Reykjavík

Praise for Ragnar Jónasson

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Jónasson is a connoisseur of 'unrelenting darkness'; the atmosphere of paranoid claustrophobia [Jónasson] creates is so intense you can't help gripping the book as tightly as possible

The Times

A superb page-turner . . . breathes fresh and unsettling life into the classic locked room mystery

Kevin Wignall

Stunningly original . . . Tense. Very tense.

Michael Ridpath

Jónasson's twisting, elegantly crafted story will keep you hooked till the very last page

William Ryan

Ragnar Jónasson is so skilled in depicting the environment where the story takes place, it becomes one of the characters. It is so atmospheric, I am immediately transported to the Icelandic moors, feeling the cold all the way to the bones. I read with bated breath, my heart pounding with the looming knowledge that soon something bad is about to happen

Sara Blædel

Jonasson offers an intense standalone, taking to new heights his unrivalled skill for using winter as an unpredictable plot-twister . . . There is so much to like here: the complexity of the quartet's relationships, Jonasson's powerful, streamlined writing, and the parallels between an unforgiving setting and the characters' seething grudges. Readers will be drawn into Jonasson's forbidding Iceland landscape, where it's anyone's guess who will make it out alive

Booklist

Entertaining, suspenseful and twisty. Overall, highly recommended for fans of Ragnar Jonasson and suspense thrillers in general

Mystery Tribune

Chilling thriller by the king of Icelandic noir . . . so gripping I can't put it down

Fiona Cummings

A shivery delight

Kirkus Reviews

Jónasson's spare prose and brisk pacing make for an immersive read . . . Outside is an intriguing study of isolation, claustrophobia and the particular menace to be found in beautiful yet unforgiving terrain

Private Eye

Jonasson is a master at two aspects of Icelandic noir: one is the description of his country's withering weather; the other is the handling of murderous plots that are tangled beyond all expectations. He's in top form in both specialties this time out

Toronto Star

Jónasson is an automatic must-read for me . . . possibly the best Scandi writer working today

Lee Child

Triumphant . . . Chilling, creepy, perceptive, almost unbearably tense

Ian Rankin

Dark, chilling and utterly gripping

Shari Lapena

Such a tense, gripping read

Anthony Horowitz

A world-class crime writer. One of the most astonishing plots of modern crime fiction.

The Sunday Times

A master of the Icelandic thriller.

New York Post

A crime novel with a difference

Guardian

I read all 349 pages in one go and enjoyed every second . . . A gripping story . . . extremely well written . . . superbly plotted . . . The twist at the halfway point of the book hits the reader like a wave of the ice cold Atlantic Ocean. One reader at my home was almost in shock. It is an art to create such a deep connection with fictional characters. Even though the story is first and foremost entertaining, it also serves as the mirror of a nation and has many layers

Fréttablaðið Newspaper

Brilliant. Very exciting, great fun, good characterization, and the atmosphere of the 80s is described in an enjoyable way. One of the best crime novels I've read in a long time

Gisli Marteinn Baldursson

A beautifully constructed mystery by two super smart partners in crime

ANTHONY HOROWITZ

Nordic noir at its most authoritative.

Financial Times

A slow-burning, spellbinding whodunit. Agatha Christie, to whom it's dedicated, would be proud

Kirkus

A compelling voice in crime fiction

Clare Mackintosh

Mysterious, tense and deeply atmospheric

Heat

A classic crime novel, its noir at its finest

The Sunday Times

Loved it!

Ann Cleeves

Seamlessly plotted, with terrific characters and plenty of surprising, earned twists. Jonasson and Jakobsdottir, demonstrate with understated brilliance how the truth rises to the surface, no matter how ugly it is or how powerful the players are.

The New York Times

A classic. As tense as anything Jonasson has previously written

Sunday Times

Very good, there's a twist in the middle that will startle you

Boston Globe

Flawless. The authors play with conventions, such as unprotected females investigating dark places quite safely. Or an abrupt change in protagonists at mid-point, accomplished effortlessly.

Sydney Morning Herald