Jarkko Sipila In English
Jarkko Sipila, Finnish Author
Helsinki Homicide: Against the Wall NOW AVAILABLE
Click HERE to buy the book
Click HERE to buy it for Kindle through Amazon.com
Jarkko Sipila's award winning book, Helsinki Homicide: Against the Wall (see below) has been
now published in English in June 2009. Here is the back cover:
An abandoned house in Northern Helsinki, a dead body in the garage. Detective Lieutenant
Kari Takamäki's homicide team gets a case that looks like a professional hit, but they are
perplexed by the crime scene.
Takamäki's right-hand man Suhonen goes undercover as "Suikkanen," a gangster full of
action. In pursuit of the murderer, he must operate within the grey area of the law. But will the
end justify the means?
Jarkko Sipila is a Finnish author and journalist. He has been reporting Finnish crime news for
MTV3 TV News and the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper for almost 20 years. He has written 11
novels and co-wrote a TV-series based on the Takamäki-books. Following in the footsteps of
popular Scandinavian writers, Jarkko Sipila is introducing his critically acclaimed Takamäki
series in English.
Helsinki Homicide: Against The Wall, the winner of the 2009 Finnish Crime Fiction of the Year
Award, is the first of Jarkko Sipila's nine Takamäki-novels to be translated into English.
Through realistic characters and complex plots, he discusses current topics surrounding
Finnish society and unveils glimpses into his esoteric homeland.
"Skillful plot construction, a narrative that sticks closely to its subject, and straight-faced humor
hidden in the text make Sipilä's newest a fine crime novel." - Turun Sanomat
"Jarkko Sipilä writes naked, unrelenting crime fiction." - Ilkka
The book is published by U.S. based Ice Cold Crime, LLC.
Book Review - Scandinavianbooks.com:
Against the Wall by Jarkko Sipila
Reviewed by Peter Ohlsson (Jun 09)
Jarkko Sipila is a Finnish journalist / author, and one of the most read crime fiction authors in
Finland. He is 45 years old. He has been reporting Finnish crime news for MTV3 TV News and
the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper for almost 20 years. He has written 11 crime novels. Some
of his books have been translated into German, but this is the first translated into English.
Against the Wall (Finnish title Vasten seinää) - the 2009 Winner of the Best Finnish Crime
Novel - has been translated excellently by Peter Ylitalo Leppa. The language used flows nicely
and underscores the style of the novel. The sentences are short and to the point.
Sipila's style is somewhat noir and hard boiled. His writing is direct with little commentary. He
has good knowledge about modern police methods and the stresses of police work.
The main character in Sipila’s books is Lieutenant Detective Kari Takamaki. He is the head of
the Helsinki Police Violent Crimes Unit. He is professional and team oriented in his work. In
this book, most of the police work is done by on e of his team members, the undercover
policeman Suhonen, who goes undercover using the name Suikkanen and posing as a
hardened criminal.
The action in the book starts immediately. A man is killed by a hitman. Later, in an abandoned
house in Northern Helsinki, his dead body is found in the garage by the police. Detective
Lieutenant Kari Takamäki’s homicide team gets the case from a snitch that reports it to
Suhonen. The case has all the markings of a professional hit. Even so, some traces are found
at the murder site. And clearly the police informant knows more than he has told the police.
The book describes a hard and tough underworld in Finland, with organized crime, gangs, and
connections to the Russian underground. The story moves in a world of gangsters, prisons,
snitches, corrupt officials, undercover police and hardworking detectives.
Against the Wall is very well plotted. It is written is a slow-moving and direct style. Pieces of the
puzzle and the larger plot become visible gradually, and this serves to build the excitement
towards a plausible and interesting ending. As well, the characters, while not being fully drawn
are realistic and very interesting. I enjoyed reading it, and strongly recommend it.
LINK TO SCANDINAVIANBOOKS.COM HERE
Book Review - NEW WORLD FINN:
Helsinki Homicide: Against the Wall by Jarkko Sipila
Reviewed by Ulla Suokko For New World Finn (July 09)
Thank goodness it is summer in New York City! Otherwise the tangibly dark, cold and
merciless Helsinki underworld in late November in Jarkko Sipila’s Helsinki Homicide: Against
the Wall might get me depressed.
Mr. Sipila has not only established himself as one of the top crime journalists in Finland, but
also as one of the leading crime novelists, and now his latest detective novel is available in
English in Peter Ylitalo Leppa’s translation, published by Ice Cold Crime LLC. While certainly
no travel advertisement for Finland, this book is skillfully composed and intelligently written in
its slow-moving tough- guy tenor.
