A Talented Pen…
Four friends, a deadly Icelandic snowstorm, no help. As the four seek shelter in a seemingly abandoned hunting lodge they know that they have no option but to wait out the storm. Nothing, however, can possibly prepare them for what’s to come. As they watch the storm, someone or something is possibly watching them. What else do they need to fear? Told in choppy and effective short chapters this is a standalone chilling, compelling mystery with a tremendous and overpowering sense of time and place from a very talented pen.

Guns, anger, revenge - what could possibly go wrong?

Daniel flies back from London to Iceland for a reunion weekend trip with his College friends Ármann, Helena and Gunnlaugur.

The four friends travel to the north east of Iceland to stay in a hunting lodge and to hunt grouse. Daniel was happy to meet up for the reunion as it had been some time since he’d seen his College friends, but would rather it hadn’t involved travelling somewhere so remote and that it didn’t involve hunting. Gunnlauger hadn’t hunted since he was a teenager and was also anxious about the activity. That evening the group catch up and eat and probably drink too much. The following morning, they head out on to the moors but have no luck hunting grouse and then the weather turns. As the weather worsens, turning into a full-scale snow-storm, anxieties and tensions between the members in the group begin to surface. The extreme weather makes is hard to navigate and walk through the snow, but they eventually struggle on find shelter in an emergency hut but it’s locked and they desperately need to get in if they are to survive the night.

This standalone Rganar Jonasson thriller. I’ve read a couple of Jonasson’s other books and thoroughly enjoyed them. The book moves along at a fast pace - the chapters are very short, and told from the point of view of the four characters. More and more is revealed about their ‘friendships’ and history - there were some revelations that I just didn’t see coming and made me want to read on. The action takes place in hut which is quite a small space and the book mirrored that with the feeling of intense claustrophobia, paranoia and panic.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Penguin Michael Joseph UK, for making Outside by Ragnar Jonasson available to read as an ARC for a fair and honest review.

Four friends. One night. Not everyone will come out alive . . .

The minute I hear Ragnar Jónasson is releasing a new book, it’s immediately on my pre-order list. One of the few authors that I auto-buy as I know his books will be worth reading over and over again. Outside, Jónasson’s new stand-alone novel is the perfect example of atmospheric, suspenseful Scandi-Noir writing.

Four friends go on a ptarmigan hunting trip in a remote part of Iceland. Finding themselves surrounded by a deadly snow storm, they seek refuge in an abandoned hut. As the night progresses, the friends must face the darkness that not only surrounds them, but comes from within.

In this story, Jónasson confines the entire story to a single claustrophobic environment, compounded by a blizzard and located in Jónasson’s beloved remote Icelandic setting. I love how Jónasson captures the raw beauty of Iceland in each of his books.

Told from the point of view of the four protagonists, Ármann, Daníel, Helena and Gunnlaugur, the reader is literally brought into the story through the confined space the characters find themselves in. You can feel the chill and tension throughout the story as the protagonists’ fear increases. Jónasson excels at immersing his readers in his stories, and Outside is no exception.

The story is fast-paced, thanks to the short chapters and the ever-changing POVs. Jónasson expertly delivers twists and turns that you just won’t see coming!

Outside is an exemplary thriller for 2022. 5 stars! Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the arc. Outside is out April 28th.

There is just something about certain books that mark them out as being very clearly written by certain authors. In the case of a book by Ragnar Jónasson it is his ability to take a vast and remote location and make it feel so incredibly isolated and claustrophobic, whether a character is amongst company or not. That is most definitely the case with Outside, a story in which a group of four friends find themselves stranded in a remote and abandoned hunting lodge, seeing out the unexpected blizzard that blights their very ill-fated hunting trip. Well ... I say abandoned. It seems that they are not alone in seeking refuge from the storm and that, in truth, is just the start of their problems.

Ragnar Jónasson has a real knack for portraying the raw beauty of the more remote parts of Iceland and this is worked to its full effect in this book. You can almost feel the chill radiate from the page as the friends battle the elements, feel the dank walls of the hut closing in around you as you read through the incredibly tense circumstances we are privy to. There is an underlying fear amongst the foursome, not only because of the stranger in their midst and his refusal to communicate with them, but also a kind of intuition that all is not as it seems amongst these supposedly good friends. They are not as close as they first seem, and as the author explores the circumstances that brought them together in the first place, and the more we learn of their individual characters, the more we get a sense of just what might be happening. There is a sense of mystery, or a secret just about being held in check, one that has the potential for devastating consequences, but it is not until well into the book that we get a real feeling of just what that is.

