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The Absolution

A Menacing Icelandic Thriller, Gripping from Start to End

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The Absolution

By: Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Victoria Cribb - translator
Narrated by: Lucy Paterson
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Translation from Icelandic by Victoria Cribb

The new novel from the internationally bestselling, prizewinning, queen of Icelandic crime.

All he wants is for them to say sorry.

The police find out about the crime the way everyone does: on Snapchat. The video shows the terrified victim begging for forgiveness. When her body is found, it is marked with a number 2...

Detective Huldar joins the investigation, bringing child psychologist Freyja on board to help question the murdered teenager's friends. Soon, they uncover that Stella was far from the angel people claim - but even so, who could have hated her enough to kill?

Then another teenager goes missing, and more clips are sent. Freyja and Huldar can agree on two things at least: the truth is far from simple. And the killer is not done yet.

A brilliantly suspenseful story about the dark side of social media, The Absolution will make you wonder what you should have said sorry for...

Praise for Yrsa Sigurdardottir

'Iceland's outstanding crime novelist' Daily Express
'A magnificent writer' Karin Slaughter
'The undisputed queen of Icelandic Noir' Simon Kernick
'Believe all the hype - this is crime at its best.' Heat Crime Fiction Europe International Mystery & Crime Mystery Psychological Thriller & Suspense Crime Fiction Thriller Suspense
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Critic reviews

Freyja and Huldar are one of the most intriguing crime detecting partnerships around and THE ABSOLUTION is a gripping, fascinating insight into the dark side of social media and children at risk. THE ABSOLUTION confirms Yrsa as a master storyteller with a satisfyingly slanted view of the world she recreates. (William Ryan, author of A House of Ghosts)
Yrsa Sigurdardottir gets better and better with each book. The relationships and the humour lighten the darkest plot. (Liz Nugent, author of Skin Deep)
Sigurdardottir doesn't shy away from the hideous effects of bullying, combining a tough novel about a grim social phenomenon with a fast-paced plot
Praise for Yrsa Sigurdardottir's Freyja and Huldar series
Yrsa is a magnificent writer. (Karin Slaughter)
One of the best books I've read for a long time: dark, creepy, and gripping from beginning to end. (Stuart MacBride, author of the Logan McRae series)
THE RECKONING is another chilling, atmospheric tale from the undisputed Queen of Icelandic Noir. I loved it. (Simon Kernick)
Iceland's outstanding crime novelist
Yrsa Sigurdardóttir has with her large-scale and genuinely intelligent stories attempted to find the core of Iceland's distinctive society, and thus pushed the Icelandic crime novel tradition many steps forward. (Arne Dahl)
A dark story by a brilliant author. A densely plotted, multifaceted and compelling book. Exceeds most novels in the thriller genre. (Eric Axl Sund)
If you like your crime fiction dark and engaging, look no further. THE LEGACY is as brutal as it gets. A cracking start to a new series by Yrsa Sigurdardottir. (Mari Hannah, author of the DCI Kate Daniels series)
There's no waffle in The Reckoning: it is brutal, baroque and ends with a brilliant last-minute twist.
It's addictive, bleak, and will give you thrills and chills in equal measures.
Yrsa remains the queen of Icelandic thriller writers.
Credited as the queen of Icelandic crime, Sigurdardottir's story about the dark side of school and social media is as gripping as it is grisly
All stars
Most relevant
Usual good and high standard story by this author marred by narrator's heavy intrusive breathing.

Good story

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this is another outstanding story from yrsa that will not be an easy read as yet again we are witnessing a dark side of society through huldar and Freyas eyes.

another triumph

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I absolutely love this series of books. The characters of Hulldar and Freya are so interesting and have a depth more then you might think from the write ups. I find Edla a bit annoying sometimes but she is quite funny too with her biting comments.
The story carries an important message about how the consequences of bullying lasts much longer for the victim then people realise. Words are one of the most powerful weapons we have and we should be careful how we use them.
I'd also like to give a shout out to the narrator, I love how she brings the stories and characters to life. I don't really care if the accents are perfect or whatever, I always know who's talking and that's the main thing.
I would highly recommend this book and the previous ones in the series.

Fantastic

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I like this author and I enjoyed this hard hitting crime thriller but with all the characters and all the names… I was rather easily confused! Liked the outcome. Find the police detectives a bit too miserable a bunch though!

Good but you need to concentrate

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Just lost interest as I neither cared about the characters or who committed the murders. I got within a couple of hours of the end and just could not justify wasting more time. It was hard to follow and did not really grip you - there were some moments where I became interested in the plot but somehow this kept dropping off. Just not enough there to make it interesting and characters who were decent but did not develop enough due to switches of attention. Really frustrating and a pity. Has the makings of a decent book but needs a re-write i would say

Couldn’t finish it

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