True to his genre, Mr. Sipila hooks the reader by zooming through the windows of a tight
timeline and feeding the pieces of the murder puzzle bit by bit through the eyes and minds of
his characters. All the characters seem to share the gloominess of the November chill. Each
of them plays his or her part on either side of the law, but are evidently trapped in a
passionless reality. They inhabit a loveless and cynical world in the grey area between good
and bad. In this web of crime and corruption there are no winners.
Clearly drawing from his background as a criminal reporter, Mr. Sipila’s observant style of
writing offers many facts to support the credibility of his story. He creates an illusion of hard-
boiled realism pointing to some obvious flaws and weaknesses in the modern
society and its institutions.
The main character, the undercover officer Suhonen, is a seasoned cop who embodies, both
as a man and as a policeman, the fading line between virtue and honor on the one hand and
ruthlessness and debauchery on the other. Appropriately, his personal life is a mess, no less
defined than the reality he has to deal with on the job as he infiltrates the criminal world. He
doesn’t hesitate to call the shots without consulting his boss or informing his teammates.
Suhonen gets the results, but at what cost. He is brilliant in his quiet, detached, no-nonsense
Finnish way.
Although Mr. Sipila’s characters remain a bit distant, and the novel’s austere tone achieved
through use of short sentences was somewhat off-putting at first, I have to confess that I ended
up finishing the book on one sitting, having to find out who-did-it-and-why, as the morning light
and the awakening birds welcomed me back to a new day in New York City.
DOWNLOAD A ONE PAGE SUMMARY OF THE BOOK HERE
Ice Cold Crime sponsored a
Finnish junior bandy team,
that won third place in a
tournament. Ice Cold
Crime - books with a
passion.
Jarkko Sipila won the "Clue" award for the best Finnish detective
novel in 2009.
The award was given by the Finnish Detective Novel Society and it basis of the ward was as
follows:
Critical analysis of modern Finnish society has always been Jarkko Sipila’s trademark.
Sipila doesn’t underline the issues nor point fingers. Rather, serious public issues are
wound throughout the entirety of his books. A central theme of “Against the Wall” concerns
police conduct in the legal grey area. This is a very current topic, as some Finnish narcotics
officers have been suspected of using illegal methods. Another key theme of the book
concerns the connections that government employees have to organized crime – as
without them, many crimes would not be possible.
Sipilä’s motto could be "less is more". This can be seen both in his use of language as well
as the construction of the novel. Sipilä’s storyline isn’t ornamental. He tells only what is
necessary. Small, seemingly disparate details or events end up being necessary parts of a
very tightly wound book. His use of language is clear and disciplined, expressive,
unembellished prose that avoids all excessive language.
His characters, whether police, or big- or small-time criminals are believable , human
beings that come alive in the book through their happiness and sadness. Sipilä has
compassion for people who live on the edge of society. When his expert description of
police work is added to the whole, the result is an award winning book.
Links in English:
Interview
Links in German:
http://www.rowohlt.de/fm/131/Sipilae_Im_Daemmer_des_Zweifels.pdf
http://www.rowohlt.de/fm/131/Sipilae_Die_weisse_Nacht_des_Todes.pdf
http://www.rowohlt.de/buch/Jarkko_Sipilae_Die_weisse_Nacht_des_Todes.
26052008.610819.html
Background
Jarkko Sipila is a Finnish journalist / author. He has written over 11 crime novels since 1996.
In the signature series, his protagonist is Lieutenant Detective Kari Takamaki. Takamaki is
the chief of the Helsinki Police Violent Crimes Unit. Takamaki, unlike most Finnish fictional
police characters is not a boozing wildcat, but the ultimate professional who directs his
team to track down criminals in an organized fashion. He is also a family man who strives to
spend any extra time with his family, sometimes to no avail.
Sipila's style is direct, realistic, and action packed. He comprehensively describes modern
police work in Finland and discusses, but without lecturing, many issues facing today's
societies, such as racism, immigration, witness protection, and legality / morality of police
activity around the grey areas, etc. Sipila also address the difficulties and stresses of
ordinary police work on the police force and the dedication of Takamaki and his team to
their jobs.
Jarkko Sipila's award winning (Best Finnish Crime Novel 2009) has been translated into
English as Helsinki Homicide: Against the Wall. Also, two of his books are available in
German. Kosketuslaukaus (‘Touch shot’, Gummerus) has been translated as Im Dämmer
des Zweifels: Komissar Takamäki ermittelt, Also, Likainen Kaupunki, ('Dirty City',
Gummerus) has been translated as Die weiße Nacht des Todes. Both are available on
amazon.com. (Amazon.com - Jarkko Sipila )
Sipila also co-wrote a TV series in 2006 called 'Detectives Don't Sing' with his friend Jouni
Molsa. Almost a million Finns watched the series premiere.
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