The explosive crime debut from the Oscar’s nominated screenwriter and playwright

Book blurb

Two broken cops. One irretrievably damaged and the other an outcast.

Dora struggles to cope with life after taking a bullet to the head. Rado is the child of refugees, his career shunted off the tracks due to his family connections to an organised crime gang. But they’re the only ones available when a troubled teenager vanishes from a school trip, and the trail gets darker the further they pursue it. In a side of Reykjavik no visitor would ever want to see, the mismatched pair tread on all the wrong toes in the search for the missing youngster. This takes place against the backdrop of a vicious vendetta and price on Dora’s head. A brutal turf war embroils Rado’s family as he and Dora follow the threads of corruption higher and higher, to the top of the exclusive apartment block on the outskirts of the city…

My thoughts

This is the first in a trilogy of books that has been published by Corylus Books and as ever has been superbly translated by Quentin Bell allowing English readers to thoroughly enjoy the best of Icelandic noir.

We open with a police call out that introduces patrol officers Dóra and Elliði who respond. Fast forwarding Dóra has been promoted into CID what happened in that initial scene gives us an understanding of Dóra’s unique role. Elliði, protective of Dóra, is now head of the department. There’s a special operation in place but Dóra won’t be a part of it, she doesn’t leave the station.

Today is going to be different.

There’s no one else available, they are all out on the op so it’s Dóra who is sent out on a missing person report – a teenager cannot be found when a school party is set to return home.

Rado has been seconded to the drugs squad. He’s shadowing a dubious lawyer Thormóður Óli to find out as much as he can about a suspected shipment of cocaine he is smuggling into the country. He’s been on this for weeks and has nothing, it’s been a weird surveillance operation but he’s not required after tonight’s shift finishes. He goes home to his wife, Ewa, and their son Jurek.

Rado feels like he doesn’t belong not at work, not at home.

He’s got at bit of time off due but something isn’t sitting right with him and he decides to go into the station, catch up with his team, see if Elliði has a case for him. It’s as he turns into the station car park that it dawns on him why he’s been on such dreary work these past few weeks.

Dóra and Rado are paired up to continue the investigation into the missing teenager as it becomes clear that, unlike previous occasions, they haven’t just gone off. It’s a difficult case with no leads and nothing coming of the searches that are conducted.

Then there is a turn in events which have Dóra and Rado in grave danger.

Will the teenager ever be found?

This is a dark tale that unearths far more than expected and involves corruption at a high level.

Will those involved get their just deserts?

Is there an informant within the police?

Dóra and Rado are both terrific characters I enjoyed the initial chapters that brought each of them to life and how they both begin to come to appreciate the other as they strive against personal, professional and social odds together. Broken could be attributed to relationships, health, how individuals view themselves and how that can be preyed upon by unscrupulous people even the system itself or indeed all of this. It may seem strange that two people each broken in their own way are employed to put things right, bring justice to a situation or, if you will, to mend what is broken nevertheless this is what Dóra and Rado are not only employed to do it they want to do it and it will be interesting to see if they succeed.

There are, of course, other characters such as Elliði, Ewa, Artur and Hector and no doubt we will be reading more of them in the future.

This is the first part of a trilogy so not everything is fully resolved. Nevertheless we do get to know what happened to the teenager. It’s a terrific story that covers a great deal of detail and yet leaves so much to be found out.

Broken is a compelling and captivating story that had me hooked from the start. It looks set to become a deeper, darker tale that I, for one, am very much looking forward to reading.

Thanks

Many thanks to Hannah at FMcM Associates for the invitation to join the blog tour and to the publisher Corylus Books for a copy of Broken by Jón Atli Jónasson.

BlogTour

Here is the blog tour dates and bloggers for you to follow along

Information

Publishers: Corylus Books | 12 June 2025 | 280 pages | ISBN:9781739298999

Buy: Publisher links | Amazon | Hive | Bookshop.org (affiliate link) | Your local bookshop | Your local library

Translator

Author

One of Iceland’s foremost playwrights, Jón Atli Jónasson has made a significant contribution both on stage and screen. He started out in experimental and political theatre working with independant theatre groups. His plays have since gone on to be performed in major cities including London, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Athens.

He has also written a number of film scripts, most notably The Deep, produced by 101 Studios Iceland and based on his own play, which was shortlisted for Best Foreign Feature at the 85th Academy Awards in 2015. In addition to his theatrical and film achievements, he has been nominated for the Nordic Film Prize three times and was named the Nordic Radio Dramatist in 2011.

His literary work includes four novels, a short story compilation, and a novella. His crime novels all take place in modern-day Iceland and focus on themes such as corruption within the police force, changing dynamics in Iceland’s society, the evolving underworld and shifting power structures in politics and business.

Jón Atli lives in Reykjavik.

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