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Inspector Kari Vaara #3
Helsinki White
Two days after their daughter is born, Kari Vaara drops a bombshell on his American wife, 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 having 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.
326 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
44 people are currently reading
1033 people want to read
About the author
James Thompson
10 books313 followersJames Thompson was an American-Finnish crime writer based in Helsinki. He had a master's degree in English philology from The University of Helsinki, where he also studied Finnish, in which he was fluent. He studied six languages. He published four crime novels with the Finnish inspector Kari Vaara as the protagonist.
Helsinki Noir was published by Akashic Books November 2014. It is an anthology edited by Thompson and it includes one story he wrote.
Thompson died unexpectedly in his home town of Lahti, Finland in August 2014.
Helsinki Noir was published by Akashic Books November 2014. It is an anthology edited by Thompson and it includes one story he wrote.
Thompson died unexpectedly in his home town of Lahti, Finland in August 2014.
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July 8, 2012
"There’s a great myth believed by nearly everyone that Finland is corruption-free. Police and politicians are scripture pure, dedicated to the good of the nation beyond all things. Foreigners even write about it in travel guides for tourists." That’s Kari Vaara, telling us about his country in the first pages of James Thompson’s new novel, Helsinki White. Shortly thereafter, he goes on to say, "I run a heist gang. I’m a police inspector, shakedown artist, strong-arm specialist and enforcer…Three months ago, I was an honest cop."
What a way to kick-off a book!
Snow Angels, James Thompson’s first novel to feature Vaara as a protagonist, was named by Booklist as one of the ten best debut crime novels of 2010 and was nominated for both an Edgar and an Anthony.
His second, Lucifer’s Tears, was included in Kirkus’s List of the Best Novels of 2011. And anyone who knows Kirkus also knows that they’re the toughest critics that ever there were – or are.
Now, Thompson has given us the third in his series, Helsinki White -- and it's as cool as a Nordic wind.
As the book begins, Vaara’s personal life is bittersweet: on the positive side, he’s a new dad, deeply in love with his American wife, Kate, and infant daughter Anu; on the negative, he continues to suffer from paralyzing headaches, is haunted by his past exploits and is obsessed by thoughts about the type of man he has become.
Meanwhile, his professional life keeps getting worse: He and his boss, Jyri Ivalo, are polar (no pun intended) opposites. The National Chief of Police is as corrupt and twisted as they come. Vaara, on the other hand, is an essentially moral man who sees his position in the police as a path to doing good, perhaps the only thing he’s qualified for in the doing-good department.
The men hate each other, and the Chief would fire Vaara if he could.
But Vaara has something on him that would destroy the Chief’s career.
And despite the fact that the rot doesn’t stop with Ivalo, despite the fact that his principal assistant, a man he can’t get rid of, is a sociopath, despite the fact that he’s been put in charge of a clandestine unit which has been specifically created to function outside the law, Vaara wants to stay on.
Couldn’t get any worse, you think?
Then you don’t know James Thompson.
Before the first chapter is out, Vaara discovers his headaches are being caused by a brain tumor.
You might conclude, from the little I’ve told you, that Helsinki White isn’t a cheerful book.
Well, you’d be right there. But it’s a fascinating one, superbly written and full of insights about Thompson’s adopted country. Take this one, about drinking:
"It’s May second, a sunny Sunday…The outdoor bars are packed…Yesterday was Vappu – May Day, the heaviest drinking holiday of the year – and most of these people have been drunk non-stop, morning to night, since they got off from work on Friday."
Or this one, a scene that takes place on a tram:
"Two elderly women, one on a walker, asked the driver, a black immigrant, a question about where to get off to reach her destination. He answered in accented but understandable Finnish. The two grannies sat in front of me and spoke in loud voices, to make certain he could hear, and discussed how the (racial epithet deleted) ought to learn to speak the (expletive deleted) language. The grannies garnered guffaws."
Note: both the racial epithet and the expletive add flavor, and the anecdote can’t be fully appreciated without them, but this review wouldn’t be published in certain venues if I’d left them in.
And how about this unpleasant truth: "Here in Finland and the surrounding countries, thousands of gangsters orchestrate the buying and selling of young girls, and hundreds or thousands of those girls pass through this nation every year…"
Corruption, crooked cops, racism; wholesale exploitation of minors; not what you imagined Finland to be like, is it?
No, Me neither.
White slavery issues play the most prominent roles in Helsinki White, but there are a lot of other things going on as well: the unsolved kidnapping of a billionaire’s children; the murder of a Swedish-speaking Finn, a champion of immigrants’ rights; the drug trade; Vaara’s blooming relationship with Arvid Lahtinen and the increasingly-sinister role of Adrien Moreau.
Talk about rich characters! Lahtinen is a war hero, wanted for extradition by the Germans. Arvid knew Vaara’s grandfather during the war. They killed men together. And Moreau is a French policeman, Finnish by birth, who spent fifteen years in the French Foreign Legion, exercised his right as a Legionnaire and took French citizenship and identity.
There’s only one thing wrong with Helsinki White: it’s too short. And, if it was twice as long, it would still be too short. It’s a first-class crime novel, and I don’t think it will harm your enjoyment of the book to share the words Thompson uses to conclude the final chapter. By then, the mysteries have been cleared-up and (most of) the bad guys have gotten their just deserts.
"June twenty-sixth is mid-summer’s eve, the third anniversary of Kate and my first meeting. On the twenty-fourth, I text Kate, ask her if she would like to spend our anniversary together. She doesn’t reply.
"Except for our two disastrous dinners, I’ve seen no one since I went into self-imposed isolation. I call my brother Timo. He’s having a party. He invited me a while ago, and I ask if I can still come. Sure.
"I go, get whacked on Timo’s pontikka, eat grilled sausages. They light the bonfire at midnight. I get a text from Kate. 'I miss you.' I don’t think she wants a reply. I put the phone back in my pocket, have a long drink from my glass of pontikka, and watch the flames climb higher."
Where will the author take Kate and Kari Vaara from here? Has Thompson backed himself into a corner with their relationship? I hope not.
But we’re going to have to wait a year to find out.
What a way to kick-off a book!
Snow Angels, James Thompson’s first novel to feature Vaara as a protagonist, was named by Booklist as one of the ten best debut crime novels of 2010 and was nominated for both an Edgar and an Anthony.
His second, Lucifer’s Tears, was included in Kirkus’s List of the Best Novels of 2011. And anyone who knows Kirkus also knows that they’re the toughest critics that ever there were – or are.
Now, Thompson has given us the third in his series, Helsinki White -- and it's as cool as a Nordic wind.
As the book begins, Vaara’s personal life is bittersweet: on the positive side, he’s a new dad, deeply in love with his American wife, Kate, and infant daughter Anu; on the negative, he continues to suffer from paralyzing headaches, is haunted by his past exploits and is obsessed by thoughts about the type of man he has become.
Meanwhile, his professional life keeps getting worse: He and his boss, Jyri Ivalo, are polar (no pun intended) opposites. The National Chief of Police is as corrupt and twisted as they come. Vaara, on the other hand, is an essentially moral man who sees his position in the police as a path to doing good, perhaps the only thing he’s qualified for in the doing-good department.
The men hate each other, and the Chief would fire Vaara if he could.
But Vaara has something on him that would destroy the Chief’s career.
And despite the fact that the rot doesn’t stop with Ivalo, despite the fact that his principal assistant, a man he can’t get rid of, is a sociopath, despite the fact that he’s been put in charge of a clandestine unit which has been specifically created to function outside the law, Vaara wants to stay on.
Couldn’t get any worse, you think?
Then you don’t know James Thompson.
Before the first chapter is out, Vaara discovers his headaches are being caused by a brain tumor.
You might conclude, from the little I’ve told you, that Helsinki White isn’t a cheerful book.
Well, you’d be right there. But it’s a fascinating one, superbly written and full of insights about Thompson’s adopted country. Take this one, about drinking:
"It’s May second, a sunny Sunday…The outdoor bars are packed…Yesterday was Vappu – May Day, the heaviest drinking holiday of the year – and most of these people have been drunk non-stop, morning to night, since they got off from work on Friday."
Or this one, a scene that takes place on a tram:
"Two elderly women, one on a walker, asked the driver, a black immigrant, a question about where to get off to reach her destination. He answered in accented but understandable Finnish. The two grannies sat in front of me and spoke in loud voices, to make certain he could hear, and discussed how the (racial epithet deleted) ought to learn to speak the (expletive deleted) language. The grannies garnered guffaws."
Note: both the racial epithet and the expletive add flavor, and the anecdote can’t be fully appreciated without them, but this review wouldn’t be published in certain venues if I’d left them in.
And how about this unpleasant truth: "Here in Finland and the surrounding countries, thousands of gangsters orchestrate the buying and selling of young girls, and hundreds or thousands of those girls pass through this nation every year…"
Corruption, crooked cops, racism; wholesale exploitation of minors; not what you imagined Finland to be like, is it?
No, Me neither.
White slavery issues play the most prominent roles in Helsinki White, but there are a lot of other things going on as well: the unsolved kidnapping of a billionaire’s children; the murder of a Swedish-speaking Finn, a champion of immigrants’ rights; the drug trade; Vaara’s blooming relationship with Arvid Lahtinen and the increasingly-sinister role of Adrien Moreau.
Talk about rich characters! Lahtinen is a war hero, wanted for extradition by the Germans. Arvid knew Vaara’s grandfather during the war. They killed men together. And Moreau is a French policeman, Finnish by birth, who spent fifteen years in the French Foreign Legion, exercised his right as a Legionnaire and took French citizenship and identity.
There’s only one thing wrong with Helsinki White: it’s too short. And, if it was twice as long, it would still be too short. It’s a first-class crime novel, and I don’t think it will harm your enjoyment of the book to share the words Thompson uses to conclude the final chapter. By then, the mysteries have been cleared-up and (most of) the bad guys have gotten their just deserts.
"June twenty-sixth is mid-summer’s eve, the third anniversary of Kate and my first meeting. On the twenty-fourth, I text Kate, ask her if she would like to spend our anniversary together. She doesn’t reply.
"Except for our two disastrous dinners, I’ve seen no one since I went into self-imposed isolation. I call my brother Timo. He’s having a party. He invited me a while ago, and I ask if I can still come. Sure.
"I go, get whacked on Timo’s pontikka, eat grilled sausages. They light the bonfire at midnight. I get a text from Kate. 'I miss you.' I don’t think she wants a reply. I put the phone back in my pocket, have a long drink from my glass of pontikka, and watch the flames climb higher."
Where will the author take Kate and Kari Vaara from here? Has Thompson backed himself into a corner with their relationship? I hope not.
But we’re going to have to wait a year to find out.
February 1, 2016
I crashed straight into this one from reading Snow Angels and Lucifer's Tears. I'm about 70% in now and I'm really wondering what the **** I'm reading. It's like a friend you know quite well, who's brilliant company when he's sober, who suddenly becomes unrecognisable when he's drunk: violent; amoral; foul-mouthed. It's a shock. The previous books were sharp, focused, sure. This is chaos.
I seriously cannot recognise Kari (the MC of the series) in this book. Sure, he's had brain surgery for a benign tumour and the author is brilliantly showing the after-effects of such invasive intrusion in the mind, but still! This is a novel on steroids. Guns and knives described in great lurid detail, violent deaths thrown in almost as an afterthought. I FEEL LIKE I'M BEING SHOUTED AT THE WHOLE TIME AND IT'S GETTING VERY TIRING. I HAVE A HEADACHE NOW ALONG WITH THE AUTHOR AND THE MAIN CHARACTER.
I actually liked the way Thompson dealt with the race issues in the previous books. He calls things as they are and doesn't try to appease limp-willy liberals by tiptoeing around the cultural pressures that vast swathes of immigration from sub-Saharan Africa can place on a small, isolated Nordic peoples--particularly on its police force. But in this one it's almost too LOUD TO HEAR THE MESSAGE AND I'M GETTING LOST IN THE SHOUTING.
I will finish this. I'm acutely conscious of the fact that James Thompson gave his character the headaches because he too was suffering from them. Whether he, too, had brain surgery and suffered the same cutting off of all his emotional responses is unclear: he was an intensely private author. If James Thompson's life spiralled downhill as Kari's is doing then I feel I owe it to him to finish this book. I can't say I'm exactly enjoying the experience so far though.
I will update when I finish and my headache has subsided.
Finished. I must say it was a relief.
I didn't enjoy this novel at all. I couldn't care less now if Kari or his wife Kate live or die or any of the other odd people he's chosen to surround himself with.
There was a scene in this novel
I have a theory, and as James Thompson is dead he unfortunately can't make a rebuttal, but I wonder if he only had one book in him. Snow Angel was a masterpiece, he was lauded by everyone as the new StieggLarrson (he even commented on how much he hated this constant comparison) and the pressure that put upon him, being the "new" voice in Scandinavian Noir fiction destroyed his writing ability and his health. I could add his sanity as the race-hate fuelled rant he goes into about Anders Breivik in an afterword to this novel doesn't speak well for his stability.
Shame. I won't be reading another of this series.
I seriously cannot recognise Kari (the MC of the series) in this book. Sure, he's had brain surgery for a benign tumour and the author is brilliantly showing the after-effects of such invasive intrusion in the mind, but still! This is a novel on steroids. Guns and knives described in great lurid detail, violent deaths thrown in almost as an afterthought. I FEEL LIKE I'M BEING SHOUTED AT THE WHOLE TIME AND IT'S GETTING VERY TIRING. I HAVE A HEADACHE NOW ALONG WITH THE AUTHOR AND THE MAIN CHARACTER.
I actually liked the way Thompson dealt with the race issues in the previous books. He calls things as they are and doesn't try to appease limp-willy liberals by tiptoeing around the cultural pressures that vast swathes of immigration from sub-Saharan Africa can place on a small, isolated Nordic peoples--particularly on its police force. But in this one it's almost too LOUD TO HEAR THE MESSAGE AND I'M GETTING LOST IN THE SHOUTING.
I will finish this. I'm acutely conscious of the fact that James Thompson gave his character the headaches because he too was suffering from them. Whether he, too, had brain surgery and suffered the same cutting off of all his emotional responses is unclear: he was an intensely private author. If James Thompson's life spiralled downhill as Kari's is doing then I feel I owe it to him to finish this book. I can't say I'm exactly enjoying the experience so far though.
