English Translations of Scandinavian/Nordic Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

Junying, we have to do it, but I try to at least make book promos interesting, don't often comment on my own books and never tell other people how great they are. I mostly post reviews or interviews, or content unrelated to my work. Since people on my contact lists and visiting my sites, I assume they have at least a passing interest in my novels. I hate being spammed by offers from people I never heard of giving me just a synopsis and offering me a free or cheap copy. They could at least make it interesting. Notice I seldom mention my novels here unless they relate an experience relevant to the conversation or am answering a direct question. Where I grew up, they call it beating a dead horse.

James wrote: "Junying, we have to do it, but I try to at least make book promos interesting, don't often comment on my own books and never tell other people how great they are. I mostly post reviews or interview..."

Your writing speaks for itself. Succinct and informative.

In blogs and such forums as this so much is taken for granted, given and assumed. Most are tagged by names but identity is unclear and motive still less obvious other than the desire to talk about books.

The more one post one's comments the more we can discern, perhaps come to trust,see as genuine those views as from the heart. Commercial interests takes the dialogue into uncertainty but as you have stated before James feedback is something an author should welcome. I fear that voice may become less clear and distinct with the involvement of Amazon and we will all have to work harder to maintain a worthwhile debate and posting believable reviews.

If I write something heartfelt but perceived as critical about one's writing and your response is positive and accepting of my comments I know it becomes harder personally to remain negative.

Goodreads is great for me as it brings people together as we can not always meet authors in person. Your views James carry the additional weight of being a published author I have read and enjoyed; that said it is good that you are able to express yourself. If you came over as pompous and self-serving there may be a direct link to the interest in your opinions and the readerships of your books.

Keep posting but above all keep writing

As a reader....agree with the points expressed so well and appreciate each posting in this discussion tremendously. IMO such exchanges are a major reason that I personally enjoy GRs so much and am worried it will be changed.
Richard said it well....keep posting but above all please keep writing.....

Well, I'll be frank. I'm a blue collar guy from Appalachian Kentucky, and it took a long time for it to sink in that anyone gave a damn about what I said. Over the past year some things have happened to make it sink in. The popularity of my writing has grown a great deal. I get fan mail from China, for instance. I did an interview that went viral and was reproduced many thousands of times and millions, or maybe even tens of millions of people read it. I wrote a series of social/cultural articles with good intentions, but they didn't have the effect I tried to achieve, they were heavily read, and I think I did more harm than good.I realized that I've become politicized. My voice carries weight, and I have to be careful what I say. I keep this discussion group--all GR descussion groups--out of my social network and propaganda machine so that I can have one place where I can be free to chat about books and writing and be myself without my every word being analyzed. As far as Amazon goes: after discovering the vast amount of fraud and cutthroat author tactics that take place in Amazon venues like this, I abandoned it. They sell my books. I buy research books from them if I have to, but I keep my distance from them. I don't write on their site. I bear no ill will, they do, after all, make me money, but I prefer to keep my relationship with them on a business level. Too many jackals on the prowl.

Richard wrote: "James wrote: "Junying, we have to do it, but I try to at least make book promos interesting, don't often comment on my own books and never tell other people how great they are. I mostly post review..."

Footnote: I do post articles, essays, and book reviews in my GR blog. But people have to go there or sign up to view them. They don't pop up in your face as this does. I seldom if ever post book reviews (of my novels), interviews, or other propaganda there.

Well said, James.

James wrote: "Well, I'll be frank. I'm a blue collar guy from Appalachian Kentucky, and it took a long time for it to sink in that anyone gave a damn about what I said. Over the past year some things have happen..."

Footnote 2. And when Amazon and GR merge. I would assume they will merge book reviews as well. That will create a better impression of me as an author, as the number of book ratings will run into the thousands, but make me vulnerable to said Amazon jackals. I would rather not have reviews/ratings merged. That said, there are plenty of sock puppet accounts and badly behaving authors here on GR too, but looking at my stats and reading reviews, it seems there are less and causing, at least me, minimal damage.

