A haunting, compassionate work

Indridason manages to keep the reader guessing about the identity of both killer and victim right to the last

An absorbing story which confirms Indridason's place among the leading writers of Nordic crime fiction

Beautifully written and translated, the novel has both a strong sense of place and themes that transcend it; it confirms Indridason as one of those crime writers who rises above genre, combining suspense with moving insights into the human condition

Indridason pieces together a convincing plot, while exploring universal issues of political idealism and shattered dreams

A beautiful, sad, haunting tale of lost love and lost illusion, regret and betrayal

A very good read which involves the reader deeply in the lives and the events of the story

Nerve tingling... nobody is more adept... a talent for heart-poundingly tense story-telling and an ability to conjure up atmospheres almost palpable with menace

A fast-paced and unsettling story ... A compelling and fluid read

The writing is lean and mean, and the climax will blow you away

Compelling

a taut, mystical thriller and a thoughtful meditation on humanity

Burnside's story uses suggestion and ambiguity rather than explicit statement, but has the power that comes from leaving plenty of space in which the reader's imagination can go to work

remarkable, genre-defying...Glister is a remarkable book...a fusion of styles and genres, and it succeeds magnificently on those terms...powerfully imagines and beautifully written...A haunting tale, not as depressing as you might expect, and highly recommended

Writing 'this dreamy melange of gritty urbanism with poetic crime puzzler, will appeal to the right reader very highly

A dark fable

Burnside's writing conveys an almost palpable thrill of discovery, a delight in the play of his imagination over this bleak terrain, an irrepressible joy in cultivating metaphor after metaphor and seeing them all, improbably, bloom...The emotion this brilliant and disturbing novel leaves you with is like the spooked feeling Leonard experiences...It takes your breath away, but you don't know if that comes from awe or terror. The Glister" is that kind of story. It's terrifying, and it feels like a gift.

I'm a year late (quite punctual, for me) in recommending John Burnside's austerely poetic novel