Are you looking for something new? Something with an unusual twist? Something creepy and a touch mystical? If so, our crime fiction compatriot, Dr Jacky Collins, has found it. Whitesands by Icelandic author Johann Thorsson has all of those things and more.
But before you groan and say, “Not Iceland again,” watch the latest interview in our ‘The Doctor will see you now’ series. Not only will you get to meet Johann Thorsson, but you’ll discover that his debut novel isn’t set in Iceland and doesn’t bear much comparison to typical Nordic noir. This is an author with half an eye on the horror scene, and his book has been compared to The Silence of the Lambs and True Detective.
Why Silence of the Lambs? Well, while the main character is a police detective called John Dark, the person he turns to for help in what appears to be a ritual killing, is a schizophrenic man named Daniel whose ghostly visions might help with the case. Parallels there with Hannibal Lector. And the True Detective reference relates to the ghosts – real or not – that are communicating with Daniel.
In his chat with Jacky, Johann goes back 20 years to the beginning of his urge to write a novel and the book that originally inspired him – Skull Session by Daniel Hecht. It’s been a long journey to getting published and Johann has written short stories, stealing time here and there in between work and family, developing Whitesands, which he finished at a writing residency in Exeter.
Anyway, see what you think, and if you like what you hear grab a copy of Whitesands using the link below.