Reykjavik Nights

By: Arnaldur Indridason

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's Summary

The loner, Erlendur, has recently joined the police force as a young officer. The beat on the streets in ReykjavIk is busy: traffic accidents, theft, domestic violence, contraband.... And an unexplained death. When a tramp he met regularly on the night shift is found drowned in a ditch, no one seems to care. But his fate haunts Erlendur and drags him inexorably into the strange and dark underworld of the city.

©2012 Arnaldur Indridason, 2014 Victoria Cribb (P)2015 Recorded Books

Brings Back Memories of Reykjavik

I have only had a problem with one of Indridason's stories, but this is not the one. It is another great who-dun-it with loads of twists and turns in the plot. Just when you are convinced who the killer is, another clue points you in the opposite direction. If you want to listen to a mystery by a non-US author this is a great choice. The narration is steady and keeps you interested. Try it you will like it.

Slow Yet... Sort of Hypnotizing

I didn't care much about the protagonist in this Indridason story, but I'm not sure that the author did much either. Rather he uses him as a blunt, plodding tool... An irresistible force to unravel a quiet little tale of violence. It's a procedural thing set in a place and just - a tad - different culture that tugged me on through this puzzle. Yep, it is well done and George Guidall as always creates a cast I'll remember.

Well done Icelandic Noir

Fans of the solitary and relentlessly serious Detective Erlandur may enjoy going back to the case which led him to discover his obsession...forgotten missing persons. Young, in uniform, and completely inexperienced at detective work, he comes across the death of an alcoholic tramp who has been found dead in a boggy field and is written off as an accidental drowning, as well as the disappearance of a woman, who is an assumed suicide. His affinity for cases like this is, as we know by now, a result of the tragic disappearance of his brother in childhood, but this is when his past first comes together with the detective he is to become--a seeker of the disappeared, an advocate of the forgotten and abandoned.

This case is none of his business, being a junior uniformed cop, but he can't help himself and pursues the answers to his own questions in what will become his trademark independent doggedness. In a decade when battered wives and the homeless are treated with casual disregard by society and the law, Erlandur is driven to find justice by his own ghosts--which, fortunately (for me, anyway), are less belabored here than in Jar City. We also first find out how ineptly he relates to others, especially women, and that even though he is obsessive in his pursuit of truth, he is still able to retain his equanimity when pulling together the clues he needs from endless interviews with the characters in the story. In the course of these interviews, these characters become fully dimensional and real to both Erlandur and the listener.

A well-written, slow-paced novel of a bleak but interesting man, seeking relief from personal anguish through his work in a bleak but beautiful country. As usual, a good narration by George Guidall, in spite of the fact that his voice is simply becoming too old for many of the characters he reads.

Very Good Story, Well Told

Would you consider the audio edition of Reykjavik Nights to be better than the print version?

Oh my yes, George Guidall is a master story teller, and he conveys every nuance and does it in such a way that I am not really listening to his beautiful voice, something I usually try to do. I am simply at one with the story.

What did you like best about this story?

This is a prequel to Indridason's Inspector Erlandur series, featuring a young Erlandur, a new police constable on traffic duty and his persistent drive to uncover the truth about the life and death of the street person, Hannibal. It was Hannibal's story and Erlandur's development.

What does George Guidall bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Mr. Guidall tells a story like no other can. It is wonderful to hear him. His characters feel real and I felt that I would have missed much about how the character felt in any given situation without his help.He improves any book he reads, and this one has certainly benefited from his performance.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Perhaps. It would have been nice to have that luxury.

Any additional comments?

I understand there is another in this prequel series, I do hope I will get to hear Mr Guidall perform that one too. I would not be able to listen to anyone else do it.

In depth character development and much more

I enjoyed this book quite a bit because I have followed the saga of Erlendur, the Icelandic police detective created by Arnaldur Indridason, since I was first hooked by the book "Jar City". In fact, these stories inspired me to travel to Iceland to see first hand the kind, tough, and frank people described in his novels. This book takes us back in time to Erlendur's first case. At times, the story is quite depressing and not a little frustrating, because the reader has long since figured out the plot, while the young Erlendur cannot seem to put the pieces together. For Indridason fans, this is a must read. But I would suggest that people who have not read his books start with "Jar City" and work their way through the other novels. In addition to adding depth and dimension to Erlendur, the book gives us great insight into the Icelandic way of life. One other quibble was the choice of reader. George Guidall's voice was not well suited to the portrayal of a young man struggling to deal with his own ghosts and the sad stories he uncovers as a cop. He sounds like he is very old and world weary and barely has the energy to turn the page, not at all how the character Erlendur is tackling the crimes he has uncovered and his dogged determination to solve the multi-faceted case.

Boring and With Colorless Main Character

Story was bland, character sad and joyless, and plot was boring. Made Iceland seem like the last place one would want to visit or live. Overall "blah"!

George Guidall couldn't quite save it

Disappointingly thin story. Guidall's narration, which created a measure of sympathy for the characters, and which deftly handled the incredibly confusing Icelandic names, was all that made it tolerable

A good story read by a master

Guidall has a great voice and improves any book he reads. This is a good story but not a great one. The location is very interesting.

Probably true to life of police officer: DULL!!!

I really thought that George Guidall could save any story but in this case I was sadly wrong. Even George couldn't make this book interesting, and that says A LOT! The story is probably a fairly true depiction of a beat cop's day and life...DULL.
I had listened to a previous Indridason book and was unimpressed but thought maybe I should try again with his detective story. Wrong!

I guess that good writing or in this case poor writing shows through regardless of genre. Sadly this was a dull boringly written story that had great potential as a story line but was just too poorly done

A significant waste of time and money

Great Author

I love this series and the fact that the author is willing to experiment in ways that work. Here we go back in time to a younger Erlindur at the start of his career investigating the murder of a homeless person he had interactions with. It is a great mystery with a satisfying conclusion, something that could be said of every book in the series.
George Guidall is one of the best audio performers and he clearly put effort into getting pronunciation correct.