Title: Blackout (Dark Iceland #3)
Expected publication: 28 August 2018
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟1/2
Book Description:
On the shores of a tranquil fjord in Northern Iceland, a man
is brutally beaten to death on a bright summer's night. As the 24-hour light of
the arctic summer is transformed into darkness by an ash cloud from a recent
volcanic eruption, a young reporter leaves Reykajvik to investigate on her own,
unaware that an innocent person's life hangs in the balance. Ari Thór Arason
and his colleagues on the tiny police force in Siglufjörður struggle with an
increasingly perplexing case, while their own serious personal problems push
them to the limit. What secrets does the dead man harbour, and what is the
young reporter hiding? As silent, unspoken horrors from the past threaten them
all, and the darkness deepens, it's a race against time to find the killer
before someone else dies ...
My musings:
I love the bleakness and stark setting of Nordic noir and
have become a great fan of the Dark Iceland series for exactly those reasons,
as well as a fondness for detective Ari Thor Arason, who finds himself marooned
in the small fishing village of Siglufjörður in the remote North of the country
for his first police placement.
Whilst the first book in the series saw the village engulfed
in winter and virtually cut off from its surroundings, we now get to see it in
summer, and the 24-hour daylight that can be as strange as the winter darkness.
The rest of Iceland is engulfed in smoke and ash from two volcanic eruptions,
which adds the somewhat foreboding atmosphere that is so characteristic of
Jonasson’s writing. Ari Thor takes a bit of a backward step in Blackout, as we
are introduced to young journalist Isrun, who is investigating the same crime
as Ari Thor – the brutal murder of a man in the neighbouring town of
Skagafjörður. Ari Thor’s superior Tomas and his colleague Hylnur also make a
repeat appearance, as does Kristin, his ex-girlfriend, who has met a new man
after her split with Ari Thor.
I really liked Isrun and enjoyed the different angle her
investigation added to the case. Like every other character in the book, Isrun
comes with a troubled past that added extra depth to the story. But as usual,
it is the setting that adds the richest character of all, shaping people’s
thoughts and actions and drawing the reader deeply into this wild and remote
place. Perhaps it is the armchair travel that has me so utterly addicted to the
series, but I emerged from the pages slightly dazed as if I had awoken in a
different world completely alien to my own. Such is Jonasson’s skill that the
atmosphere perpetrates deeply into the reader’s psyche, until it almost seems
like reality.
I will not go into the plot of this whodunit, other than to
say that it is a classical police procedural with the added angle from Isrun’s
rogue investigation, and all the strings tie together very satisfactorily in
the end. I thoroughly enjoyed this latest instalment in the Dark Iceland series
and have already purchased Nightblind, which is the 2nd book in the
series but chronologically takes place a few years after this one – and I look
forward to see what life is holding for Ari Thor five years on!
Summary:
In summary, if you like Nordic noir and haven’t discovered
this series yet, I urge you to do so! Jonasson’s writing is atmospheric and
will transport you to a wild and remote place, where murder has that extra chill
factor that characterises the genre.
Thank
you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the free electronic copy of this novel and
for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.
I thought it didn't live up to the hype. Competent but not great. Also, despite speaking German and understanding the word origins I found the Norwegian names lost me in too much need to remember them through the story.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment and stopping by my blog. I listened to this book on audio, and the narrator did a fantastic job with the names, which made it much easier for me.
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