Thank you #NatGalley for an ARC of this book! I'm giving it 3 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed this suspenseful story and it's short chapters, but there were many aspects that I felt could have been better. I didn't feel like I knew the characters well enough to know whether I liked them or not. The chapters didn't really describe what was fully going on, mostly thoughts the character was having in the moment of their chapter. I still have so many questions about the unknown man, as well! The end of the book was left kind of open to interpretation on what was going to happen. And it wasn't clear who the little "epilogue" at the end titled "Party of Two" was about, whose story it was telling. Was that a part of another book the author is writing or background/future info on one of the characters in Outside? However, I did not quite see the twist coming, so that's why I ultimately enjoyed it.

I wanted to really love this one. I was excited by the plot and concept. I just found the story to be really slow, and I didn't connect with any of the characters. I really found myself a bit confused by a variety of things happening, and I didn't care enough to go back and try to figure out what I had missed. I'm sorry this one was a bit of a bust for me.

The premise of this novel sounded perfect, but the writing was too bland and the characters were very two-dimensional.

Outside does a great job of setting a spooky and tense scene. Despite a promising plot and start, things seemed to fizzle out towards the end. So much so, that I am still confused and not entirely sure what happened. 2.5 rounded to 3

I have been a huge fan of Ragnar Jónasson ever since reading his excellent police procedural series set in northern Iceland featuring Ari Thór Arason and his superb Hulda Hermannsdóttir trilogy. However, I have to admit that the bloom is wearing off the rose a bit with this second standalone thriller.

Don't get me wrong. Outside is very well-plotted and extremely well-written. The narrative moves back and forth between the four friends so readers are able to get inside the characters' heads and formulate their own ideas about what exactly is going on. It doesn't take long at all to see that certain things just don't add up.

The set-up is good. The execution is fine. So... what exactly is my problem? This is the second standalone thriller Jónasson has written in which I haven't been able to rouse much enthusiasm for any of the characters. Wait. That's not entirely true. In Outside, I had enough enthusiasm to wish that all four friends would leave their shelter, go out into the raging storm, and turn into human popsicles. (It's fiction. I'm allowed, right?) I found all four of them to be extremely annoying and self-absorbed. So much so, that I think I kept on reading hoping that they would walk out into the snow and vanish-- never to be seen again.

Hopefully, you have more patience than I do.

A beastly storm rages.
Four friends trapped inside a hut for survival.
Old secrets restlessly come to the surface.
Can their friendships survive this ultimate test? Will they all survive?
I liked this book. It was a quick read and touches on themes of trust and loyalty.

Armann, Helena, Daniel and Gunnlauger alternately tell the story of their ill fated ptarmigan hunting trip. Armann,, who often guides in the Eastern Highlands of Iceland, organized this for this group of old friends. But are they friends? Were they ever friends? They break into a shelter when they are caught in a blizzard and find a man with a weapon - who is he? Why? This is heavy on the internal dialogue and back story of the characters with a dollop of survival in snow and cold. That said, it seems odd that Armann wasn't better prepared for the weather. No spoilers from me but I suspect canny readers won't find many surprises. I'm a fan of Jonasson for his writing, the Icelandic settings, and his characters so this was a treat for me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Four Friends, a deadly snowstorm, and an abandoned hunting lodge set the stage in Outside. The four friends hope to have an enjoyable weekend in the Icelandic highlands, what they get is a nightmare!

The snow is falling, it's bitter cold and four friends seek shelter in an abandoned building. They are trapped in a harsh unforgiving environment. They have no way to call for help, they are miles from civilization and once in the lodge, find that they are not alone. Creepy.

They synopsis drew me in. I love books set in extreme cold for some reason. I, myself, hate being cold and perhaps that is why I am drawn to them. Who knows? But this is not a simple book about survival. It is about the ties that bind, about secrets, about conscience, about memories, about the past and about the here and now.

I found this book to have creepy elements, but it was also about dark memories, consequences, and secrets. Readers also get the POV of each of the friends. We learn more about them and their thoughts on the others. This was a nice touch, and I thought the narrators did a great job with their parts.

I had both the kindle and audiobook version. I enjoyed going back and forth between the two but found myself listening to the audiobook more out of convivence more than anything else. I felt that this book moved at a nice pace and the sense of tension flowed throughout the book. As other reviews this book does end abruptly. It was as if the author thought "that's it. I'm done."

Although I enjoyed this book, it was missing that little bit of something that would have garnered a higher rating. None of the characters pulled at my heartstrings. I didn't really feel a connection with them to care for their plight.


