Trap
By Lilja Sigurdardóttir
Published by Orenda Books (e-book - 13 September; paperback - 18 October 2018)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher
Publisher's description
Happily settled in Florida, Sonja believes she’s finally escaped the trap set by unscrupulous drug lords. But when her son Tomas is taken, she’s back to square one … and Iceland.
Her lover, Agla, is awaiting sentencing for financial misconduct after the banking crash, and Sonja refuses to see her. And that’s not all … Agla owes money to some extremely powerful men, and they’ll stop at nothing to get it back.
Set in a Reykjavík still covered in the dust of the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption, and with a dark, fast-paced and chilling plot and intriguing characters, Trap is an outstandingly original and sexy Nordic crime thriller, from one of the most exciting new names in crime fiction.
Yet again, Lilja Sigurdardóttir has written an addictive thriller with well-defined characters and a rollercoaster storyline. I thought Sonja's life was complicated in previous book Snare. Well, in Trap, it now becomes even more complicated, as she finds herself cornered by powerful drug barons and her scheming ex-husband.
Trap certainly trapped me within its 225 pages while I blocked out the rest of the world for a while. Short snappy chapters, switching between characters, kept the story flowing at a fast pace, making it very easy to read 'one more chapter' and then 'just one more'. I had to force myself not to race through the latter half of the book (as I was desperate to see what was in store for Sonja). Instead, I deliberately slowed down my reading pace to savour all of the poetic descriptions.
In Trap, reluctant cocaine smuggler Sonja, who was on the run with her son Tomas, is dragged back to Iceland to 'pay her debts' and her lover, disgraced banker Agla, is awaiting trial for financial misconduct. Reykjavik is still covered in volcanic dust and the Icelanders are still struggling with the financial crash. Sonja is now working with customs officer Bragi, who has his beloved wife Valdís home and will do anything to make sure he can afford the nursing care she needs as her dementia progresses. Great to see Mr José and his tiger back too (providing me with a few laughs as well as a few OMG moments - breaking up the darkness at the heart of the book).
Trap covers serious issues, including money laundering and drug dealing. Yet it is also laced with tenderness and affection, with key characters Sonja and Bragi prepared to risk their lives and reputations for their loved ones. Sonja is a great character - a loving mother who will do anything to keep her son safe, strong and capable when she needs to be but also naive enough to get herself into all manner of difficult (and often dangerous) situations. I still haven't warmed fully to Agla - she's a manipulator and a schemer, which is how she ended up on the wrong side of the law, but she's now slowly redeeming herself.
I found this to be an easy read, thanks to the seamless translation by Quentin Bates. The tension escalated throughout the book, culminating in a thrilling, heart-stopping conclusion. And while most of the threads were tied up neatly by the end, leaving me feeling satisfied, I can't wait to see what happens next.
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