Newalbanism – for the record

Today’s post marks a transition, a paradigm shift, if you will. Ann and I had always tried to separate our opinions from our service to the patrons of our bookstore and visitors to the store will notice few changes in that regard.

However, beginning today, I will no longer segregate my bookstore touts and reviews from my other journalistic endeavors. Most readers already know I own and operate New Albany’s full-service, independent bookstore. What we’ve come to realize in six years of serving New Albany and surrounding communities is that what makes the bookstore unique is its personality. However you define that, to have a personality, you must have a person or persons in place for whom the store is a mission and a person who can be held to account – positively or negatively.

In short, you’ll see a mix of books posts, civic education posts, and in-your-face opinions on matters of public affairs. Uncensored, for the most part.

NOW, on to the book…

Many, many of you have thrilled to the searing fiction of Stieg Larsson, the Swedish writer who never lived to see his fame and fortune shoot skyward. We’ve tried to offer up other “Scandinavian crime” writers, most notably Henning Mankel and the writing pair of Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, major stars in the land of the Vikings.

In the first half of January, you will be bombarded with news of the American “rush” release of Three Seconds, a novel by Roslund & Hellstrom. Anders Roslund was a major TV reporter in Sweden. Borge Hellstrom has a shadier past, but reformed, he runs a crime prevention agency. For this, their fifth jointly produced novel, the pair was awarded with the “Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year” for 2009 by the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers and by Great Readers.

Final edits for American English translation are complete and a major review is due on Jan. 9 in the Sunday New York Times (presumably the NYTBR, but who knows?). For me, that will make a great birthday present.

Of course, I haven’t yet read the book. I’m a little too small of a fish to be so preferred as to receive an advance reader’s copy and it is being rushed to the stores faster than originally planned. But the reviews are simply amazing.

I’ve just placed a sizable order for Three Seconds and am prepared to offer a deal for anyone who wants to buy it in January. Buy the book and get any other Scandinavian fiction in stock at half-price. And if it’s not in stock, we’ll give you 25% off customer orders. We can usually get anything you want within a day or two and we neither charge you freight nor require you to pay for it in advance, with guaranteed delivery. Three Seconds is $24.95.

And remember, book clubs buying 5 or more copies always get dramatic discounts on new hardcover fiction. Call the store for details.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Booklist: “a brilliant thriller that posits a nearly literal invasion of Sweden by East European criminals allied with former state security agents … Named the Swedish Crime Novel of the Year in 2009, Three Seconds puts Roslund and Hellström in the company of Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson. Crime fiction rarely gets as good as this.”

Publishers Weekly: “(Piet) Hoffmann must go undercover at Aspsås, a maximum security prison, and take control of the methamphetamine sales so the police can dismantle the spread of drugs from the inside out.”

The authors’ website: http://www.roslund-hellstrom.com/