Customer Reviews

Lucifer's Tears (An Inspector Vaara Novel)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The second installment of Finnish homicide detective Kari Vaara has moved from the Arctic Circle to Helsinki, a typically warmer climate, but is laden with the same grim Scandinavian malaise so pervasive in Snow Angels. The laconic Vaara requested a new assignment following the personal trauma and collateral damage of the Sufia Elmi case. His American wife, Kate, is 8 ½ months pregnant, and Kari is plagued with headaches and stress over her pregnancy.

In this story, Vaara is investigating the murder of a woman, Iisa Fillipov, who was married to a debauched business leader in the community. Iisa's extramarital Estonian lover, Rein Saar, is the primary suspect--he woke up with her dead body beside him. Vaara is also asked to investigate an alleged war criminal, and to cover up any trails that lead to affirmation of his guilt (keep Finland spotless). The chief of police and interior minister are pressing this case on him because of his grandfather's possible involvement. that On top of all this, Kate's American siblings are coming to visit.

This is a taut police procedural with a graphic opening and an implausible denouement, an over-the-top climax that is now a hallmark of Thompson's work. This second novel is not quite as atmospheric as his first one, (i.e. climate as character) but it hits the high notes with assurance, and is also a lead-in to the next installment. Vaara's skill at balancing several plot lines simultaneously and braiding them together is exhilarating. Moreover, he saliently blends in Finland's history and social issues to support the story.

This next paragraph is NOT spoiler information--I am merely conveying Vaara's fears at the outset of this novel, together with a criticism of the facts that Thompson alleges. I was bothered by the author's lack of precision in his research of pregnancy. Vaara is worried that his wife will miscarry--a groundless fear, since you can't "miscarry" at full term, you can only give birth. 38 weeks is essentially term. Secondly, the cure for mild preeclampsia at this late stage pregnancy? Induction of labor--but this is not presented as a viable option.

Despite flaws, I enjoyed it--the thrilling and dexterous pace; the bracing prose; Kari Vaara's incorruptible nature against his small corruptions; his anarchist, gun-glee, Mensa partner, Milo; and the snow. Always the snow. You don't have to read these two books in order to enjoy them, but I do recommend it for character progression. 3.5

This review is based on an advanced reading copy I received from the publisher. The views are entirely my own.

I liked the first of Thompson's books because of the story and the interesting information about Finland. So, I figured the second would be at least as good and possibly even better.

Sorry to report that while there is still some good stuff about Finland, the story is so loaded with gratuitous and idiotic violence, sex, vulgarity and thinly drawn stereotypical characters, that I'm embarrassed for the author. It came across as an amateurishly written story laced with some interesting historical,cultural and anecdotal information about Finland and the Finns. This is my second and last Thompson book. Too much junk to wade through to get to the good stuff.

Kari Vaara is back on the job. After taking a bullet to the face in his last book, Snow Angels, he is back to working on new cases as a police detective with his partner Milo. As Lucifer's Tears opens, Kari is assigned two investigations. One involves a murder and the other is bringing an alleged war criminal from World War II to justice. Meanwhile, Kari's wife, Kate, is eight and a half months pregnant with a baby girl. After losing twins in her last pregnancy, both Kate and Kari are very apprehensive and nervous that everything goes right this time. Both of them feel responsible for their prior loss. Kate has invited her brother and sister over to Finland from the United States to be there for the birth and this creates a whole new set of problems for Kari.

The murder victim is named Iisa Filippov, wife of Ivan Filippov. Ivan is twenty-four years Iisa's senior. She was found tortured to death, lashed and whipped, covered with cigarette burns. She and her friend Linda are known for playing kinky sex games with videos and sex toys. Iisa and Linda also liked to dress up the same with the intent of looking like the retro sex symbol Betti Page. It is uncanny how much they looked alike. There is a lot of pressure on Kari to pin the murder on a man named Rein Saar but Kari does not believe that he is the murderer. Investigating this case opens a can of worms. People all the way at the top of the food chain are involved. Kari needs to watch his back and he is not very good with politics like this. On top of that, his partner Milo is a loose canon. He likes to play with guns and weapons and doesn't always use them judiciously.