I won't lie - our four protagonists, Ármann, Daníel, Helena and Gunnlaugur - were not necessarily an easy bunch to like. I never quite settled in their presence, and for good reason as it turns out. They make for a very strange group, none of them having anything obvious in common other than a shared education and, with the exception of maybe Ármann and Helena, not really equipped or skilled for a long trek in the wilderness in search of game. It adds a layer of tension to the story, as well as an authenticity to the growing unease and perhaps paranoia of the bunch as the night goes on, particularly Gunnlaugur. He is the most nervous and unstable of the lot, the outsider of the group and the greatest affected by their plight. The way in which the author develops their characters is spot on, the hot and cold nature of tempers, the diversity of their personalities and the extremes of their behaviours so acutely observed as Ragnar Jónasson has a real skill for. It meant that despite not liking them, I was intrigued to learn their fates. To see who would be the first of them to crack. And, in all honesty, to find out who the silent stranger might be.

Translation by Victoria Cribb is excellent, capturing the essence of the author in the narrative, but also really helping to make the descriptions and the tension bleed from the page. The fluctuations in tempo and tension are spot on, the quiet pauses to heighten fear and the impact of the intense moments of action that are to follow. This is a really atmospheric novel, one packed with secrets and deception, and one that doesn't end in quite the way you might be expecting, but which is perfectly fitting nonetheless. Another cracking story that fans of the author will just eat up.

Oooh I didn't love it... and I'm gutted about it!! :(

I love Ragnar Jonasson and have devoured everything I have of his, so had high hopes for this one. But it is just so dreary and depressing the whole way through. I know reading scandi crime the main elements are the hostile and unrelenting environment and the desolate feel to the setting - but I think it was too much here. The characters weren't quite as real as they could be for me either, not fleshed out enough, too much left unsaid in their stories.

I liked the storyline, I just wish there were some lighter elements to bring it up a bit for me.

We open on a prologue with the hunting party making a shocking discovery in a refugee but whilst lost in an Icelandic blizzard before Jonasson takes us back to the beginning.
Readers have to conquer a quarter of the book before learning what inside that hut has scared the characters so badly.
For me, it was far too much build up for very little pay off. Perhaps because I'm a fan of dark fiction and read a lot of horror but the reveal was really disappointing. Interesting and more than a little confusing but not in sync with the character reactions at all.
Fortunately the tension continues regardless, buoyed by the risk of death from exposure to the blizzard.

Outside is written in third-person from the POV of four 'friends', I found none of these characters likeable. Their plentiful flaws are a main focus of the story which switches between past and present timelines for each person.
Every chapter ends with a cliffhanger that I came to find tedious rather than intriguing based on my initial disappointment and lack of investment in the characters.
I was irritated with minor events being catastrophised by overblown character reactions but pressed on regardless in hope of a turning point.


Sidenote; Ptarmigan (grouse) are mentioned so often I had to pause and look up the image and phonetic spelling as I kept stumbling over it. For those like me who have no clue its 'ta-muh-gun' by the way, we do have them in the UK so there really is no exusing my ignorance- whoops!

The synopsis for Outside sounded fantastic but may have set my expectations too high. This was my first Jonasson read and quite likely my last.
I should note I read Outside in English translated from its original Icelandic so it's certainly possible the translator over egged the cake let's say. There are a few twists to be found before a pretty irritating ending I know some will love. Alas, this was not for me.

As always Ragnar Jonasson fills your head with chills both from the setting of this book and the storyline added to that some surprises along the way you have a good read. The story is a grim one of four friends who each narrate the story who go on a trip and end up caught in a blizzard and what follows.
You can really get a feel of the atmosphere it’s dark, cold and with an underlying sense of menace it makes for a creepy read that I flew through.
I enjoyed the book but it wasn’t my favourite from this author I just felt it lacked something and the ending was too far fetched for me but it still filled me with the chills !
So a real Scandi noir read from an excellent author that always tells a great tale.
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Four old college friends trek up to the highland moors in Iceland to shoot ptarmigan; the weather closes in and they seek refuge in a hut - where they find an armed man who has been locked in. As they seek help and safety rifts between the four emerge from the distant past which will lead to a dramatic conclusion. They're not all going home. Competent Scandi Noir but claustrophobic as the storm that shuts in the characters.

Really worth sticking with….creates suspense and the characters and landscape are really well described…..