Hello, I am jumping in after a long drought just in time to catch all of the Amazon drama. I think I'm maybe with James on this one. For some books I bless Amazon -- they were my early access to Scandi novels in the first place on .co.uk. I felt so subversive (I'm generally pretty law abiding as you can tell.) That makes them useful. I don't like any one company with that much pricing and content control though.

They have introduced me to several major authors, like James, who I've gone on to follow in my favorite local bookstore.

I hope that doesn't sound as wishy washy as it looks on second glance.

As for the thread title? I am currently rereading the Martin Beck series.

By the way James can you or someone else in the know catch me up on the Amazon "jackals" part of book reviews on Amazon?

I'm not sure what this means. I just know that I usually look for employee recommendations in my local store and "customers who bought this" type advertising because it seems like even reviews on physical books have been for sale for years.

I wrote a blog about it called "Fraud Authors: Pillory or Gallows." If you google it and "james thompson" it should pop up. If not, let me know. After reading it, Stephen Leather wrote to call me a prick. Made me happy.

okay I read it and am feeling vindicated in my suppositions and very late to your big reveal.

Some of my favorite authors, who I shan't name, have had generic but positive reviews of worthless books for years. Reviews which don't have their voice and hopefully not their taste.

James what seems to take your examples to a scummier depth is the extra venom of posting erroneous negative reviews to tear down competition.

You made a great case on Google by the way. I don't follow other social media so I am apparently way out of the loop.

By the way, below I meant the examples you cited are scummy.

This is why I am no writer my thoughts have no punctuation and neither do my posts from the phone where they are difficult to review.

The scandal was a big splash and then over very quickly. Amazon said it would investigate the matter, which means data mining. The results were never released, obviously because they would undermine consumer confidence. No strong actions were taken. Some reviews were removed, a form of wrist slapping. Only some no name self-published writers had their accounts terminated. Some consumer accounts were terminated without explanation. Amazon isn't required to explain. Some had purchased hundreds or thousands of ebooks. Their access to those books disappeared with account termination. It pays to read the rules and your rights, essentially none, carefully. GR regs aren't that much different. On the consumer level, however, I've always been treated very well by both Amazon and GR CSRs. I sometimes have to deal with them on author-related issues.

Johanna wrote: "By the way James can you or someone else in the know catch me up on the Amazon "jackals" part of book reviews on Amazon?

I'm not sure what this means. I just know that I usually look for employee..."

Jackals refers to authors giving negative reviews to other authors they consider competition via false accounts, known as sock puppets. Reviews have been on sale for years, but never at the level suspected, a phenomenon of the past few years, as self-publishing has grown. As nothing was done when the scandal broke, sale of Twitter followers, usually in lots of 5000, are openly advertized, giving the impression of popularity where none exists.

good points.

I think I mentioned that I tend to shop locally at a great indie mystery store. They have tons of English language foreign authors ordered from overseas in advance of us publication - many of which are signed or can be at author events. The prices are reasonable given those factors and the fact that I no longer have to pay foreign shipping to Amazon. Also I can look at the tenured employees making the recommendations.

Going into places like that should be an adventure and opening a book is an adventure that I hate to see idiots cheapen.

I will pay a reasonable sum more to support a privately owned brick and mortar store than save a little from a major online distributor. Living in Finland though, that limits me to used book store. I get almost all my books free for review, but research materials usually aren't common fare and I have to download them. And many aren't available as ebooks, so occassionally, I have to pay outrageous shipping charges. By way of example of research materials, this came out a couple days ago. http://americareads.blogspot.fi/2013/...

I'm not really that worried about the Amazon takeover of GR other than re the quality of the discussions on Amazon as compared to GR, but it will be up to moderators to manage it. As one of the moderators of another group, we are already strict about splash and dash author promotions and idiot posters. We have a section dedicated to authors where authors can promote as they see fit but it is not allowed in the other discussion threads. If we get any stupid posters they are warned and deleted as members if necessary. Cruel but fair lol.