Arvid is a very elderly man who is being accused of war crimes in Finland during World War II. The Finnish people have been taught that they are not guilty of any war crimes, that they withstood the German pressures and did not participate in any anti-semitic activities. It appears that Arvid and Kari's grandfather served together in the same unit and Kari learns a whole new history of Finland, one that shocks him and changes how he views his grandfather.

Meanwhile, Kate's brother John is getting into all kinds of trouble. He is a terrible alcoholic and drug user and Kari has to rescue him at the most inopportune times. Kate's sister Mary is a bible thumper and the whole family has to be careful about everything they talk about in front of her. Additionally, Kari is suffering from unrelenting, acute migraines that leave him drained and in agony. He finally visits his brother, a physician, to get some medical help for this problem.

Kari is an insular man who likes to keep to himself. He sees a therapist for his post-traumatic stress following his last case but basically trusts no one but Kate. He has had a nasty childhood that has left him scarred and angry and he has chosen to tell no one about what occurred. He comes to realize that this is not the best route to take and he wants to open up to Kate.

This is a multi-dimensional book - a thriller, murder mystery, family saga and history book all in one. It is a fascinating and thrilling roller coaster ride of a read and James Thompson does not disappoint. He knows Finland and its people - he lives in Finland but he was born and raised in the United States. It seems like the Scandinavians are going through a renaissance in crime novels, and this is a wonderful addition to the genre.

This terrific chilling thriller from Thompson is exceptional. I highly recommend this book as it most certainly lives up to its ratings and feel you will also give this book a 4 or 5 star review as this author has created a page turner. I enjoyed this book so much that I ordered Snow Angels (which I received today from Amazon) a little out of order but found Kari Vaara addictive and I think worth it. This book has received crackling reviews by Sam Millar on New York Journal of books and Crime Writer, I agree it's one of those rare books which actually live up to all the hype...and then some.






Thanks Goodreads/Putnam, I am delighted with the books I have been selected to receive and I appreciate being able to add a new and intriguing author to my library!

Whenever I read a novel written by a Scandinavian, I feel the need to button up my parka and don a fur-lined ushanka. James Thompson (American by birth, resident of Finland by choice) writes so convincingly about cold Finnish nights that the novel left me shivering. Of course, the plot -- involving a gruesome murder and atrocities committed in two wars -- may have inspired some of those shivers.

A blood-covered body is found in Rein Saar's bed. Saar claims to have been knocked unconscious before waking up next to the corpse. Homicide inspector Kari Vaara (last seen in Snow Angels, which I haven't read) and his braniac partner Milo Nieminen are assigned to the case. The man who has the strongest motive to kill the victim has a strong alibi: he was partying with the national chief of police at the time of the victim's death. Political corruption and kinky sexual practices enliven the plot, but those are overshadowed by Vaara's discovery that one of Finland's greatest war heroes may be concealing a shameful past.

James Thompson will inevitably be compared to Stieg Larsson (indeed, my advance reader's copy, which I won in a contest, makes that comparison on its cover). Thompson doesn't match Larsson's convoluted plotting, but he comes close, and Thompson's writing is less ponderous. Thompson's characters aren't quite as compelling as Lisbeth Salander, but they have strong, intriguing personalities. Nieminen is the Scandinavian version of the cowboy cop: a bit reckless, eager to use his weapon, but unique in that he's gifted with a Mensa-level IQ and an ego to match. Vaara is an interesting mix of Sensitive Guy and Dirty Harry whose visits to a therapist aren't reducing his stress. The supporting characters, including Vaara's American wife and her siblings, are weaker; Thompson relied on stereotypes when he created them. By the same token, the villains aren't particularly interesting; they channel thriller villains we've seen many times before.

Thompson is a capable writer; his style isn't flashy but it isn't dull. The story moves at a brisk pace and it always held my interest. The novel's ending sets up the next in the series in a couple of ways: by creating some concern about Vaara's welfare and by altering his job responsibilities. Even without the setup, I'd be looking forward to Vaara's continuing adventures.

