They endless night won't keep your secrets hiden forever.

Author : James Thomas
Title : Snow Angels
Published : 01/12/2010
Pages : 315
Format : Paperback
Publisher : Avon






     A beautiful Somali immigrant is found dead in a snowfield, her body gruesomely mutilated, a racial slur carved into her chest. Heading the murder investigation is Inspector Kari Vaara, the lead detective of the small-town police force. The vicious killing may have been a hate crime, a sex crime-or one and the same. Vaara knows he must keep this potentially explosive case out of the national headlines or else it will send shock waves across Finland, an insular nation afraid to face its own xenophobia.

     I'm a big fan of Scandinavia noir novels and t.v show, so I tend to pick up a random assortment of books in this genre. Plus there is a book store near me that does 4 books for £10. Which is how I came by this book. It had languished in my massive to read pile for enough time to billed up a decent layer of dust. So unsure of what to read next I swiped in from the pile to give it some of my time. The story of a cop trying to solve crime in one of the most inhospitable place in the world all the while the sun never comes up sounded like an interesting one.

     As the story unfolds we follow Inspector Kari Vaara as he tries to navigate family and suspects to solve the murder. Kari is written in such a way that makes you like him. Though out the story he always tries he's best to solve the case at hand. Whilst a couple of his actions do come across as questionable a chapter on and you are rooting for him again. He is joined on this bloody moonlight ride by his American wife who is very pregnant and some what out of her depth as she has yet to learn very much finishes. I think she work in way to help the reader feel even more isolated in this darken snow swept story. As an American she wants to be very expressive. This in stark contrast to the finish sensibility of keep thing to them selves. To give her credit she is write well and to me didn't seem to be add just as background scenery. As for the rest we get to meet some pretty terrible people. Not that they are written badly but in the action they perform on others. You begin to wonder if any of them have a morale bone in their body.

     The writer has done an amazing job with this book. He has crafted one of the bloodiest and brutal books I've read this year. I realise this book came out quite some time ago late to the party again. There were a couple of moment when what I read caused me to squirm and this is not something I do lightly. The brutality and bleakness seeps out of this novel at every page. Having said this the book read quickly always adding to the previous chapter. A few funnier moments are scattered throughout between kari and his wife Kate. I believe that this book not only plays out as crime thriller but also as a musing on the soul of Finland itself. The long dark winters seem to reach down in to the soul and twist at it.  I would like to point out I have not had the chance to visit my self but having down some research after fining the book alcoholism and suicides levels are massively high. Which does come through in some of the themes of the book.It was only after I'd finish did I discover the author had died which is such a shame. All I can say is there are five books in this series so at least I have some more to read.

     I'm glad I read this book it was a story I had not expected when I started. For some I think the sheer level of brutality and depravity might be a bit to much. Once you get in to the book and especially the second half it becomes relentless. And I think by the time you get to the end you will want most of the people to go to prison.  I would suggest waiting till it gets dark outside to read this. For me it just adds something. If you like your noir as black as coffee and your mystery defiantly twisted. Give this one a go and see how dark your mind can get.