Anyway......talking of hijacking threads......what is everyone reading? I'm re reading and enjoying a book from my teenage years . Not Scandinavian, but it is very, very cold.

Don't talk about cold, Ian. I was lucky enough to go to Norway a few weeks ago and spent two nights aurora watching at -16 deg. On one night warm suits were provided, on the other there was a fire with reindeer skins put over lumps of snow to sit on round it! Don't think I've warmed up since. (Yes did see it - a white one for more than 2 hours - but now want to see a green or red one!). Just going to pick up the Dogs of Riga for next scandi fix.

Dogs of Riga is good.
No talk about cold, eh? It's around 80s here (25C-ish), more cool than usually this time of year.
And I'm trying to absorb some non-crime every now and then, so it's Secret Life of Bees time and South Carolina of the past, now that I finished Helsinki Blood.

Have just finished The Nightmare by Lars Kepler. Those two really know how to build the suspense. Another fabulous read

Marsha wrote: "I just started Snow Angels by James Thompson!"

Lucky you, first of four, enjoy.

Marsha wrote: "Marsha wrote: "I just started Snow Angels by James Thompson!"

I'm hooked already (pg 42). Love a book that does this. "Finnish skies are the reason I believe in God.""

The Helsinki skies are the reason why I don't. :p
(a lot of wonderful discoveries in Snow Angels though, aren't there?)

Anna wrote: "Marsha wrote: "Marsha wrote: "I just started Snow Angels by James Thompson!"

I'm hooked already (pg 42). Love a book that does this. "Finnish skies are the reason I believe in God.""

The Helsin..."

I enjoyed it the best of the four....

I think Snow Angels the most enjoyable book I've written. I think, despite its flaws, Helsinki White the best and most memorable book I've written. It was hard to write, at times is hard too read, but addresses the truth of the state of Europe, and I think is a harbinger of the Europe to come. Racism, violence, deportations,social upheaval. It could just have easily been written in 1933. As we've just seen demonstrated once again in Boston, it addresses the future. It's bleak, as is the present and future, and I felt it was a book that needed to be written. It is I think, not the most enjoyable, but the most memorable. Lucifer's Tears was probably my most well-crafted book. I haven't decided what I think of Helsinki Blood, except that it rings true as the fitting denoument of the trilogy. I'm enjoying moving on from that storyline to different themes though. I think my treatment of them in the trilogy was as far as I could take them.

Thanks for sharing that insight and process with us James...very very interesting. I very much look forward to reading what you next write. And enjoying your comments and viewpoints along the way.

Sadly, after growing up in NA and 30 years in Europe, I agree with your viewpoint on the state of the world. Never thought we would see such things echoing back to the 30s! Worldwide.....

But yesterday NZ became the 13th country in the world to legalise gay marriage......so there is some hope for a more tolerant world..........great insights into your work Jim.

Ian wrote: "But yesterday NZ became the 13th country in the world to legalise gay marriage......so there is some hope for a more tolerant world..........great insights into your work Jim."

If you want to truly enjoy a breath of fresh air of truth and humour..I would vote for this man......have a listen:
http://www.youtube.com/user/onenewsnz...

Fantastic Sharon.....wish we had him in the UK Parliament rather than the braying idiots our system seems to breed.

Ian wrote: "Fantastic Sharon.....wish we had him in the UK Parliament rather than the braying idiots our system seems to breed."

Think we all could use him...Glad you enjoyed it. I don't know when I belly laughed so hard. But the intelligence of it all...very smart chap putting it together so well. May just watch again :-)

James - I love to listen to books and do it often. I started listening to Lucifer.... and was so disappointed by the narrator that I had to stop. It is so important who narrates a book and he is awful. First of all - I do not want to hear an American voice doing a Scandinavian book and so was put off from the beginning. I'll get the book on Kindle and read it. This has nothing to do with your writing - I just don't know if authors are aware of the importance of the voice.

Mary wrote: "James - I love to listen to books and do it often. I started listening to Lucifer.... and was so disappointed by the narrator that I had to stop. It is so important who narrates a book and he is aw..."