The characters in Lucifer's Tears express varying opinions on a variety of hot-button topics, including Finland's approach to abortion and health care, America's invasion of Iraq, and Finland's alliance with Germany in World War II. I thought those discussions added interest to the novel but some readers might be offended by the opinions that the characters express. Readers who prefer their thrillers to steer clear of controversial political issues should probably avoid this novel. The novel includes graphic descriptions of sex and violence as well as some rough language. Readers who are offended by content of that nature might not like this novel. For readers who aren't bothered by those caveats, I would recommend Lucifer's Tears as a reasonably enjoyable thriller.

I have read both of Thompson's books and found the stories to be both interesting and timely. However, I was really put off by the disgusting and graphic descriptions of sex and violence in each book -- seriously cringeworthy stuff! I know this kind of thing happens in the world, but I feel that the author could have gotten his point across without being quite so gratuitous. It seemed to me that this was a book written just for guys and, as a woman who reads LOTS of mysteries (by both male and female authors), this was a real disappointment. Even so, I'll probably at least attempt to read his next book because I like the character and I want to find out what happens next in his career and personal life. Hopefully I won't get too grossed out to finish!

I discovered Thompson with his first book of the Vaara series, "Snow Angels", a truly engrossing tale of murder and redemption set in a frigid small town in Finland.

Vaara and his wife have now moved to the more urban setting of Helsinki, but Vaara still finds himself tackling a murder case of almost Byzantine complexity while battling his own internal demons.

Another woman found dead and mutilated. Vaara is the natural pick by the police force to head up such an investigation based on his experience in the Sufia Elmi case ("Snow Angels"). Whether or not he likes it, Vaara's stuck with it, along with a new partner and headaches that have kept him from getting any meaningful rest for weeks.

As he digs deeper into the case, he finds it turning into a political hot potato involving national heroes, war crimes from World War 2, and questions of guilt or innocence that involve his own grandfather.

If you're a fan of Nordic mysteries such as the Harry Hole series or "Smilla's Sense of Snow", you won't want to miss these books from James Thompson.

He perfectly captures the ambience, culture, and frigid vastness of the region. And as he's American born and English is his native language (I assume), there isn't any of the linguistic awkwardness you find sometimes in works translated from another language.

Very, very entertaining; much more than a simple "beach book".

Finnish Inspector Kari Vaara investigates another gruesome sex crime (after his debut in Snow Angels, now out in paperback), but this time he's in Helsinki rather than his beloved Lapland homeland.

"Kaamos, the dark time, is short-lived. The light coming and going so fast depresses me. I miss the long Arctic darkness. Already now, in January, we have daylight from around nine a.m. until four p.m."

At least Helsinki is having a real winter rather than its customary gloom of "icy gray mud," but that's about the only thing that's proceeding satisfactorily in his new life as hero of the hour. His new partner, Milo Nieminen, is inexperienced, cocky, brilliant and possibly a psychopath, and their first murder is an apparently open-and-shut torture beating.

Iisa Filippov's death was reported by her lover, Rein Saar, who says he had been knocked out on his arrival home and woke covered in blood beside his dead lover. Filippov was married to a Russian-born construction company owner and Saar was her horseback-riding instructor. " `We were meeting for the purpose of engaging in sex,' " Saar states, " `We had fun together.' "

Vaara is inclined to look further, particularly after meeting her cold fish of a husband and his buxom secretary. But Vaara's boss, a crony of the husband's, insists Saar is guilty and Vaara must move on to a more important case - a case with historic roots and implications that could shake the country to its foundations.

One of Finland's WWII national heroes, Arvid Lahtinen, 90, is being accused of war crimes while stationed at a POW camp run with the Germans. Assigned to investigate, Vaara learns more than he wanted to about Finnish wartime expediencies and about his beloved grandfather's possible involvement.

Meanwhile his pregnant American wife's brother and sister are coming to stay until after the baby is born and Vaara's migraines are growing so bad he barely sleeps.

An American living in Finland, Thompson keeps a lot of balls in the air - political, personal, cultural, moral - while moving his story along at a brisk pace. Smart, soul-searching and protective, Vaara is a principled, complex and haunted narrator living in a culture affected by its strange arctic beauty and extreme climate.

Atmospheric, eccentric, and deeply absorbing, the Vaara novels will appeal to anyone who enjoys the brooding Scandinavian novels of Steig Larsson, Henning Mankell or Arnaldur Indridason.

