Introspective, lyrical and with a growing sense of menace running under it all

Praise for Sylvain Neuvel

It's fascinating to see how Neuvel weaves together fact and fiction . . . a blast. Seriously clever

An alt-history with a difference. Traces the true story of the development of rocket science but adds an alien-conspiracy-theory edge in the shape of a fictional team of mother-daughter clones. Along with the problems faced by women trying to change the world (or at least get men to listen to them), they are threatened by a mysterious 'Tracker' who has spent centuries trying to kill them. Good fun

A dark and ambitious book. Neuvel is forging ahead

Wry narration, wired action . . . Fans of alternate history and intelligent sci-fi will love this

Clever and compelling, it will keep you enthralled until the end

There's real cleverness at work here. Mia, bent on getting humanity sufficiently technologically developed so that they can leave Earth, makes some dodgy-sounding moral choices as she works towards humanity's salvation

Highly crafted and unique

Four friends find safety from a snowstorm in a remote Icelandic hut - or so they think. Jónasson's twisting, elegantly crafted story will keep you hooked till the very last page

Ragnar Jónasson is so skilled in depicting the environment where the story takes place, it becomes one of the characters. It is so atmospheric, I am immediately transported to the Icelandic moors, feeling the cold all the way to the bones. I read with bated breath, my heart pounding with the looming knowledge that soon something bad is about to happen

Yet another humdinger from Iceland's finest crime writer

Jonasson offers an intense standalone, taking to new heights his unrivalled skill for using winter as an unpredictable plot-twister . . . There is so much to like here: the complexity of the quartet's relationships, Jonasson's powerful, streamlined writing, and the parallels between an unforgiving setting and the characters' seething grudges. Readers will be drawn into Jonasson's forbidding Iceland landscape, where it's anyone's guess who will make it out alive

Entertaining, suspenseful and twisty. Overall, highly recommended for fans of Ragnar Jonasson and suspense thrillers in general

Chilling thriller by the king of Icelandic noir . . . so gripping I can't put it down

Jonasson and translator Victoria Cribb do a fine job of setting the scene, developing the characters, and keeping readers in suspense with a tight, clean, noir prose style

A shivery delight

Jónasson's spare prose and brisk pacing make for an immersive read . . . Outside is an intriguing study of isolation, claustrophobia and the particular menace to be found in beautiful yet unforgiving terrain

Jonasson is a master at two aspects of Icelandic noir: one is the description of his country's withering weather; the other is the handling of murderous plots that are tangled beyond all expectations. He's in top form in both specialties this time out

Jonasson is a master at exploring the impact of claustrophobia brought on by darkness and enclosed spaces. He an avid fan of Agatha Christie, and Outside is an adaptation, with an Icelandic twist, of the classic locked-door mystery

It takes a truly talented writer to work with a thin outline like that and turn it into a classic, and that is exactly what Jónasson has done here. I believe he has penned the Icelandic version of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs

From the winner of THE BEST CRIME NOVEL IN THE LAST 50 YEARS

Praise for Ragnar Jónasson

Jónasson is an automatic must-read for me . . . possibly the best Scandi writer working today

Triumphant . . . Chilling, creepy, perceptive, almost unbearably tense

Dark, chilling and utterly gripping

Such a tense, gripping read

A world-class crime writer. One of the most astonishing plots of modern crime fiction.

A master of the Icelandic thriller.

Is this the best crime writer in the world today? . . . He's truly a master of his genre

Invigorating Iceland-set slice of Nordic Noir

Fiendishy clever

Triumphant conclusion to the trilogy. Only Ragnar Jónasson has rendered hindsight so heartbreaking

It is nothing less than a landmark in modern crime fiction

The red hot crime writer from the frozen north . . . One of the most important voices on the international crime scene

Ragnar Jonasson has a gift for crafting clever whodunnits while conveying the intimidating beauty of his native Iceland

Jónasson has the full measure of the Nordic noir genre, and pushes all the buttons

Expertly Plotted

I loved Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris, which achieves the astonishing feat of taking 17th-century events and people and telling their stories in 21st-century language without a single seam showing

Thrilling

This is a novel that asks big historical questions. You could read it as a pure thriller, and it is one of Harris's most compellingly paced to date. You could read it as a piece of intelligent historical immersion. I think it is more; I think it is his best novel since Fatherland.

It's a belter.

If only all historical thrillers could be this entertaining.

In this tense and beautifully written account of the ensuing manhunt, Harris brings sympathy to characters on either side of the civil war that divided a nation.

A brainy, compulsive page-turner.

A violent, gripping, globetrotting chase thriller

He’s my go-to person that I know will keep me entertained

[A] rich, propulsive novel