I will update when I finish and my headache has subsided.
Finished. I must say it was a relief.
I didn't enjoy this novel at all. I couldn't care less now if Kari or his wife Kate live or die or any of the other odd people he's chosen to surround himself with.
There was a scene in this novel
I have a theory, and as James Thompson is dead he unfortunately can't make a rebuttal, but I wonder if he only had one book in him. Snow Angel was a masterpiece, he was lauded by everyone as the new StieggLarrson (he even commented on how much he hated this constant comparison) and the pressure that put upon him, being the "new" voice in Scandinavian Noir fiction destroyed his writing ability and his health. I could add his sanity as the race-hate fuelled rant he goes into about Anders Breivik in an afterword to this novel doesn't speak well for his stability.
Shame. I won't be reading another of this series.
April 16, 2012
Sigh, I didn't like it.
The thing that made me come back to the Kari Vaara books was Kari Vaara himself. He wasn't in this book, not the Kari Vaara I liked.
Sadly, I think this wasn't a thriller at all. It was a political book with an agenda. Very, very Americanized. It's clearly aimed at American public. A Finn like me just gaped at the interpretation of our country and its people. Okay, I know it's fiction but I was insulted by the picture painted of some thinly disguised politicians. It just wasn't believable.
It wasn't a book about the country where I live. Nor about the Helsinki I love. It was... well, Chicago, New York, whatever, moved to Finland. The things described in the book can very well happen over there, set here they just sound ridiculous. I found the picture of my country oversimplified and seen through malevolent eyes.
The thing that made me come back to the Kari Vaara books was Kari Vaara himself. He wasn't in this book, not the Kari Vaara I liked.
Sadly, I think this wasn't a thriller at all. It was a political book with an agenda. Very, very Americanized. It's clearly aimed at American public. A Finn like me just gaped at the interpretation of our country and its people. Okay, I know it's fiction but I was insulted by the picture painted of some thinly disguised politicians. It just wasn't believable.
It wasn't a book about the country where I live. Nor about the Helsinki I love. It was... well, Chicago, New York, whatever, moved to Finland. The things described in the book can very well happen over there, set here they just sound ridiculous. I found the picture of my country oversimplified and seen through malevolent eyes.
April 2, 2012
First a recommendation for anyone new to Jim's books: read the Inspector Vaara series in order (Snow Angels, Lucifer's Tears, then Helsinki White. And then hopefully a lot more books to follow). The characters grow and change a lot in each book.
Even if the book and the story would work a standalone, each book will show you a different Finland.
A wild, very exotic Lapland (which was very exotic to someone who grew up in Helsinki too), then a classic Kallio/Helsinki with modern issues, and now Helsinki White... which not only is a crime story, but it also captures the political feel of Finland for the past few years. Corruption, racism, 'Real Finns' party... all 300 pages reflect some of the reasons why I'll never have desire to live in that country again. The political atmosphere and so many people's attitudes are captured well. They are also things that no one is supposed to see and talk about in Finland - a foreigner even less. It's all supposed to be still the image created on the times of Kekkonen, the worker's paradise, with ... well, I guess happy people and where all the things the state does are for the good of its people. And I thought the racism was bad in the '90s.
So before I even go to the story, here's my recommendation: I'd say not just the book but the whole series is definitely recommended for anyone who likes or is interested in Finland, and especially for anyone who wants to go to live there for any reason. The 'Real Finns' party and how popular it apparently is isn't unfortunately just fiction - it's the other part of the white country up there in the North that you're not supposed to see and not supposed to talk about. It's not supposed to be there. It's time someone in Finland did a version of 'Black Like Me', John Howard Griffin style - make it 'Somali Like Me'. Instead of the dark and very honky Mississippi, visit the Alabama of Europe (Joensuu region) as a Somali with perfect Finnish skills. Please, someone, do it, film it, and write it - I want to see that things have changed, that the racist memory of that country only belongs in the past and imagination. Until I see it, I don't believe it.
At the end of Lucifer's Tears the Vaaras had their first daughter. Helsinki White continues from just a few days after that. Kari drops Kate the bomb: brain tumor. Which will change him, and make his charactermore Finnish colder, void of most emotion. His morals seem to change too, and he becomes in a short time a rotten cop in his new role "cleaning" the city from its worst criminals. "How does it feel being married to a famous cop?", asks a girl who's got a crush with Kari from Kate; "Like being married to Tony Soprano."
He's called to investigate a murder of a Swedish-speaking Finnish politician whose head is found at the Finnish Somalia Network headquarters.
Add more politics, more racist politics, corruption, corrupt politicians, Milo's and Sulo's take on some surveillance, drugs, drug dealers, an ex-Finnish servant of the French secret police, a missing politician's son and another child of the same politician murdered, and stir. Keep adding more racist and political stuff, more drugs, more corruption, and some sexy spy and cop gear, and stir more. Oh, and add alcohol, and stir more.
Suggested pairing for the book: vodka. Any decent one you can drink without getting a morkkis or a hangover, on doses you can manage.
The next Vaara will need again a Fresh new take on Finland, a few new characters, and then a few hundred more twists and turns (to hit the spot for all the Nesbø fans). Can't wait.
Even if the book and the story would work a standalone, each book will show you a different Finland.
A wild, very exotic Lapland (which was very exotic to someone who grew up in Helsinki too), then a classic Kallio/Helsinki with modern issues, and now Helsinki White... which not only is a crime story, but it also captures the political feel of Finland for the past few years. Corruption, racism, 'Real Finns' party... all 300 pages reflect some of the reasons why I'll never have desire to live in that country again. The political atmosphere and so many people's attitudes are captured well. They are also things that no one is supposed to see and talk about in Finland - a foreigner even less. It's all supposed to be still the image created on the times of Kekkonen, the worker's paradise, with ... well, I guess happy people and where all the things the state does are for the good of its people. And I thought the racism was bad in the '90s.
So before I even go to the story, here's my recommendation: I'd say not just the book but the whole series is definitely recommended for anyone who likes or is interested in Finland, and especially for anyone who wants to go to live there for any reason. The 'Real Finns' party and how popular it apparently is isn't unfortunately just fiction - it's the other part of the white country up there in the North that you're not supposed to see and not supposed to talk about. It's not supposed to be there. It's time someone in Finland did a version of 'Black Like Me', John Howard Griffin style - make it 'Somali Like Me'. Instead of the dark and very honky Mississippi, visit the Alabama of Europe (Joensuu region) as a Somali with perfect Finnish skills. Please, someone, do it, film it, and write it - I want to see that things have changed, that the racist memory of that country only belongs in the past and imagination. Until I see it, I don't believe it.
At the end of Lucifer's Tears the Vaaras had their first daughter. Helsinki White continues from just a few days after that. Kari drops Kate the bomb: brain tumor. Which will change him, and make his character
He's called to investigate a murder of a Swedish-speaking Finnish politician whose head is found at the Finnish Somalia Network headquarters.
Add more politics, more racist politics, corruption, corrupt politicians, Milo's and Sulo's take on some surveillance, drugs, drug dealers, an ex-Finnish servant of the French secret police, a missing politician's son and another child of the same politician murdered, and stir. Keep adding more racist and political stuff, more drugs, more corruption, and some sexy spy and cop gear, and stir more. Oh, and add alcohol, and stir more.
Suggested pairing for the book: vodka. Any decent one you can drink without getting a morkkis or a hangover, on doses you can manage.
The next Vaara will need again a Fresh new take on Finland, a few new characters, and then a few hundred more twists and turns (to hit the spot for all the Nesbø fans). Can't wait.
June 7, 2022
Back for the third venture with Inspector Kari Vaara & looking forward to the change of pace from my last book.
Well, it certainly did that!
The book gives us a recap & an update on where we were after the prior book which is always welcome these days. 😊 And hasn’t it moved on in terms of Inspector Vaara who has undertaken a new position which is in effect as a “dirty” cop in a black ops team which tbh is quite the turn up as I always saw him as someone with high morals, it really did make me sit-up & question the direction of this? We’ll have to see how this works I guess. On the domestic front, he & Kate are now with child so the timeline has moved on a few months since the last we left her, she was heavily pregnant. Then finally we have the brain tumour revelation that ended the last book which were the cause of his continuous migraines! An operation is pending……
Its all going off then…..
It does take a little time to settle down as there is a fair bit of domestic/operation fall-out to work through in Vaara’s life before we get into the storyline for this book. In fact the first portion of the book is fair chaotic & you do wonder where it’s all going, very different from the original two books in the series which were detective stories. I’ll say again VERY different.
The actual murder & subsequent crime to solve, when it comes is at over 100 pages into the book, which for what has been a detective series up till now, is fair unusual I would say? And I have to say if you are easily offended or of a certain age (per say an overtly sensitive millennial type) then this book is defo not for you (tears before bedtime will ensue) as the story descends into very racist language to illustrate the hardcore attitude of the white supremacist group we are dealing with, tbh the language was a little excessive, ok we get the drift now, we don’t have to keep reading through their web page & messages jus to get the n word count up….? Authenticity doesn’t normally bother me, I mention it as even I thought it twas excessive plus this book hasn’t at all been in character with the prior two for those that have enjoyed the first two outings.
So, remember I said the crime came in at about the 100 mark, well, now I’m like at the 50% point & we’re really no further forward in the case, it’s all about “boys toys” for the black ops team which at times descends into gun phallacy & it’s really jus going no-where in terms of mystery & solving a crime….. in fact if this was the first in the series, this would be about to be parked…… and banished to the discontinued series folder, yeah it’s that indifferent after high fiving the first 2 books. ☹
Conclusion - Well, I finished it but what a mess of a book, the main two characters Vaara AND his wife are totally unrecognisable from the opening books in the series & are jus plain wrong for me, which is my main gripe let alone giving a more critique of the storyline as in truth there is none, its jus an alcohol induced rampage through the low lives of Helsinki, which is fine IF that’s what you signed up for, me not so much, Vaara was a much more nuanced character than this? AND it’s not even gritty or entertaining either, its jus awash of searing white hot noise from scene to scene, there is no plot, no mystery, no development……. Thinks….. nope! no redeeming feature I can name.
There is a caveat for the change in Vaara’s demeanour which although makes sense I could have really done without this book in the series, in truth its already forgotten.
If I had one word to describe this book, it would be gratuitous, in every situation.
A real car crash of a book, rounded up to 2 stars……
Ive since read some other reviews & it’s not jus me on this one then. One likened the first two books to a new best friend whilst this the third book sees yer normally amiable & jovial new best friend turn into an aggressive angry drunk after a coupla beers who wants to fight the world! Pretty apt there.
Well, it certainly did that!
The book gives us a recap & an update on where we were after the prior book which is always welcome these days. 😊 And hasn’t it moved on in terms of Inspector Vaara who has undertaken a new position which is in effect as a “dirty” cop in a black ops team which tbh is quite the turn up as I always saw him as someone with high morals, it really did make me sit-up & question the direction of this? We’ll have to see how this works I guess. On the domestic front, he & Kate are now with child so the timeline has moved on a few months since the last we left her, she was heavily pregnant. Then finally we have the brain tumour revelation that ended the last book which were the cause of his continuous migraines! An operation is pending……
Its all going off then…..
It does take a little time to settle down as there is a fair bit of domestic/operation fall-out to work through in Vaara’s life before we get into the storyline for this book. In fact the first portion of the book is fair chaotic & you do wonder where it’s all going, very different from the original two books in the series which were detective stories. I’ll say again VERY different.
The actual murder & subsequent crime to solve, when it comes is at over 100 pages into the book, which for what has been a detective series up till now, is fair unusual I would say? And I have to say if you are easily offended or of a certain age (per say an overtly sensitive millennial type) then this book is defo not for you (tears before bedtime will ensue) as the story descends into very racist language to illustrate the hardcore attitude of the white supremacist group we are dealing with, tbh the language was a little excessive, ok we get the drift now, we don’t have to keep reading through their web page & messages jus to get the n word count up….? Authenticity doesn’t normally bother me, I mention it as even I thought it twas excessive plus this book hasn’t at all been in character with the prior two for those that have enjoyed the first two outings.
So, remember I said the crime came in at about the 100 mark, well, now I’m like at the 50% point & we’re really no further forward in the case, it’s all about “boys toys” for the black ops team which at times descends into gun phallacy & it’s really jus going no-where in terms of mystery & solving a crime….. in fact if this was the first in the series, this would be about to be parked…… and banished to the discontinued series folder, yeah it’s that indifferent after high fiving the first 2 books. ☹
Conclusion - Well, I finished it but what a mess of a book, the main two characters Vaara AND his wife are totally unrecognisable from the opening books in the series & are jus plain wrong for me, which is my main gripe let alone giving a more critique of the storyline as in truth there is none, its jus an alcohol induced rampage through the low lives of Helsinki, which is fine IF that’s what you signed up for, me not so much, Vaara was a much more nuanced character than this? AND it’s not even gritty or entertaining either, its jus awash of searing white hot noise from scene to scene, there is no plot, no mystery, no development……. Thinks….. nope! no redeeming feature I can name.
There is a caveat for the change in Vaara’s demeanour which although makes sense I could have really done without this book in the series, in truth its already forgotten.
If I had one word to describe this book, it would be gratuitous, in every situation.
A real car crash of a book, rounded up to 2 stars……
Ive since read some other reviews & it’s not jus me on this one then. One likened the first two books to a new best friend whilst this the third book sees yer normally amiable & jovial new best friend turn into an aggressive angry drunk after a coupla beers who wants to fight the world! Pretty apt there.
May 5, 2013
Book Info: Genre: Mystery/Noir
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of dark mysteries, well-told stories, surprises galore, good characters
Trigger Warnings: murder, vigilantism, hate speech (n-word), hate crimes, torture, drug use and abuse, drug dealing
Animal Abuse: cat murder x4; I liked Arvid, but I don't think I can forgive him for murdering four grieving cats. A dog, a Fila Brasileiro, attacks the group and is hit with a razor-tipped cane and Tasered, its leg put in a tourniquet, and they then threaten to amputate its leg. There is no follow-up as to how badly injured the dog is.