Did you have any choice about the reader, Jim?
My books are being turned into audiobooks at the moment and although the reader has done a great job and has been a pleasure to work with, the selection of who was going to sit in a soundproof booth and read for the best part of two weeks wasn't my decision.

Just started The Andalucian Friend - excellent, truly excellent.

Re Lucifer's Tears: I actually like the narrator. I also listened to Snow Angels which I really enjoyed. I am really looking forward to the next James Thompson novel in this series to be turned into an audiobook.

Accents are an issue. So many narrators of Scandinavian novels are British. I think it changes quite a bit the listeners perception of the novel. If I am not aware of the accent then I pay more attention to the content. I do love the melodious voices of the British narrators.

I only have an audio book of Snow Angels. I listened to an excerpt of another on line, can't remember which, and the reader hadn't bothered to learn to pronounce the Finnish names, and worse, pronounced the same names in different ways. But I don't know the source. It could have been some audio version of pirating.

No, I have no input into who reads the audio books. I haven't even received the Lucifer's tears audio book and have no idea what it sounds like. I have a pronunciation guide on my website, plus I have all of my audion books in Finnish of all my novels. If I was going to be a reader of a book with a lot of foreign names/words. The first thing I would do is look for an audion book in the original language, just to get a feel for how it sounds.

You're not the first to say that.

James wrote: "No, I have no input into who reads the audio books. I haven't even received the Lucifer's tears audio book and have no idea what it sounds like. I have a pronunciation guide on my website, plus I h..."

There was a US audio book of one of mine done last year, but I've only heard a short clip from it.
Mine are now being done by Audible and I've spent a lot of time with the reader and the producer, a couple of hours for each book, going over the weird Icelandic names to get them as right as possible.
It's been a very rewarding process and I think they were a little surprised that I was prepared to work on this so much, as normally authors don't come anywhere near the process.
With the US audiobook of Cold Comfort, I knew nothing about it until my daughter saw it on Amazon.

Just seems bizarre that the audiobook process ignores the author as in Jim's case....much better partially in Quentin's case.

Ian wrote: "Just seems bizarre that the audiobook process ignores the author as in Jim's case....much better partially in Quentin's case."

You'd have thought we might be more involved, but this stuff is arranged between publishers, agents, etc, and we tend to find out afterwards.
I think the only real reason for my involvement was that they were struggling to find anyone who could pronounce Icelandic names, although the producer had done her best.

Just got Lackberg's "The Drowning" and am anxious to start it. Of course it has its many many pages.

Elizabeth wrote: "Just got Lackberg's "The Drowning" and am anxious to start it. Of course it has its many many pages."

Enjoy!
Be ready to order the next book in the series...lol.

I am enjoying the new Donna Leon Brunetti book, The Golden Egg. Have read all of them and as Venice is a favorite place of mine, I always enjoy the read there as much as time with the family and colleagues I have gotten to know so well after so many books. And there is always some food! These books are my comfort reading. I have walking books, cooking books also by DL. The Brunetti book series is advertised as Crime Thrillers and some have been pretty thrilling and there is always a crime of sorts from extremes to subtle social problems that plague Italy and Europe. I like the mulling of social and cultural conscience in her books, the need to solve the puzzle, often the love of Baroque music, which I also follow and love. Or just the walking of the routes and the trips on the vaporetto..... So I am happily in the zone in Venice :-)

Publishers don't normally make audio books themselves. They're outsourced, so even the publisher isn't overseeing the projects. I suppose they just change audio publishers if they're not satisfied overall. The first one I listened to was Blood's a Rover, by James Ellroy. I think the reader's name is T.J. Ryder. We had the same agent at the time and I got a freebee. They're terribly expensive. I thought, what an amazing skill! It's not just reading. To keep the listener engaged, there has to be a certain tempo, changes in tone to fit the scene, etc.

Some of the narrators are exceptional. The best one ever is Robin Sachs - who did the Jo Nesbo series. I understand he died suddenly in February and I cried when I heard the news.

I have The Drowning on my list too.

