February 25, 2019
Set in 2011, Sigurdardóttir’s edgy sequel to 2018’s Snare follows three Icelandic women in perilous post–financial crash escapades. Sonja, who was broke and driven to smuggling drugs in Snare, tries to extricate herself and her young son, Tómas, from her slave driver/dealer ex-husband, Adam. Sonja’s estranged female lover Agla, who’s facing a prison sentence for market manipulation, dreams up an enormous money-laundering scheme and hopes to win Sonja back. Maria, who’s investigating financial chicanery at the acting special prosecutor’s clandestine request, gradually gets the goods on Agla, but she must contend with the corrupt Icelandic legal system. Meanwhile, customs official Bragi, who’s close to retirement, covers up for Sonja in return for cash that allows him to keep his beloved, Alzheimer’s-stricken wife at home. As the tension rises, the crimes become too bizarre to be credible. Still, fans of Nordic noir will find plenty to like.
Starred review from April 15, 2019
The first installment of the Reykjav�k Noir Trilogy (Snare, 2018) closed with Sonja, a single mother forced into drug trafficking, escaping Iceland with her son, T�mas. Two months later, her ex-husband, Adam, a drug-running banker, has dragged them back to Reykjav�k. Adam magnanimously gives Sonja the choice to continue muling cocaine for his arm of the cartel, or walk away from T�mas forever. It's not a choice, so Sonja gets in touch with Bragi, her contact in Customs and prepares for the next shipment. Sonja is a survivor, and it's a given that she'll plot another escape, this time fully aware that she'll have to pit Adam against a stronger foe. But as she executes her plan to sabotage Adam, the murder of their cartel boss places her in a far deadlier trap. At the same time, Agla, Sonja's lover, initiates a risky shell game to repay a gangland debt incurred by her crew of criminal banking executives. Sigur�ard�ttir's unflinching portrayal of Iceland's burgeoning underworld and the streamlined, raw intensity of her prose distinguishes her from fellow Icelanders who have become popular in the American crime-fiction world (Yrsa Sigurdard�ttir, Ragnar J�nasson, and Arnaldur Indridason). Here, Sonja's gifted scheming and determination to reunite with T�mas are even more compelling; this is prime binge-reading.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)