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A review by karieh13
Kar Melekleri by James Thompson
4.0
Wow did this book get to me at the right time. A thriller set in Finland in the middle of December…dark and depression and cabin fever. Reading this in the middle of December when I am so sick of the darkness and the cold – perfect timing.
That aside, “Snow Angels” is just a plain old good read. It’s a thriller, with maybe a few too many gory details for my taste, but one that has a very strong, compelling main character. Inspector Kari Vaara is the antithesis of the stock “hard bitten detective” that turns me off most books in this genre. To the point where after discovering a brutal murder, his emotional reaction draws the reader even closer.
“I’ve seen murder before, bad car wrecks, nothing like this.”
…”She looks ate me, reads my pain. I don’t want her to see it but don’t know how to hide it. “I just don’t get how one human being could do something like that to another.”
I suppose it’s odd when talking about murder to say that it is refreshing to read that, but it’s certainly different and far more believable that the usual hard-bitten detective that most books usually trot out.
Part of what makes Vaara so interesting is his heritage, the details of which I found fascinating. I know next to nothing about Finland/Finnish culture and there are many details of it included in the book. Whether or not they are 100% true, they certainly set an interesting stage…one totally different than the culture that I am used to.
“Next to medicine, law enforcement is the most admired profession in Finland. The national police force is one of the best in the world and almost free of corruption. As an inspector, I’m one of the most respected members of the community.” As envious as I am of this, it does my jaded heart good to believe that might be true.
The writing in clean and crisp and my major complaint is that I read this book too quickly. According to my copy of “Snow Angels” – it appears that this may be the first book of a series – so I will make note of James Thompson’s name and look forward to his next book.
That aside, “Snow Angels” is just a plain old good read. It’s a thriller, with maybe a few too many gory details for my taste, but one that has a very strong, compelling main character. Inspector Kari Vaara is the antithesis of the stock “hard bitten detective” that turns me off most books in this genre. To the point where after discovering a brutal murder, his emotional reaction draws the reader even closer.
“I’ve seen murder before, bad car wrecks, nothing like this.”
…”She looks ate me, reads my pain. I don’t want her to see it but don’t know how to hide it. “I just don’t get how one human being could do something like that to another.”
I suppose it’s odd when talking about murder to say that it is refreshing to read that, but it’s certainly different and far more believable that the usual hard-bitten detective that most books usually trot out.
Part of what makes Vaara so interesting is his heritage, the details of which I found fascinating. I know next to nothing about Finland/Finnish culture and there are many details of it included in the book. Whether or not they are 100% true, they certainly set an interesting stage…one totally different than the culture that I am used to.
“Next to medicine, law enforcement is the most admired profession in Finland. The national police force is one of the best in the world and almost free of corruption. As an inspector, I’m one of the most respected members of the community.” As envious as I am of this, it does my jaded heart good to believe that might be true.
The writing in clean and crisp and my major complaint is that I read this book too quickly. According to my copy of “Snow Angels” – it appears that this may be the first book of a series – so I will make note of James Thompson’s name and look forward to his next book.