This is a highly unsettling chilling Scandi-Noir mystery, set in Iceland's Eastern Highlands amidst a whiteout, that goes back and forth in time by Ragnar Jonasson with a great sense of location. Four college friends, Armann, Gunnlauger, Daniel and Helena are reuniting, hunting for ptarmigan, when the weather takes a turn for the worse. Caught in a deadly snowblizzard, they are forced to seek shelter in a remote hut in their efforts to survive, only to make a macabre discovery, setting the scene for a long night where they begin to unravel, with secrets emerging as tensions escalate, marked by increasing panic and paranoia. The sense of claustrophobia is palpable, cut off as they are from the rest of the world. Jonasson excels in creating a disturbingly atmospheric novel, the unforgiving landscape, the elements of horror, laying out the intricate dynamics between the friends.

This is a quick read with short chapters which I did enjoy, but there were pacing issues and the characterisations did not feel as satisfying as I had hoped. I think this will appeal to many fans of the author and other readers from the crime and mystery genre. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Quick and worthwhile crime read.

The stand out in this book for me is how the author writes about and describes the surroundings-it almost feels real.

The characters are few but the multi-person perspective keeps the book flowing.

A genuinely enjoyable read.

I was looking forward to reading this as I have very much enjoyed the author’s previous books. I definitely didn’t enjoy this one as much. It is unrelentingly miserable with dreary characters who all seem so wrapped up in their own misery, that retaining any friendships seems unlikely. I did love the ‘surprise’ in the hut, but not enough was done with this. After this, the book becomes predictable right up until the ending, where the ends aren’t all tidied up. I’m really sorry to leave such a negative review.

Having read most of Ragnar Jonasson’s previous books and become completely immersed in the stories, characters and settings, I was looking forward to reading this one. Sadly, it wasn’t quite as good as the rest, although his descriptions of the Icelandic mountain setting were still absolutely stunning. The characters themselves, four young friends on a winter hunting trip, were just not as rounded or believable as those in the Huldar detective series, and the story itself was less than convincing. The ending was a real disappointment, as it was inconclusive and left me wondering if the electronic copy I received was missing a final passage. This won’t stop me reading more from this author, but it was something of a disappointment.

Four friends…..one night……not all come out alive! It soon becomes apparent that the weekend isn't what everyone was expecting and that the four of them have some dark secrets they've been hiding. Love Ragnar Jonasson's writing and I read this in one sitting - couldn't put it down. Fantastic read and recommend it!

Ragnar Jonasson’s Outside tells the story of 4 friends who are trapped in a hut during a snow storm but not everything is what it seems.

The précis of the book and story promised a highly enjoyable read and whilst the author did manage to convey of them being trapped and claustrophobic due to the weather other parts of the narrative were fairly predictable and at times a cliche.

Overall this book was ok.

Incredible crime fiction; completely unpredictable and also quite scary in a good way! Genuinely had me gripped.

This is a gripping new standalone thriller from a terrific crime writer
Four old friends go on an adventure, not everyone will come out alive as wild weather makes them shelter in an isolated cabin. Soon old secrets emerge and the story twists and turns
I really enjoyed reading this novel and would definitely recommend it

I really enjoyed this book.
I have read others by this author and always enjoyed them. It is a standalone novel set in Iceland. Somehow this setting adds to the gripping story and for me keeps my fear under control. I will not be in an Icelandic storm on a ptarmigan hunt with friends. The descriptions are so good I felt as though I was there or at least looking in. The author uses few characters in the story, so it is his descriptions that impacted me and made the book easy to pick up, something important when the tension is escalating. It is gripping, a psychological thriller.
To say too much about the story would be a spoiler for others but I would recommend this book. It's not long and despite its chilling nature has a beauty to it.

I think the best way to summarise "Outside" is with a few simple words - I did not see that coming!

Jónasson reliably delves into the harsh surroundings of the Icelandic countryside. The solitude that can be found there allows for many interesting stories to be told. Which is partly how "Outside" managed to develop into such an intense and interesting story. Four college friends, reunited slightly later in life, heading out into the highlands for a hunting trip. As a storm arrives they find shelter in an emergency hut. That premise alone is tense and engrossing, and would no doubt make a good read. But in this story shelter isn't as safe and secure as they hope. The story that unravels once they open the door and walk inside ramps things up considerably. You can feel the tension building as time ticks by. As with many high-pressure situations, their true colours start to show. The strains on their friendship over the years pulled tauter as they face the reality of the situation they find themselves in.

All of this means that the reveals into the characters can surprise the reader as much as the friends. it's a series of small events that pull you deeper into the story. Each one tempts you to read a few more pages to see how the latest shift plays out. It's addictive reading, and the pages fly by. That also means it doesn't always offer the same depth as some of Jónasson's other books, but it's a rewarding quick fix that taps into the most satisfying parts of his work.

Really enjoyed this story. Easily got into the book and would love to read more from the author. Easily involved in the story line. Thank you for the opportunity to see an advance copy.