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kamel_eon's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
nekreader's review against another edition
3.0
I liked it, not because it’s a great crime novel, but for the insights into Iceland. It’s a decent crime novel with an interesting detective character but Iceland itself seems front and center in this book.
littletaiko's review against another edition
4.0
Another peak into the early career of Ernaldur who once again is working a current case along with a cold case involving someone who suddenly disappeared.
amn028's review against another edition
4.0
I am a huge fan of the Erlendur books. The character seems very real and the mysteries are enticing. One of the great things about these books is the author doesn't feel the need to have the Big Bad personality attempting to foil the protagonist's every move. It's lovely to enjoy the Marion character in his prime and just starting to guide the young Erlendur. I always promise myself I'm going to slow down and make the book last, but then can't help but read just one more chapter
liberrydude's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the plot but cringed at the interactions with the Americans-pretty stereotypical. Author and translator need to to do their homework. Instead of calling the entire base "the army" they should have said military. We have enlisted personnel calling other enlisted personnel "sir." That doesn't happen. This back in 1979 so the services were more parochial without "joint-ness." Wouldn't have been dealing with so many different service types: Navy, Marines, Air Force. About the only ones not here are the US Army but everyone is called army. Also the Marines were all privates. Don't think so. Marines were screened for this duty and could still get in trouble but they wouldn't be privates. Barracks is for single servicemen, quarters or housing is for married. Plus there are all the British idiom as this is translated primarily for UK readers. Nevertheless, I love this series.
saltycorpse's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent prequel to the Erlender novels, and Erlender's mentor, Marion Briem, features heavily in this.
Marion has never been identified by any gendered pronouns, or any pronouns at all, really. But from this novel I gather that Marion at least presents as male (since Marion's often questioning people and is a police officer in the 70's with the respect of his department, and it's mentioned there are very few women in policing in Iceland yet, and nobody really acts 'put off' by Marion or reacts as if there's anything unusual about them), but within the novel it's intimated he has propositioned a male pathologist for a potential relationship, and had a serious relationship with a woman in the past.
I actually really like how Marion is so ambiguous, and I honestly hope their personal identity in terms of gender or sexuality is ever fully explained. It makes the character far more interesting this way. I'd actually like Indridason to write some novels about Marion's life and career as a detective, sans Erlender, because what we DO know about Marion is that Marion is extremely well-educated (self-educated, it seems), a voracious reader, highly intelligent, an excellent detective, and has presumably led a really interesting life from the hints that are dropped throughout this novel.
Hopefully this is a lead-in to novels exploring Marion Briem in more depth. Maybe Marion is the hero we need.
Marion has never been identified by any gendered pronouns, or any pronouns at all, really. But from this novel I gather that Marion at least presents as male (since Marion's often questioning people and is a police officer in the 70's with the respect of his department, and it's mentioned there are very few women in policing in Iceland yet, and nobody really acts 'put off' by Marion or reacts as if there's anything unusual about them), but within the novel it's intimated he has propositioned a male pathologist for a potential relationship, and had a serious relationship with a woman in the past.
I actually really like how Marion is so ambiguous, and I honestly hope their personal identity in terms of gender or sexuality is ever fully explained. It makes the character far more interesting this way. I'd actually like Indridason to write some novels about Marion's life and career as a detective, sans Erlender, because what we DO know about Marion is that Marion is extremely well-educated (self-educated, it seems), a voracious reader, highly intelligent, an excellent detective, and has presumably led a really interesting life from the hints that are dropped throughout this novel.
Hopefully this is a lead-in to novels exploring Marion Briem in more depth. Maybe Marion is the hero we need.
jmatkinson1's review against another edition
5.0
A body is found in a shallow lake in the middle of a lava field, the man has dies from injuries consistent with a fall from a great height. Sent to investigate Detectives Erlendur and Marion quickly discover that the man was a civilian worker at the US base in Keflavik. Joining forces with a determined female US Army policewoman they uncover a tangled case of smuggling, cannabis trades and infidelities but they also may have stumbled on something a little more significant involving the placing of nuclear arms on Icelandic soil. Meanwhile Erlendur is also trying to solve a twenty-five year old mystery - what happened to a young schoolgirl who just disappeared one morning.
This is a very carefully constructed book set in the 1970s. The two cases are not linked at all but each is engrossing and beautifully plotted. The layers of prejudice in the murder story are clever - black and white, US and Icelandic. The fact that the resolution of the closed case is so startlingly obvious is its strength, it's not who did it, it's proving that fact.
This is a very carefully constructed book set in the 1970s. The two cases are not linked at all but each is engrossing and beautifully plotted. The layers of prejudice in the murder story are clever - black and white, US and Icelandic. The fact that the resolution of the closed case is so startlingly obvious is its strength, it's not who did it, it's proving that fact.
frooblie's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this mystery quite a lot, and look forward to reading more from this author.
The only complaints have nothing to do with the actual book: first, my edition calls it a "thriller," and that is certainly not the energy level of this book. Two, occasionally, there are spurts of those nervous tics of sentence fragments that I associate with JD Robb and Nevada Barr. I despise poor punctuation masquerading as a sort of style! I'll assume it's the translator's fault, though. Also, while I understand this is an American edition, why don't the publishers spell the author's name correctly? How hard is it to type ð?
The only complaints have nothing to do with the actual book: first, my edition calls it a "thriller," and that is certainly not the energy level of this book. Two, occasionally, there are spurts of those nervous tics of sentence fragments that I associate with JD Robb and Nevada Barr. I despise poor punctuation masquerading as a sort of style! I'll assume it's the translator's fault, though. Also, while I understand this is an American edition, why don't the publishers spell the author's name correctly? How hard is it to type ð?