Kalmann and the Sleeping Mountain – Iceland

Submitted: 23rd July 2024

Kalmann and the Sleeping Mountain

Location: Raufarhöfn is a village located on the northeastern tip of the Melrakkaslétta peninsula. What a remote yet fascinating place to have a series! This time we visit Washington DC too which is a nice twist but the hart of this book is in Raufarhöfn.

Map of locations in Kalmann and the Sleeping Mountain

Kalmann and the Sleeping Mountain

BOARDING PASS INFORMATION

Destination : Iceland and USA

Author guide: Joachim B Schmidt

Genre: thriller

Translator: Jamie Lee Searle

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A novel to transport you to Iceland

Map of locations in Kalmann and the Sleeping Mountain

Book two but great as a standalone. I think I would read book one first however as you will miss certain little nuances but hey, another reason to dig into this series.

It’s all very timely and relevant so that gave me a thrill from the start. I was flown to 2021 and slapped back in the middle of the Capitol riots. Kalmann is there to visit his biological father and gets caught up in the chaos. He’s arrested, questioned and released so you would think his day can’t get any worse but no! He only goes and finds out that his grandfather could have been a Russian spy. Now long gone, Kalmann starts to look into this and discovers something even more shocking.

Well, that got me good and proper! This is the delight with this series. You think it’s a slow burn and that Kalmann is a calm and somewhat naive man but he finds a strength and inner courage he didn’t know he had to find out the truth about his family’s past.

This is Icelandic Noir but it’s more than that. There are nuances here that go from dark to light to dark again and are both subtle and complex. Kalmann is the kind of character you root for but at the same time want to pick him out of the novel and warn him of things to look out for.

Kalmann is a great character – very realistic and relatable. I like the guy and wanted him to find out the truth but be careful doing it. He’s endearing (going to the USA and getting caught up in riots) but also very clever and very determined.

I want to go to Raufarhöfn and meet the man himself. I could look after things whilst he is out and then we could chat about the case at night. I’d get the villagers on side. Some of them are but others need encouragement. They need cakes and coffee. I’d sort out the food and read books with them till he came back home. What a team we would make!