In the holiday spirit, please indulge me.

2011 was without doubt the best year in my writer’s life, and I would like to begin by thanking some of the people who helped make it happen. My agent and his partner, Nat Sobel and Judith Weber, and their staff. The near army of people worldwide from the eleven publishers who have worked so hard to bring my work to their respective countries, but especially the three people from my U.S. publisher, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, whom I work most closely with. Editor Sara Minnich, Senior Publicist Victoria Commella, and Marketing Coordinator Lydia Hurt. Their excellence and  enthusiasm have contributed as much to the success of my novels as the books themselves. I’ve also learned an enormous amount about the publishing industry from them, and I’m not the easiest student. My Finnish publisher, Jaakko Pietiläinen, has been not only a colleage but a good friend to me.

I grew up in Kentucky. Do you know the old-fashioned way of forcing a stubborn mule to get up and do what it’s told? Stab it in the ass with a pocket knife until it gets the message. I’m sure that often they’ve felt that would be an effective way of working with me. Thanks to all of you for putting up with an obsessive, compulsive, neurotic and hard-headed writer. Thanks also to International Crime Authors Reality Check and the New York Journal of Books for including me in their prestigious circles. To the people working to bring the Inspector Vaara series to theaters. And most of all, thank you, Dear Readers, for your support and encouragent.

Why has it been such a good year for me? Here’s a brief rundown of my successes. Snow Angels: The first in the Inspector Vaara series, marked my entrance into the international crime fiction scene. Booklist named it one of the ten best debut crime novels of 2010, and it was nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, and Strand Critics awards, and two days ago, was chosen as the Fresh Pick by readers at Fresh Fiction. Despite being published in the U.S. nearly two years ago, it continues to sell well.

(I’m not providing links for all these below, as lists are boring. All below are easy enough to find with a quick Google)

Lucifer’s Tears: Released in March, 2011, it received starred reviews from almost every prestigious reviewing publication. Now, at year end, so far (more have appeared every day), the following have included it in their lists of Best Novels of 2011. Kirkus Reviews, Pulppusher, Kill Zone Authors, Dana Haynes, Seattle Mystery Bookshop (on both Adele’s and Janine’s lists), The Northrup Library, and Jennsbookshelves (Jenn has great taste, so her choice of Lucifer’s is especially pleasing). Yesterday, the Best of Goodreads polls were announced. It was included in Most Popular Grauthorization Books. I confess that I don’t know what “grauthorization” means, but its clearly something good. And last but far from least:

Goodreads poll-the-best-world-crime-author-of-2011-world-located-or-their-books
Winner: James Thompson
Second: Arnaldur Indridason

Book:
Winner: Lucifer’s Tears
Second: Snow Angels
Third: The Snowman

And these, among many other reasons, are why I’ve had a great year as a writer.
People, readers, reviewers and the people I work most closely with have been more
than kind and generous. Thanks again to all.

But enough about this. Let me entertain you. Here a couple articles I’ve writen that have appeared
over the past few days.

A review of A Vine in the Blood, a fine novel by Leighton Gage, written for New York Journal of Books

And lastly, from this week’s contribution to International Crime Authors Reality Check, Fiction and Firearms: Messy Murder Mistakes

The third novel in the Inspector Vaara series will be released in U.S. on March 15th. As usual, I’ll
host a book giveaway, the winner chosen at random from my website e-mail list. So if you haven’t
signed up, please do.

Thanks again to all of you. I hope the New Year brings you good fortune.

Best, James

 

 

Before I post a blog, I always do a web surf to see if anything new has been posted worth sharing. Many bloggers post their favorite books of the year in December. I won’t the  post lists because reading lists is boring, but it was nice to see Snow Angels and/or Lucifer’s Tears in so many of them. I was also pleased to see that in the last month, this website has had 2,862 Unique Visitors and 5,311 Pageviews, and my Facebook James Thompson author page had 11,444 post views. Nice to know that I’m not talking to the wall, so to speak. Despite the title of this post, I’m not mad about anything. The title points to my piece this week on International Crime Authors Reality Check, called Rage Against the Machine.

An educational book I contributed to, Now Write Mysteries, published by Penguin, will come out at the end of the month and is available for pre-order. Read more about it here. This is the fourth book in the series, and I agreed to contribute because essays in the previous books, all from noteworthy writers, are overall very good indeed and of benefit to burgeoning writers. Sadly, Sherry Ellis, who founded the series, has passed away. This book was completed by her niece, Laurie Lamson. I was pleased to discover that one of my partners in crime from ICA Reality Check, Christopher Moore, as is a Facebook ‘friend,’ Bruce DeSilva, also contributed to the same book. If anyone is qualifed to teach the craft of writing, these guys are. 

Read my review for the New York Journal of Books of The Leopard, by Jo Nesbø here

The French author’s copies of the paperback of Snow Angels just came in the mail. Cool cover! Thanks Balland.

This is so stupid that I couldn’t help laughing. Sorry, only Finnish speakers will get the humor.

  The next novel in the Inspector Vaara series, Helsinki White, is scheduled for release on March 15th   and available for pr-order. This is actually just a link to the book on this website. For your convenience, I’ve saved you the trouble of clicking your mouse. I’m posting the press kit for book below, to give you an idea of what the book is about. And also because it’s a really well done press kit. If you’ve never seen press kit, this is like a textbook model of what one should read like. I’m deleting the contact info, as it’s not polite to make people’s contact info public without cause or permission, but if you need it for some reason, just ask and I’ll take care of it for you.

 

 

 

 

COVER 

November 2011

Dear Editor/Producer,

Edgar Award-nominee James Thompson is a renowned American author who has spent more than a decade living in Finland. While Nordic-set mysteries may seem to be all the rage right now, Thompson and his latest in series starring Inspector Kari Vaara HELSINKI WHITE (G.P. Putnam’s Sons; $25.95; On-sale: March 15, 2012), are the real deal.

Tensions are high in Finland as its most extreme-right political party, True Finns, has been gaining popularity despite no discernible agenda besides xenophobia. Then, Lisbet Söderlund, the country’s leading advocate of immigrants’ rights, is assassinated and her head sent by mail to the Finnish Somalia Network. Inspector Kari Vaara is assigned to the murder, and cracking the case will involve the unsolved kidnapping of a billionaire’s children, a Faustian bargain with a former French Legionnaire—and Vaara’s wife Kate.

Meanwhile Inspector Vaara is approached by the national chief of police and asked to start a black-ops law-enforcement group to rob from the nation’s criminals, hobbling them and their operations. In turn, Vaara will be allowed to use the money he takes from crooks to further more attacks on other criminals. However the catch is that Vaara has damning incriminating evidence against the chief of police, and while that may seemingly give him the upper hand, Vaara knows if he doesn’t take this special offer, he will forever be a target…and so will his wife and young child.

