By Professor Danton Remoto
Jorn Lier Horst is a bestselling crime-thriller novelist from Norway. His novel, “Snow Fall”, has sold 10 million copies worldwide, with two million of them sold in his native country whose population was only 5.5 million.
Horst worked as a police officer and head of investigations before becoming a fulltime writer. He said he was at a crossroads when he began writing. He has taken early retirement, his kids were at the university and for the first time in his life he found himself with lots of time in his hands.
“I was reading a crime thriller and disliked it so much that I began writing my own,” said the bestselling novelist. “I began writing in a workspace that measured just 14 square meters.” From such cramped quarters, he has written six novels and has established himself as one of the most successful authors to have come out of Scandinavia. He has also been published in 26 languages.
“Snow Fall” has been translated into crisp English by Anne Bruce and published by Penguin Books UK. I bought this book because, as I teased Jorn, I hope its incredible sales would rub off on my books as well.
In the novel, when true crime fanatic Astri Arctander suddenly disappears, Detective William Wisting is called upon to investigate.
Alongside her fellow amateur sleuths, Astri had been trying to uncover what really happened to Ruby Thompson, a backpacker whose body was recently discovered in Palamos, Spain. Astri was all but ready to unmask Ruby’s killer. Then she vanished without a trace.
It’s clear to Wisting that someone doesn’t want the truth to be revealed. He’s determined to solve the case – to find justice for Ruby, and to bring Astri home unharmed.
But soon, he finds himself at the heart of a dark and twisted cat-and-mouse chase that will take him from the snowy depths of Norway to the torrid hills of Catalan.
Wisting is willing to go to extreme lengths to find out the truth. But his enemy will go further to keep it buried – and the closer Wisting gets, the more dangerous they become.
Upon publication, the book swiftly flew off the shelves. It also garnered good reviews. The Sunday Times called it “one of the most brilliantly understated crime novelists writing today.”
On the other hand, “The New York Times” breathlessly said: “Horst, a former Norwegian police detective, is often compared to Sweden’s Henning Mankell for his moody, sweeping crime dramas.”
Clearly then, Horst writes in the same vein as the British John Le Carre or the American Michael Connolly, who is one of Horst’s favorite writers. It can be called entertainment with brains. Horst infuses his writing with authenticity, offering a story that is as much as police procedural as it is a reflection on justice, family, and the quick passage of time.
Set against the backdrop of a frigid Norwegian winter, “Snow Fall” begins with the discovery of an abandoned car in a remote forest. The scene is like an omen:: the snow-capped vehicle contains blood but no body.
Wisting, a seasoned detective with the Larvik Police, is asked to investigate. What starts as a seemingly straightforward case of a missing person spirals into a complex mystery. Wisting is drawn deeper into the dark waters of a small community that hides many secrets.
The investigation takes another turn when another body is found frozen in the snow. Wisting then suspects a connection between the two incidents. As he probes deeper, he unearths a series of crimes that span decades. This forces him to confront old cases, long-forgotten grudges – and his own sense of mortality.
Meanwhile, his journalist daughter, Line, finds herself in the middle of the investigation, adding a layer of personal stakes to the unfolding drama.
Time is like another character in the novel, drawn mostly in shadows. Beyond the layer of a crime thriller, the novel is a meditation on time itself. Wisting, an aging detective, feels the weight of his past decisions. The cold, relentless winter mirrors his inward journey to the heart of the void.
Moreover, Horst explores the nature of justice – how it can be elusive and partial, yet pursued by dogged determination by people like Wisting who see it as their mission in life. The novel’s setting – snow-covered forests, icy roads, and isolated cabins – adds to the eerie atmosphere of isolation and moral ambiguity. How, then, to arrive at truth in such a slippery environment?
Horst is a master of creating characters that leap off the page and assume lives of their own. Wisting is not your stereotypical detective. He is introspective and thoughtful – very Scandinavian, if you may say so – and driven by a sense of duty rather than by ego. He grapples with his limitations, thus making him just like you and me – we try our best, but sometimes we just grasp air.
His daughter is also drawn with clear strokes. Line is portrayed as a good journalist whose involvement in her father’s cases adds tension and depth to the narrative. Their relationship is nuanced, filled with love and conflict. It also adds a compelling human dimension to the procedural elements of the story.
Horst writes in a crisp and economical manner. His prose is straightforward and unadorned. The focus is on action and dialogue, which make the pacing taut and the suspense high.
But all of these are balanced with a vivid sense of place. The wintry Norwegian landscape becomes a character in its own right, its cold beauty set against the warmth of Wisting’s quiet determination. An intelligent read, then, as you turn the pages through the night.
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Professor Danton Remoto has published the following books with Penguin Random House Southeast Asia: Riverrun, The Heart of Summer: Stories, and Boys’ Love. His translations of classic Tagalog novels were also published by Pengun SEA. The books are available at Fully Booked online, www.acrephils.com, Kinokuniya in Asia and Amazon globally.