My Thoughts: This book takes place about 5 months after the end of the previous one, or at least the bulk of it does. There is a long flashback segment that covers most of those five months. Despite the overall ugliness of this story—and have no doubt about it, it's very ugly—I enjoyed this one the most. I think it's because Vaara's emotional flatness made everything so intellectually interesting to him; everything is told with dispassion that helps to distance the reader to a large extent. I also often found myself laughing at the nonsense that the haters would say. I know it isn't funny, but honestly, you have to laugh at this stuff if you don't want to cry. Do these people even realize how ridiculous they sound? I was disappointed in how things ended with Moreau—I rather liked him—but like every book so far in this series, this one is absolutely full of surprises.
I'm even more desperate to continue this series now. I want to know what happens next. I'm hoping for the best but expecting the worst, as that seems to be the way this series is going. However, speaking for the series as a whole now, I can highly recommend it to those who enjoy their murder mysteries dark, their characters interesting (if not necessarily nice), and their stories well-told. Be sure to check them out if you haven't already.
Series Information: Helsinki White is the third book in the Inspector Vaara series.
Book 1: Snow Angels, review linked here where formatting allowed.
Book 2: Lucifer's Tears, review linked here where formatting allowed
Book 4: Helsinki Blood, I do not have, but it is on my wishlist
Disclosure: I received a paperback galley from Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Synopsis (from the back of the book): Two days after their daughter is born, Kari Vaara drops a bombshell on his American wife, Kate: he's been handpicked to run a rogue black-ops unit, using crime to fight crime. 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 having no agenda besides xenophobia. When the country's leading immigrants' rights advocate is assassinated, the president assigns Kari to the case. Cracking it will involve the unsolved kidnapping of a billionaire’s children, a Faustian bargain with a former French Legionnaire—and Kate.
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of dark mysteries, well-told stories, surprises galore, good characters
Trigger Warnings: murder, vigilantism, hate speech (n-word), hate crimes, torture, drug use and abuse, drug dealing
Animal Abuse: cat murder x4; I liked Arvid, but I don't think I can forgive him for murdering four grieving cats. A dog, a Fila Brasileiro, attacks the group and is hit with a razor-tipped cane and Tasered, its leg put in a tourniquet, and they then threaten to amputate its leg. There is no follow-up as to how badly injured the dog is.
My Thoughts: This book takes place about 5 months after the end of the previous one, or at least the bulk of it does. There is a long flashback segment that covers most of those five months. Despite the overall ugliness of this story—and have no doubt about it, it's very ugly—I enjoyed this one the most. I think it's because Vaara's emotional flatness made everything so intellectually interesting to him; everything is told with dispassion that helps to distance the reader to a large extent. I also often found myself laughing at the nonsense that the haters would say. I know it isn't funny, but honestly, you have to laugh at this stuff if you don't want to cry. Do these people even realize how ridiculous they sound? I was disappointed in how things ended with Moreau—I rather liked him—but like every book so far in this series, this one is absolutely full of surprises.
I'm even more desperate to continue this series now. I want to know what happens next. I'm hoping for the best but expecting the worst, as that seems to be the way this series is going. However, speaking for the series as a whole now, I can highly recommend it to those who enjoy their murder mysteries dark, their characters interesting (if not necessarily nice), and their stories well-told. Be sure to check them out if you haven't already.
Series Information: Helsinki White is the third book in the Inspector Vaara series.
Book 1: Snow Angels, review linked here where formatting allowed.
Book 2: Lucifer's Tears, review linked here where formatting allowed
Book 4: Helsinki Blood, I do not have, but it is on my wishlist
Disclosure: I received a paperback galley from Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Synopsis (from the back of the book): Two days after their daughter is born, Kari Vaara drops a bombshell on his American wife, Kate: he's been handpicked to run a rogue black-ops unit, using crime to fight crime. 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 having no agenda besides xenophobia. When the country's leading immigrants' rights advocate is assassinated, the president assigns Kari to the case. Cracking it will involve the unsolved kidnapping of a billionaire’s children, a Faustian bargain with a former French Legionnaire—and Kate.
March 28, 2012
POSSIBLE SPOILERS...POSSIBLE SPOILERS...POSSIBLE SPOILERS
I must say that I have had a really rough time with reviewing this book. This is my second review. I have even gone outside to others to seek feedback. Here is why...
I, on average, read over 400 books per year. In those 400 books, I would say that 90% of the time after I have read them, they are out of sight out of mind with the ability to pull up a very basic synopsis, if needed. However, I have a couple of characters and authors whom I have grown particularly fond of. Really for the most part, these are limited to Alex McKnight by Steve Hamilton; Louis Kincaid by P. J. Parrish and Tony Hill by Val McDermid and, of course, Kari Vaara by Jim.
Now, why did I have such a hard time with it? Is it that it is a poorly written novel? Absolutely not, I have never seen Jim put out anything other than high quality, absolutely gripping writing. Is it the political stuff that the storyline is built around. Nope, in reflection, all of Jim's books have a tinge of them in it. This book, it was a bit more open. I must say I did have a bit of a rough time with some of the language in the book, but again, I recognized it was detrimental to the storyline so, although I cringed each time I saw it, I knew I had to overlook it.
So, why in the beginning was I so pissed off at this book to give it one star until further reflection and insight. Because I was really ticked off at the way Jim did a total 180 on Kari, a character that I am particularly fond of. Although, he is gruff, that is simply his exterior. He is dedicated to "good"/justice and dedicated to his family. I have never had to face that before with any of my other authors. I found Kari doing things that I absolutely felt were outside his realm of decency and character on many levels. It totally blew my perception of him. I had a wise person respond to me, after describing a particularly negative incident in his life, "You never see someone the same way again after an incident like that. I think that happened to you with Kari." (see I was "listening") Thing is...he was dead on!
So, Jim has assured my group that Kari will redeem himself in Book 4 of the series and, as usual, I will be stalking him until it comes out!
I must say that I have had a really rough time with reviewing this book. This is my second review. I have even gone outside to others to seek feedback. Here is why...
I, on average, read over 400 books per year. In those 400 books, I would say that 90% of the time after I have read them, they are out of sight out of mind with the ability to pull up a very basic synopsis, if needed. However, I have a couple of characters and authors whom I have grown particularly fond of. Really for the most part, these are limited to Alex McKnight by Steve Hamilton; Louis Kincaid by P. J. Parrish and Tony Hill by Val McDermid and, of course, Kari Vaara by Jim.
Now, why did I have such a hard time with it? Is it that it is a poorly written novel? Absolutely not, I have never seen Jim put out anything other than high quality, absolutely gripping writing. Is it the political stuff that the storyline is built around. Nope, in reflection, all of Jim's books have a tinge of them in it. This book, it was a bit more open. I must say I did have a bit of a rough time with some of the language in the book, but again, I recognized it was detrimental to the storyline so, although I cringed each time I saw it, I knew I had to overlook it.
So, why in the beginning was I so pissed off at this book to give it one star until further reflection and insight. Because I was really ticked off at the way Jim did a total 180 on Kari, a character that I am particularly fond of. Although, he is gruff, that is simply his exterior. He is dedicated to "good"/justice and dedicated to his family. I have never had to face that before with any of my other authors. I found Kari doing things that I absolutely felt were outside his realm of decency and character on many levels. It totally blew my perception of him. I had a wise person respond to me, after describing a particularly negative incident in his life, "You never see someone the same way again after an incident like that. I think that happened to you with Kari." (see I was "listening") Thing is...he was dead on!
So, Jim has assured my group that Kari will redeem himself in Book 4 of the series and, as usual, I will be stalking him until it comes out!
October 1, 2017
Nope.
This book lacks everything - setting, some character development, maybe just a bit of novelty- that made the first one passable, and reads like a cascade of pulp covers flashing by.
This book lacks everything - setting, some character development, maybe just a bit of novelty- that made the first one passable, and reads like a cascade of pulp covers flashing by.
March 19, 2012
Having read, and loved, the first two books in the Inspector Vaara series, by James Thompson, I was excited to receive a copy of the latest book, "Helsinki White". Inspector Vaara is a complex, fascinating character; a stoic man of principle, married to an American ex-pat, living and working in the harsh winter environment of Finland. The political atmosphere rivals that of the elements. Finland is experiencing an onslaught of immigrants from Somalia, the Arab nations, and muslims. And this predominantly insular nation finds itself needing police enforcement to curb the angry, sometimes violent, manifests against these immigrants.
And that is why I liked the character of Inspector Vaara. In the first 2 books he solved the heinous murders of Somalians and saved a school of children from a psycho with a gun. He's a national hero; not an angel, by no means, but a decent cop and loving family man. Until this book.
A new father, recently diagnosed with a benign brain tumor, Vaara is offered a dream job running a black ops unit to fight human trafficking. He can't resist. He and his partner, Milo, a talented computer hack, and a two-fisted civilian goon strangely named "Sweetness" make up the unit. They break into the homes of criminals, steal their money and drugs, bug their phones and computer software, leave incriminating evidence, share the profits with the their police commissioner and Vaara goes home to change his daughter's diapers. His unit is quite effective but he has become, as his wife succinctly points out, a dirty cop.
This new Vaara, commiting crimes to fight crime, is acceptable until he has his brain surgery. It unfortunately leaves him emotionally and empathetically vacant. He is unable to feel love or happiness for his family and must practice smiling in front of a mirror to maintain any pretense of the former Vaara. When Sweetness pounds a dealer until he is bloody and his teeth are on the ground, Vaara feels no revulsion. And he definitely feels no remorse for the increasingly criminal behavior of his unit. The man has lost his moral compass and this vacant shell with antisocial tendancies is what makes him intolerable to the reader.
Yes, there are times he has doubt about his actions and lack of emotion, but it is fleeting and superficial. He can tell his wife the bloody details of everything the unit does and she even benefits from the outcome, but he can't tell her the surgery has left him joyless and indifferent. If Vaara was truly torn by the political violence in his country and the reprehensible acts commited by his team, his character would be sympathetic and flawed. "Helsinki White" makes him a sociopath.
Thompson's comprehension that Finns no longer "hate in silence" and have become a nation of social and political xenophobes is the background of his novels, especially this one. His adopted country's aggressive stance against immigration mirrors that of America, including even the existence of a growing political party that unfortunately resembles the Teabaggers. This element fleshes out the story significantly, it helps the reader understand why a good cop would want to fight against this growing tide of racial hatred. But it does not justify why a national hero and loving family man becomes a morally repugnant rogue with a badge.
I know the series will continue and I want to read the next book, I need to see if Vaara realizes what he has lost and if he will rectify his actions. He may be able to fight the criminal element, but I would rather he not be part of the problem.
And that is why I liked the character of Inspector Vaara. In the first 2 books he solved the heinous murders of Somalians and saved a school of children from a psycho with a gun. He's a national hero; not an angel, by no means, but a decent cop and loving family man. Until this book.
A new father, recently diagnosed with a benign brain tumor, Vaara is offered a dream job running a black ops unit to fight human trafficking. He can't resist. He and his partner, Milo, a talented computer hack, and a two-fisted civilian goon strangely named "Sweetness" make up the unit. They break into the homes of criminals, steal their money and drugs, bug their phones and computer software, leave incriminating evidence, share the profits with the their police commissioner and Vaara goes home to change his daughter's diapers. His unit is quite effective but he has become, as his wife succinctly points out, a dirty cop.
This new Vaara, commiting crimes to fight crime, is acceptable until he has his brain surgery. It unfortunately leaves him emotionally and empathetically vacant. He is unable to feel love or happiness for his family and must practice smiling in front of a mirror to maintain any pretense of the former Vaara. When Sweetness pounds a dealer until he is bloody and his teeth are on the ground, Vaara feels no revulsion. And he definitely feels no remorse for the increasingly criminal behavior of his unit. The man has lost his moral compass and this vacant shell with antisocial tendancies is what makes him intolerable to the reader.
Yes, there are times he has doubt about his actions and lack of emotion, but it is fleeting and superficial. He can tell his wife the bloody details of everything the unit does and she even benefits from the outcome, but he can't tell her the surgery has left him joyless and indifferent. If Vaara was truly torn by the political violence in his country and the reprehensible acts commited by his team, his character would be sympathetic and flawed. "Helsinki White" makes him a sociopath.
Thompson's comprehension that Finns no longer "hate in silence" and have become a nation of social and political xenophobes is the background of his novels, especially this one. His adopted country's aggressive stance against immigration mirrors that of America, including even the existence of a growing political party that unfortunately resembles the Teabaggers. This element fleshes out the story significantly, it helps the reader understand why a good cop would want to fight against this growing tide of racial hatred. But it does not justify why a national hero and loving family man becomes a morally repugnant rogue with a badge.
I know the series will continue and I want to read the next book, I need to see if Vaara realizes what he has lost and if he will rectify his actions. He may be able to fight the criminal element, but I would rather he not be part of the problem.
January 30, 2012
American author James Thompson's Helsinki White (G.P. Putnam Sons 2012) is as much about Finnish politics as it is about heroine, crime, and catching the bad guys with unorthodox methods. What caught my attention when I selected the novel was that it's based in Finland, a country that isn't often the setting for detective stories, and it's told from the first person present tense of Inspector Kari Vaara, a Finnish law enforcement officer. I know nothing about what drives Finland's government, economics or culture, so was fascinated by this peek behind the curtains. Since Vaara is married to an American, I got explanations throughout the story of what was Finnish and how it differed from America.
Briefly, Vaara is asked to lead a black ops group tasked with turning the tide of a crime wave sweeping the country. Funding for this endeavor comes from money they steal from the criminals. The only rule: Succeed. There are no limits on how. Vaara's rogue group is so successful and so discreet that the criminals start fighting each other in an effort to stop the crime busters. This escalates and sparks political consequences that were never imagined when the group was formed. As the personal danger increases, Vaara realizes that his only way out is to solve the political roots and hope he survives.
