A hard-boiled and thrilling crime story set in contemporary Reykjavik, a city full of contradictions, dusted with pitch-black humour and memorable characters.
A teenager disappears during a school trip to the Thingvellir National Park. As the whole police force is busy coping with an underworld gang war, it falls to police officer Dora, who struggles with the effects of brain damage incurred during a shootout, to investigate. At her side is Rado, the son of Serbian immigrants, who has worked his way up the police ranks but has since been sidelined due to his family’s connections with a Polish criminal gang.
NOVEL INFLUENCES
Clockers (Richard Price), Police (Jo Nesbo), Heat (Michael Mann), Blacktop Wasteland (S.A. Cosby), The Bridge (Hans Rosenfeldt).
Jon Atli Jonasson is a multi-award winning writer for stage and screen. His work has been widely shown across Europe.
★ ★ ★ ★
FOUR STARS OF FIVE POSSIBLE
“… the plot is both simple and complex, threading the slippery streets of Reykjavik, from the darkest underworld of organised crime to corruption within the police force.
… the tale is lively, very entertaining, and the suspense is great …
Broken is a vision of our times, including horrendous underworlds, as well as a great variety of daily life in all levels of society … the book is really funny, and this cannot be said of Icelandic thrillers in general. Moreover, the suspense is very efficient. ”
ARNOR HJARTARSON, STUNDIN
“A modern and captivating crime novel that grabs you from page one.”
OMAR ULFUR EYTHORSSON, BROADCASTER X-977
“Broken is in all aspects a very successful crime novel. Jon Atli started his career as a playwright and so the characters are especially well written and believable in their exoticism and the plot is dense and lush with various threads that are all tied well together in the end. The descriptions of the underworld of Reykjavik are uncomfortably plausible and the insight into the conflict between criminal gangs and how the police organizes raids in intriguing and exciting … a plot that really works.”
BRYNHILDUR BJORNSDOTTIR, FRETTABLADID DAILY
“A convincing book, the descriptions seem so real that the reader can practically smell each space and marinade in the uneasy atmosphere. No way one can put that book down. I dreaded what came next, and most of all, I dreaded finishing the book. I really wanted more.”
ANDRI FREYR VIDARSSON, BROADCASTER
“The book is well written and exciting …”
STEINTHOR GUDBJARTSSON, MORGUNBLADID DAILY
“Broken by Jón Atli Jónasson is the best Icelandic crime novel published this year, and in fact one of the best I’ve read in a long time. …
Jon Atli has created one of the most interesting crime solving duos of the genre … he manages to build up such suspense and awaken such curiosity that I could not put the book down, and he never takes a shortcut. Each thread is firmly woven, fits perfectly within the pattern and doesn´t unravel. When you‘ve read crime novels for half a century you get familiar with many of the tricks used and the solution is often obvious in the first few chapters. But not here. There are many surprises and no cheap solutions at the end. I sincerely hope that Jon Atli will write more books like these and I‘m already excited for the next one.”
STEINGERDUR STEINARSDOTTIR, STEINGERDUR.BLOG.IS
“Jón Atli Jónasson has fully stepped into the ranks of crime writers with this new crime novel.”
JAKOB B GRETARSSON, VISIR.IS
