Ragnar Jonasson

Chilling and complex, Nightblind is an extraordinary thriller from an undeniable new talent. Ari Thor Arason is a local policeman who has an uneasy relationship with the villagers in an idyllically quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland—where no one locks their doors. The peace of this close-knit community is shattered by a murder. One of Ari’s colleagues is gunned down at point-blank range in the dead of night in a deserted house. With a killer on the loose and the dark Arctic waters closing in, it falls to Ari Thor to piece together a puzzle that involves a new mayor and a psychiatric ward in Reykjavik. It becomes all too clear that tragic events from the past are weaving a sinister spell that may threaten them all.

A Thriller

Nightblind

Ragnar Jónasson

THE FIFTH INSTALMENT IN THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING DARK ICELAND SERIES OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD When a police officer is murdered in the dead of night, in the isolated Icelandic town of Siglufjörður, Ari Thór Arason faces a complex investigation that takes him back to the past, and some sinister secrets... ‘A modern take on an Agatha Christie-style mystery’ Ian Rankin ‘Bitingly contemporary in setting and tone’ Sunday Express ‘Seductive ... Ragnar does claustrophobia beautifully’ Ann Cleeves ________________ Siglufjörður: an idyllically quiet fishing village on the northernmost tip of Iceland, accessible only via a small mountain tunnel. Ari Thór Arason: a local policeman, whose tumultuous past and uneasy relationships with the villagers continue to haunt him. The peace of this close-knit community is shattered by the murder of a policeman – shot at point-blank range in the dead of night in a deserted house. With a killer on the loose and the dark arctic winter closing in, it falls to Ari Thór to piece together a puzzle that involves tangled local politics, a compromised new mayor, and a psychiatric ward in Reykjavik, where someone is being held against their will. Then a mysterious young woman moves to the area, on the run from something she dare not reveal, and it becomes all too clear that tragic events from the past are weaving a sinister spell that may threaten them all. Dark, chilling and complex, Nightblind is an extraordinary thriller from an undeniable new talent. ________________ ’Traditional and beautifully finessed’ Independent 'This is an atmospheric portrayal of a claustrophobic place where everyone is connected’ Laura Wilson, Guardian ‘Jónasson plants clues fairly before a devastatingly unexpected reveal, without sublimating characterization to plot’ Publishers Weekly ‘A tiny, segregated town is a superb setting for a crime novel, and Jónasson exploits it well. He builds a layered mystery featuring a series of unhealthy secrets, and past crimes buried deep in the sheltered, almost claustrophobic recesses of family life’ Crime Thriller Journal ‘A must-read addition to the growing canon of Iceland Noir’ Peter James ‘Ragnar has Nordic Noir down pat – a remote small-town mystery that is sure to please crime-fiction aficionados’ Yrsa Sigurðardóttir ‘A challenging investigation that uncovers local secrets and Scandi-noir meets oldfashioned murder mystery in an atmospheric whodunnit’ Daily Express ‘Jónasson’s books have breathed new life into Nordic noir’ Sunday Express ‘What really makes Nightblind stand out is its vivid cast of characters, whose fears, ambitions, rivalries and longings are movingly universal’ Oprah magazine

Colleen

3 Stars
 
Nightblind takes place two or three years after  Snowblind . The English release of this series is based on chronology of events and differs from the original publication order. I find that series written nonchronologically often distort the timeline because they are squeezing books in randomly rather than following a thought-out linear plan. So there is a big gap between the first and second book (English publication order). Some major events have occurred between these two books. But those events are mentioned offhand even though the reader would have no way of knowing about them. Again, I think this was mostly due to the books being written out of order.
 
What most enjoyed about  Snowblind  was the ambiance. It was atmospheric and moody. The writing captured the harsh beauty of living through a Northern winter in a small, remote town. Unfortunately, that atmosphere was noticeably absent in Nightblind. Some of those topics about winter, isolation, and small-town politics are mentioned, but they never came alive.
 
Like the first book, this is a character-driven story. The mystery is straight-forward and not very captivating. It’s certainly not “chilling and complex” as the blurb describes. I would have been ok with the story being character-driven if I had felt invested in the characters. But I didn’t. I found them much more frustrating than in the first book. They really left me feeling unsympathetic. I know morally grey characters are a hallmark of Nordic Noir. But if I don’t sympathize with the characters then I won’t enjoy their angsty struggles. It really didn’t help that most of the morally grey stuff revolved around cheating. The characters simply were not complex enough to support their actions.
 
In between the main story centered on Ari Thór are intermittent journal entries written by an unnamed person. They don’t tie into the main plot until the end and felt like filler at times.
 
The dialogue was extremely choppy. Even worse so than the first book. I couldn’t tell if that was from the translation or if that was how it was written. Either way, it was terrible and inorganic.
 
It is also starting to feel farfetched that there is so much crime in this series. I know, it wouldn’t be much of a mystery series without it. But Iceland has a relatively low crime rate. And the series is set in a small, isolated town. A town so small that it only keeps a police force of two to three people. Yet they seem to have a disproportionate number of murders.
 
Underwhelming – This was an ok book but largely underwhelming. Considering that in the original publication order Nightblind is actually the sixth book, it seems to indicate that the series goes down rather than gets better. I most likely will not continue on with the series. I already have a few middle-of-the-road mystery series that I read intermittently. So as much as I like supporting international authors, I don’t really need to continue with another series that I’m not enthusiastic about.
 

RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 3 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars
Level of Captivation: 3 Stars
Originality: 3 Stars

Rachel Schommer

3.75/5

This is the 2nd in the Dark Iceland Series, and honestly, I enjoyed it just as much as the first. Based on past experience I find the 2nd book in a series is usually a bit of a let-down, but I didn't feel that way about Nightblind. 

Nightblind takes place 5 years after Snow Blind, and we get some answers in regards to Ari Thor's love life, but it is not without drama, trust me. We also see the small town of Siglufjörður rocked to its core as the new head of the police department is left for dead. Clues start surfacing which point to involvement by political big-wigs...

Ragnar wrote this in a similar style to Snow Blind where there is Ari Thor's clear story line, and simultaneously there's a backstory that we slip in to occasionally. I actually hope that the rest of the series follows suit as I'm finding I really enjoy this style; it keeps me guessing about who/what those little snippets are about and it does lend a bit of mystery to the current dealings of Ari Thor.

Ana Pederneira

The peace of a close-knit Icelandic community is shattered by the murder of a policeman - shot at point-blank range in the dead of night in a deserted house. With a killer on the loose and the dark Arctic waters closing in, it falls to Ari Thor to piece together a puzzle that involves tangled local politics, a compromised new mayor and a psychiatric ward in Reykjavik where someone is being held against their will...

Nightblind A Thriller

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