Bookseller Jules and the Case of the Audiobooks Noir
Nordic noir aka Scandinavian noir is a genre of crime fiction and mystery usually written from a detective’s point of view and set in Scandinavia or Nordic countries. That’s just on the surface. The more you listen to this genre the deeper you get into the psyche of the main characters.. Atmosphere is as much a part of the story as are the characters and plot. Stark landscapes in what always seems to be a cold climate puts us in a familiar, but not that familiar, place. The tundra is exotic, but it does not always have to be wintery! Keep in mind — in the summer, daylight can last all day! If you’ve ever left a karaoke bar in Stockholm, Sweden at 1AM, you’ll never forget the uncanny feeling that you might be on the wrong planet. To listen to the audio version of these books is part travelogue and part language immersion (so many names I now know how to pronounce!) along with some very intense story lines.
Here are several favorites to take you deep into another world. Don’t be alarmed if insomnia, paranoia, guilt, and the need for redemption creep up as you turn the pages. It’s only a book, after all. Or is it?
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Audiobook $25.00
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
By
Stieg Larsson
Narrated by
Simon Vance
In Stock Online
Audiobook $25.00
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as narrated by Simon Vance is the audio version of a page turner. After some initial background intel necessary for the plot, you’ll find yourself binge-listening each chapter. Vance is captivating and moves through characters with ease. His crisp narration is as compelling as headline news.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as narrated by Simon Vance is the audio version of a page turner. After some initial background intel necessary for the plot, you’ll find yourself binge-listening each chapter. Vance is captivating and moves through characters with ease. His crisp narration is as compelling as headline news.
Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is your perfect Scandi Noir starting point. The dynamic between all the characters will linger with you and send you directly to the second book in Larsson’s Millennium series. Further proof of the book’s lasting effect is that there are not one but two different film adaptations of the book.
The Witch Hunter by Max Seeck
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I distinctly remember a haunting and menacing tone when I read The Witch Hunter by Max Seeck. The audio as narrated by Cady McClain sent those very same chills down my spine. And that’s after being familiar with the story! My favorite audiobooks stand on their own. But the best ones put me in the same mindset as the images I conjured up while reading.
I distinctly remember a haunting and menacing tone when I read The Witch Hunter by Max Seeck. The audio as narrated by Cady McClain sent those very same chills down my spine. And that’s after being familiar with the story! My favorite audiobooks stand on their own. But the best ones put me in the same mindset as the images I conjured up while reading.
In true horror tradition, that which is scary isn’t the monster itself. In detective fiction, we must go through the darkness with the main character. Seeck paces out Jessica Niemi’s pursuit of a serial killer at a breakneck speed, all balanced by Niemi’s backstory. Her origins, the things that motivate her and her secrets are all carefully meted out in such a way that we become even more involved in the story. Current story and backstory align as we head into the final chapters of the book. It’s an exhilarating journey.
Snowdrift by Helene Torsten
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Snowdrift by Helene Tursten as narrated by Stina Nielsen is a most perfect pairing of voice and story. Drama inflected at the moments of suspense. The feeling of what it’s like to have someone reading to you as when you were a child. The hush and then rush of Nielsen’s voice left me saying aloud to no one in particular, “just one more chapter, please.”
Snowdrift by Helene Tursten as narrated by Stina Nielsen is a most perfect pairing of voice and story. Drama inflected at the moments of suspense. The feeling of what it’s like to have someone reading to you as when you were a child. The hush and then rush of Nielsen’s voice left me saying aloud to no one in particular, “just one more chapter, please.”
Snowdrift is a careful and methodical build to the point where the detective meets “her match.” It’s a grey area in which Detective Inspector Embla Nyström walks into. Tursten is deft at setting up several of those moments. No spoiler alerts here, but know it’s an exciting time seeing one encounter, a nail-biter on another, and an emotional gut-punch for a third. Who says a Nordic noir should “only” be chilly?