Sharon, must check out the Brunetti series - I loved Venice so it would be lovely to go Bach though books :)

I've just finished Harry Hole series, and got down to "Headhunters"

Quite a ride wasn't it? Headhunters is quite different. Enjoy. If you get a chance watch the film/DVD.

James wrote: "No, I have no input into who reads the audio books. I haven't even received the Lucifer's tears audio book and have no idea what it sounds like. I have a pronunciation guide on my website, plus I have all of my audion books in Finnish of all my novels. If I was going to be a reader of a book with a lot of foreign names/words. The first thing I would do is look for an audion book in the original language, just to get a feel for how it sounds. "

Sigh. I haven't listened to your books as audiobooks Jim, but I think I'd probably feel very violent listening to them.

There are a few books I have listened to, by Nordic authors, and I feel really really frustrated, nauseous, violent, and angry, when the names pronounced are gibberish and inconsistent gibberish. Gibberish would be fine if it was Van Veeteren series, but they aren't.

Some bad examples in
my take on Keeper's of Lost Causes audiobook and The Elephant Keeper's Children.
Knowing how a Nordic name would be pronounced, or reversely - spelled if you hear them pronounced, these two audiobooks had quite a monstrous collection of atrocities:
Äno-Laabia, Sinbäd Al-Blääblää, Fiina (instead of Finø), Buli-Mía, Bäskør, Flaunderblad, Tiltta/Tilte, Aasad/Aasaad/Arsaad/Asad? for the same character without consistency (I suspect that character would have been Assad as it seemed like an Arabic name, but not pronounced like one), Moorck when the name probably should have been Mørck or Mörck, inconsistently a Möreeda - Møreeda - Moreeda with an equally inconsistent last name, Lynggoo, Lungoo, Lüngool...
Ademos - Armos? Jespa. Moorten. Crestjansboo. Thèa (Theja?) Bauesen. Buue Baack. Laasa. Äne-Liise. Maijane. Copenhagen where the beginning is pronounced like 'coop', not like in Copenhagen.

Some of the pronunciation of those Danish names is beyond horrendous. At least until someone in Denmark can tell that there really are names out there that are like Äne-Liise or Äno-Laabia.

A hint for non-conoisseurs: the umlauts are never a decoration, but an indication of how something is pronounced. Not like in *J/ã/s/ö/ñ* cosmetics or Lärabar in US.

Sharon, I used to like an occasional Brunetti as well.
Then some things started to itch me a bit, and they started to irritate way more over time. I think I'm pretty much done with Brunetti, unless there are some books in the series where it's not with blatant North Italian attitudes everywhere. (Every Sicilian in the series is either corrupt or a criminal. In every single book. And every single time Brunetti or Sra Brunetti meets one, it's a few pages about rant and attitude. It gets me because I was/would have been exactly what they hated, just because I lived in a city they didn't like).

Anna wrote: "Sharon, I used to like an occasional Brunetti as well.
Then some things started to itch me a bit, and they started to irritate way more over time. I think I'm pretty much done with Brunetti, unless..."

Loved her books from the start....every one. I believe we are all tribal and humanity will remain tribal and that does reflect in her books. I like that as I live with it in Europe now for thirty years and see it everywhere. But it is not new to me, just more intense here.
But I grew up in Canada and from small community to big city, province to province there are similarities. NA and it's transient society doesn't really accept any better, people just live around each other. In NL people can get work and a house in another part of the small country but they will always remain identified by the province / region they originate from. Even with a passport I am always.....the foreigner. Italy is always going to have its colorful divisions and IMHO these divisions give it such color, depth and interest. IMO I doubt there is a country without these tribal divisions subtlety built into the fabric.
I like the way she writes...and her crimes within the community, sometimes affected by wider issues, human trade or environmental concerns, etc, are issues affecting us all to a degree, directly or on the nightly news.

A bit late, but wanted to second Sharon on the Leon series. Love them! And while I know there are the north-south things, I have yet to meet an Italian-American at least who doesn't also feel this way. I just love how she doesn't always give you a happy ending but you do get the whole story.