The Barnes & Noble Review
In Icelandic writer Arnaldur Indridason's follow-up to 2005's critically acclaimed Jar City, melancholic Reykjavik detective Erlendur investigates the remains of a decades-old skeleton found buried at a building site, even as his own personal life slowly unravels…
The story begins with a horrific scene: At a birthday party in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Reykjavik, amid the balloons and streamers, a baby is found gnawing on a human bone. Further investigation leads police to a nearby construction site where a new residential development is being built. As forensic scientists meticulously unearth the skeleton, police inspector Erlendur and his team try to unravel the 60-year-old mystery. Gruesome details surface about an Icelandic family that lived in a nearby chalet during WWII, as Erlendur faces his own tragedy. His estranged drug-addicted daughter, seven months pregnant, desperately reaches out to him for help…
To call Silence of the Grave (which won the British Crime Writers' Association's prestigious Golden Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel of 2005) an emotionally charged novel would be an understatement. Indridason's dark, introspective prose mirrors the cold, bleak setting of Reykjavik, and the intimate exploration of numerous unsavory themes (domestic violence, drug addiction, etc.) will leave readers chilled to the bone. This top-notch psychological thriller is a masterfully plotted historical whodunit and, above all, a powerfully moving commentary concerning the cycles of violence in families. In a word: Unforgettable. Paul Goat Allen
Inspector Erlendur returns in this gripping Icelandic thriller When a skeleton is discovered half-buried in a construction site outside of ReykjavIk, Inspector Erlendur finds himself knee-deep in both a crime scene and an archeological dig. Bone by bone, the body is unearthed, and the brutalizing history of a family who lived near the building site comes to light along with it. Was the skeleton a man or a woman, a victim or a killer, and is this a simple case of murder or a long-concealed act of justice? As Erlendur tries to crack this cold case, he must also save his drug-addicted daughter from self destruction and somehow glue his hopelessly fractured family back together. Like the chilly Nordic mysteries of Henning Mankell and Karen Fossum, Arnaldur Indridason delivers a stark police procedural full of humanity and pathos, a classic noir from a very cold place.
"1101967502"
Silence of the Grave
Inspector Erlendur returns in this gripping Icelandic thriller When a skeleton is discovered half-buried in a construction site outside of ReykjavIk, Inspector Erlendur finds himself knee-deep in both a crime scene and an archeological dig. Bone by bone, the body is unearthed, and the brutalizing history of a family who lived near the building site comes to light along with it. Was the skeleton a man or a woman, a victim or a killer, and is this a simple case of murder or a long-concealed act of justice? As Erlendur tries to crack this cold case, he must also save his drug-addicted daughter from self destruction and somehow glue his hopelessly fractured family back together. Like the chilly Nordic mysteries of Henning Mankell and Karen Fossum, Arnaldur Indridason delivers a stark police procedural full of humanity and pathos, a classic noir from a very cold place.
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Product Details
BN ID: | 2940170936335 |
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Publisher: | Recorded Books, LLC |
Publication date: | 02/21/2014 |
Series: | Inspector Erlendur , #2 |
Edition description: | Unabridged |
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