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Book Summary and Reviews of The Silence of the Sea by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

The Silence of the Sea by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

The Silence of the Sea

A Thora Gudmundsdottir Thriller

by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

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  • Published:
  • Feb 2016, 336 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

From the queen of Icelandic crime fiction comes a truly chilling story that will leave readers breathless right up to the memorable ending. This is possibly her best book yet.

Winner of the Petrona Award 2015

From the queen of Icelandic crime fiction comes a truly chilling story that will leave readers breathless right up to the memorable ending. This is possibly her best book yet. Bestselling and award-winning Icelandic crime author Yrsa Sigurdardóttir has produced here a dazzling display of brilliant crime writing that is both groundbreaking and immensely satisfying.

As Silence of the Sea opens, a luxury yacht crashes into a Reykjavik pier. But the boat is empty; no one is on board. What has happened to the crew? And what has happened to the family who were very much present when the yacht left Lisbon?

What should Thora Gudmundsdottir, the series sleuth, make of the rumors that the vessel was cursed? She is spooked even more when she boards the yacht and thinks she sees one of the missing children. Where is Karitas, the glamorous young wife of the yacht's former owner? And whose is the body that has washed up further along the shore?

The most chilling novel yet from an international best-selling author at the height of her powers.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Series star Thóra takes a backseat to Ægir's account, but fans of Sigurdardóttir's signature style of merging haunting supernatural elements with psychological thrills won't mind; this story's mystery is flawless and its eeriness unshakable." - Booklist

"Starred Review. A tour de force capped by a haunting final scene that will linger in your mind long after the cumbersome explanation of how the trick was worked." - Kirkus

This information about The Silence of the Sea 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.

Reader Reviews

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Bev C

The Silence Of The Sea
"As The Silence of the Sea opens, a luxury yacht crashes into a Reykjavik pier.
But the boat is empty; no one is on board.
What has happened to the crew?
And what has happened to the family who were very much present when the yacht left Lisbon?" ...(publishers note)
This is a thriller not to be missed.
It has elements of eeriness and a haunting flavor throughout.
I was captivated and chilled to the novel's end.
4.5 ?

Diane S.

Silence and the sea
A luxury yacht, repossessed from its crooked wealthy owner sails from Lisbon to Iceland. On the dock waiting is an older couple and small child, they are waiting form the rest of the family. But when the yacht arrives it is empty, no people, no apparent bodies. Thora is hired by the older couple to collect on the large life insurance policy, the money to be put aside for the smallest daughter, the one considered too young to make the trip. What could have happened and where are the seven people who should have been on the yacht? Reminds me of "And then there were none", but of course there is always one but is it human or not of this world?

Very slow paced story, alternately narrated by Thora as she investigates and the story of those that started out on the yacht. Clues abound, discoveries made and eventually the truth is known. Creepy, chilling and not just the weather, and though I was impatient at first with the pace I soon melted into the story and loved it.

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Author Information

Yrsa Sigurdardottir

Yrsa Sigurdardottir (pronounced UR-suh SIG-ur-dar-daughter) lives with her family in Reykjavík. She is a director of one of Iceland's largest engineering firms. She is the bestselling and award-winning Icelandic crime author of the Thóra Gudmundsdóttir series as well as several stand-alone thrillers. In 2011 her stand-alone horror novel I Remember You was awarded the Icelandic Crime Fiction Award and was nominated for The Glass Key award. Her work is climbing bestseller lists all over the world - and has been translated into more than 30 languages - and films are currently in production for several of her books.

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