HELSINKI WHITE serves up an explosively fast and furious roller-coaster ride through the dark underbelly of Finland. While Vaara assembles a small team of covert operatives to join him on his new mission, an insidious threat grows in Finland in the form of xenophobia. Even a national political party devoted to preventing foreigners from emigrating there begins to grow in the country, a harbinger of a vile, and perhaps violent, new wave of activity.

Vaara and his team begin a complex series of investigations to infiltrate—and then rob—the criminal underworld. Vaara recruits a seemingly conscienceless genius named Milo to work as the brains of the group, and a giant nicknamed Sweetness to act as the muscle. Together, this trio does a very good job of breaking into and stealing from the underworld—perhaps too good a job.

I’m thrilled to introduce you to HELSINKI WHITE. If you were lucky enough to read Thompson’s first two books—Snow Angels and Lucifer’s Tears—you know how engrossing his writing is and how captivating his characters are. With each new book his audience grows, and deservedly so. If this is your first encounter with Thompson, you’re about to enter a fresh, captivating, and truly original series.

James Thompson, eastern Kentucky born and raised, has lived in Finland for the past dozen years. Before becoming a full-time writer, Thompson studied Finnish, in which he is fluent, and Swedish, and worked as a bartender, bouncer, construction worker, photographer, rare coin dealer, and soldier. His previous books in the Inspector Kari Vaara series include Snow Angels and Lucifer’s Tears.

Sincerely,

XOXOXOXO

Senior Publicist

PRESS RELEASE

HELSINKI WHITE

By James Thompson

G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Publication Date: March 15, 2012

 

HELSINKI WHITE
by
James Thompson

 Praise for James Thompson’s previous bestseller, Lucifer’s Tears:

“Stellar…Thompson elegantly threads Finland’s compelling national history with Vaara’s own demons in this taut, emotionally wrought novel.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“An impossible-to-put-down read. Thomson’s second book, even better than the first, will surely be one of the best Nordic mysteries published in 2011. Essential reading for all fans of Arnaldur Indridason, Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell, and Jo Nesbo.”
—Booklist (starred review)

“Grabs you from the very first page, refusing to let go until the very end…. Mr. Thompson’s ability to craft complex plot/subplots with such powerful prose makes him unique in the family of modern-day crime writers. Startlingly original and instantly cinematic…”
—New York Journal of Books

Kari Vaara is a man of intense principles. A highly decorated police officer, he is one of the best of the best and a national hero in his native Finland. But he is also a man with a troubled past and a conviction to do what’s right…even when that is the toughest thing in the world to do.

HELSINKI WHITE (G.P. Putnam’s Sons; March 15, 2012; $25.95; ISBN: 978-0-399-15832-2) picks up shortly after the second book in James Thompson’s bestselling series, Lucifer’s Tears. Finnish cop Kari Vaara has solved his latest case, and he’s even managed to survive a brain tumor. He has a wife who loves him and a baby as well but he has little time to celebrate all this good news. In the course of his last case, Vaara acquired some very incriminating photos of the national chief of police. Now the chief wants to form an uneasy alliance: If Vaara doesn’t release the photos, he will be asked to head up a covert crime-busting ring that takes down terrorists, drug dealers, organized crime lords, and more. It’s an offer Vaara can’t refuse: If he does, the chief of police, and his cohorts, have the power to have him killed. Sometimes doing the right thing means working with all the wrong people.

Meanwhile, dark times have descended on Finland. A deep-seated national xenophobia has swept the country and given rise to a nascent political party devoted to removing foreigners. Crime is also on the rise. Lisbet Söderlund, the country’s leading advocate of immigrants’ rights, is assassinated and her head sent by mail to the Finnish Somalia Network. Vaara and his newly formed team—a devious and pathological genius named Milo and a brawny gentle giant nicknamed Sweetness—are needed more than ever.

Unfortunately for them, they may be getting too good at their new job and they’re about to stumble onto a plot that is far greater, and far more sinister than they ever conceived. Amid the cold and beautiful land of Finland, Vaara and his team will face off against the largest mystery of their lives and struggle to survive.

At risk for Vaara is everything he holds dear, including his wife and young child. Worse still, Vaara still holds the wounds—both physical and emotional—from his past battles, in which he was not able to save the ones he loved most. Driven by guilt and shame, Vaara fights with an unerring sense of justice…but that may be his downfall.

HELSINKI WHITE is James Thompson’s best and most thrilling book yet. In Snow Angel and Lucifer’s Tears, he set the stage and in this third novel he delivers the most explosive book of his career.

About the Author:

James Thompson is an Edgar, Anthony, and Strand Magazine Critics Award nominee and hails from eastern Kentucky, however has called Helsinki, Finland, home for nearly 15 years. While living there he earned a master’s degree in English philology from the University of Helsinki, and studied both Finnish and Swedish. Thompson has previously worked as a bartender, bouncer, construction worker, photographer, rare coin dealer, and soldier. He is now a full-time writer.

For more about Thompson, including interviews and praise for his books, visit:

http://www.jamesthompsonauthor.com/site/ or http://www.facebook.com/JamesThompsonAuthor

You can also follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/tassu1

For further information about HELSINKI WHITE, or to arrange an interview with the author, please contact me at XOXOX or at XOXOX.

I doubt that I’ll blog again before Christmas. I wish you all the happiest of holidays. I hope they bring you all manner of good things.

Best, James

Today’s Guest blogger, Jonathan Bloom, discusses the making of Snow Angels, the film.

 First, some items of interest. Lucifer’s Tears came out in the UK this week. Here are a couple of the first reviews.
  Killer Reads: Review of Lucifer’s Tears

  Manx Entertainment News (widely reprinted)

 The Daily Mail

 

 

Lucifer’s Tears also recently came out in Turkey. I think the cover is interesting and innovative.

 

 

Kirkus Reviews named Lucifer’s Tears one of  The Best Novels of 2011

Goodreads Poll: The best World* crime (procedural, thriller, mystery, generic crime) book you read in 2011? Both Snow Angels and Lucifer’s Tears were nominated. Please vote if you feel so inclined.

I’ve been invited to become a regular contributor to International Crime Authors Reality Check (Top Mystery Book Blog 2010). I’m honored to join participating authors: Barbara Nadel, Christopher G. Moore, Colin Cotterill, John Lantigua, Margie Orford, Matt Rees, and Quentin Bates. Thanks to all of you. My first contribution went up yesterday, “WHO HAS THE RIGHT TO WRITE?” You can find it here.

