Review: Thomas Enger
Burned — Pierced — Scarred
Aberdeen Central Library, Aberdeen
[Map]
Thomas Enger is a new name in the world of crime fiction, particularly Scandinavian
crime fiction. On 7 September 2012, the Oslo-born author of two published novels
made his debut appearance in Aberdeen in front of a small but select audience at
the Central Library.
Born in Oslo, Thomas Enger spent many years as a journalist while trying to fulfil
his main ambition to become a published author. Like most writers starting out,
his first few attempts to write a novel were poor, in part because he was writing
about subjects he knew nothing about. Once he created the character of Henning Juul
who was a journalist as he had been, things began to change and publishing houses
took an interest. Now his first two novels Burned and Pierced have
been published in the UK and a third novel will follow in 2013.
My first impression of Thomas Enger was that of a friendly guy who was quite happy
to shake hands with his audience and find out who we are. He then went on to talk
about his journey from journalist to crime author during which members of the audience
fielded questions without being prompted to do so by the compere, John Smith. Mr
Enger was accommodating and answered the questions put to him. By the end of the
evening, another member of the audience asked for a reading so Mr Enger picked up
a copy of Burned and read the first few pages which I thought were very atmospheric
and will probably buy a copy of the novel for my Kindle. Once more there were no
complaints from the author although he did comment that he would have to get used
to reading his own words in English.
On the whole I was glad I had come to the event and met this new crime author who
I hadn't previously heard of. I found his journey from that first attempt at writing
a novel to publication fascinating and I feel he kept his audience interested throughout.
I liked the informal feel of the evening and hope not only to hear more from Thomas
Enger in the future but also that he becomes as big a name as Stieg Larsson and
Jo Nesbø are in the world of Scandinavian literature.
If you would like to find out more about Thomas Enger, please visit:
www.thomasenger.net
Review by Michelle Wyllie
Photos by Cal Wallace
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