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Black Skies [Hardcover]

Arnaldur Indridason (Author), Victoria Cribb (Translator)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 21 Jun 2012

A man is making a crude leather mask with an iron spike fixed in the middle of the forehead. It is a 'death mask', once used by Icelandic farmers to slaughter calves, and he has revenge in mind.

Meanwhile, a school reunion has left Sigurdur Óli unhappy with life in the police force. While Iceland is enjoying an economic boom, his relationship is on the rocks and soon even his position in the CID is compromised after he agrees to visit a couple of blackmailers as a favour to a friend, and walks in just as a woman is beaten unconscious. When she dies, Sigurdur Óli has a murder investigation on his hands.

Moving from the villas of Reykjavík's banking elite to a sordid basement flat, Black Skies is a superb story of greed, pride and murder from one of Europe's most successful crime writers.

Frequently Bought Together

Black Skies + Outrage + Hypothermia (Reykjavik Murder Mysteries 6)
Price For All Three: £19.16

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Harvill Secker (21 Jun 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1846555817
  • ISBN-13: 978-1846555817
  • Product Dimensions: 16.2 x 3.1 x 24 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 109,462 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

Blackmail and murder stalk Indridason's latest dispatch from the icy volcanic nation (Henry Sutton Mirror )

An international literary phenomenon - and it's easy to see why. His novels are gripping, authentic, haunting and lyrical (HARLAN COBEN )

The plot is a satisfying and topical one... Brilliant stuff (Maxine Clark Eurocrime )

A perfect horror story (Julia Handford Sunday Telegraph )

In a stormily atmospheric mystery, grotesque crimes coincide with foreshadowings of doom (Independent, i )

Book Description

From high life to low life, bankers to blackmailers: the international phenomenon Arnaldur Indridason returns with a thrillingly contemporary new mystery.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Black Skies --Arnaldur Indridason 26 Jun 2012
By Simon Clarke TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Indridason's latest crime novel focuses on the detective Sigurdur Oli,
his boss,Erlendur,having taken leave in his native rural Iceland.
Sigurdur is helping a friend of a friend who is being blackmailed,
when he walks in on the woman he wants to speak to,finding her beaten
unconscious with a baseball bat.Although this compromises his position
as a detective,he continues investigating,largely on his own.This leads
to him uncovering some shady financial transactions.

Whilst this is primarily an excellent crime novel,with many a twist and
turn,it is also a social commentary on the greed and moral torpitude in
Iceland in the boom time,just prior to its collapse.Additionally,it
skillfully shows the main character,Sigurdur Oli,growing as a human
being as he re-assesses his broken marriage,his parents,and many of his
preconceived views.
A highly readable novel of considerable breadth.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Takes a while to get going, but rounds out into a satisfactory police procedural 11 July 2012
By Rob Kitchin
Format:Hardcover
Having read all seven, translated police procedural novels by Arnaldur Indridason featuring Erlandur and his team, I was looking forward to reading Black Skies. It was, however, a book I struggled to get into and I might have put it to one side to pick up again later except for the fact that it was the only reading material I had on a flight. The first hundred pages or so seemed ponderous and lifeless, the writing, especially the dialogue, flat. Sigurdur Oli is out of sorts and so is the tale. Indridason's writing is always a little ponderous, building up in layers, gently engulfing the reader in an atmospheric fog, but it didn't quite work in the first half of Black Skies. However, by the second half of the book the story took on more shape, purpose and pace, with the various strands being woven together to create a nice tapestry. It was almost if Indridason started off without really knowing Sigurdur or the plot and developed each as the story unfolded, slowly putting a form on each. The tale itself, with its three interconnected storylines - the murder investigation, Sigurdur's private life, and Andreas' disassembly - eventually work themselves out nicely. Moreover, given that the story is set just prior to the Icelandic financial meltdown it provides a nice insight into the national psyche concerning its new found wealth and its trappings. Overall, a book that takes a while to get going, but rounds out into a satisfactory police procedural.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Unexpected 13 Sep 2012
By Ted Feit
Format:Hardcover
With Erlendur traveling and incommunicado and Elinborg away from the Reykjavik police station, only Sigurdur Oli is left of the team to conduct police business. However, first he's asked by his good friend Patrekur to do him a favor. It seems that his sister-in-law and her husband got involved in wife-swapping, and now are being threatened with exposure if they don't pay blackmail money. Sigurdur Oli is asked to have a word with the female blackmailer, retrieve the pictures and get her off the couple's back.

When Sigurdur Oli goes to the blackmailer's home, he finds the door unlocked. When he enters he discovers her body on the floor and determines that she's been killed by a blow to the head. And then he's hit with a baseball bat, and the perpetrator runs out of the house. The policeman chases but loses his quarry. Thus begins a long and complicated plot which ultimately also involves a banking scandal and another murder.

The novel is pretty much a straightforward police procedural, and an intense look at Sigurdur Oli's personal life. It is a departure from other of the author's efforts, and certainly not as intense as "Jar City" or "Hypothermia." This reader can't tell whether it is the translation or the original prose which is different from the haunting style of the author's previous works. In any event, it should be read, and is recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars enjoyable but...
...I far preferred the other books. Sigurdi Oli is not as good a protagonist as Erlendur and the book meanders a bit because of this. Still enjoyable though.
Published 4 days ago by David Douglas
5.0 out of 5 stars More from Iceland
This is the latest book from Arnaldur that I have enjoyed. The plot rattles along nicely. As with other books from this author it takes a bit of getting used to Icelandic names,... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jude 50+
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent story
Good pace, twists and turns in the plot, well up to the standard of his other books. look forward to more
Published 1 month ago by Mrs M-C R Scherman
5.0 out of 5 stars Black Skies
Can't give this writer enough praise. Characters are real warts and all. Plots are sound and well thought out. Would like to read more of this teams adventures.
Published 1 month ago by john hughes
5.0 out of 5 stars "Have you done your homework?"
If you have not read the previous books in Arnaldur Indridason's "Reykjavik Murder" series (Jar City (Reykjavik Murder Mysteries 1), Silence Of The Grave (Reykjavik Murder... Read more
Published 1 month ago by doc peterson
5.0 out of 5 stars Missing Erlendur :-(
Love being back in Iceland but missing Erlendur's dark view on life although his side kick is so self centred he's almost as entertaining
Published 2 months ago by Gillian MacLeod
4.0 out of 5 stars Icelandic noir
Another first classs tale by this author. I have now read all the 'Rekjavik' novels released by Indridason and enjoyed everyone one. Its a pity he cannot write a little faster!!
Published 2 months ago by Jake
4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not the best
Enjoyed it but not as much as previous ones in the series. I missed Erlendur i nthe last couple of books.
Published 2 months ago by Peter Taylor
5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful
gripping storyline, I waited a while to buy this and read it within a couple of days as I couldn't wait to read the ending.
Published 3 months ago by Claire Martin
3.0 out of 5 stars Where is Erlendur?
At one point, Arnaldur Indridason is at pains to establish that his original main character has only been on leave for two weeks. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Peter@Proms
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