Snowblind

By: Ragnar Jónasson, Quentin Bates - translator

Narrated by: Will Damron

Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Siglufjördur: an idyllically quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland where no one locks their doors - accessible only via a small mountain tunnel.

Ari Thór Arason: a rookie policeman on his first posting, far from his girlfriend in Reykjavík - 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, 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 as 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.

©2017 Ragnar Jonasson (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

interesting story line, complex

complex, interesting story. a little hard to get into but worth the effort. best part is that it familiarized me with Icelandic winter

Icelandic mystery

Thoroughly enjoyed my first visit to Iceland and the characters in this book. No loose ends in resolving the mysteries but teasers about the good guys making me eager to read the next in the series

A good mystery in a unique environment

A good mystery in the unique environment of Northern Iceland.

Having just visited Iceland (though not this area), we felt a special tie-in. The author's descriptions really helped me to 'feel' the place.

It was an intriguing mystery/police drama, with a fair number of twists and interesting characters.

I will eventually read others in the series, but am not in a rush to do so.

The ending of the main mystery was good, but the resolution of other threads wasn't very satisfying

Iceland setting is best part

We listened to this on a road trip around Iceland, including very near Siglurfjourdur, where this is set. That was really neat. The story itself keeps you listening, lots of characters, I'd say a 4 star story.

Snowblind

Deeply atmospheric right from the start. I think the performer was perfect for this book which kept me engaged all the way. I’m off to read the next in the series right now!

Okay, not great.

Difficult at times to follow the story. Didn't feel that all the loose ends were tied up by the end of the book.

How do I trade this one in?

I'm sorry, I was just put off by the narrator. Is there some way I can trade this in? I have already started and finished the book by the same author and enjoyed it very much.

Ups and Downs

There's real potential here for this new writer from Iceland. I very much enjoyed the atmosphere - the listener can almost feel the cold and the claustrophobic nature of snow piling up, the darkness, the isolation described.

But, even considering that the city described was once known for its fish production, there are way too many obvious red herrings here. The mystery has ups and downs, and the conclusion is less than riveting and a little bit rushed.

Don't know how much of the occasional awkwardness of language is due to translation, but I hope additional works by this author (and I do hope there will be more) will flow more smoothly.

The narrator is quite good - I love his ease with the Icelandic place and people's names.

I want to leave five stars to encourage

I want to leave five stars to encourage more translations from Northern European countries because the US is very insular when it comes to other European literature. It was OK enough that I finished but there is nothing exciting like Agatha Christie's stories or profound and beautiful like Ice Castle. It was really mediocre and I am baffled why this was a bestseller.

Slow for most of the book, then rushes to an end.

I found this book to be slow and not particularly engaging, and the characters not that likeable. I did have trouble keeping the characters straight due to the unfamiliar Icelandic names (especially since I was listening and not seeing the names). The characters and their backgrounds were described but not in a way that drew me to them or had me rooting for any of them. It jumped between characters and present/past happenings which I don't generally like. After long, drawn out descriptions of everyone, the author rushes to a conclusion with what seems like great leaps of understanding and insight by the main character (policeman), without explaining his logic so that the conclusion seems logical or showing his great investigative or deductive powers. In fact, both police characters do and say stupid things that make me question their judgment. I doubt I'd listen to another book by this author as there are so many other good options available.