Snow Angels

By: James Thompson

Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith

Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's Summary

The first book of James Thompson’s Inspector Vaara series won immediate critical acclaim for a sterling tale set in the brutal cold and soul-testing isolation of kaamos, Finland’s two weeks of utter darkness. Even as the unrelenting winter conditions tighten their grip on the residents of the Lapland town, a lovely Somali movie star is found murdered, a racial slur cut into her chest.

©2009 James Thompson (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic Reviews

“Masterful.” (Michael Connelly)

Horrible

This book was recommended to me by Audible, at the end of a William Kent Krueger book, which I loved. I can't believe it. The book starts off as a humorous, albeit black humorous, thriller. However, it very quickly devolves into the most disgusting, depressing, unfunny, obscene thing that I could hardly stand listening to it and gave up. I have over 600 books in my library, and have listened to about 1000 in the last few years. This is, without question, the worst abomination of the lot. The narrator is good. That's it. Don't waste your money. The sample is an unrepresentative teaser. No wonder many people in Finland are depressed. With the cold, and books like this...

Good Read

This is a must for Scandinavian story readers. A fast paced mystry in the ice cold, dark winter noth of the Arctic Circle.

Too grisly!

I liked the cultural aspects of the Finnish descriptions but the murders were too grisly for me. And I listen to a lot of murder mysteries.

performance

maybe use a narrator who has at least a basic grasp of finnish? the pronunciation and accents on finnish words are ridiculous

New depths of gore and grotesqueness

Stay away from this one if you aren't in to incredibly gory gross murders. REALLY glad I could switch to listen at double speed on this one. I thought a "police procedural" from Lapp land was interesting --but could have used more procedure and less horror.

Great Finland pased mystery!!

For those who enjoy a great Scandinavian mystery, James Thompson has started a terrific atmospheric Finlander mystery with SNOW ANGELS.  Thompson was born in America but has lived in Finland for ten years.  He makes thorough use of the differences between culture, weather, personalities and murder statistics in Finland and USA in this deceptively psychological mystery.

Inspector Kari Vaara is newly married and looking forward to Christmas, when he's confronted with a particularly brutal murder of a beautiful young starlet.  Problems arise because she is one of the relatively new refugees from Somalia.  The murder was sexually brutal, perhaps racially motivated, and is culturally charged.  Worse yet, Vaara's ex wife's lover seems to be the prime suspect.  

Emotions flair in a country where emotions are usually kept inside.  Clues begin to add up quickly, but soon there are too many suspects who are powerful and/or too close to Vaara's personal life.  Relationships with family and co-workers make things still more complicated.

Thankfully, there are already two more books in this series because after reading this book, mystery fans will find they have a new favorite author.

Terrible terrible narration

Would you try another book from James Thompson and/or T. Ryder Smith?

I would not listen to anotherT.Ryder Smith narrated story. His voice is so slow and boring and his take on the characters are cartoonish.

How could the performance have been better?

New Narrator!

Darkness, prejudice and punishments.

Would you consider the audio edition of Snow Angels to be better than the print version?

Can't compare as I haven't literally read the book. Though if I had to read all the books I listen to I wouldn't get anything else done.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Snow Angels?

The fire on the ice.

Which scene was your favorite?

So many of the scenes are great ......I have read a many books since and haven't got a clear picture of one specific at this time.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I actually enjoy getting back to my book and the characters several times. Like meeting old friends again.

Any additional comments?

The freezing daytime darkness is a memorable visual for the human prejudice and sexual frustrations that underlies this particular plot.

Entertaining with flaws

Very early in the book the coroner uses Imperial measurements. Would never happen which ruined the moment.

The narrator is quite good. Better than most for Finnish names and words. There is room for improvement for sure. Still the pronouncement action is better than most.

What a fantastic story

Where does Snow Angels rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This book ranks right up at the top of my list.

What did you like best about this story?

This story grabbed my attention and kept it right to the end, and when I was done, I went online to see if there was a part 2, not that it ended like you were missing something, but because I wanted more, it took me some time to get over the fact that it was over. I liked all the characters, the plot, the whole story was just great.