Welcome to my turn on the Snare blog tour today in which I am sharing my thoughts on this, the first in Lilja Sigurdardóttir’s Reykjavik Noir Trilogy. But first, here is the all-important blurb…

The Blurb

After a messy divorce, attractive young mother Sonja is struggling to provide for herself and keep custody of her son. With her back to the wall, she resorts to smuggling cocaine into Iceland, and finds herself caught up in a ruthless criminal world. As she desperately looks for a way out of trouble, she must pit her wits against her nemesis, Bragi, a customs officer, whose years of experience frustrate her new and evermore daring strategies. Things become even more complicated when Sonja embarks on a relationship with a woman, Agla. Once a high-level bank executive, Agla is currently being prosecuted in the aftermath of the Icelandic financial crash. Set in a Reykjavík still covered in the dust of the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption, and with a dark, fast-paced and chilling plot and intriguing characters, Snare is an outstandingly original and sexy Nordic crime thriller, from one of the most exciting new names in crime fiction.

My Thoughts

Snare by Lilja Sigurdardóttir is a fast-paced, heart-pounding ride that takes you into the depths of Rekyjavík’s underbelly. Following the divorce from her husband, Sonja finds herself in a financially desperate situation. With her ex having full custody of their son, Tómas, Sonja has to find a way to dig herself out of the financial hole she finds herself in in order to regain custody of Tómas. Unfortunately, the spade she has been handed involves her becoming deeper and deeper involved in drug smuggling.

Sigurdardóttir has a way with words that ensures you are with Sonja with every step she takes. The tension when she is going through customs with kilos of cocaine in her suitcase is palpable, and I could literally feel my blood pressure rising! As you get to know Sonja and get drawn into her life you are dying to know how this bright, respectable woman found herself in this predicament. As Sonja has discovered, life’s twists and turns can sometimes result in you doing things and making choices you wouldn’t normally. Snare is the perfect title and accurately describes Sonja’s situation. The question is can she get out of it? I was desperate for Sonja to be able to escape the snare, but knew this was going to be virtually impossible.

The characters involved in the snare are unsavoury and unpleasant, as you would expect, and parts make for uncomfortable reading. Snare is set following the financial crash in Iceland and Sigurdardóttir has cleverly entwined the Snare storyline around the consequences of the crash. The impact the crash has had on relationships, families and behaviour is a theme that runs throughout the book, making it politically and socially current. We can see how each of the main characters have been damaged by financial insecurity.

Narrated in third person but told through different perspectives, Sigurdardóttir’s writing talent really shines through with her effortlessly capturing the unique perspectives and voice of the individuals – from Tómas’s very childlike perspective to the mature, verging on retirement, Bragi. This ensured that I was fully involved in the book. While Sonja and Bragi, the customs officer, are on opposite sides of the fence I found myself routing for both of them. Tómas was the character that touched me the most, however, with his confusion over his living arrangements and the loss of his mother following his parents’ divorce – Sigurdardóttir has portrayed him beautifully.

As always, Quentin Bates has ensured that the translation from Icelandic is perfect making Snare wonderfully readable.

With plenty of twists and turns, a fantastic cast of characters and a plucky female protagonist, Snare is a fantastic start to the Reykjavik Noir Trilogy and I look forward to seeing where Sigurdardóttir takes us next.

Published on eBook 12 September 2017 and paperback on 1 October 2017 by Orenda.

A huge thank you to Lilja Sigurdardóttir, Karen Sullivan of Orenda Books and Anne Cater for the advance copy and for inviting me to take part in the blog tour. Follow the rest of the tour…