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frackie's review against another edition
1.0
Unimaginative. Called the ending from a few miles away. The author seems to be either very familiar with slurs being used in his daily life or kept using it for shock value because the woman, who was very graphically mutilated and murdered, was probably called the n-word out loud more than her own damn name in this novel. It seems to be used almost every chapter by every character introduced into the book. There are better and more creative ways to keep my damn attention.
govmarley's review against another edition
3.0
Good start to the series!
Imagine Finland, cold and dark. A brutal murder has happened. Inspector Vaara is on the case. He's lawful good, like I want in my lawmen. Think Walt Longmire or Joe Pickett in Scandinavia. The cultural pieces are interesting, the crime was full of twists, and I loved the relationship between Kari & Kate.
Looking forward to book 2. 3.5 stars.
Imagine Finland, cold and dark. A brutal murder has happened. Inspector Vaara is on the case. He's lawful good, like I want in my lawmen. Think Walt Longmire or Joe Pickett in Scandinavia. The cultural pieces are interesting, the crime was full of twists, and I loved the relationship between Kari & Kate.
Looking forward to book 2. 3.5 stars.
kiramke's review
3.0
Well, okay. I really enjoyed the setting, both as premise and description. In this respect at least, it's not bad writing. It's also not a small amount of the book, so that weighs heavy in my rating.
However. There is a practical limit on how many unique, lurid murders and coincidental subplots you can work into a story before it becomes absurd and off-putting. This had arguably too many for a series, never mind a single book. Crime novels are candy for the logic and puzzle-solving appetite of my brain, but only when they have a bit of reason and logic in them.
Will I read another one? Yeah, probably. On the chance that the things I didn't like were just a rush of first-novel enthusiasm.
However. There is a practical limit on how many unique, lurid murders and coincidental subplots you can work into a story before it becomes absurd and off-putting. This had arguably too many for a series, never mind a single book. Crime novels are candy for the logic and puzzle-solving appetite of my brain, but only when they have a bit of reason and logic in them.
Will I read another one? Yeah, probably. On the chance that the things I didn't like were just a rush of first-novel enthusiasm.
dlmoldovan's review against another edition
3.0
Not a book that makes me want to go and visit Finland. Seriously between the detailed descriptions of how dark, cold, and unfriendly place it is and the locals that are all portrayed as constantly drunk and prone to mental illneses, why would anyone want to go there? This is part of my Scandinavian mystery kick, and I have to say that I see a common tread in all these books: they are all pretty graphic in their descriptions, they all inform us of the rampant crime afflicting the Scandinavian countries, and they almost all have a main protagonist that had a horrible childhood.
Going back to this book, I still found the storyline interesting enough that I'll read the next one in the series. I love the author's tone (in most of the book, anyway), and the atmosphere that was so well laid out, so that'll make me give him one more chance. I do have to say that I could have done without the really graphic detailed descriptions of the torture, over and over again-I got it how horrible the victim was tortured in the first description, no need for gratuitous repetition. I also found the wife to be extremely annoying, behaving more like a spoiled American tourist and not someone who chose to move to a foreign country and make a life for herself there.
Overall, fast and somewhat interesting read.
Going back to this book, I still found the storyline interesting enough that I'll read the next one in the series. I love the author's tone (in most of the book, anyway), and the atmosphere that was so well laid out, so that'll make me give him one more chance. I do have to say that I could have done without the really graphic detailed descriptions of the torture, over and over again-I got it how horrible the victim was tortured in the first description, no need for gratuitous repetition. I also found the wife to be extremely annoying, behaving more like a spoiled American tourist and not someone who chose to move to a foreign country and make a life for herself there.