Much of the book deals with a graphic display of the violence and racial hatred that were both cause and result of the group's operations. I was startled by how far Vaara veered from 'legal' to catch his bad guys. I would have found it hard to believe a law enforcement officer could swing that far to the dark side except that Thompson set Vaara up early in the story with a brain injury that erased his emotions, and conceivably his conscience. As a result, the book offers some intriguing insights into the human condition--"Nothing has intrinsic meaning. We give meaning to the things important to us". Plus, the story's supporting characters are fully as warped as Vaara becomes, reveling in the crime and violence they commit without any barometer for how far off center they are. Overall, these characters are not the sort I would hang out with. Vaara seems to figure out that he's gone too far when he says,
"So, between January 26th, the day I asked Kate [his wife] if I could become a more effective cop, a man empowered to truly help people by bending the rules of engagement in the war against crime, and today... I've gone from, if not a paragon of virtue, a cop who mostly observed the rules governing my profession, to a man who has no qualms about breaking any law, committing almost any act, to achieve my own ends."
As the book progresses, it focuses more on the racism that seemed to be drowning Finland. Though Vaara isn't racist, he does an expert job of sharing the vileness of the extreme xenophobic Finnish groups and enveloping you in their evil taste and feel.
Overall, this is a unique approach to the noir crime stoppers genre, made even more so by a strong author with the ability to weave a fast-moving, intricate plot that never lets you go. I recommend it, with the reservation that its themes are in-your-face. If you're weak of stomach, you might want to skip it.
Briefly, Vaara is asked to lead a black ops group tasked with turning the tide of a crime wave sweeping the country. Funding for this endeavor comes from money they steal from the criminals. The only rule: Succeed. There are no limits on how. Vaara's rogue group is so successful and so discreet that the criminals start fighting each other in an effort to stop the crime busters. This escalates and sparks political consequences that were never imagined when the group was formed. As the personal danger increases, Vaara realizes that his only way out is to solve the political roots and hope he survives.
Much of the book deals with a graphic display of the violence and racial hatred that were both cause and result of the group's operations. I was startled by how far Vaara veered from 'legal' to catch his bad guys. I would have found it hard to believe a law enforcement officer could swing that far to the dark side except that Thompson set Vaara up early in the story with a brain injury that erased his emotions, and conceivably his conscience. As a result, the book offers some intriguing insights into the human condition--"Nothing has intrinsic meaning. We give meaning to the things important to us". Plus, the story's supporting characters are fully as warped as Vaara becomes, reveling in the crime and violence they commit without any barometer for how far off center they are. Overall, these characters are not the sort I would hang out with. Vaara seems to figure out that he's gone too far when he says,
"So, between January 26th, the day I asked Kate [his wife] if I could become a more effective cop, a man empowered to truly help people by bending the rules of engagement in the war against crime, and today... I've gone from, if not a paragon of virtue, a cop who mostly observed the rules governing my profession, to a man who has no qualms about breaking any law, committing almost any act, to achieve my own ends."
As the book progresses, it focuses more on the racism that seemed to be drowning Finland. Though Vaara isn't racist, he does an expert job of sharing the vileness of the extreme xenophobic Finnish groups and enveloping you in their evil taste and feel.
Overall, this is a unique approach to the noir crime stoppers genre, made even more so by a strong author with the ability to weave a fast-moving, intricate plot that never lets you go. I recommend it, with the reservation that its themes are in-your-face. If you're weak of stomach, you might want to skip it.
March 6, 2012
Kari Vaara is a cop in Finland whose wife, Kate, just had a baby girl and he is recovering from surgery to remove a brain tumor. The operation has left him with a loss of emotion, something his brother assures him will pass. Now that he is back at work, his boss wants him to run a rogue unit and he is allowed to pick his own team. Sweetness is the muscle of the group while Milo is the computer expert. They fall easily into their job of stealing drugs, guns and money from thugs, putting trackers on the cars of drug dealers so they can rob them again. Kari had thought he would be doing something good…rescuing young girls who are being forced into prostitution but convinces himself that cutting the legs out from under criminals is just as good. Kari has a lot of dirt on the higher ups but realizes that he and his team are also under surveillance. There is an unsolved kidnapping case involving a billionaire’s kids as well as the suspicious aid of a former French Legionnaire.
Kate reluctantly agrees that Kari should work with this special unit, even though he now is basically a “dirty cop.” Arvid is back, the elderly man who had served in the military with Kari’s grandfather. He has taken a liking to Kate and the baby.
Kari’s boss, Jyri, isn’t to be trusted but Kari has enough on him to keep him in line. It’s difficult to keep track of who’s stabbing who in the back, who to trust while trying to keep one step ahead of the powers that be. Thompson gives an inside look into the political atmosphere in Finland as well as the culture. Kate is drawn into Kari’s dangerous life and almost loses her own which forces her to make a decision that will impact both of their lives.
Kate reluctantly agrees that Kari should work with this special unit, even though he now is basically a “dirty cop.” Arvid is back, the elderly man who had served in the military with Kari’s grandfather. He has taken a liking to Kate and the baby.
Kari’s boss, Jyri, isn’t to be trusted but Kari has enough on him to keep him in line. It’s difficult to keep track of who’s stabbing who in the back, who to trust while trying to keep one step ahead of the powers that be. Thompson gives an inside look into the political atmosphere in Finland as well as the culture. Kate is drawn into Kari’s dangerous life and almost loses her own which forces her to make a decision that will impact both of their lives.
August 4, 2014
Four and half star. Pleasantly surprised after Lucifer's Tears, expectations after that were a little tuned down. An half Star is missing only for certain plot points that went too far. I don't want go to a politics, but making True Finns (Perus Suomalaiset) just an anti-immigrant assholes and bad guys was bit too much, but i can forgive that because National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) gets some of the blame, and they are the true Evil Ones (who probably worship the Great Cthulhu).
All the racism war going on and a snooping on politicians went to James Ellroy territory in a good way. A book structure is not conventional, main plot starts somewhere after hundred pages or so and there is not much of an investigation work going on. The main bulk consist of the Vaara's black op team work and it's most enjoyable part to read. The Family part gets it's fair share of pages and it's also good stuff. Vaara's problems after a brain surgery gives an edge to already interesting character.
The main plot works this time, especially in the end. Not to spoil too much, it's a proof that Thompson has created memorable characters (Milo, Sweetness, Kate and more) when you are worried for them. It's a brutal ending. I lost an hour from my precious sleep time to finish this one, so there's one reason for the high rating. Roll on Helsinki Blood hardcover, i can't wait for a paperback.
All the racism war going on and a snooping on politicians went to James Ellroy territory in a good way. A book structure is not conventional, main plot starts somewhere after hundred pages or so and there is not much of an investigation work going on. The main bulk consist of the Vaara's black op team work and it's most enjoyable part to read. The Family part gets it's fair share of pages and it's also good stuff. Vaara's problems after a brain surgery gives an edge to already interesting character.
The main plot works this time, especially in the end. Not to spoil too much, it's a proof that Thompson has created memorable characters (Milo, Sweetness, Kate and more) when you are worried for them. It's a brutal ending. I lost an hour from my precious sleep time to finish this one, so there's one reason for the high rating. Roll on Helsinki Blood hardcover, i can't wait for a paperback.
February 24, 2012
(Mild spoiler alert, if you haven't read book 2)
I'm in a bit of a quandary in writing this review, because of the duality within this book. In the first two Inspector Kari Vaara books, I've gotten to know a set of characters, and learn a bit about Finland. James Thompson threw a wild-card or two in at the end of the last book with both the new squad Kari would be heading and the diagnosis of a brain tumor. It is in this third book that both those elements shape the story, impacting the characters readers thought they knew, and twisting the story in very dark ways.
And yet, even though this story deals with the inevitable evil trio of corruption, drugs, and crime, and the fight against them, it still kept me locked in. That the fight took on a darkness of its own, I found unsettling. But life isn't clean, so why should the books we read be? The twist of the surgery affecting Kari's emotional outlet was brilliant. (Not that I liked some of results, but the plot development was a good one.) At the end of this book, I felt all characters were irrevocably changed, but not irreversibly changed. And it is because I feel there is still hope, and because I think Mr Thompson an excellent writer, and crafter of a story, that I shall look forward to book four. My four stars are not because I liked what was happening in the book, but because of the skill with which the tale was told, the effect the writing had on me, and the uniqueness of the way this author is moving the story line.
Received this book via the kind auspices of LibraryThing Early Reviewers program and the publisher.
I'm in a bit of a quandary in writing this review, because of the duality within this book. In the first two Inspector Kari Vaara books, I've gotten to know a set of characters, and learn a bit about Finland. James Thompson threw a wild-card or two in at the end of the last book with both the new squad Kari would be heading and the diagnosis of a brain tumor. It is in this third book that both those elements shape the story, impacting the characters readers thought they knew, and twisting the story in very dark ways.
And yet, even though this story deals with the inevitable evil trio of corruption, drugs, and crime, and the fight against them, it still kept me locked in. That the fight took on a darkness of its own, I found unsettling. But life isn't clean, so why should the books we read be? The twist of the surgery affecting Kari's emotional outlet was brilliant. (Not that I liked some of results, but the plot development was a good one.) At the end of this book, I felt all characters were irrevocably changed, but not irreversibly changed. And it is because I feel there is still hope, and because I think Mr Thompson an excellent writer, and crafter of a story, that I shall look forward to book four. My four stars are not because I liked what was happening in the book, but because of the skill with which the tale was told, the effect the writing had on me, and the uniqueness of the way this author is moving the story line.
Received this book via the kind auspices of LibraryThing Early Reviewers program and the publisher.
August 18, 2016
Helsinki White reads like the dark power fantasy of a high school loser who's spent too much time playing video games and getting beat up and picked on by jocks and stoners and not enough time learning the English language or even the basic fundamentals of story-telling. At first I was willing to excuse the poor prose, assuming it to be due to either the work of a bad translator or the book being written in English by a non-native speaker. Then I found out it wasn't translated and that English is indeed James Thompson's native tongue.
As for the narrative itself, the plot makes little sense, involving an investigation of an assassination which is moved along almost entirely by chance or deus ex machina rather than the efforts of the investigators. The characters are flat, unrealistic, and extremely unlikable. There is very little attention given to any detail other than some outrageous character descriptions and the meticulous cataloging of every single weapon and piece of equipment the characters acquire during the course of the story regardless of whether they play any role in the narrative whatsoever. And throughout the novel, Thompson is prone to making sweeping generalizations about entire groups of people, especially Americans, whenever it might illustrate a point, making it tougher to like Thompson than his own unlikeable characters, which is no small feat.
All in all, there is very little, if anything, to like about Helsinki White. I didn't completely hate myself for having read it all the way through, which I guess is good, but that's really the best thing I can say about it.
As for the narrative itself, the plot makes little sense, involving an investigation of an assassination which is moved along almost entirely by chance or deus ex machina rather than the efforts of the investigators. The characters are flat, unrealistic, and extremely unlikable. There is very little attention given to any detail other than some outrageous character descriptions and the meticulous cataloging of every single weapon and piece of equipment the characters acquire during the course of the story regardless of whether they play any role in the narrative whatsoever. And throughout the novel, Thompson is prone to making sweeping generalizations about entire groups of people, especially Americans, whenever it might illustrate a point, making it tougher to like Thompson than his own unlikeable characters, which is no small feat.
All in all, there is very little, if anything, to like about Helsinki White. I didn't completely hate myself for having read it all the way through, which I guess is good, but that's really the best thing I can say about it.
October 5, 2012
Themes of racial hatred, drug wars and political manipulation and wrongdoings are the background for Inspector Kari Vaara's new job as leader of a black-ops group in Helsinki, Finland. Vaara is a new father who is recovering from surgery for a brain tumor as he begins his job with his cohorts Milo and Sweetness. I found the political messages and the racial intolerance overwhelmed the story, so much so that the resolution of the murder of a well-known immigrants' rights activist and the kidnapping of a wealthy plutocrat's children are overshadowed. The long lectures about Vaara's new weapons shows the detail in Thompson's research, but leaves the reader less than charmed. The changes in dialogue and character for Vaara were a reflection of his lack of affect as a result of the surgery, but I was grateful for his abrupt "awakening" at the end of the story. I want the old Kari back, with his sense of rough justice and emotionally intact, ready to tackle both his illicit superiors and his family problems. For that reason, I can't wait for the next book, having found this one wanting.
February 7, 2012
I have enjoyed this mystery series, set in Finland, since its very first installment. Each book has had something of an ominous ending, making me eager to read the next in the series as Kari Vaara continues to develop. This book, however, was a much darker read than any in this already fairly grim series. His career takes quite a turn, and as the plot builds, one thing leads to another, making Vaara a different man than the one I at least first grew to like in the series' debut, Snow Angels.
The ending was a bit more hopeful than some of the others, and I will definitely continue to read this series where the Finnish setting is perhaps even a larger character than Vaara himself. I just hope that the next one is a mystery with a bit less of a political focus... Race relations in Finland are certainly interesting, but the mystery behind this plot was not as well developed as the other two installments in the series.
The ending was a bit more hopeful than some of the others, and I will definitely continue to read this series where the Finnish setting is perhaps even a larger character than Vaara himself. I just hope that the next one is a mystery with a bit less of a political focus... Race relations in Finland are certainly interesting, but the mystery behind this plot was not as well developed as the other two installments in the series.
November 27, 2013
This is the third book I have read by this author and although the stories are good and obviously reflect his knowledge of Finnish life and it's cultural quirks, I do find the excessive foul language and sex thrown in constantly a bit off putting, and distracting from a detective story. The plot here of racial discimination and neo Nazism in Finland was not something I was familiar with and if true, very depressing. I really like the adjunct characters of miles and sweetness and still feel the relationship of the protagonist and his wife totally unbelievable, despite the amount of sex they engage in. I have a copy of his next book waiting to be read ( to be fair and see if things improve) . Here's hoping it does. This writer has great potential, but less gratuitous sex and swearing would be appreciated.
April 16, 2012
I love James Thompson's books! Why? Because he shows you the people and the beauty of Finnland. He illustrates this all while telling you a great story intertwined with a dark and seamy side. Helsinki White is about racism, drugs,politics, guns, sex, murder and Vaapu! Inspector Vaara is in charge of "clean up" in Helsinki....Let the mayhem begin!
May 2, 2012
Hardboiled to its core, Helsinki White offers us a glimpse into the Black Ops of the Finnish police authorities. The racist bad guys and their heinous attitudes made for difficult reading. The secondary characters are well-rounded and solid. The Finnish culture and landscape are another high point.
September 11, 2017
This was a fast-paced story with enough information about the characters that it could be a stand-alone novel. The characters were both interesting and unusual and it made me want to know how this all played out.