And now: JONATHAN BLOOM

 Greetings all,

When I first approached Jim with a notion to adapt his Kari Vaara story, Snow Angels, into a feature film, I couldn’t have imagined the undertaking that it would eventually become. Snow, as we now know, isn’t just a single off-shoot in the thriller fiction world, but the beginning of a very adult franchise, featuring the main anti-hero Kari Vaara.

Now, some six months later, we’re in full swing with developing the first film in what will hopefully be a series of films. I’m co-writing Snow with Jim and also directing, once we finally get to that point. Needless to say I was happy to jump in when Jim asked if I wanted to write something about how I see the series taking shape on screen and what we hope to accomplish with it.

Snow Angels is a story that takes place very much internally.

Kari Vaara, for me, is such a fascinating character because all his flaws, doubts, occasional hopes and dreams, not to forget that anger, are constantly before us on the page. While his peers and loved ones in the story may have a hard time understanding this gruff, at times taciturn man, for us, the readers, his constant internal struggle couldn’t be more clear. He reminds me of a modern day Man Without a Name, the iconic Clint Eastwood character that epitomizes the Italo Westerns. He’s been compared to another iconic Eastwood role, Dirty Harry, by reviewers, which is apt. Both Harry and the Man Without a Name share the similar traits of being forces of nature – they’re not entirely successful in the things they do, some might even say that because of their natures they are quite bad at it, but they do get to their results one way or another.

There’s a silent bullheadedness that drives them on, like a steaming locomotive that has no way of changing course – but is so driven, so filled with purpose that they will not derail themselves, no matter how close they may come. Words have little place in their lives, explanations are, after all, a waste of time when something can be done. If something can’t be done, it’s a waste to talk about it.

Which is absolute hell for a screenwriter to adapt for the screen.

Snow Angels has been called a Neo-Noir story, and while it does contain more than enough of the genre staples to warrant the title, I wanted to avoid most of the clichés that adaptations from these stories are usually haunted with.

So I went to look at some of what I consider to be the best adaptations of great crime literature in modern day cinema. While looking through the great (L.A. Confidential) and the bad (The Black Dahlia), I found myself returning to Dennis Lehane and his masterful Kenzie/Gennaro crime series. Most notably “Gone Baby Gone”.

Adapted for the screen by Ben Affleck in 2007, Gone Baby Gone is the story of kidnapped four year old Amanda McCready and the two detectives, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro who are assigned with finding her. Like the Vaara books, GBG is a first person narrative, detailing the gritty lives of people living in the grey areas of morality, attempting to make sense of a violent existence while fighting for what they believe is the right course of action.

Both stories feature faulty, broken leading men, who are scarred both physically and mentally. It is their internal monologues that drive the story forward. But also, like Snow Angels, both deal with small, tightly woven communities that live and breathe an intense system of loyalty and, to a degree, honor. Despite being set in Boston, Gone Baby Gone concentrates on the worlds within the larger city like Dorchester. It was this connection that I tried to carry over to Snow Angels – no matter the location, a community and family can be built out of anything and any place, and what happens there is for them to handle.

Especially for a setting like Kittilä, way up in the northernmost parts of Finland, this was fascinating to me. Finland is not a big place to begin with. Our population is some five and a half million people, not more than an average city in bigger countries, which leaves the north to be extremely sparsely populated. When you can finally find people and warmth, you count your blessings for that, especially when the temperature has dropped to the extremes.

I see Snow Angels also as a western to some degree. While visually it is a far cry away from what we as an audience are used to, thematically it couldn’t be closer. It has many of the staples of the genre; the protagonist, somewhat of a lone cowboy, returning back to his small hometown in the middle of nowhere. The sense of a frontier living. Harsh, unforgiving nature. Religion as a major force within the community. Strong views of honor and morality. Justice delivered to those deserving it, often very brutally.

One could make a case for this to be a called a Neo-Western as much as Neo-Noir. Something akin to Fargo or No Country for Old Men.

For Snow Angels the film, I opted to do away with the easiest solution and forbade myself the use of a narrator. I felt that while Kari is an internal person in many ways, a constant dialog with the audience would betray the image of the stoic anti-hero that he can be. Jim’s stories don’t give easy answers, so holding the audiences hand in the film adaptation felt wrong as well.

It’s a very Finnish thing to be silent. This is one of the aspects that Snow Angels touches upon and deals with extremely well. One of our most known and best loved directors, Aki Kaurismäki, has created his entire niche out of silence. Many of the exchanges in his films can deal with the most important things in the world, yet have maybe two syllables to their name by the time the discussion is over. A glance here, a nod there, a half-uttered “yeah”.

Kind of a hard thing to write on paper. Unless one would take the course of a Woody Allen picture and have Kari turn to the audience for narration every now and then. Breaking the fourth wall and addressing us like it these things happened every day.

We’re still at the very early of stages of bringing Kari Vaara’s journey to the big screen. As far as adaptations go, it’s an exciting process. Everyone has a distinct view on who or what Kari should be and who should portray him. It’s not enough to be stoic and tough. Vaara needs to be a very layered performance. A constant tip of the iceberg that most people see, with a whole other world below the surface. Finding the person to portray Valtteri, his right hand man, is another challenge. Both are difficult, internal roles that require a lot from an actor to properly communicate with the audience everything that is going on in their own worlds within their heads. I wonder if Clint Eastwood wants to visit Finland?

Another step in the evolution of the film is finding the right locations. The writing in Snow Angels is highly evocative in setting the right mood. It is incredibly detailed as well; every place has a texture to it. The Arctic Circle becomes a character in itself and capturing that is essential to a successful adaptation. In Gone Baby Gone, it was Boston. In Fargo, it was the unforgiving cold of the North Dakota winter. The exotic polar night is unlike anything else in the world.

By the time Kari will take his journey back into Helsinki, I will be on home turf again. But for now, it will be interesting to take the first step into Jim’s world with Kari in a strange part of the world. While it’s true that in the story he has grown up in Kittilä, I wanted to treat his return as almost a stranger riding into town. Home changes with you and it’s never the same once you’ve left – I agree with the sentiment. I felt that having an entire town feel suddenly similar and alien during a period when the landscape is painted in steel blue and crimson would be the perfect thriller setting. When Kari is pushed into solving the brutal murder unlike anything this small country has seen, where can he turn to when even the natural world around him seems to have gone slightly mad?

If all goes well, I hope you will be seeing Snow Angels in theaters sooner than later. The process of making a film is a strange business, but it’s been said when the source material is strong, people will appear to make it happen. In the case of Snow Angels, I feel entirely safe. Our source material is solid as a rock.

Jonathan Bloom

Thank you Jonathan!

 

Greetings!