Overall, fast and somewhat interesting read.
mcw1024's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
2.5
muddypuddle's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 I've always been fascinated with the "idea" of Lapland - the Scandinavian winter (not the cold, harsh, DARK realities, but the pristine white ones), and complimentary artistry of Jan Brett. This story takes us into the Arctic Circle at the very darkest time of year and gives it all the twist of a brutal murder from the point-of-view of the cop that has to solve it. The twists and turns in the story are believable and were well appreciated. Believable characters, particularly the protagonists. Kari Vaara's wife, Kate, an American expat who happens to be pregnant, is beginning to feel the depression of the 24-hours nights, which adds to the tension of the crime-solving. Searching for more information on American James Thompson in anticipation of more in the series, I discovered that he died suddenly a few months ago. Bummer.
caresays's review against another edition
2.0
Considering that this garnered such high praise, I was expecting much, much better. Instead I got some trite nonsense coupled with gratuitous violence. I mean, alright, I did read a crime novel. So I guess the gratuitous violence should've been expected. However, I found it to be a bit ludicrous. The development of the case seemed really odd and unbelievable and jumped a lot of points. The writing lacked subtlety and twists that made it enjoyable.
I also kind of hated that it was written by an American author. I know the dude lives in Finland and all, but, ugh. He tries to mirror this in the book with his Finnish protagonist married to an American woman, who was just a two-dimensional piece of cardboard. In fact, most people were not well fleshed-out. EVERYONE IS JUST DRUNK AND DEPRESSED UP THERE, APPARENTLY.
Not to mention the weird racial piece of this story. It seemed like the author's intention was to draw attention to how racist Finland is, which is (a) unsurprising if you have a country that's predominantly white and has been white for forever and (b) done in such a creepy way and referred to so oddly that it felt racist????? I don't even know. This book had a lot of issues.
TRY AGAIN, THOMPSON. BUT I PROBABLY WON'T READ IT.
I also kind of hated that it was written by an American author. I know the dude lives in Finland and all, but, ugh. He tries to mirror this in the book with his Finnish protagonist married to an American woman, who was just a two-dimensional piece of cardboard. In fact, most people were not well fleshed-out. EVERYONE IS JUST DRUNK AND DEPRESSED UP THERE, APPARENTLY.
Not to mention the weird racial piece of this story. It seemed like the author's intention was to draw attention to how racist Finland is, which is (a) unsurprising if you have a country that's predominantly white and has been white for forever and (b) done in such a creepy way and referred to so oddly that it felt racist????? I don't even know. This book had a lot of issues.
TRY AGAIN, THOMPSON. BUT I PROBABLY WON'T READ IT.
markhoh's review
4.0
James Thompson’s Snow Angels took me to the depths of the Finnish Kaamos - that period of time during December and January in the northern Arctic parts of Finland where the sun doesn’t rise and there are only a few hours of light in a 24 hour period. Thompson paints the bleakest of pictures of this phenomenon both physically and emotionally, taking me deeply into the psyche of a northern Finnish winter.
Snow Angels is anything but an angelic story and the multiple crimes that take place are gruesome and graphic, congruent with the winter landscape.
Thompson portrays the sense of a deeply depressive seasonal period that somehow gets inside the inhabitants of this part of the world. I found this portrayal quite tangible.
Kari Vaara is the chief character of this book and a number of subsequent books. He is local to the area and Thompson portrays him as a very Finnish man. I actually had no idea what that really meant however, I’m led to imagine a Finnish man as a serious and stoically private kind of man who is not prone to emotional sharing or connection. Somehow that fit the landscape as well.
Despite the gruesome and depressive nature of this story I thoroughly enjoyed it. I connected with Kari and felt a sense of authenticity resonating out of him. I’m keen to get to know him more.
Sadly it seems that James Thompson passed away unexpectedly in 2014..
Snow Angels is anything but an angelic story and the multiple crimes that take place are gruesome and graphic, congruent with the winter landscape.
Thompson portrays the sense of a deeply depressive seasonal period that somehow gets inside the inhabitants of this part of the world. I found this portrayal quite tangible.
Kari Vaara is the chief character of this book and a number of subsequent books. He is local to the area and Thompson portrays him as a very Finnish man. I actually had no idea what that really meant however, I’m led to imagine a Finnish man as a serious and stoically private kind of man who is not prone to emotional sharing or connection. Somehow that fit the landscape as well.
Despite the gruesome and depressive nature of this story I thoroughly enjoyed it. I connected with Kari and felt a sense of authenticity resonating out of him. I’m keen to get to know him more.
Sadly it seems that James Thompson passed away unexpectedly in 2014..
thrilledtoread's review against another edition
4.0
A simply great Nordic noir with interesting facts about Finland! (Who says you can’t educate yourself while also enjoying crime fiction