June 12, 2012
This was a extremely good read. Jim Thompson my hat goes off to you. How are you going to top this? What's the name of the next book for us readers, or is it undecided?
March 16, 2019
Took me a while to decide if I really wanted to read it but then I needed to see how things worked out. To find out the true end to the story you need to read Helsinki Blood.
April 19, 2012
It seems to be Inspector Kari Vaara’s destiny to lead a life out of balance. When we last saw him in Lucifer’s Tears his career had taken a turn for the better, with Kari being hailed as a national hero after being shot in the line of duty (for the second time, actually). Unfortunately he also learned that the crippling headaches from which he’d been suffering were caused by a brain tumor.
As Helsinki White opens Kari once again finds the balance in his life shifting. He and his wife, Kate, are the proud new parents of a baby girl, he gets an offer from the National Chief of Police to run a top secret unit dedicated to eradicating Helsinki’s most serious crimes, and Kari’s scheduled for surgery his physicians are optimistic will remove the tumor. That’s a little too much of a solid foundation given Kari’s history, so you know something has to give.
The first piece of the foundation starts to crumble when Kari realizes the real reason his little unit has been empowered with such autonomy and secrecy… it’s meant to be the ‘boots on the ground’ front for a few very highly placed corrupt government officials. Kari and his team – including the return of über intelligent if slightly unstable Milo Nieminien, as well as the addition of Sulo “Sweetness” Polvinen, a mountain of a man who has a surprisingly gentle soul – are expected to put criminals out of business by any means necessary, including stealing their guns and drugs, even framing people in order to get them out of the way, and then funnel the proceeds of their own criminal activity back up the highly selective chain of command. Not what Kari thought he was signing up for, he thought he would get a chance to stop the human trafficking running through Finland, but he’s in too deep to just quit. He has to go along until he can figure out an exit strategy.
Kari’s foundation completely implodes, however, following his surgery. While it’s successful in removing the tumor, that’s not all that gets removed during the process. One of the potential side effects of such an invasive procedure into the brain was the possibility Kari would suffer from an emotional detachment, and it indeed happens. Total disconnect. And while this newfound emotional numbness makes it easier for Kari to engage in the ruthless behavior he must to meet the worst of the criminal world on their own level, it causes serious problems in his personal life. Really, how do you tell your wife that you have no feelings anymore, including any sense of affection for her or your new child? You don’t, so Kari decides to fake it hoping the numbness will subside and he will eventually be able to reconnect with Kate. It’s a tremendous amount for one man to be burdened with, but this is Kari Vaara… so of course things are going to get worse.
Finland is in political upheaval, with various hate groups making their presence known in a depressed economy which they blame on the “immigrant problem.” One group in particular, The Real Finns Party, is actually a dark horse contender in the upcoming parliamentary elections, a somewhat disturbing thought considering the group’s only political agenda seems to be expulsion of all non-Finns from the country. When Finland’s leading immigrants’s rights activist is murdered and her severed head delivered to the Finnish Somalia Network, all signs point to The Real Finns having been behind the murder. Given Kari’s hero status, which was earned in large part by solving the brutal murder of actress Sufia Elmi, herself a Somali immigrant (Snow Angels), he’s tapped by the National Chief of Police and the President to solve the case before things degenerate into an all-out race war. Easier said than done when the hate groups are backed by anti-immigrant sympathizers with both money and power.
As he’s done in the past in Snow Angels (Finnish alcoholism and emotional isolation) and Lucifer’s Tears (Finland’s complicity with the Nazis during World War II), author James Thompson shows once again that he’s not afraid to tackle some very big ticket issues in the course of telling Kari’s story. And the issues at hand in Helsinki White – drugs, human trafficking, and hate – don’t get any bigger or uglier. The racial hatred and intolerance ravaging Finland are addressed with no punches pulled, and it should be noted that language some readers may find offensive is used quite freely throughout the book. Additionally, the crime scenes of several racially motivated killings are described in disturbing detail. Neither is done gratuitously, however, but rather to realistically frame the true extent of the problem facing Kari as an Inspector and Finland as a nation.
Similarly, Kari discovers during the course of doing battle with Helsinki’s drug dealers that solving the city’s drug problem isn’t as simple as just removing the drugs from the equation. In fact, when his team does their job a little too well and Helsinki runs nearly dry crime actually skyrockets as users do anything it takes to get money for a fix, which now costs an exorbitant amount considering the dealers holding what little supply the city has left are able to charge obscene amounts for the product. The dealers also start turning on each other as being responsible for their shipments being ripped off, which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing except innocent bystanders are getting caught up in the cross-fire. Turns out “solving” the drug problem actually creates even bigger problems, a concept Kari hadn’t considered, and which many readers may not have either, but one which Thompson unflinchingly forces both Kari and readers to think about.
Thompson also uses Kari’s emotional detachment following the surgery and his subsequent interactions with his wife and team as a means to explore the very nature of how humans approach and value life. Do we value things because of their importance and emotional significance, or do things become important and emotionally significant because we choose to give them value? It’s a distinction which makes an extreme difference, especially to a man struggling to find a sense of emotional attachment to anything, let alone the things society says he should value. And throughout the course of Helsinki White Kari’s self-reflection on the matter leads him to make interesting choices in how he deals with the various crises, both personal and professional, which confront him. Those choices have effects which, like a stone being thrown into a pond, ripple outward and necessarily affect everyone around him. Indeed, by the time Helsinki White rockets to its quite violent conclusion it’s fair to say that every character in the book has experienced a life-altering change to the very nature of their being.
Though all of these things make Helsinki White a much darker book than the previous two entries in the series, Thompson’s writing remains as razor sharp and exquisitely evocative as readers have come to expect and appreciate. He also continues to demonstrate that he is without peer when it comes to combining intense and engaging storytelling with intelligent and provocative commentary about extremely serious societal issues. And while it’s both entertaining and enlightening, Helsinki White is not a passive reading experience. Readers better come ready to engage in critical examination of not just the story, but their own beliefs and ideals as well. Kari Vaara and James Thompson both demand nothing less.
As Helsinki White opens Kari once again finds the balance in his life shifting. He and his wife, Kate, are the proud new parents of a baby girl, he gets an offer from the National Chief of Police to run a top secret unit dedicated to eradicating Helsinki’s most serious crimes, and Kari’s scheduled for surgery his physicians are optimistic will remove the tumor. That’s a little too much of a solid foundation given Kari’s history, so you know something has to give.
The first piece of the foundation starts to crumble when Kari realizes the real reason his little unit has been empowered with such autonomy and secrecy… it’s meant to be the ‘boots on the ground’ front for a few very highly placed corrupt government officials. Kari and his team – including the return of über intelligent if slightly unstable Milo Nieminien, as well as the addition of Sulo “Sweetness” Polvinen, a mountain of a man who has a surprisingly gentle soul – are expected to put criminals out of business by any means necessary, including stealing their guns and drugs, even framing people in order to get them out of the way, and then funnel the proceeds of their own criminal activity back up the highly selective chain of command. Not what Kari thought he was signing up for, he thought he would get a chance to stop the human trafficking running through Finland, but he’s in too deep to just quit. He has to go along until he can figure out an exit strategy.
Kari’s foundation completely implodes, however, following his surgery. While it’s successful in removing the tumor, that’s not all that gets removed during the process. One of the potential side effects of such an invasive procedure into the brain was the possibility Kari would suffer from an emotional detachment, and it indeed happens. Total disconnect. And while this newfound emotional numbness makes it easier for Kari to engage in the ruthless behavior he must to meet the worst of the criminal world on their own level, it causes serious problems in his personal life. Really, how do you tell your wife that you have no feelings anymore, including any sense of affection for her or your new child? You don’t, so Kari decides to fake it hoping the numbness will subside and he will eventually be able to reconnect with Kate. It’s a tremendous amount for one man to be burdened with, but this is Kari Vaara… so of course things are going to get worse.
Finland is in political upheaval, with various hate groups making their presence known in a depressed economy which they blame on the “immigrant problem.” One group in particular, The Real Finns Party, is actually a dark horse contender in the upcoming parliamentary elections, a somewhat disturbing thought considering the group’s only political agenda seems to be expulsion of all non-Finns from the country. When Finland’s leading immigrants’s rights activist is murdered and her severed head delivered to the Finnish Somalia Network, all signs point to The Real Finns having been behind the murder. Given Kari’s hero status, which was earned in large part by solving the brutal murder of actress Sufia Elmi, herself a Somali immigrant (Snow Angels), he’s tapped by the National Chief of Police and the President to solve the case before things degenerate into an all-out race war. Easier said than done when the hate groups are backed by anti-immigrant sympathizers with both money and power.
As he’s done in the past in Snow Angels (Finnish alcoholism and emotional isolation) and Lucifer’s Tears (Finland’s complicity with the Nazis during World War II), author James Thompson shows once again that he’s not afraid to tackle some very big ticket issues in the course of telling Kari’s story. And the issues at hand in Helsinki White – drugs, human trafficking, and hate – don’t get any bigger or uglier. The racial hatred and intolerance ravaging Finland are addressed with no punches pulled, and it should be noted that language some readers may find offensive is used quite freely throughout the book. Additionally, the crime scenes of several racially motivated killings are described in disturbing detail. Neither is done gratuitously, however, but rather to realistically frame the true extent of the problem facing Kari as an Inspector and Finland as a nation.
Similarly, Kari discovers during the course of doing battle with Helsinki’s drug dealers that solving the city’s drug problem isn’t as simple as just removing the drugs from the equation. In fact, when his team does their job a little too well and Helsinki runs nearly dry crime actually skyrockets as users do anything it takes to get money for a fix, which now costs an exorbitant amount considering the dealers holding what little supply the city has left are able to charge obscene amounts for the product. The dealers also start turning on each other as being responsible for their shipments being ripped off, which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing except innocent bystanders are getting caught up in the cross-fire. Turns out “solving” the drug problem actually creates even bigger problems, a concept Kari hadn’t considered, and which many readers may not have either, but one which Thompson unflinchingly forces both Kari and readers to think about.
Thompson also uses Kari’s emotional detachment following the surgery and his subsequent interactions with his wife and team as a means to explore the very nature of how humans approach and value life. Do we value things because of their importance and emotional significance, or do things become important and emotionally significant because we choose to give them value? It’s a distinction which makes an extreme difference, especially to a man struggling to find a sense of emotional attachment to anything, let alone the things society says he should value. And throughout the course of Helsinki White Kari’s self-reflection on the matter leads him to make interesting choices in how he deals with the various crises, both personal and professional, which confront him. Those choices have effects which, like a stone being thrown into a pond, ripple outward and necessarily affect everyone around him. Indeed, by the time Helsinki White rockets to its quite violent conclusion it’s fair to say that every character in the book has experienced a life-altering change to the very nature of their being.
Though all of these things make Helsinki White a much darker book than the previous two entries in the series, Thompson’s writing remains as razor sharp and exquisitely evocative as readers have come to expect and appreciate. He also continues to demonstrate that he is without peer when it comes to combining intense and engaging storytelling with intelligent and provocative commentary about extremely serious societal issues. And while it’s both entertaining and enlightening, Helsinki White is not a passive reading experience. Readers better come ready to engage in critical examination of not just the story, but their own beliefs and ideals as well. Kari Vaara and James Thompson both demand nothing less.
December 20, 2020
Helsinki White is James Thompson’s third book in his Inspector Kari Vaara series and it’s a story that pulls no punches nor does it beat around the bush. Thompson calls out and exposes racism in all its evil, hateful, insidious and divisive manifestations.
According to the post script, Thompson indicates that he wrote Helsinki White with very deliberate intention to highlight the ‘sounds of racial hatred [that] resonate like the tattoo of a beating war drum that grows louder every day’. Sadly, a quick online search reveals “A new survey released in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations on Tuesday (9 June) shows that people of African descent living in Finland experience racism and discrimination on a daily basis”. And while Finland is obviously the context of Thompson’s book, it is by no means alone in this war of hate. The fact that a number of Nordic Noir type books that I have read refer to these themes is resonant of the complexity and intensity of this issue across Scandinavia.
In Helsinki White, Kari Vaara has become a dirty cop, ruthless and on the path to apprehend criminals using whatever means necessary. The previous two books have certainly predisposed his character to this but in this one he descends to new lows as he fights crime and in many ways I found this book quite shocking. There is something about Kari that I really like however. Perhaps it’s his absolute rawness and capacity to be so black and white. Grappling with the after effects of major brain surgery also highlights a level of awareness of the lack of emotion and how that plays out.
I love the way James Thompson illuminates Finnish life and culture in his books. The atmosphere, weather, and ways of being in every day life including the good, the bad and the downright ugly abound on almost every page. I’m looking forward to continuing this journey with Kari Vaara.
According to the post script, Thompson indicates that he wrote Helsinki White with very deliberate intention to highlight the ‘sounds of racial hatred [that] resonate like the tattoo of a beating war drum that grows louder every day’. Sadly, a quick online search reveals “A new survey released in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations on Tuesday (9 June) shows that people of African descent living in Finland experience racism and discrimination on a daily basis”. And while Finland is obviously the context of Thompson’s book, it is by no means alone in this war of hate. The fact that a number of Nordic Noir type books that I have read refer to these themes is resonant of the complexity and intensity of this issue across Scandinavia.
In Helsinki White, Kari Vaara has become a dirty cop, ruthless and on the path to apprehend criminals using whatever means necessary. The previous two books have certainly predisposed his character to this but in this one he descends to new lows as he fights crime and in many ways I found this book quite shocking. There is something about Kari that I really like however. Perhaps it’s his absolute rawness and capacity to be so black and white. Grappling with the after effects of major brain surgery also highlights a level of awareness of the lack of emotion and how that plays out.
I love the way James Thompson illuminates Finnish life and culture in his books. The atmosphere, weather, and ways of being in every day life including the good, the bad and the downright ugly abound on almost every page. I’m looking forward to continuing this journey with Kari Vaara.
May 30, 2021
keşke 12 yaşındayken okusaymışım, bir ihtimal beğenebilirdim
July 2, 2019
I always like reading James Thompson because he gives me a glimpse of what life is like in Finland. I’ve never been there but my family is of Finnish descent and I have relatives who still live there. I was surprised to read about the racist views that seemed prevalent in this book. It seemed like almost every character was horribly racist. It was just a really different perspective for me, a very dark side of Finnish culture. I hope the reality is different than this book led me to believe.