The main point of this post is to highlight an interview that came out today, hosted by Junying Kirk. It’s more in-depth than the average interview, and most interesting to me, will be available to viewers in China. As at different times Muslims tried to conquer Europe, the Crusaders tried to take back the Holy Land, and the Czarist dream was an empire that stretched from the Baltic to the Bosphorus, so rulers in that region have occasionally tried to rule China, Japan and the Korean peninsula under the umbrella of a vast empire. The Dragon Throne. For a time at least, my Facebook posts and I think my blogs were being translated into Korean (I have a large tattoo on my chest in Korean text, a vestige of the martial years. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t say fried noodles two bucks), a publisher in Japan, but I’ve never had any exposure in China before. So in my own itsy bitsy way teeny weeny way, this completes my own little Dragon Throne. Here are various links to the interview.
http://www.junyingkirk.com/
http://www.wonderfulreadofthemonth.blogspot.com/
https://plus.google.com/107753041039856533923/posts?hl=en
http://t.qq.com/stormer8/mine   (this is the Chinese link)

It’s appearing in some other places as well, but there’s no point in redundacy.

In other news, my website renovation is nearly complete. Please visit and have a look around. As well as news and reviews and the typical stuff, you’ll find new videos and the songs Snow Angels, Lucifer’s Tears, and Kaamos, inspired by my work, written and performed by the band, Berlin Architecture, and a lot of new images. The ‘buy book’ links haven’t all been added yet, but suffice to say that you can get them–including pre-ordering HELSINKI WHITE–from any major distributor in any format you like. An interesting addition to that list is the iBookstore: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/helsinki-white/id456076998?mt=11&uo=4

Also, if you ‘Like’ my Facebook author page, James Thompson author, hit the ‘welcome’ button on the right side and you’ll find a short story of mine called “Bite Marks.” It was published in a Finnish literary magazine, but this is the first time I’ve published it in English. You can follow me on Twitter as well. I’m tassu1

Suspence Magazine gave SNOW ANGELS a 5 star rating. Have a look here.

Best to All,

James

 

 

Dearest All,

I’m frequently asked how Finns view my portrayal of their country. Today, I’ll try to answer that question with some recent blogs and articles addressing that question. The first is from Anna (surname withheld). She’s a world traveler, and her life as such seems to have made her value her home country all the more for it. Click here to read her thoughts.

I found a review of my entire body of published works. A first. A longtime friend, Ari Mäkelä, posted it on his blog and I didn’t know he had written it, ran across it by accident. Despite friendship, it’s evenhanded. The original was is in Finnish. I asked Ari if he would like to translate it to English, to make it accessible to the rest of the world. He not only translated it, but expanded and annotated it with refs from Wikipedia, so if you would like to learn a bit about Finnish history and culture, as well as get a Finnish perspective on my scribblings, Ari has provided you with a nice opportunity. He also provides you with some valuable culinary tips.

First, a little Blatant Self-Promotion. I was asked to contribute to a writing instruction series called Now Write! Pre-sales have begun and you can order the volume my piece is in, Now Write Mysteries! before its December release. I was honored to be asked, as other contributors to the series have included Kathleen George, Martin Mardik ( MEAN STREETS, RAGING BULL), Stephen Rivele (ALI, Oscar-nominated NIXON), Oscar-nominated Kim Krizan (BEFORE SUNRISE), Gay Talese, Amy Bloom, and Pulitzer winner Robert Olen Butler.

If you want to check out latest news and reviews, you can also find them on my Facebook James Thompson author page. I often post things there that don’t make it to this website. http://www.facebook.com/JamesThompsonAuthor

Here’s Ari:

Chocolate sauce with ice cream has been an easy and quick (about 10 minutes) dessert at my household for two decades and everybody is delighted by it. The recipe has always been the same: 2 dl cream, bring to the boiling point and melt 170 dark chocolate into the cream. I’ve never considered tuning the recipe.

Jim  Thompson’s novel Kylmä kuolema (Lucifer’s Tears) changed this. I enjoy a lot of the gigs by the bands whose members I know, and the same applies to books: if I know the writer  it makes the book a special one. I met Jim first time at my regular pub, Hilpeä Hauki, where he used to work as a bartender. I thought I had met a nice Brit. Nice, as in a British understatement, is true, but Jim is from Kentucky. Internationally, he’s known as James Thompson because of the other http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/207090425 writer, but in Finland we have learned to call him Jim.

When Jim’s first book, Jerusalemin veri, was published it, the book release party was in Hauki. The book tells a story of religious fundamentalism, a professional killer and his girl friend. It’s about the conflict of Christiniaty, Islam and Judaism. Jerusamemin veri has interesting historical details, including that the killer is associated with the Knights Templar which has now, after the mass murders in Norway by Breivik  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders_Behring_Breivik, some very dark echos because he thinks he’s a representative of a new Knight Templar order. The aim of the knights is to ensure that the Holy Land will belong once again to Christianity.

When the second book, Lumienkelit (Snow Angels), came out the party was again at Hauki. That party took a long time and when I returned to home I was not exactly sober. I read the first three chapters before I fell asleep, and that was a very bad idea. Those chapters are not a gentle read.  Lumienkelit reminds me of Rape of Nanking, a book that tells the story

of what Japanese http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_of_Nanking did in Nanking (1937-1938). I was able to read eight pages of the book and then my tolerance for violence was exhausted. In everyday life I have no problem making the difference between real  and fictional violence so I must respect a novelist who can make me feel so bad I cannot continue reading. It took a few years until I was able to finish the book but I liked it too after getting over the bad feelings. Compact, skillful writing.

Finland has a small Somalian refugee minority and in the beginning a body of a beautiful Somalian lady is found. Some of the violence in Jerusalemin veri can be rationalized because the reason is protecting Israeli civilians, but in Snow Angels the violence is different. The reasons behind the violence are completely incomprehensible and something no sane human being would ever do. But not all of us are sane. Inspector Vaara and his wife are introduced in the book and he is able to solve the crime, after serious complications, which make him and his wife decide to move to my beautiful hometown http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helsinki Helsinki.

The third book, the brutal Jumalan nimeen, was published later and while the story is happens in United States and  Russia it touches Finland too. Finland and the Baltic countries have a  lot of common history and a lot of it is unpleasant because of major world powers. Sweden conquered Finland in the 13th century and  lost it to Russia in  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_War  Napeolonic Wars in 1809. The Finnish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Civil_War Civil War was an nasty affair which did not lessen the tensions either between the newly independent Finland or Russia, nor the tensions between the Finnish Whites and the Finnish Reds. The wounds of the Civil War took generations to heal: my grandparents talked about the war bitterly but my parents did not talk about it at all.

Finland was lucky to have goverments which agreed to the reforms the beaten Reds had required, and the Social Democrats were allowed back into politics. Without that wisdom, I would have probably grown up in the Soviet Republic of Finland. I grew up in the  mostly independent Republic of Finland instead. Before  the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War Winter War, the army was still suspicious of the working class. A good example is that the infantry regiment 11 were given cartridges for their rifles only when it was known that the Red Army was attacking. The regiment later got a honourary name, “The Ace Regiment” because of their efficiency. The wise pre-war policy and the Winter War, with all the horrors of it, finally unified Finns.