I enjoyed "Snow Angels" - James Thompson's first Inspector Vaara novel - so much that I set up a Google alert so that I wouldn't miss the release of the next book in the series. There was just something about the character of Kari Vaara...and the character that the winter world of Finland that wouldn't allow me to put the story down.

"Lucifer's Tears", while still engrossing, didn't quite meet my expectations. Like the first book, there were aspects to the cases that Vaara works on that were ultra violent and crude...but those were more than balanced out in "Snow Angels" by the details of a Finnish winter and Finnish culture - and by the gradual way the reader learns about Kari Vaara. In this book, Vaara is still as compelling, if not more so, but the move of the story to a less dramatic setting, one more familiar to readers, lessens the dramatic tension.

I found myself skimming a bit over the details of the cases as some of the details were just too vulgar for me, and kept hoping for more about Vaara - his current life and how he is dealing with his past. Those details were riveting and guaranteed that I will keep my Google alert in place so that I don't miss the next books from Thompson. Especially with some of the major events that take place in Kari's life in this book - I have to know what happens next.

James Thompson is not Jim Thompson. The latter is the haunted literary noir icon who wrote such pulp crime fiction classics as THE KILLER INSIDE ME and SAVAGE NIGHT in the 1950s. I don't know if the former was even alive at that time. What I do know is that he was born in Kentucky, has spent the last 10 years or so living in Finland, and his prose, like Jim Thompson's, will singe the hair right off of your head.

LUCIFER'S TEARS, the second Inspector Kari Vaara novel, takes place approximately one year after the devastating events of SNOW ANGELS, the book that introduced Vaara to the world. He and his very pregnant wife, Kate, have relocated from Kittila in North Finland (which was left a killing ground partly due to Vaara's actions) to Helsinki, where Vaara has undertaken his new position with the city's homicide unit. Vaara is not enamored with the move, given that Helsinki is the site of many unpleasant and unhappy childhood memories for him.

Two things happen almost immediately. First, Vaara is tasked with investigating Arvid Lahtinen, a Finnish hero of World War II who stands accused of war crimes. The Finnish government has a vested interest in a conclusion that the man is innocent, as does Vaara, whose grandfather was a member of the same security police unit as Lahtinen. Secondly, Vaara is assigned to a murder investigation that has been predetermined by his superiors as an open-and-shut case. The mutilated body of a woman is discovered in the bed of her lover, who himself has been battered into unconsciousness. Vaara essentially has been ordered to arrest the guy, even though it is all but certain that he was attacked himself. The deceased woman's husband is a well-known Russian construction contractor with a reputation for ruthlessness and an eye for the ladies --- indeed, he is seen with his girlfriend out and about, even as his wife is assuming room temperature --- and exhibits a blasé attitude toward police questioning and the insinuation of his own guilt.

Vaara is riddled with guilt over what he did and didn't do in Kittila and the results, which included the deaths of his ex-wife and his sergeant, the miscarriage of his twins, and the wounds he sustained that have left both physical and emotional scars. Then there are the headaches he's having, which are almost blinding in their ferocity. Worse, he is assigned a rookie partner for the murder investigation, an egotistical but brilliant investigator named Milo Nieminen, who is as driven as he is and has even more screws loose. Vaara can barely control himself, let alone Nieminen, and the two of them together are loose cannons with a purpose.

Surprises abound, and Vaara experiences no succor at home, where his wife's sister and brother have arrived --- complete with their own secrets --- from the United States to help with the imminent arrival of the new baby. The investigations proceed along twin tracks, only to intersect suddenly. Both are resolved, though at some cost.

None of the above, of course, speaks to the rough and dark beauty of Thompson's prose, which is not for the faint-hearted. His picture of Helsinki is that of a dirty winter with an unrelenting and grim cold that reflects the mood of the protagonist. Then there's the violence and the sex, meted out in equal measure (and, in some instances, simultaneously). The result is some of the best crime fiction you are liable to encounter in this or any year. Be warned, though. LUCIFER'S TEARS will leave you asking, "Stieg? Stieg who?" Strongly recommended, and I mean it.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub