I: Operation Napoleon by Arnaldur INDRIDASON

Chosen because

Not many books in the “I” section, even including the crime and thriller section, where this caught my eye. The Scandinavian crime thriller is in vogue, thanks to Henning Markell’s Inspector Wallendar and Stieg Larsson’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Both good reads if not quite up to the hype. This is Icelandic, so appropriate for cold dark nights of January, and a quick dip in revealed a promising plot line of a buried secret emerging from the glacier …. 

The Review

US intelligence detects the re-emergence from an Icelandic glacier of an aeroplane that crashed there in 1945 and was immediately swallowed up by the snow and ice. It is vital that its very existence is kept secret so an under cover operation is launched to recover the plane and whisk it and its secrets back to the US.

Unfortunately an Icelandic rescue team are on a training exercise in the area. One of them stumbles over the operation and an inopportune phone call to his sister means they both know too much for their own good. The American agents, with access to every piece of data known to man, try frantically to get the genie back into the bottle. This makes for an action packed story, told in real time, with the narrative switching between the various protagonists. There is little time to reflect on the credibility of one phase of action before moving on to the next one. The secret at the heart of the plot is gradually revealed but kept tantalisingly uncertain until the very end.

It is well written and well translated, which makes reading easy on the eye. As well as action there is atmosphere and reflection, particularly on the ambivalent view of the native Icelanders on the presence of an the American airbase, which is both an unwelcome intrusion and an important source of national income. The Icelandic perspective on the US secret services and military is different from that usually absorbed from the American books & films, and is probably as for from the truth.

Read another?

No reason why not, although a second book may have less Icelandic impact?

H: Faith by Jennifer HAIGH

Chosen because

Need to recuperate from the violence of the last book and this seems a bit more reflective. A public scandal – did something really happen – whether it did or not the effect on relationships within the family could be profound. Opening the book and reading a page or two, and wanting to read more, is a good sign.

The Review

This is a very well written book which uses an allegation against a priest to unpick the relationships within a family. It is narrated by the accused’s half-sister who pieces together what she knows and what she’s told.

Set in the Irish-American community of modern day Boston, there are three main strands to the narrative: the family history; the build up to the recent allegation; and the unfolding consequences. Within these, time is taken to explore the back stories of each character, enhancing rather than detracting from the narrative flow.

As new facts and insights emerge, the book gathers pace and thankfully provides a resolution by the final pages. 

All is skilfully weaved into a tapestry to give a rounded picture of how a family interacts: what is said and what does not need to be said; how what happens in one generation can impact on another; how as we get older we shed new light and new understandings on the events of our childhood.

Read another?

I liked her writing style and will keep an eye out for Mrs Kimble, Baker Towers or The Condition