The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuation_war Continuation War complicated things, as Finland had no other choice but to ally with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Germany Nazi Germany. This is largely forgotten in foreign countries but it’s true. But it’s also true that the only other option would have been surrendering to the Soviet Union and that would have been worse. If you disagree, check your history. And Finland did not send their Gypsies, homosexuals and Jews to concentreation camps. Eight Jews were for some unknown reason handed over to Germans and they ended up in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp Auschwitz. Some claim it was a normal police operation but nobody really knows. So, Finland is tainted by the Holocaust, but it also true that Finland refused repeated requests for the handing over of its Jews to the Germans. And there’s one funny detail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler Adolf Hitler awarded the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Cross Iron Cross to three Finnish soldiers who were a part of the small Jewish minority. The soldiers, unsurprisingly, refused to accept the medal and one even responded that Hitler can stuff his arse with the Iron Cross.

The relationship between Finland and Soviet Union was not a simple one after the Second World War, and there were severe violations against democracy during the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kekkonen Kekkonen era. The many wars between Sweden or Finland and Russia has left their mark to the Finnish people: many are still suspicious of Russia, and Finland still has a large army of conscripts. In the surreal Jumalan nimeen, Russia attacks Finland one more time as a result of a conspiracy. It’s just a side story but for a Finnish reader it’s a remarkable one. The book is intense, exciting and combines authentic historical facts within the fictional story.

The latest book, Lucifers Tears, was published this year and it continues the story of Snow Angels. I wasn’t able to go to the publication party at Hauki but I visited Hauki the next day and started reading the book sitting on the chair, which is sometimes called the throne, because one can see most of the pub from the chair. One of the charms of the book is that some time in it is spent in Hauki and the main character, Vaara, lives with his wife on Vaasankatu, the street where Hauki is located, and several other familiar places are included in the book. Several regulars of Hauki appear in the book, and there’s even a nasty guy called Arska (it’s a common nickname for men whose first name is Ari). Maybe he’s inspired by me, maybe not.

I like all the four books—I think I should read them in English too—but what strikes me most is how much energy Jim has used in doing the ground work, digging up details and history.

Dark Kozel Chocolate Sauce:

What has the above text to do with food? I was sitting on the throne and got to the point where Inspector Vaara cooks for his wife and himself, when it came to me that a part of the cream of the classic version of the chocolate could be replaced whith Dark Kozel.

Ingredients

1½ dl cream

½ Dark Kozel

170 g dark chocolate

Divide the chocolate into pieces.

Bring the mixture of the beer and the cream to boil on medium heat. Lower the heat and add the chocolate little by little to the mixture, mixing continuously until the chocolate has melted.

Comments

I spent some time with my friends thinking how much there should beer. I’ve learned that in some type of courses too much beer spoils  everything so I was too careful and while the mixture of cream and beer was balanced after 170 g chocolate the taste of the beer was quite faint. Next time I’ll  try 1 dl cream and 1 dl beer. Still, both my friends and I liked this a lot.

–

Ari Makela                                               late autumn -

hauva@arska.org                                a single chair waiting

http://arska.org/hauva/                         for someone yet to come

http://aijaruokaa.blogspot.com/

Ari expanded his blog for the international audience. This is the original, for Finnish readers.

© Karhuherra Suklaakastike on ollut minulle helppo ja nopea (valmistukseen kuluu kymmenisen minuuttia) tapa saada aikaiseksi jälkiruoka, joka maistuu kaikille. Se on ollut aina se sama: otetaan purkki kermaa, kiehautetaan ja sulatetaan siihen levyllinen Fazerin tummaa suklaata. Tuunaaminen ei ole käynyt mielessä.

Tuunaamattomuuden muutti Jim Thompsonin romaani Kylmä kuolema. Olen tainnut aikaisemmin mainita, että nautin suuresti tuntemieni ihmisten bändien keikoista. Sama pätee kirjoihin. Jimin tapasin ensimmäisen kerran, kuinka ollakaan, kantapubissani Hilpeässä hauessa: mies tiskin toisella puolella. Kuvittelin pitkään tutustuneeni persoonalliseen ja mukavaan brittiin. Muuten oikein, mutta hän on kotoisin Kentuckystä.

Kun Jimin ensimmäinen kirja, Jerusalemin veri, ilmestyi olin julkaisutilaisudessa ettearvaamissäravintolassa. Sama toistui kun toinen romaani, Lumienkelit, ilmestyi. Ne bileet kestivät pitkään ja kömpiessäni niistä kotiin ahmin kolme ensimmäistä lukua. Bad Idea, sillä ne luvut eivät ole hempeitä. Lumienkelit muistuttaa minua kirjasta, joka kertoo siitä mitä japanilaiset tekivät vuodenvaihteessa 1937-1938 Nankingissa. Katsottuani Nanking-kirjan kuvat ja luettuani kahdeksan ensimmäistä sivua minun väkivaltakiintiöni oli täynnä.

Minulla ei yleensä ole ongelmia erottaa fiktiota ja todellisuutta toisistaan, mutta kirjailijaa, joka saa minut, joka on yhtä herkkä ja romanttinen kuin Waffen-SS-panssaridivisioona, jättämään kirjan kesken, on pakko kunnioittaa. Kun lopulta sain kirjan luettua loppuun pidin siitä kuten myös ensimmäisestä kirjasta. Tiivistä, taidokasta tekstiä.

Myöhemmin ilmestyi brutaali Jumalan nimeen ja tänä vuonna tuli ulos Kylmä kuolema, jonka julkaisutilaisuuteen en valitettavasti ehtinyt, mutta hankin sen seuraavana päivänä. Aloitin sen lukemisen Hauen tiskin päässä. Kirjassa viehättää se, että siinä vietetään aikaa myös Vaasankadulla olevassa Hauessa. Todellisiin kanta-asiakkaisiin on joitakin viittauksia ja löytyypä kirjasta yksi Arskakin. Narsisti minussa luonnollisesti olettaa, että se on viittaus minuun. Ehkä, ehkä ei. Puukkobulevardina muinoin tunnetulta Vasikselta eivät Arskat ja Reiskat lopu.

