One of the many reasons I love reading crime novels is because of their connection with real stories and real people. Crime novels cannot be fantasy or creative, they need a logical red line and characters as human as possible. In a perfect world populated with perfect people there are no crimes and sorrow.
For a very long time, Corylus Books is a delightful oasis for any serious crime reader. The books they pubilshed until now have in addition a very relatable connection to daily crime, corruption and political implications. Exactly the reason why as I love my books and the reason why I seldom read fantasy. Especially their Nordic-related literature do reveal a different, lest commercial version of the daily lives.
My next literary journey took me to Iceland, again. An Iceland less postcard-perfect, nevertheless more real. Broken, by the famous novelist and playwriter Jón Atli Jónasson, translated by was published originally in 2022, but only now published for the English-speaking readership.
Dora and Rado, an unlikely team, with many dark secrets and flawed, as we all are, are assigned to find a disappeared teenage girl. Rado is a Serbian immigrant with deep family ties in the Reykjavik underworld. Their work together will bring them to some underworld closets too, revealing the diverse structures of the Icelandic society.
The story is told in an alert tone, short yet impactful chapters, with a strong visual appeal. The author´s experience in theatre is obvious and helps to outline both the story episodes and the characters. Talking about the characters, there are so many of them, with well assigned roles in the story, but part of a well coordinated story.
A special note for the cover as well, with a strong visual impact.
Rating: 5 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own
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