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An Icelandic Thriller, Inspector Erlendur Series
Into Oblivion, the follow-up to the gritty prequel Reykjavik Nights, gives devoted fans another glimpse of Erlendur in his early days as a young, budding detective.
A woman swims in a remote, milky-blue lagoon. Steam rises from the water and as it clears, a body is revealed in the ghostly light. Miles away, a vast aircraft hangar rises behind the perimeter fence of the US military base. A sickening thud is heard as a man's body falls from a high platform.
Many years before, a schoolgirl went missing. The world has forgotten her. But Erlendur has not. Erlendur is a newly promoted detective with a battered body, a rouge CIA operative, and America's troublesome presence in Iceland to contend with. In his spare time he investigates a cold case. He is only starting out, but he is already up to his neck.
The writer whose work The New York Times describes as "having the sweep and consequence of epic storytelling," has outdone himself in this multi-layered and masterful suspense story.
"Starred Review. Marion, who finds Erlendur's stubbornness endearing, also suffers the bitterest pangs of loss in this accomplished analysis of the painful price that people of honor pay in a world swiftly losing its humanity." - Publishers Weekly
"Indridason's quiet authority and moody prose are beautifully at play in Erlendur's 11th case ... another pitch-perfect procedural from a master." - Kirkus
"Indridason is a master at weaving big-picture commentary into taut, realistic police procedurals, and he scores another victory with this examination of the Cold War's impact in Iceland." - Booklist
This information about Into Oblivion was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Arnaldur Indridason is an Icelandic writer of crime fiction; most of his books feature the protagonist Detective Erlendur. He worked for many years as a journalist and critic before he began writing novels. Outside Iceland, he is best known for his crime novels featuring Erlendur and Sigurdur Óli, which are consistent bestsellers across Europe.
Arnaldur received the Glass Key award, a literature prize for the best Nordic crime novel, in 2002 and 2003. He won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award in 2005 for his novel Silence of the Grave. He won the world's most lucrative crime fiction award, the RBA International Prize for Crime Writing worth €125,000, in 2013 for Shadow Alley (Skuggasund).
Inspector Erlundur Series to Date
1. Jar City (2004, aka Tainted Blood)
2...
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