From Helsinki’s #1 (maybe only) English language newspaper: The Helsinki Times

And lastly, this is one of my all-time favorite reviews (use Google Translate). USAsuomeksikulttuurikatkaus

 

 

The Helsinki Times

Did rabid jackals mall a cleric at the command of Satan? Is the Seventh Seal broken? Was the Holy Man praying in the Garden of Gethsemane when the Hounds of Hell attacked? Did the the ground break open, and did the Holy Man go sliding into the lap of the Evil One. Did his carnivorous minions dive into the crack leading to hell before the ground closed up and sit at their Insidious Master’s taloned feet? Or is it only a rumor, perhaps started to discover if lurid headers drive up re-tweets? Only time will tell, or perhaps the truth will never be known.

My website is still being reconstructed, but the blog is working.

XXOO – Jim

Dearest All,

I’ve been off the airwaves for a while. Finishing my latest novel, Helsinki White, took precedence over everything, and I had to immerse myself in my fictional world to do it. Everything outside it had to go for a while, including blogging. But all has been well. Rather than write a blog about recent developments, I’ll just give you my updated bio. It gives you the story in a concise nutshell. Here ya go.

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.

Helsinki White is a story about racism. Now that it’s done, looking back, it took a lot out of me. Telling the truth of this story was probably the hardest for me to date (it will be my 5^th published novel). Here’s the prototype cover and catalogue copy.

Helsinki White

ISBN: 978-0-399-15832-2

TITLE: HELSINKI WHITE

DESCRIPTION: Two days after their daughter is born, Kari Vaara drops a bombshell on his American wife, Kate: He has a brain tumor . . . and he’s been handpicked to run a rogue black-ops unit, using crime to fight crime.

After recovering from surgery, he gets to work. The black-ops unit is small, and reports directly to Finland’s National Chief of Police. They have secrecy, autonomy, and the cash to buy all the high-tech gear. Soon the unit is cleaning house, robbing Helsinki’s mobsters blind of their cash, dope, and illegal firearms. But Kari’s team is too good, and their actions have unintended consequences. . . .

Meanwhile, Finland roils with hatred as its most extreme right political party gains popularity despite no agenda besides xenophobia. When the country’s leading immigrants’ rights advocate is assassinated and her head sent by mail to the Finnish Somalia Network, the president assigns Kari to the murder. Cracking this case will involve the unsolved kidnapping of a billionaire’s children, a Faustian bargain with a former French legionnaire—and Kate.

In the past, I’ve included links to news, reviews, and items of interest to genre readers here on the blog. I have so many that it doesn’t seem practical. Instead, I’d like to post them over several days on my James Thompson author Facebook page. I also think it’s a nicer way to view them. If you would be so kind, please go to http://www.facebook.com/JamesThompsonAuthor and I promise you’ll find some things that interest you.

Lucifer’s Tears comes out in the UK in November. Here’s the prototype cover. It’s got a retro feel that I like.

And last. I get a lot of interview requests, especially when a new book comes out. When Lucifer’s Tears hit the shelves in the U.S., it was almost daily, and they come from all quarters. I try to answer all of them. I’m including this one, from a book group in Nashville, TN, because the questions were thought provoking and interesting to me, and so I hope for you, too. I’m not just including the questionnaire, but the conversation in its entirety.

From Kristi S. Hamrick

Good evening James,

You may not think of your book as book club material, which is often more likely to be chick flicks and loves lost, but I am in a book club of  professional women who like to make our choices based on good writing and recommendation … rather than the kind of things they ordinarily market to women.

Our book group is made up of professional women who are moms in Nashville, TN … we have families and jobs and car pools. And as we shepherd our children to their various educational endeavors, we found that we were missing a chance to talk about ideas and books and life. I’ve jokingly called our group “Six-Degrees of Separation from Debbie,” who is a mutual friend of all of us and had the vision. It is the best of school without the tests. We read what we recommend to each other, from Wuthering Heights to The Help. We share food and wine and real conversations, which is what I loved most about what you wrote earlier. There are all kinds of real stories out there to be told, and many people — even soccer moms — who want to talk about meaningful things.

For myself, I got a journalism, political science degree and worked as a reporter covering crime and courts before I went to Washington, D.C. where I worked for almost 20 years before moving to Nashville. I continue to write and work on media issues for clients. In books, I am looking to read anything that is well written, because those kinds of stories remind the reader of true things.

Having covered crime as a job for a period of time, I have always been struck by how the lives of the people involved culminated in some terrible moment — they failed to take the off-ramp of a road that led to destruction. But your book included the detective as a variable and a force in that moment. That was unique, and for me, I found that very compelling. I was a police reporter for a newspaper chain, so perhaps that is why I was drawn to your book … but in reality, it was the tie to other Nordic dark tales that caught my attention. Still, cold waters running deep.

I’ve spent some time on your website, and I have a suggestion. Have you thought of putting some questions there for book clubs? Many publishers have suggested questions for book clubs, and it makes it easier to use the book in that setting.

I’m going to be writing some myself for the club … perhaps you would like a copy. But I am wondering if you have a “message” — something you would say — to a group of American, professional women who are going to be talking over your book over some great food and wine.

In remembering your book, what do you want readers to take away with them?

Regards,

Kristi Hamrick.

 Hi Kristi,

I used to have a discussion section on my site, but no one ever used it, so I took it off. That was when Snow Angels was first released in the U.S. though, and I hadn’t had much exposure yet. Maybe I’ll put it back. I do, however, answer every person who writes to me. Today, there were three. So maybe I do need a discussion board. For your group:

I wrote for more than a decade before anyone took notice of my work. I hadn’t written a query letter in years, but I did belong to writers’ groups, would let anyone read my work upon asking, and I got a small reputation here Helsinki among other would-be authors and others. Back when I did send query letters, the overall message was that I was a good writer, but my work was too tough for U.S. publishers. I write for myself and was unwilling to compromise, so I just sort of shrugged my shoulders and kept writing what I felt compelled to write. I was working as a bartender, and one of my customers happened to be a managing editor at the biggest publishing house in Northern Europe. Someone told him I write. He asked me about it and the conversation led to him requesting a novel. Soon thereafter, we had a three book deal.

In an unrelated incident, a few weeks after the Finnish request to read a book (not published in the U.S.), an acquaintance asked to read Snow Angels. He happened to be a well-known documentarian and knew a U.S. agent. He told the agent about me and the agent, industry legend Nat Sobel, told the guy to tell me to e-mail him the book, which I did. Four days later, Nat offered to represent Snow Angels and all my future works. Within a few weeks, he had sold Snow in the U.S., to the prestigious publisher, Putnam, and in several other countries/languages.

I suppose the message is this. Many bestselling authors make their livings telling mediocre stories. They’re light formulaic entertainment, and they leave people feeling good, that all is right with the world. These stories are sometimes genuine and well-told, but often are just pandering to make a buck. And that’s fine. They provide people with enjoyment. But all is not right with the world. Most of us spend much of our lives shaken and disconcerted, searching for some kind of truth, something to grasp on to, and the world needs books that reflect those feelings. They provide catharsis. Sometimes, people read to make sense of the chaos of their lives, and they need books that tell the truth. Not the truth of the world, but the truth of that particular story and the characters in it. They need books they can hold up and gaze into like mirrors, books in which they can search for and very occasionally find answers. I get quite a bit of fan mail, not by the hundreds, but most days I receive an e-mail or two from readers. I also on occasion get hate mail, e-mails stating in great detail just how much they loathed one of my books. It always amazes me that they took the time and energy to do that. I always suspect they looked in that mirror and hated what they saw.

I did everything a writer isn’t supposed to do in order to get published. Instead, I tried to tell the truth, even when it hurt me to write it. Now my books are sold around the world. As a writer, failure to tell the truth isn’t only lying to your readers, but also lying to yourself, one of the greatest sins, and one most of us are guilty of. People are so hungry for stories that tell the truth and expose the world to them in new ways, that they will go to any lengths to find them, to the extent that they will search to the ends of the earth—literally in my case—and snatch them up from unknown bartenders. 

I think I should leave you with that.

Best, Jim

From Kristi:

Thank you so much. I am a media consultant, but I sometimes freelance. Your note has inspired me to do some kind of column. 

Although you say you got into all this unconventionally, I suspect that is what makes your work compelling. Writing for clients, writing to fill an editor’s niche, (all good things), train a person over time to be so focused on filling a gap, on time, and to a set word count that now, it is harder to write for the simple pleasure of the story you want to tell for no other reason than you desire it.

Your book can be a hard story to read in the way that the news is hard to watch … real life is so often not beautiful. I do appreciate, however, that the book is not without hope … that some people do find a measure of peace. 

The dynamic of faith in the story is very thought provoking … I do have faith, but in reading the story I am reminded that faith without works is dead in any life — that the way in which a person lives that out in conjunction with a real connection to something greater than themselves makes the difference … not the words or the rituals. It seems like the characters lost sight of the who of faith to grasp the how … the rituals and routines. 

I have to agree with you wholeheartedly about the dearth of stories … a real story reminds people that all around us are suffering with deep and painful realities that we can’t see just looking at the surface. I would like to think that it could inspire compassion for the secret truth behind people’s eyes.

Looking forward to the next book,

Kristi Hamrick

As a firm believer in not reinventing the wheel, I offer you the questions I’ve drafted for our book group in case you want to post some version of them on-line for other readers who would like to follow suit:

QUESTIONS:

1.     This is not a book that tries to tell a happy story. Themes included racism, sexism, nationalism (xenophobia), sexual exploitation, alcoholism, betrayal and more. What were the most important themes in the story from your reading?

The themes you state, plus depression, and how the innocent can be manipulated by the wicked. I would add only that even though these are universal themes, I worked to demonstrate how they in particular affect Finnish society.

2.     Sufi Elmi dies in a horrifying way. Was the violence necessary in your view to carry the story? Was the violence a statement on Finnish culture or on society as a whole?

Yes, Sufia had to die in a horrific manner. A simple murder sends the message that that someone didn’t like her enough to kill her. The horror sends the message, especially in a small community, that there is a monster on the loose, and we must hunt it down before it strikes again. It isn’t a comment on Finnish society. I consider it a universal truth.

3.     The story is carried forward in real time, in one voice, Inspecter Vaara. How important is it to the story that it proceeds from a single point of view? If you could have heard from another character, whose inner monologue would you liked to have explored?

I wouldn’t have written the book through the eyes of any other character, or even through multiple viewpoints. I would have ditched the story before telling it in any other way.

4.     Initially, whom did you suspect as having the best motive to kill Sufi?

It didn’t go like that. When I pictured Sufia dead and mutilated in the snowfield on the reindeer farm, I knew who killed her and the motivation behind the murder. I began with the knowledge of A & Z. I just had to work out the rest of the alphabet in-between. Really, it was an easy book for me to write. It all flowed together naturally.

5.     The setting is a powerful part of the story. The cold, the darkness, the isolation. Would this same story have worked in a place like Los Angeles? How important is the darkness and cold? Kate wants to leave, should they? Would you want to go? Would you want to raise your children in this community?

The environment in this book is so important that I consider it a character in itself. In terms of storytelling, I think any story in which the environment can simply be switched is by nature garbage. I think this is obvious and self-explanatory, so I won’t elaborate. In fact, in the second book in the series, Lucifer’s Tears, they do move. To Helsinki.

I live in Helsinki, in the south of Finland. I have threatened many times to move to the far north, beyond the part of the Arctic Circle Snow Angels is set in. I’m inclined toward cold, dark, and isolation. Yes, I would raise my children in that community. I write noir. Snow Angels tells a truth, but as in any community, there are other truths. I’ve found that I enjoy the company of most of the people I meet from the Arctic.

6.     From the Economist on why Nordic Crime Writers have such a light touch with murder stories: “The cold, dark climate, where doors are bolted and curtains drawn, provides a perfect setting for crime writing. The nights are long, the liquor hard, the people … brought up to hide their feelings and hold on to their secrets.” At one point in the story, Kari tells Kate, “What you perceive as silence, we perceive as solitude.” How is the character of the Nordic people central to the story?

This is a crime story, but I tend to really think of it as just a story about people. Most foreigners aren’t happy living here. The cultural is so radically different from most of the world that it takes years to acclimate and understand it. Now, after thirteen years here, I see the value of avoiding emotional displays and understand that it can be more comfortable to keep my thoughts and experiences to myself. In short, living a more internal existence. Now, when other people wear their hearts on their sleeve, I often find it embarrassing and don’t know what to say. I used to bartend before I was lucky enough to be able to write full time. I was chatting with a customer, and she asked me if I was more Finnish or American. My bar partner was listening. He said, “Jimi (nickname) understands Finnish silence.” A huge compliment. It answered her question.

7.     You also have the on-going use of locations centered on drinking. What conclusions do you draw about Finnish culture from those settings? Do you think that is unique to Finland?

Finns drink a lot. To write without including it would be a lie. Finns allow themselves to open up and talk when they’re drunk. It’s a release valve. No, it’s not just Finland. Estonia, Russia and some other northern and eastern European countries also drink heavily. I’ve read some reviews which state that the protagonist drinks too much. For here, his drinking is quite moderate. I find it a bit humorous. Why do people feel a need to impose their own cultural norms on other cultures?

8.     The book’s setting includes some real characters in the neighborhood where Vaara grew up.  Did their eccentricities remind you of every small town, or did you find them to be caricatures of broken lives? Underneath the veneer of a resort community, would you find all kind of people such as these?

I think every small town has its eccentrics and people with broken lives. I don’t think it’s caricaturization (did I invent a word?). I think it’s the scripture pure truth. I don’t believe proximity to a resort community has anything to do with it.

