Siglufjorour: an idyllically quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland, where no one locks their doors–accessible only via a small mountain tunnel. Ari Thor Arason: a rookie policeman on his first posting, far from his girlfriend in Reykjavik–with a past that he s unable to leave behind. When a young woman is found lying half-naked in the snow, bleeding and unconscious, and a highly esteemed, … and a highly esteemed, elderly writer falls to his death in the local theater, Ari is dragged straight into the heart of a community where he can trust no one, and secrets and lies are a way of life.
Past plays tag with the present and the claustrophobic tension mounts, while Ari is thrust ever deeper into his own darkness–blinded by snow, and with a killer on the loose.
Taut and terrifying, Snowblind is a startling debut from an extraordinary new talent.
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This was a terrific police-procedural/closed-door mystery. The first third of the book really rips along with Ari Thor’s move to a tiny town in northern Iceland, his troubles with his girlfriend, and a death no one wants to believe might be murder.
I’d have probably given this five stars, but after that tightly-paced beginning, you’re hit with a bunch of back story that feels a little out of place. It does tie to the story, but I felt it could have been worked in more smoothly.
Still, the pace picks right back up, the stakes get higher, and the mystery wraps up wonderfully with enough of a cliffhanger regarding Ari Thor’s personal life to make you eager for the next book.
What I enjoyed: I am a total sucker for Nordic settings and this book, set in the far-north of Iceland, definitely has that down. While it took awhile for the book to get going, the characters were relatable and even when making difficult decisions, likeable, so it wasn’t difficult to stick with the story. It is a good, quick read that isn’t terribly dark or frightening (good for those mystery-thriller readers who actually like to sleep at night).
Starts off the series with a bang. All that snow, cold and desolation… great mood setting for a thriller
I selected this book because a thriller set in a remote snowy Icelandic village sounds like my kind of book – with a cup of hot cocoa. A rookie law enforcement officer accepts a position in northern Iceland, on the opposite side of the country from his girlfriend, putting a strain on their relationship. The story was ok but rather typical – a brutal attack of a young woman, the death of a renowned author, and the determination of the young officer to get to the truth of the crimes. My favorite part was the town, surrounded by mountains and encased in its wintery setting. A town snowed in for the winter.
It took me a while to get completely engaged with this book. I thought at times the translation was a bit wooden, and there was some reliance on cliched phrases that seemed lazy and probably didn’t do justice to the original language, but I did connect immediately with the main character, Ari Thor Arason, the young and handsome newly minted police officer. To begin with, it’s a great name, and I liked that nobody ever shortened it to ‘Ari’. Even his girlfriend called him Ari Thor. It somehow made him seem more intriguing.
The setting was also magnificent. The author captured the isolation of a tiny northern town living through its annual season of permanent twilight and massive snowstorms. I had always associated claustrophobia with very tight, enclosed places like elevators and tunnels, but the description of Ari Thor’s recurring feelings of panic at being trapped in the open air, of being suffocated by the mountains, the everlasting snow and the knowledge that he couldn’t leave if he tried, was brilliant. It gave the story a different sort of tension and suspense while the rest of the plot was slowly developing.
I was thinking it was a 3-star book for about the first 140 pages, but then the pace quickened and I got nicely drawn in to the various developments. There were definitely a few that I didn’t see coming, so in the end Igave it 4 stars.
This is the second book by an Icelandic author I’ve read in the past month (the first was The Shadow District, by Arnaldaur Indridason) and although the stories, local setting and time periods are different, what I found common to both was the focus on the interior lives of the characters – their worries and self-doubts and general angst – which I found quite appealing. I can see myself reading more by this author, but I despair at how often I’ve said that about another newly discovered author. So many books and so little time!
I read this book for a book club (not my choice), but I did enjoy it! The weather/geography is so present in this book that it almost becomes like a character in itself. It definitely helps in establishing the dark, chilling, almost claustrophobic feeling throughout the story. Good plot, good character development and some surprises along the way. Wasn’t totally satisfied with the wrap-up in the end, but as it’s the first of a series, I’m looking forward to reading the rest!