February 2, 2020
Po lekturze Słońca Scortów, pięknej nostalgicznej opowieści o południowych Włoszech, stworzonej przez Francuza, nie pozostało mi nic innego jak powrócić do cyklu o Finlandii pióra Amerykanina, który przeniósł się do Helsinek, czyli do świetnej jak dotąd serii powieściowej o perypetiach Inspektora Vaara z fińskiej policji. Gdybym przeglądnął oceny ze szczytu listy z największego polskiego serwisu o książkach, pewnie bym miał trochę stracha podchodząc do Bieli Helsinek, trzeciej odsłony serii, ale uzbrojony tylko we wspomnienia wrażeń z lektury dwóch poprzednich powieści przekonany byłem, iż czeka mnie wspaniale spędzony czas.
Inspektor Kari Vaara nie pracuje już w helsińskim wydziale zabójstw - został oddelegowany do kierowania tajną jednostką do walki z przestępczością zorganizowaną. Ta wiadomość poraża jego ukochaną żonę w dwa dni po narodzinach ich córeczki.
Lecz jest jeszcze gorsza wiadomość – u jej męża wykryto guza mózgu.
Ale Vaara się nie poddaje. Zaraz po operacji wraca do pracy.
Jego specgrupa robi porządki w mieście: włamują się do domów dilerów, odbierają gangsterom narkotyki, gotówkę i nielegalną broń. Popełniają przestępstwa, żeby zwalczać przestępstwa. Działają poza prawem i są nietykalni, nawet dla swojego bezpośredniego szefa - komendanta głównego policji.
Policyjna idylla kończy się jednak, gdy Vaara dostaje polecenie od samego ministra spraw wewnętrznych. Ma znaleźć sprawców zabójstwa deputowanej do Europarlamentu, „miłośniczki czarnuchów”. Tło najprawdopodobniej rasistowskie, bo jej odciętą głowę przesłano do organizacji somalijskich imigrantów...
Finlandia gotuje się od nienawiści, ksenofobiczne hasła skrajnej prawicy padają na podatny grunt, rośnie spirala politycznych zbrodni, a Vaara natrafia na kolejne sprzeczne tropy. I odkrywa, że zabójstwo eurodeputowanej wiąże się z niezakończonym śledztwem w sprawie porwania dzieci wpływowego miliardera, faustowskim paktem z byłym żołnierzem Legii Cudzoziemskiej, planami fińskich neonazistów… i z jego żoną - Kate.
Powieści Jamesa Thompsona to nie tylko „lektura obowiązkowa każdego fana światowych kryminałów” - jak pisze „Booklist”. Poruszające powieści psychologiczne i obyczajowo-społeczne ujawniają – jak powieści Stiega Larssona – bolesne skrywane grzechy pozornie uporządkowanego, uczciwego i szczęśliwego społeczeństwa. Ale przede wszystkim to świetna proza wysokiej próby.
Tyle notka wydawcy i wystarczy to w zupełności tytułem wprowadzenia. Teraz przejdźmy do konkretów. James Thompson to Fin z importu – Amerykanin, który ożenił się z Finką i zauroczony krajem żony przeprowadził się do niego. Pierwsze dwie powieści stworzonego przez niego cyklu, poza doskonałą warstwą kryminalną, dają bezcenne spojrzenie na Finlandię okiem człowieka w niej zakochanego, ale jednak do niedawna obcego. Biel Helsinek jest inna. Jakby się coś w autorze załamało. Cóż sprawiło, że nagle Thompson spojrzał na nową ojczyznę inaczej? To, że Finlandia się zmieniła? A może nie zmieniła, tylko ukazała inną stronę swojej natury, niczym badany przez uczonego obiekt poddany działaniu innego rodzaju promieniowana czy obserwowany nowym przyrządem? Co było tym nowym dla Finlandii?
Oczywiście, z jednej strony to wszystko, co najbardziej spektakularnie objawiło się na wyspie Utøya w Norwegii*, a z drugiej to, co dokładniej widzimy w Niemczech, jako bardziej dla nas znanym kraju, czyli nadmierny napływ obcych kulturowo mas ludzkich i fałszowanie danych o ilości dokonywanych przez nich przestępstw. Tutaj warto przypomnieć mojego ulubionego autora, czyli Jana Guillou, który w swych powieściach już we wczesnych latach dziewięćdziesiątych przestrzegał przed straceniem z oczu groźby terroryzmu prawicowego i narodowego, dla którego takie ilości imigrantów są bardzo interesującym tematem.
Na te przemiany nałożyło się chyba spostrzeżenie, iż Finlandia jest skorumpowana nie mniej niż inne kraje demokratyczne, a może nawet bardziej, a wiele statystyk dotyczących warunków życia społeczeństwa jest fałszowanych.
Obraz Finlandii jest więc krańcowo odmienny od tego co widzieliśmy dotąd i rodzi się pytanie, który z nich jest bliższy prawdy.
Ciekawym zabiegiem okoliczności jest równoległa do zmiany oceny fińskiej rzeczywistości zmiana w samym protagoniście. Choroba mózgu zmieni drastycznie jego charakter i całe życie, na co jeszcze nałoży się całkiem odmienna specyfika jego nowej działalności zawodowej.
Pokusę działań poza prawem, będących zaprzeczeniem podstawowych zasad demokracji, coraz wyraźniej widać w wielu państwach demokratycznych. A takie działanie to nic innego jak samosąd, powrót do Prawa Lyncha. Czy Finlandia naprawdę ulega temu trendowi?
W reakcjach wielu czytelników na tę powieść, w tym również wielu recenzentów internetowych, widać narastającą panikę przed rozbieżnością między przyjętym, przyswojonym przez lata obrazem rzeczywistości, a tym co się faktycznie dzieje i czego nie chcemy uznać. Demokracje, państwa prawa, które coraz jawniej łamią wszelkie konstytucyjne regulacje i od państw totalitarnych zaczynają się różnić tylko skalą represji fizycznych, to jeden z tych dysonansów poznawczych. Inny to na przykład skutki przemian w mózgu. Wmawiamy sobie i innym od dziecka, że ważne jest nasze wnętrze, dusza, że wykształcenie, wychowanie, empatia i dobro, to coś, czego nikt nam nie odbierze, że każdy jest kowalem własnego losu. I nie chcemy dopuścić do siebie oczywistej prawdy, że to wszystko bzdury. Że wystarczy jeden guz, jedna żyłka pęknięta w feralny sposób, a zamiast stracić rękę, nogę czy nerkę, możemy stracić naszą osobowość. Stać się kimś całkiem innym, obcym.
W niektórych momentach poczynania inspektora Kari Vaara budzą wrażenie nierealnych, zbyt „amerykańskich”, ale moim zdaniem są one jak najbardziej realne. Kto ma wątpliwości co do tego, iż podobne rzeczy są jak najbardziej możliwe, niech pogrzebie w sprawie fali samobójstw, która swego czasu przetoczyła się przez Polskę i polskie zakłady karne, albo niech po prostu poogląda Państwo w Państwie. Zresztą – Polska jest chyba jedynym krajem na świecie, gdzie zabito szefa całej policji. W dodatku sprawców nie ustalono. Jak w takim kraju można pisać, że w branży kryminalnej coś jest niemożliwe?
A co z tego, że ktoś jako kamuflaż zabiera rodzinę na akcję? A czemu nie? Moim zdaniem, jeśli ktoś chce naprawdę nieustępliwie walczyć nawet z pospolitą przestępczością, to nie powinien nikogo kochać a tym bardziej zakładać rodziny. W końcu dotarcie do niego poprzez bliską osobę jest tak łatwe, że aż się dziwię, że przestępcy stosunkowo rzadko to stosują. Chyba tylko irracjonalne czynniki powstrzymują przed atakiem na rodzinę, skoro zawsze jest ona łatwiejszym celem niż sam policjant. Jeśli więc nawet policjanci i prokuratorzy oraz sędziowie prowadzący postępowania o największym kalibrze nie boją się o swoje rodziny, to niby czemu Kari nie miał zabrać bliskich na akcję, która w założeniu była dość bezproblemowa?
Nie wiem skąd wzięto promowane oficjalnie przeświadczenie, że człowiek całkowicie normalny psychicznie lub bez ukrytych motywów może się brać za barki z mafią. Jeśli ktoś za pensję, którą mógłby uzyskać choćby jako kierowca czy budowlaniec, ślubuje bronić z narażeniem swego życia i zdrowia nie tylko życia ludzkiego (to by jeszcze uszło), ale cudzego mienia, to chyba z definicji całkiem normalny być nie może. Tym bardziej, że jeśli nie jest głupi, to zdaje sobie sprawę, iż nie zawsze jego przełożeni będą stać po stronie dobra. Nie bez kozery żadna z najgłośniejszych polskich spraw nie zakończyła się sukcesem, od Jaroszewiczów poczynając, a na Papale skończywszy.
Czy powieść jest odbiciem jakiejś prawdy? Jakiegoś prawdziwego obrazu Finlandii? W warstwie społecznej na pewno. W kryminalnej nie wiem. To przecież fikcja. Ale skoro tolerujemy polskie gnioty, w których przestępcy przyznają się za każdym razem, nawet jeśli na dobrą sprawę nie ma żadnych dowodów, co jest bardziej infantylne niż westerny z epoki kina bez koloru, to nie rozumiem skąd te aż tak negatywne oceny. Może podświadomie większość się boi, że być może w Bieli Helsinek jest więcej prawdy, niż dopuszczamy w najczarniejszych scenariuszach?
Dobrym, czarno-białym stróżem prawa, to chyba można być tylko na samym dole hierarchii. Im wyżej, tym mniej prawa i sprawiedliwości, a więcej polityki. Inspektor Vaara sięgnął zaś w tej powieści do samej góry, więc...
Jak zwykle w dobrych skandynawskich książkach, tak i w tej znajdziemy perełki – małe drobiazgi, które pokazują nam różne elementy lokalnej specyfiki. Tym razem najbardziej spodobała mi się unikalność fińskiego trybu szkolenia na prawo jazdy. Niestety – znalazły się i drobne, całkiem niepotrzebne potknięcia, choć nie wiem, czy z winy autora, czy tłumacza. Jak to, że kałasz to karabin; w rzeczywistości to karabinek (automatyczny).
Fakt, jest w powieści kilka makabresek, ale chyba przy tej tematyce trudno o coś innego, jeśli ma pozostać pozór realizmu? Dla mnie to książka absolutnie świetna, zarówno jako kolejna część serii wydawniczej, jak i samodzielna całość. Właśnie w jej odmienności, zarówno od wcześniejszych części cyklu, jak i ogólnego obrazu Finlandii powielanego w literaturze, czyli w tej podwójnej metamorfozie, leży jej siła. Każe się zastanowić, czy to, co widzimy, jest na pewno prawdą i co się dzieje pod powierzchnią.
źródło:
https://klub-aa.blogspot.com/2019/05/...
Inspektor Kari Vaara nie pracuje już w helsińskim wydziale zabójstw - został oddelegowany do kierowania tajną jednostką do walki z przestępczością zorganizowaną. Ta wiadomość poraża jego ukochaną żonę w dwa dni po narodzinach ich córeczki.
Lecz jest jeszcze gorsza wiadomość – u jej męża wykryto guza mózgu.
Ale Vaara się nie poddaje. Zaraz po operacji wraca do pracy.
Jego specgrupa robi porządki w mieście: włamują się do domów dilerów, odbierają gangsterom narkotyki, gotówkę i nielegalną broń. Popełniają przestępstwa, żeby zwalczać przestępstwa. Działają poza prawem i są nietykalni, nawet dla swojego bezpośredniego szefa - komendanta głównego policji.
Policyjna idylla kończy się jednak, gdy Vaara dostaje polecenie od samego ministra spraw wewnętrznych. Ma znaleźć sprawców zabójstwa deputowanej do Europarlamentu, „miłośniczki czarnuchów”. Tło najprawdopodobniej rasistowskie, bo jej odciętą głowę przesłano do organizacji somalijskich imigrantów...
Finlandia gotuje się od nienawiści, ksenofobiczne hasła skrajnej prawicy padają na podatny grunt, rośnie spirala politycznych zbrodni, a Vaara natrafia na kolejne sprzeczne tropy. I odkrywa, że zabójstwo eurodeputowanej wiąże się z niezakończonym śledztwem w sprawie porwania dzieci wpływowego miliardera, faustowskim paktem z byłym żołnierzem Legii Cudzoziemskiej, planami fińskich neonazistów… i z jego żoną - Kate.
Powieści Jamesa Thompsona to nie tylko „lektura obowiązkowa każdego fana światowych kryminałów” - jak pisze „Booklist”. Poruszające powieści psychologiczne i obyczajowo-społeczne ujawniają – jak powieści Stiega Larssona – bolesne skrywane grzechy pozornie uporządkowanego, uczciwego i szczęśliwego społeczeństwa. Ale przede wszystkim to świetna proza wysokiej próby.
Tyle notka wydawcy i wystarczy to w zupełności tytułem wprowadzenia. Teraz przejdźmy do konkretów. James Thompson to Fin z importu – Amerykanin, który ożenił się z Finką i zauroczony krajem żony przeprowadził się do niego. Pierwsze dwie powieści stworzonego przez niego cyklu, poza doskonałą warstwą kryminalną, dają bezcenne spojrzenie na Finlandię okiem człowieka w niej zakochanego, ale jednak do niedawna obcego. Biel Helsinek jest inna. Jakby się coś w autorze załamało. Cóż sprawiło, że nagle Thompson spojrzał na nową ojczyznę inaczej? To, że Finlandia się zmieniła? A może nie zmieniła, tylko ukazała inną stronę swojej natury, niczym badany przez uczonego obiekt poddany działaniu innego rodzaju promieniowana czy obserwowany nowym przyrządem? Co było tym nowym dla Finlandii?