9.     Sufi was an actress in some feel-good movies in which she finds true love with rich men driving BMWs. She then engages in a number of liaisons. Did you think that she was seeking that fairy tale happy ending by her behavior? Why do you think she acted as she did? This is not a blame-the-victim conclusion, but consider, did her behavior contribute to her death?

Yes, I believe she was attempting to live out the fairy tale of her films, unconsciously trying to fill some kind of hole in her soul. She committed some immoral acts. Most of us do. Most of us aren’t murdered because of them. Somehow, “contribute” connotates “deserve” to me. Had she not slept with another woman’s husband, the murder wouldn’t have occurred. I think that’s a question I would prefer to let readers decide for themselves.

10.  Who most contributed to Sufi’s death or how do you rate the contributing factors? Her family’s strict views and traditions? Sufi’s lifestyle? Seppo and his desire to score? Sufi and the wide net she cast through every male relationship? Heli and her desire for money and revenge? Heikke and his sheltered past which made him vulnerable to seductive lies? How could this tragedy have been averted?

I don’t think Sufia’s family’s Islamic beliefs contributed to her death. Besides that, all those factors contributed and converged to create a scenario none of the characters would previously have believed possible. If any one of those factors weren’t present, there would have been no murder, no tragedy.

11.  More people died when Vaara decided to try and trick Sufi’s father into confession. Did you find Vaara responsible for the deaths of Abde Barre and Valtteri? Should Vaara be promoted and decorated for his role in finding out the answer to Sufi’s murder – even as the process resulted in two more deaths?

I find him responsible for the death of Abde Barre, because of his grievous error in judgment. I feel certain that Valtteri would have committed suicide anyway. Vaara ignored procedure and exceeded his authority. No, he should not have been promoted. It was a political decision, nothing more.

12.  Kate is very supportive throughout the book, but when Vaara starts considering his ex-wife as a possible suspect, she mocks the idea out of frustration with him. Did that throw you off the scent? Did you suspect Heli and Heikke? Did anything point you to Valtteri as Heli’s murderer?

Again, I knew the ending from the beginning. I don’t remember the exact moment or what pointed me to it, but I remember being very pleased at the realization that Valtteri killed Heli. It felt like biblical justice.

13.  Faith is important to Abde Barre and his wife (though not as much by their daughter, by her actions, it would seem) and to Valtteri and Maria (though not as well understood by their son it would seem). And it was used by Heli to manipulate Heikke to commit murder. Was faith an important part of the story or just a motivation of certain individuals? How was faith a variable here?

Actually, I think their faiths were understood quite well by all the characters you mention, including Sufia and Heikki. People sometimes act contrary to the tenets of their faiths. With the possible exception of Sufia’s faith, I don’t think there are any variables. Without Heikki’s faith and Heli’s ability to pervert it, based on her knowledge of it, neither the crime, nor the suicides of Heikki and Valtteri, could have occurred.

 Best to All! – James Thompson

As Bettie Page plays an important part in Lucifer’s Tears, I’d like to pay her a small pictorial homage.

The Edgar Awards are tomorrow, and Snow Angels was nominated for Best First Novel. Wish me luck!

Discovering I was nominated for The Strand Critics Award was a humbling moment for me. As below.

Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly are Among the Nominees for The Strand Critics Awards
Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, Laura Lippman, are among the nominees for the Strand’s Critics Award for best novel and James Thompson, Graham Moore, and Paul Doiron are nominated for The Best First Novel Category. Judges from several major news outlets, including the Washington Post, LA Times, and The Associated Press listed their top mystery picks of 2010

A couple nice reviews

Murder by Type: review of Lucifer’s Tear

This is one of my all-time favorite reviews.
USAsuomeksikulttuurikatkaus

Best to All–Jim

 

Ed Lynskey
Guest blog for Jim Thompson’s “Jimland” weblog
3/22/11

My Novel’s Take on the “Appalachian Noir”

 

Since his own dad split just days after he was born, the bereft Brendan feels a profound itch to go look up Angus who was last heard from as a crew member on the Alaskan Pipeline. Throughout his travails, Brendan swears repeatedly he’s abandoning Tennessee for Alaska. His rather naïve dream is doomed to fail. There is no indication Angus gives his family a second thought or care. In fact, Cobb jokes about the only contact Brendan ever has with his father comes in the infrequent postcards—no message ever scrawled on them—Angus mails out.   

Many of the early noirs were private investigator novels. Lake Charles features a whodunit angle. The identity of Ashleigh’s murder remains a mystery, compelling Brendan and Mr. Kuzawa to act in the role of playing a pair of private eyes. At one point during their investigation, they consult the local public library to research old land deeds and newspaper articles. They also drive about and interview Ashleigh’s various school friends to assemble a profile of her less-than-wholesome life. All the time, her specter taunts, pouts, chides, and prods Brendan during her visits inside his head. Though her appearances might suggest a supernatural bent, we can also see Brendan is undergoing a lot of emotional and physical duress.        

Lake Charles can be viewed as a coming of age novel. As his problems escalate, Brendan is tested. He wants to grow up, so he is able to confront them head on. Can he muster the right grit and tenacity? First things first. Kicking his pot habit cold turkey is his attempt to clear his mind and better focus his attention. Mr. Kuzawa, spiritual guide and backwoods scout, reassures Brendan that his persistent dreams aren’t a symptom he’s cracking up and ready for the bughouse. Ashleigh knows but then keeps secrets from him, forcing him to work harder and ferret out the right answers on his own.    

The possibility of romance arises late in the narrative when Brendan meets Veera Sutwala. A physical attraction sparks between them. However, he’s almost consumed by his personal problems, starting with beating the bogus murder rap and locating Edna, to explore any meaningful relationship with Veera. Still, the opportunity exists there. I wanted to give him at least that much hope. The notion that noirs be dark all the time doesn’t set well with me. Even a few rays of light always manage to peek through the most pervasive gloom.

One question I came to ask myself at the conclusion of my writing Lake Charles was did the protagonist Brendan resemble me. Did I intend my first standalone published novel to be an autobiographical one? Generally, I think not. I never worked as a press operator, Brendan’s gig, although I was paid for performing blue-collar jobs. I’ve also never been to court facing his criminal charges. On the other hand, his hometown of Umpire, TN, probably takes after the hamlets I grew up in as a kid. That biographical fact explains why I felt skittish over using a large city as the setting in Lake Charles. Eight years later since I first started work on Lake Charles, I’ve set half-dozen novels in urban/suburban locales. I can claim that as a sign of my own maturation to becoming a novelist.       

Thank you, Jim, for letting me hang out on your weblog Jimland and say a few words on my latest novel, Lake Charles.

You’re more than welcome, Ed. Thank you for contributing.