The Darkness: A Thriller (The Hulda Series Book 1)

I was being generous to give this book two stars. A more unsatisfying ending, I cannot imagine. I am pretty sure that I will never buy another book by this author. He did a pretty good job pulling me into the story. I was hopeful that the protagonist would get her act together and have a life after her career. Obviously the author doesn't understand the fundamental truth of crime novels, which is that people read them because they have a deep seated need to find justice in an unjust world.

I have read all of Ragnar Jonasson's books. I wouldn't say he is my favorite Scandinavia noir author, but he writes well and I will keep buying his books as they come out. This book was well-written, although I didn't care for the ending much. My problem with it was the main character, Hulda. She is whiney and depressed and there is nothing about her personality that makes you want to root for her. And after so many years in law enforcement she seems to have no police skills at all or even common sense. There is going to be another book in this series in 2019 with Hulda in her early years and I will read it, hoping that the character will be a little more sympathetic.

This is the worst book I‘ve read this year. All the characters, including the „hero“, are loosers, and not even interestingly so. The ending is a complete cop out and the „sequel“, set 25 years in the past, will do nothing to resolve the issues the author ducked in this book. Don‘t waste your time on this one.

I have not been a fan of this author as my experience has been that his protagonist in the Dark Iceland series fails to evoke sympathy or even interest. Just could not root for him and thought him exceptionally dim. Stopped with the first book. Had hopes for Hulda but she, too, is a character difficult to get interested in. She comes across throughout most of the book as chaotic, emotionally and professionally, and not until the end do you have much appreciation for why that might be. And it never explains why she is such a disorganized and poor policewoman. If this were promoted more as a literary novel her odd persona might be more interesting but the professional flaws would not be less glaring. Done with the author.

Only if you like the blackest of Scandinavian mystery novels. Protagonist was pretty dense for a seasoned police officer. I found myself mentally screaming "don't go there without backup!"

I just now finished this book with my primary thought being "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?"I am fluctuating between irritation at such an abrupt reversal on two, make that three, major plot elements - and a bit of grudging admiration for the writer catching me so off guard.My opinion of the protagonist is also a graph of wild fluctuation, including sympathy, respect, impatience, annoyance, contempt.The writing is also greatly disparate, at times flowing smoothly, at others absurdly floundering, as with the incredible number of references to her age, virtually not one page without her dwelling on it. A particularly inane example is her thought that she had previously been referred to as a girl instead of a lady - but she is 64 years old!!!!!!!! How many DECADES ago would that have been? At least four! It is as if the writer's brain just switches off at times.Other jagged crevices as to plot are abundant, with limp red herrings, highly questionable and abrupt developments, and unrelated events that go nowhere.With all of the flaws, I am puzzled as to why I nevertheless find the story to be somewhat compelling. Perhaps it boils down to the noir aspect, since it certainly fits the genre. ( For those who protest that it is too "dark", what do you think noir means?)

Retirement is something we should look forward to. A new beginning, leisure time, time to do what we want, travel, hobbies, you know, the good life. However, Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir is not looking forward to retirement, she has months to go, but no 0lans. And, then, she is told by her super that she has two weeks. A young guy, that is a good officer, someone they really wanted, and she needed to go. Hulda was #hocked, surprised, dismayed, everything she could feel. One positive is that she could work a cold case for two weeks before she left her job from the Reykjavik CID. after decades of service.Hulda is good at her job, and she chooses a new case that appeals to her. The detective who had the case did a very sloppy job, and she has a lot to cover. She also had to de ide what to do about her present case. Not much time, but a lot to cover, and Hulda is up to the job. She has a new man in her life, and she needs to decide whether to pick up the pace or leave it as it is.This is an astonishing novel in many ways. Not what I expected, however, Hulda’s Character is one to revere. Could I handle myself as well as Hulda under the circumstances, probably not. As the case proceeds we find out a great deal about Hulda, the other characters, and how politics in the workplace plays out. This is noir at its best, and this is one of the plays that works the best.Recommended. prisrob 11-25-18

Could not finish this book. Very slow read and entirely too dark and depressing.Try something else

"The advantage of darkness is that there are no shadows."I was really keen to read this author's work, knowing he's a writer, lawyer and lecturer and started translating the works of Agatha Christie at 17. Also, Anthony Horowitz had written an article that named this book as one of his picks for top thriller novels, so was eager to see if it was up to the hype. It was. I was in from the first page. It didn't let up and the twists and turns kept me on my toes to the finish - I sat and read it in one go.Set in Iceland, which here is a character in itself - freezing, inhospitable and beautiful, this is a well-written mystery/thriller. Quite often I have found that books are EITHER page-turners or are cleverly written and here the joy is that the book is both.The lead characters are all well-drawn - with the lead detective a female nearing retirement, whose services are not appreciated by the younger generation. We find out more about Hulda as the book progresses. She is put in contrast with the men of of the novel, only one of whom is anything close to likeable, which makes sense as we are brought into Hulda's perspective.I am really excited that this is to be part of a series and will eagerly await the next installment!

As a woman in her sixties I found myself resenting the negativity of the central character Hulda, a woman on the verge of a dreaded retirement - though to be fair, the background to her character is well-established through an account of the barbaric treatment of single mothers in the late forties. However I could not help a negative comparison with Quentin Bates's excellent Gunnhildur, a really positive depiction of a tough, respected older woman in the Icelandic police force. The blurb's comparison of Hulda with the resilient and brave Saga Noren in The Bridge is completely wide of the mark. The author's style is repetitive. The plot is not particularly ingenious and the ending is outrageous and violates every principle of crime fiction. Truth and justice do not prevail. This is darkness for the sake of darkness. In my view, it does not deserve the praise heaped upon it.

I was left feeling this book had kind of wasted my time. The author belaboured the female detective's approaching retirement far too much, so the time spent on the cold case seemed to be lack lustre, with the classic younger male supervisor's ageism and hostility of a male colleague's mishandling of the original investigation. Yes, there's a hidden backstory but even that was rather forced. For me, the narrative was as tired as the detective was, and the ending was so unsatisfactory that I was left feeling I'd wasted my money. No resemblance to Saga Noren at all. Perhaps his other books are better.

I really loved the Dark Iceland books and looked forward to reading The Darkness . This was a really boring read . I got fed up with the main character and her ' miseries ' early on . She seemed to have no friends and no police colleagues that liked her . There was no depth to the story , which droned on . I nearly gave up .

I quite enjoyed the Dark Iceland series and was looking forward to reading more crime-unraveling in that snow-bound setting. Well, there was snow, for sure and quite a lot of weather, but sadly I found this tale too depressing and repetitive. Too much 'tell, not show' and we are told far too many times how Hulda feels about her imminent retirement, her negative treatment and lack of respect from younger male colleagues etc. I really got it the second, third and fourth time...! There are no rounded or likeable characters and the kind, wealthy, handsome doctor in Hulda's life doesn't feel real. My respect to the author for aspects of the ending I did not see coming, but I will not be reading more of this series. I found the writing very uneven (simple fine, but simplistic - not), and it made me feel low. I guess that means he's effective in some ways.