A Year of Orenda – Trap by Lilja Sigurðardóttir – trns Quentin Bates

Day three of the Jolabokafloð countdown and Lilja Week and this time Mandie is taking a look at Trap by Lilja Sigurðardóttir, book two in the Reykjavik Noir series. You’d think that a life in the sun is exactly what Sonja deserves after all that happened in book one, but life in crime novels is rarely that straight forward. If you’d like to know what I thought of the book, you can find my review here. Read on for more about the book and to see what Mandie is making of Sonja’s antics this time around.

About the Book

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.

With her former nemesis, customs officer Bragi, on her side, Sonja puts her own plan into motion, to bring down the drug barons and her scheming ex-husband, and get Tomas back safely. But things aren’t as straightforward as they seem, and Sonja finds herself caught in the centre of a trap that will put all of their lives at risk…

Set in Reykjavik – still covered in the dust of the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption and the aftermath of the banking crisis – Trap is an award-winning, deliciously dark and outstandingly original slice of Nordic Noir, from one of Iceland’s finest crime writers.

Mandie’s Thoughts

In the second instalment of the Reykjavic Noir Trilogy we find Sonja living with her son Tomas in Florida. Although they are relatively settled Sonja knows that at least for a while they need to keep moving to avoid being found by her ex-husband. Just as they are about to get ready to move the unthinkable happens and she is forced to return to her old life in Iceland only this time the demands are much worse.

You cant help but feel sorry for Sonja, she really is caught in a trap that she is only just finally understand there is no getting out of, especially when it has been orchestrated by her ex husband from the start. That’s not to say that she wont do everything she can to escape and you do start to see a different side to her as she uses all her guts, determination and what contacts she has to try to turn the tables. She is a fighter and will do whatever it takes to keep her son in her life. With this book however the threats to her come from another far more sinister person. Mr Jose is not someone you want to cross, and Sonja has no intention of doing so and I think that his character makes this book a little darker than Snare. Even when she believes that her troubles with him are over, she finds that she is just thrust into the clutches of another who is determined she will continue doing what she does best.

In this book you do also get to learn more about Agla. When it comes to business she is as tough as they come and can more than hold her own with the big boys, yet where Sonja is concerned, she is very insecure. She is still not comfortable admitting her feelings and after Sonja upped and left with nocommunication there is a lot of trust to be rebuilt. I am not sure how Agla will feel if she ever finds out the extent of the secrets that are being kept from her. 

The surprising relationship in this book is the one between Sonja and Senior Customs Officer Braga. What started out as a working relationship based on financial need has somehow developed into something more and we see the true extent of what motivated him to go into a partnership with her in the first place.

This is certainly a brilliant follow up to Snare as you get more involved in Sonja’s life as you hope that despite what she does that she will eventually get that better life she truly craves. Lilja has definitely created some strong characters that keep you hooked and I found myself tearing through this book in no time at all

About the Author

Icelandic crime-writer Lilja Sigurdardóttir was born in the town of Akranes in 1972 and raised in Mexico, Sweden, Spain and Iceland. An award-winning playwright, Lilja has written four crime novels, including Snare and Trap, the first two books in the Reykjavik Noir trilogy, which have hit bestseller lists worldwide. The film rights have been bought by Palomar Pictures in California. She lives in Reykjavík with her partner.

Books by Lilja Siguardóttir