Oczywiście, z jednej strony to wszystko, co najbardziej spektakularnie objawiło się na wyspie Utøya w Norwegii*, a z drugiej to, co dokładniej widzimy w Niemczech, jako bardziej dla nas znanym kraju, czyli nadmierny napływ obcych kulturowo mas ludzkich i fałszowanie danych o ilości dokonywanych przez nich przestępstw. Tutaj warto przypomnieć mojego ulubionego autora, czyli Jana Guillou, który w swych powieściach już we wczesnych latach dziewięćdziesiątych przestrzegał przed straceniem z oczu groźby terroryzmu prawicowego i narodowego, dla którego takie ilości imigrantów są bardzo interesującym tematem.
Na te przemiany nałożyło się chyba spostrzeżenie, iż Finlandia jest skorumpowana nie mniej niż inne kraje demokratyczne, a może nawet bardziej, a wiele statystyk dotyczących warunków życia społeczeństwa jest fałszowanych.
Obraz Finlandii jest więc krańcowo odmienny od tego co widzieliśmy dotąd i rodzi się pytanie, który z nich jest bliższy prawdy.
Ciekawym zabiegiem okoliczności jest równoległa do zmiany oceny fińskiej rzeczywistości zmiana w samym protagoniście. Choroba mózgu zmieni drastycznie jego charakter i całe życie, na co jeszcze nałoży się całkiem odmienna specyfika jego nowej działalności zawodowej.
Pokusę działań poza prawem, będących zaprzeczeniem podstawowych zasad demokracji, coraz wyraźniej widać w wielu państwach demokratycznych. A takie działanie to nic innego jak samosąd, powrót do Prawa Lyncha. Czy Finlandia naprawdę ulega temu trendowi?
W reakcjach wielu czytelników na tę powieść, w tym również wielu recenzentów internetowych, widać narastającą panikę przed rozbieżnością między przyjętym, przyswojonym przez lata obrazem rzeczywistości, a tym co się faktycznie dzieje i czego nie chcemy uznać. Demokracje, państwa prawa, które coraz jawniej łamią wszelkie konstytucyjne regulacje i od państw totalitarnych zaczynają się różnić tylko skalą represji fizycznych, to jeden z tych dysonansów poznawczych. Inny to na przykład skutki przemian w mózgu. Wmawiamy sobie i innym od dziecka, że ważne jest nasze wnętrze, dusza, że wykształcenie, wychowanie, empatia i dobro, to coś, czego nikt nam nie odbierze, że każdy jest kowalem własnego losu. I nie chcemy dopuścić do siebie oczywistej prawdy, że to wszystko bzdury. Że wystarczy jeden guz, jedna żyłka pęknięta w feralny sposób, a zamiast stracić rękę, nogę czy nerkę, możemy stracić naszą osobowość. Stać się kimś całkiem innym, obcym.
W niektórych momentach poczynania inspektora Kari Vaara budzą wrażenie nierealnych, zbyt „amerykańskich”, ale moim zdaniem są one jak najbardziej realne. Kto ma wątpliwości co do tego, iż podobne rzeczy są jak najbardziej możliwe, niech pogrzebie w sprawie fali samobójstw, która swego czasu przetoczyła się przez Polskę i polskie zakłady karne, albo niech po prostu poogląda Państwo w Państwie. Zresztą – Polska jest chyba jedynym krajem na świecie, gdzie zabito szefa całej policji. W dodatku sprawców nie ustalono. Jak w takim kraju można pisać, że w branży kryminalnej coś jest niemożliwe?
A co z tego, że ktoś jako kamuflaż zabiera rodzinę na akcję? A czemu nie? Moim zdaniem, jeśli ktoś chce naprawdę nieustępliwie walczyć nawet z pospolitą przestępczością, to nie powinien nikogo kochać a tym bardziej zakładać rodziny. W końcu dotarcie do niego poprzez bliską osobę jest tak łatwe, że aż się dziwię, że przestępcy stosunkowo rzadko to stosują. Chyba tylko irracjonalne czynniki powstrzymują przed atakiem na rodzinę, skoro zawsze jest ona łatwiejszym celem niż sam policjant. Jeśli więc nawet policjanci i prokuratorzy oraz sędziowie prowadzący postępowania o największym kalibrze nie boją się o swoje rodziny, to niby czemu Kari nie miał zabrać bliskich na akcję, która w założeniu była dość bezproblemowa?
Nie wiem skąd wzięto promowane oficjalnie przeświadczenie, że człowiek całkowicie normalny psychicznie lub bez ukrytych motywów może się brać za barki z mafią. Jeśli ktoś za pensję, którą mógłby uzyskać choćby jako kierowca czy budowlaniec, ślubuje bronić z narażeniem swego życia i zdrowia nie tylko życia ludzkiego (to by jeszcze uszło), ale cudzego mienia, to chyba z definicji całkiem normalny być nie może. Tym bardziej, że jeśli nie jest głupi, to zdaje sobie sprawę, iż nie zawsze jego przełożeni będą stać po stronie dobra. Nie bez kozery żadna z najgłośniejszych polskich spraw nie zakończyła się sukcesem, od Jaroszewiczów poczynając, a na Papale skończywszy.
Czy powieść jest odbiciem jakiejś prawdy? Jakiegoś prawdziwego obrazu Finlandii? W warstwie społecznej na pewno. W kryminalnej nie wiem. To przecież fikcja. Ale skoro tolerujemy polskie gnioty, w których przestępcy przyznają się za każdym razem, nawet jeśli na dobrą sprawę nie ma żadnych dowodów, co jest bardziej infantylne niż westerny z epoki kina bez koloru, to nie rozumiem skąd te aż tak negatywne oceny. Może podświadomie większość się boi, że być może w Bieli Helsinek jest więcej prawdy, niż dopuszczamy w najczarniejszych scenariuszach?
Dobrym, czarno-białym stróżem prawa, to chyba można być tylko na samym dole hierarchii. Im wyżej, tym mniej prawa i sprawiedliwości, a więcej polityki. Inspektor Vaara sięgnął zaś w tej powieści do samej góry, więc...
Jak zwykle w dobrych skandynawskich książkach, tak i w tej znajdziemy perełki – małe drobiazgi, które pokazują nam różne elementy lokalnej specyfiki. Tym razem najbardziej spodobała mi się unikalność fińskiego trybu szkolenia na prawo jazdy. Niestety – znalazły się i drobne, całkiem niepotrzebne potknięcia, choć nie wiem, czy z winy autora, czy tłumacza. Jak to, że kałasz to karabin; w rzeczywistości to karabinek (automatyczny).
Fakt, jest w powieści kilka makabresek, ale chyba przy tej tematyce trudno o coś innego, jeśli ma pozostać pozór realizmu? Dla mnie to książka absolutnie świetna, zarówno jako kolejna część serii wydawniczej, jak i samodzielna całość. Właśnie w jej odmienności, zarówno od wcześniejszych części cyklu, jak i ogólnego obrazu Finlandii powielanego w literaturze, czyli w tej podwójnej metamorfozie, leży jej siła. Każe się zastanowić, czy to, co widzimy, jest na pewno prawdą i co się dzieje pod powierzchnią.
źródło:
https://klub-aa.blogspot.com/2019/05/...
May 3, 2013
Yorumun aslı: http://kordugumhayaller.blogspot.com/...
Yok arkadaş yok, bana böyle sert polisiyeler yaramıyor. Okurken tipten tipe giriyor, okuduktan sonra ise "nasıl yane?" diyerek şöyle bir kalıyorum! Bu kitapta da aynen böyle oldu. Gerçi bunun nedeni serinin 3. kitabını okumuş olmam olabilir ama okurken de diğerlerinin eksikliğini pek hissetmemiştim O.o
Kitaba ilk başladığımda gayet iyi gidiyorduk. Kari ve eşini, yaşadıklarını, kızlarını ve önceki kitaplarda neler olduğunu okurken diğer kitapları okumasam da bir sorun olmadı bu bağlamda. Çünkü yazar daha öncekileri çok detay vermese de bilmemiz gereken bilgileri bize gayet güzel bir şekilde açıklamış. Özellikle bunu kitabın akışını bozmadan yapmasını sevdim. Yani okurken kopmuyorsunuz olaydan, sadece geçmişi düşünüp şimdiye geliyor ve olaya bağlıyorsunuz bu bilgileri.
Ama gelgelelim kitap ilerledikçe
sevdiklerim bile sıkmaya başladı beni. Ve tabi yazar da anlatımını sertleştirdi biraz. Başlarda daha çok olaydan bahsettiği için alışkın olduğum bir anlatımlaydı. Ve tabi polislik olayları da hafif bir düzeydeydi. Ama ilerledikçe kitabımızın konusunu oluşturan olaya geldik. Bundan sonra ise kitap biraz kafamı karıştırmaya ve kahramanımız Kari'nin hem işinin hem de aile hayatının birbirine girmesiyle de beni zorlayıp sıkmaya başladı. Zorladı çünkü, daha teknik terimler kullanıldı hem de bolca. Tamam, polislik yapıyorlar ama bu kadar silah, tekne vb. konularda teknik bilgileri bize bu kadar yüklemeleri gerekmezdi. Açıkçası benim çok da ilgi alanım olmadığı için hem de bu kısımlar yazılırken uzun tutulduğu için okurken sıkıldım ve yoruldum.
Kafamı karıştıran kısımlar ise, olayların çok hızlı ve birden gerçekleşmesi oldu. Gerçi aile hayatında olacakların gidişatını yazar bize iyi bir şekilde ve tahmin etmemiz, kendimizi hazırlamamız için yavaş bir şekilde veriyor. Ama bunu diğer konularda pek yapamıyor ne yazık ki. Çünkü okurken -çok zorlu olan bir görev de bile- olayların hemen halledilmesi olsun, aile-iş arasındaki ya da sahnelerin arasındaki geçişler olsun çok hızlı bir şekilde olması beni hem afallattı hem yordu. Belki de bunun sebebi okuduğum kitaplarda genelde böyle bir olay olduğunda o konu üzerinde fazlaca durması, enine boyuna düşünmesi ve bize de tahmin etmek için seçenekler bırakmasıydı. Ama bu kitapta yazarımız bunu yapmak yerine gayet hızlı bir hayat tarzını benimsemiş. Kim bilir, belki de seriyi ilk kitaptan okusaydım bu kadar yadırgamazdım :D
Kitabımız, Kari Vaara'nın Finlandiya'nın meşhur bir meydanında amiri Jyri ile buluşması ve bu buluşmadan sonra görev değişikliği ile hayatının değişmesi sonucu başlıyor. Ama asıl değişim, Kari'nin tam da mutlu olacağı zamanlar -kızı yeni doğmuştur- beyninde bir tümör olduğunu öğrenmesi ve daha sonra ameliyat olması ile değişir. Çünkü ameliyat olduktan sonra, ameliyat sonucu oluşan bir takım sorunlar nedeniyle eskisi gibi değildir. Eskisi gibi olmaması yeni görevinde işe yarasa da aile hayatını gün geçtikçe mahvetmektedir. Üstüne bir de ülkeyi karıştıran bir cinayetin patlak vermesiyle işler iyice karışır. Ahh, bir de Moreau denen gizemli birinin ortaya çıkması her şeyi daha da karıştırır. Üstelik dost mu düşmen mı olduğu da belli değildir ama onda bir iş olduğu açıktır. Peki sizce kahramanımız Kari tüm bu dertlerin üstesinden gelebilecek mi? Her şeyi düzeltmek mümkün mü yoksa bir yerden düzeltirken bir yerden de batmak kanunun bir parçası mı?? Tüm cevaplar ve serinin devamı için kitabımızı okumanız gerekmektedir ;)
Son olarak şunu diyebilirim ki, kitabımız tüm bu sayfalar boyunca ciddi, kafa karıştırıcı ya da sıkıcı değildi. Okurken yer yer güldüm de oldu -özellikle başlardaki bir raporu okurken krize girdiğimi itiraf ediyorum. Uzun süre etkisinden çıkamadım :D Ve okurken yer yer de ağladığım ve üzüntü yaşadığım sahnelerde vardı. Aslında bunun olacağını düşünmezdim. Çünkü üzüldüğüm karakteri çok tanımıyordum ama yazar bana onu kısa sürede sevdirdi. Ölünce de gerçekten üzüntü duydum :( Bir başka üzüldüğüm nokta ise, gerçekleşmesinin iyi mi yoksa kötü mü olduğuna karar veremediğim bir noktaydı. Ama bir sonraki kitapta o konuda neler olacağını merak etmiyorum da değilim :)
Sonuç olarak, çok farklı ve garip bir anlatımı olan, orta şeker denebilecek tarzda şaşırtıcı bir kitaptı. Ama ne yazık ki kendileriyle uyuşamadık.
Yok arkadaş yok, bana böyle sert polisiyeler yaramıyor. Okurken tipten tipe giriyor, okuduktan sonra ise "nasıl yane?" diyerek şöyle bir kalıyorum! Bu kitapta da aynen böyle oldu. Gerçi bunun nedeni serinin 3. kitabını okumuş olmam olabilir ama okurken de diğerlerinin eksikliğini pek hissetmemiştim O.o
Kitaba ilk başladığımda gayet iyi gidiyorduk. Kari ve eşini, yaşadıklarını, kızlarını ve önceki kitaplarda neler olduğunu okurken diğer kitapları okumasam da bir sorun olmadı bu bağlamda. Çünkü yazar daha öncekileri çok detay vermese de bilmemiz gereken bilgileri bize gayet güzel bir şekilde açıklamış. Özellikle bunu kitabın akışını bozmadan yapmasını sevdim. Yani okurken kopmuyorsunuz olaydan, sadece geçmişi düşünüp şimdiye geliyor ve olaya bağlıyorsunuz bu bilgileri.
Ama gelgelelim kitap ilerledikçe
sevdiklerim bile sıkmaya başladı beni. Ve tabi yazar da anlatımını sertleştirdi biraz. Başlarda daha çok olaydan bahsettiği için alışkın olduğum bir anlatımlaydı. Ve tabi polislik olayları da hafif bir düzeydeydi. Ama ilerledikçe kitabımızın konusunu oluşturan olaya geldik. Bundan sonra ise kitap biraz kafamı karıştırmaya ve kahramanımız Kari'nin hem işinin hem de aile hayatının birbirine girmesiyle de beni zorlayıp sıkmaya başladı. Zorladı çünkü, daha teknik terimler kullanıldı hem de bolca. Tamam, polislik yapıyorlar ama bu kadar silah, tekne vb. konularda teknik bilgileri bize bu kadar yüklemeleri gerekmezdi. Açıkçası benim çok da ilgi alanım olmadığı için hem de bu kısımlar yazılırken uzun tutulduğu için okurken sıkıldım ve yoruldum.
