New book on betrayal: Sohlberg and the Gift ... (in the shadow of Anders Behring Breivik)

My new book Sohlberg and the Gift on Amazon is all about betrayal.

If you've been betrayed by loved ones, friends, co-workers, your government, politicians, or others, then you know what dirty deeds go on before, during, and after the backstabbing. Also, the book does not shy away from exposing the underside of Norwegian society:

• how judges, prosecutors, and defense lawyers blatantly manipulate insanity defenses in criminal cases (shades of Anders Behring Breivik who killed 77 in his 2011 anti-immigrant terror spree);

• rampant crime in Oslo; and,

• the failed social experiment of multi-culturalism, which brought radical Islam to Norway.

It's a sad truth but mainstream Norwegian newspapers (such as Dagbladet and Aftenposten) have finally reported that Norway's capital---Oslo---has a 400% greater crime rate than New York City and that the primary culprits are the immigrants which Norway's governments brought in to promote the social experiment of multi-culturalism. See, e.g. the Dagbladet newspaper article at tinyurl.com/OSLOcrime.

New publishing partner brings new and far better translation of Sohlberg and the Missing Schoolboy

Sohlberg and the Missing Schoolboy is the 2012 release of a vibrant new translation of Death on Pilot Hill along with added material I wrote to update the book.

My publisher is now working with Vik Crime/Blue Salamander/White Salmon, its new partner in the U.S.A.

Vik Crime/Blue Salamander has an excellent translation and editorial staff that worked hard on "Death on Pilot Hill". The improved book has now been released as "Sohlberg and the Missing Schoolboy".

The new translations are excellent and include material I added to update the book.

New release of Sohlberg and the Missing Schoolboy

Sohlberg and the Missing Schoolboy has just been released on Amazon

THANK YOU to all my readers for keeping the book in the Top 50 best selling police procedurals on Amazon!

Rules of translation

Rule # 1 about translation of a novel: don't assume that big publishing houses have the best or most perfect translations.

This rule came to mind when I spent the weekend reading THE SNOWMAN by my contemporary Jo Nesbø.

The translation refers to cell phones as "mobile phones". While that is a proper translation in England and Europe, it's not part of the general public's lexicon in the U.S. market.

There's also a section in Chapter 6 about Harry Hole running or jogging near the Ekeberg restaurant. The translation by Random House states that the restaurant has aged into a "peeling shack".

At first I thought it was a strip bar. Then I thought the phrase made reference to some sort of hunting or fishing shack. Finally I wondered if it was an oblique reference to a "love shack" where lovers stripped to consummate their passions. A friend later told me that "peeling shack" just refers to the peeling paint or a building's heavily weathered exterior.

Don't get me wrong. Don Bartlett does 100% superb translations. But he is British and not from the bigger U.S. market. Random House should at least pay for him to spend several months living in 5 or 6 major American cities (NY, LA, Houston, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta) to get a feeling for general American word usage.

Elements of Style: rules of good grammar and better writing

Several readers have asked me why there are no commas in my books. Some even thought that the translators made a mistake. Ditto for my use of ellipses (...) in dialogue.

Commas are superfluous. They’re a waste. I never use them. Neither does the great literary genius of Pulitzer Prize winner Cormac McCarthy. He's written masterpieces that include: Border Trilogy; Blood Meridian; No Country For Old Men; The Road.

Ellipses reflect how people really talk. The great detective and psychological novelist Georges Simenon always used ellipses for character dialogue. People don’t usually talk in perfect sentences. For example: "That’s why I use ellipses . . . in character dialogue. Natural and realistic speech means that people pause . . . they think . . . they lie . . . they get distracted . . . they take a breath . . . they drink or smoke or stare or look away."

Why the Kyron Horman investigation failed

My publisher finally got my website [www.deadlybooks.com] up & running.

SOHLBERG AND THE MISSING SCHOOLBOY describes the how and why of a child's kidnapping and murder. The book was inspired by the stunning Kyron Horman case.

The book also shows exactly why the Kyron Horman investigation failed.

The failure began with incompetent interviewing/interrogation techniques of the sheriff’s deputies (Det. Keith Krafve) AND with Sheriff Staton’s unethical and illegal obsession of using Kyron Horman’s disappearance to ask for taxpayer funds.

Few people know that the investigation was botched by Deputy Sheriff and homicide Detective Keith Krafve. His track record includes getting fooled into arresting and convicting an innocent man by the felon and known drug dealer who had murdered TWO people. See, Willamette Week "Swimming with Sharks" (17 December 2003) for details on his incompetence and how the Multnomah County DA office won't prosecute cases he's involved in.

Kyron Horman vanishes

Here's a Google map and picture of the elementary school where Kyron Horman vanished in broad daylight