Kafamı karıştıran kısımlar ise, olayların çok hızlı ve birden gerçekleşmesi oldu. Gerçi aile hayatında olacakların gidişatını yazar bize iyi bir şekilde ve tahmin etmemiz, kendimizi hazırlamamız için yavaş bir şekilde veriyor. Ama bunu diğer konularda pek yapamıyor ne yazık ki. Çünkü okurken -çok zorlu olan bir görev de bile- olayların hemen halledilmesi olsun, aile-iş arasındaki ya da sahnelerin arasındaki geçişler olsun çok hızlı bir şekilde olması beni hem afallattı hem yordu. Belki de bunun sebebi okuduğum kitaplarda genelde böyle bir olay olduğunda o konu üzerinde fazlaca durması, enine boyuna düşünmesi ve bize de tahmin etmek için seçenekler bırakmasıydı. Ama bu kitapta yazarımız bunu yapmak yerine gayet hızlı bir hayat tarzını benimsemiş. Kim bilir, belki de seriyi ilk kitaptan okusaydım bu kadar yadırgamazdım :D
Kitabımız, Kari Vaara'nın Finlandiya'nın meşhur bir meydanında amiri Jyri ile buluşması ve bu buluşmadan sonra görev değişikliği ile hayatının değişmesi sonucu başlıyor. Ama asıl değişim, Kari'nin tam da mutlu olacağı zamanlar -kızı yeni doğmuştur- beyninde bir tümör olduğunu öğrenmesi ve daha sonra ameliyat olması ile değişir. Çünkü ameliyat olduktan sonra, ameliyat sonucu oluşan bir takım sorunlar nedeniyle eskisi gibi değildir. Eskisi gibi olmaması yeni görevinde işe yarasa da aile hayatını gün geçtikçe mahvetmektedir. Üstüne bir de ülkeyi karıştıran bir cinayetin patlak vermesiyle işler iyice karışır. Ahh, bir de Moreau denen gizemli birinin ortaya çıkması her şeyi daha da karıştırır. Üstelik dost mu düşmen mı olduğu da belli değildir ama onda bir iş olduğu açıktır. Peki sizce kahramanımız Kari tüm bu dertlerin üstesinden gelebilecek mi? Her şeyi düzeltmek mümkün mü yoksa bir yerden düzeltirken bir yerden de batmak kanunun bir parçası mı?? Tüm cevaplar ve serinin devamı için kitabımızı okumanız gerekmektedir ;)
Son olarak şunu diyebilirim ki, kitabımız tüm bu sayfalar boyunca ciddi, kafa karıştırıcı ya da sıkıcı değildi. Okurken yer yer güldüm de oldu -özellikle başlardaki bir raporu okurken krize girdiğimi itiraf ediyorum. Uzun süre etkisinden çıkamadım :D Ve okurken yer yer de ağladığım ve üzüntü yaşadığım sahnelerde vardı. Aslında bunun olacağını düşünmezdim. Çünkü üzüldüğüm karakteri çok tanımıyordum ama yazar bana onu kısa sürede sevdirdi. Ölünce de gerçekten üzüntü duydum :( Bir başka üzüldüğüm nokta ise, gerçekleşmesinin iyi mi yoksa kötü mü olduğuna karar veremediğim bir noktaydı. Ama bir sonraki kitapta o konuda neler olacağını merak etmiyorum da değilim :)
Sonuç olarak, çok farklı ve garip bir anlatımı olan, orta şeker denebilecek tarzda şaşırtıcı bir kitaptı. Ama ne yazık ki kendileriyle uyuşamadık.
March 14, 2012
First Line: It's May second, a sunny Sunday, a chilly spring evening.
The national chief of police wants Kari Vaara to head a black ops unit intended to put the drug dealers in Helsinki out of business. Any money confiscated will be divided between the chief of police, various political figures, and Vaara and his team-- with the bulk of the money being used to finance the entire operation. Vaara agrees because he truly feels that this is his best chance to do good. First though, he has other business to attend to-- namely that of welcoming a brand-new baby daughter into his life... and brain surgery.
Vaara can't wait to be rid of the blinding daily migraines he's had for over a year. He doesn't even care about the side effects the doctors tell him of. In fact, he has other, elective, surgery done at the same time. All surgeries are a success, especially the one to remove the brain tumor. The unfortunate side effect is that Vaara is now an emotional zero. He feels nothing. Vaara watches his two hand-picked team members get a little over-zealous with the violence, and although he warns them to be more careful, it's as though nothing's happened. His beloved wife Kate finds out what's going on, and her behavior begins to change. Vaara looks on with a dispassionate eye.
Those looking for the Kari Vaara of the previous two novels, Snow Angels and Lucifer's Tears, will not find him here. Surgery has rendered him monochromatic, an emotionless sociopath, and the world about which he tells us is made even more chilling by Vaara's impassive narration.
Vaara's henchmen are good at what they do. The drugs disappear from Helsinki's streets, and the dealers turn on each other as their money and contacts dry up. While the other two target the drug dealers, Vaara's recuperation means that he's focused on other matters; in particular a year-old kidnap and murder, and the recent murder of a woman who was a staunch advocate of immigrants' rights.
As in so many other countries, there is a rising tide of racial hatred in Finland as thousands of immigrants from Africa, Asia and the Mideast flock there to live. To have Vaara listen to bigots spout disgusting racial slurs and not even bat an eye makes the entire experience almost surreal.
As I mentioned before, if you've read Thompson's previous two novels featuring Kari Vaara and you're expecting a "more of the same" novel, you are not going to get it. Surgery has changed him, and it's anyone's guess as to whether or not he will ever return to his old self. Thompson believes that the times are a-changing, and the days ahead aren't necessarily going to be pretty. The "new" unsettling Kari Vaara of Helsinki White is the perfect harbinger of doing the wrong things for the right reasons, for the well meaning amongst us being taken advantage of by the corrupt, by this age of technology making hatred every bit as easy to spread as love and acceptance.
To have a character whom we know is a good guy to stand quietly in the middle of this maelstrom as his marriage disintegrates, as his career crumbles, and as he sees all the overwhelming corruption around him, adds a layer of horror to Helsinki White that would not have been there if Vaara had been his old self. If you can leave any preconceived expectations you may have at the door before you begin reading this book, you're in for an excellent-- if disquieting-- read.
The national chief of police wants Kari Vaara to head a black ops unit intended to put the drug dealers in Helsinki out of business. Any money confiscated will be divided between the chief of police, various political figures, and Vaara and his team-- with the bulk of the money being used to finance the entire operation. Vaara agrees because he truly feels that this is his best chance to do good. First though, he has other business to attend to-- namely that of welcoming a brand-new baby daughter into his life... and brain surgery.
Vaara can't wait to be rid of the blinding daily migraines he's had for over a year. He doesn't even care about the side effects the doctors tell him of. In fact, he has other, elective, surgery done at the same time. All surgeries are a success, especially the one to remove the brain tumor. The unfortunate side effect is that Vaara is now an emotional zero. He feels nothing. Vaara watches his two hand-picked team members get a little over-zealous with the violence, and although he warns them to be more careful, it's as though nothing's happened. His beloved wife Kate finds out what's going on, and her behavior begins to change. Vaara looks on with a dispassionate eye.
Those looking for the Kari Vaara of the previous two novels, Snow Angels and Lucifer's Tears, will not find him here. Surgery has rendered him monochromatic, an emotionless sociopath, and the world about which he tells us is made even more chilling by Vaara's impassive narration.
Vaara's henchmen are good at what they do. The drugs disappear from Helsinki's streets, and the dealers turn on each other as their money and contacts dry up. While the other two target the drug dealers, Vaara's recuperation means that he's focused on other matters; in particular a year-old kidnap and murder, and the recent murder of a woman who was a staunch advocate of immigrants' rights.
As in so many other countries, there is a rising tide of racial hatred in Finland as thousands of immigrants from Africa, Asia and the Mideast flock there to live. To have Vaara listen to bigots spout disgusting racial slurs and not even bat an eye makes the entire experience almost surreal.
As I mentioned before, if you've read Thompson's previous two novels featuring Kari Vaara and you're expecting a "more of the same" novel, you are not going to get it. Surgery has changed him, and it's anyone's guess as to whether or not he will ever return to his old self. Thompson believes that the times are a-changing, and the days ahead aren't necessarily going to be pretty. The "new" unsettling Kari Vaara of Helsinki White is the perfect harbinger of doing the wrong things for the right reasons, for the well meaning amongst us being taken advantage of by the corrupt, by this age of technology making hatred every bit as easy to spread as love and acceptance.
To have a character whom we know is a good guy to stand quietly in the middle of this maelstrom as his marriage disintegrates, as his career crumbles, and as he sees all the overwhelming corruption around him, adds a layer of horror to Helsinki White that would not have been there if Vaara had been his old self. If you can leave any preconceived expectations you may have at the door before you begin reading this book, you're in for an excellent-- if disquieting-- read.
July 25, 2012
Helinki White is one l-o-n-g roller-coaster ride. I do not like roller-coasters; I do not like putting myself in situations where I may vomit or worse. But I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I neglected to mention in my comments on his earlier books, Lucifer's Tears, that Thompson deftly crosses genre borders, going from police procedural, to popular historian and social commentator. Add "political thriller" to that list, for Helinki White is very much that.
In the three Inspector Vaara novels, the reader sees Vaara proceed from an emotionally "broken goods" but moral rural cop to a frightening amoral cat's paw of the director of the national police; Vaara is talked into runs an illegal "black ops" operation for the director - and his "friends." As Vaara descends into a spiral of duplicity and violence, however, he can also see himself being set up for a fall.
After surgery to remove a benign brain tumor, Vaara finds himself feeling no emotion; it is difficult to feel love for even his wife and newborn daughter. But the neurologist (his brother) says this should pass. But it seems not to be the case. Callous, amoral, and downright lecherous, Vaara becomes almost unrecognizable. (I said "almost.")
While the plot comes to a conclusion in which Vaara comes out on top over his boss, he knows he has gambled his soul. Psychological broken by witnessing horrific violence first-hand, as well as being part of it, his wife, who had long been his main support, distances herself from him. The novel ends on that down-note.
What might the title refer to? The Caucasian population that is the majority population of Finland? The transition of the total darkness of mid-December that is the setting of Angel Wings, Thompson's first Inspector Vaari novel, to the late spring and onset of summer, that is the setting of Helinki White? Might it be a name for a certain "brand" of heroin one might find in Helsinki? What else might the title refer to? I admit, the ambiguity seduces me.
Thompson has once again amassed much fascinating data about life in contemporary Helsinki, from the complexion of its changing neighborhoods, his dialects, and his people - and integrated them. And all those data concerning his sidekick Milo's man-toys (from cars to weaponry, computers to spy gear). At times my head spun, but I did not lose interest. Sure enough, all of the data eventually come into play.
There is much explicit sex in Helinki White. I am not a fan of gratuitous explicit sex in novels (as attested by reviews of other books). But I am willing to give Thompson a pass here. Why? Because Helinki White is written entirely in the first-person. One sees, hears, and feels what Vaara does. As off-putting as I find the sex scenes, they only add to this not-so-very-nice man.
Finally, Thompson is so skilled that when I see factual errors I wonder if he is toying with the reader. Let two examples suffice. Vaara's infant daughter pees on his face while he changing her diaper. Huh? Unless the babe is hermaphroditic, peeing in face is anatomically impossible. He'd have to hold her over his head while changing the diaper! And Moreau draws a stiletto and slices off Milo's ear. Huh? Stilettos have no edge; they are for stabbing.
No matter!
Bring on your next effort, Mr. Thompson -I cannot wait!
In the three Inspector Vaara novels, the reader sees Vaara proceed from an emotionally "broken goods" but moral rural cop to a frightening amoral cat's paw of the director of the national police; Vaara is talked into runs an illegal "black ops" operation for the director - and his "friends." As Vaara descends into a spiral of duplicity and violence, however, he can also see himself being set up for a fall.
After surgery to remove a benign brain tumor, Vaara finds himself feeling no emotion; it is difficult to feel love for even his wife and newborn daughter. But the neurologist (his brother) says this should pass. But it seems not to be the case. Callous, amoral, and downright lecherous, Vaara becomes almost unrecognizable. (I said "almost.")
While the plot comes to a conclusion in which Vaara comes out on top over his boss, he knows he has gambled his soul. Psychological broken by witnessing horrific violence first-hand, as well as being part of it, his wife, who had long been his main support, distances herself from him. The novel ends on that down-note.
What might the title refer to? The Caucasian population that is the majority population of Finland? The transition of the total darkness of mid-December that is the setting of Angel Wings, Thompson's first Inspector Vaari novel, to the late spring and onset of summer, that is the setting of Helinki White? Might it be a name for a certain "brand" of heroin one might find in Helsinki? What else might the title refer to? I admit, the ambiguity seduces me.
Thompson has once again amassed much fascinating data about life in contemporary Helsinki, from the complexion of its changing neighborhoods, his dialects, and his people - and integrated them. And all those data concerning his sidekick Milo's man-toys (from cars to weaponry, computers to spy gear). At times my head spun, but I did not lose interest. Sure enough, all of the data eventually come into play.
There is much explicit sex in Helinki White. I am not a fan of gratuitous explicit sex in novels (as attested by reviews of other books). But I am willing to give Thompson a pass here. Why? Because Helinki White is written entirely in the first-person. One sees, hears, and feels what Vaara does. As off-putting as I find the sex scenes, they only add to this not-so-very-nice man.
Finally, Thompson is so skilled that when I see factual errors I wonder if he is toying with the reader. Let two examples suffice. Vaara's infant daughter pees on his face while he changing her diaper. Huh? Unless the babe is hermaphroditic, peeing in face is anatomically impossible. He'd have to hold her over his head while changing the diaper! And Moreau draws a stiletto and slices off Milo's ear. Huh? Stilettos have no edge; they are for stabbing.
No matter!
Bring on your next effort, Mr. Thompson -I cannot wait!
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