#Outside #NetGalley

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Four friends set off on a hiking excursion in the highlands of Iceland. An unexpected winter storm puts their lives in danger as temperatures plummet and hypothermia becomes a serious threat. The group finds a cabin to seek shelter in, but they’re not alone. Secrets are revealed as tensions rise and the friends realize they don’t know each other as well as they thought they did.

This is my first book by this author and I had really high hopes. I love atmospheric thrillers and this novel excelled in creating the perfect winter setting. I could almost hear the icy wind slamming against the windows. The chapters were short and the pacing was fast. Unfortunately, the rest of the book was disappointing.

The characters were all awful people, so I had no one to root for. They were surface level at best. I don’t try to figure out twists while I read, but this one was impossible not to predict. And the ending was just…oof!

I wasn’t sure if something went wrong in the translation because I’d only heard great things about this author’s books. After reading more reviews, it seems that many readers feel Outside is an outlier compared to his other work. Based on that, I’m willing to give Jónasson another shot in the future, but I cannot recommend this particular book.

A big thanks to the Netgalley, the author, and Minotaur Books for a gifted eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Outside is slow burn thriller about a group of friend who decide...on a whim...to trek in the Icelandic wilderness. Of course, things do not go according to plan. I really wanted to like this book - it had all the things I like in a plot but unfortunately the characters were just meh and unrealistic. I was unable to care about any of them. Others may be able to get into this one, but I just could not. Thank you to NetGalley for a chance to read and review this book.

OUTSIDE is the latest book from Ragnar Jonasson…. and my first book of his I’ve read! Thank you to @netgalley and @minotaur_books for my e-arc I’m exchange for an honest review. This book publishes next Tuesday, June 28!

I feel kind of conflicted on this book. On the one hand, I really liked how fast paced it was. It took place within a day, and was very “edge of your seat, need to know what happens next” kind of feeling. The chapters are SO SHORT! I flew through this book, reading most of it in a day! The fast pace of the book adds to the overall feeling of intensity of the book.

However, the characters are not very likeable. I don’t really think I liked anything about any of the 4 MC… they all seemed to have their own hidden agenda and secrets. And with only half of them surviving the crazy Icelandic snowstorm… tension is high!! Secrets are spilled!

ALSO! I have no idea if it’s just me, but what the heck happened in the last chapter?! I’m so confused!! Do we find out who the guy was that was in abandons hut they take shelter in?! I don’t know if it was because I finished this book late at night and was tired, but I just couldn’t not connect the dots and the last chapter felt very unnecessary. I would have preferred it being left out 😅

I’m sure it’s just me, as I haven’t seen any reviews for this one yet. But if you have read this book, tell me what you thought of the last chapter!!

I really enjoyed Ragnar Jonasson's last book and was excited to read this one. It has the chilly bleak Icelandic setting, and four friends who aren't who they pretend to be. I enjoyed this story and flew through the pages, but I admit it did not live up to the previous book for me. Why? I found the whole story line a little weak. I did not fully engage with any of the characters either, as none of them were particularly likeable.

Four friends go hiking into the Iceland highlands. They all have something to hide. When a storm forces them to seek shelter in an old hut, they think they've found respite but really their troubles are just beginning.

What I liked about this book was the short chapters from the four friend's point of view. It kept the story propelling forward nicely and at a quick pace. I liked the atmosphere of being in Iceland. I just found that the story was not totally absorbing. A little of that, I think, could be due to the fact in Iceland it sounds like a gun is enough to inspire terror in the characters in the book. After a particularly violent beginning of summer here in the US, this lone man holding a gun just didn't seem that threatening, which is a sad comment on our society.

While this book was not my favorite by Mr. Jonasson, I am still eager to read whatever new books he may publish.

Four friends go on a hunting trip in the middle of winter in Iceland. What could possibly go wrong with that?? LOL! Although the premise of the story doesn't seem too original, the way this story played out was suspensful and unexpected. This was a quick read and I enjoyed every minute of it!

I generally like Nordic and Icelandic mysteries as they are usually dark and intriguing. This Icelandic mystery is dark but I while I found the story intriguing at first, it fell apart for me toward the end

Daniel, Helena, Armann and Gunnlaugur have been friends since college. When Armann, a tour guide, arranged a reunion hunting trip into the remote highlands of Iceland, they were all in. Things don't get off to a good start, however, when an unexpected snow storm forces the group to find shelter in an emergency hut, only to find they are not alone in the hut. An armed, silent stranger has also taken up refuge. Why does he keep his rifle aimed at them but says nothing?

In an effort to contact rescue services, Daniel and Helena set out in the storm again for another emergency hut that Armann assures them has a radio, leaving Gunnlaugur and Armann to keep an eye on the stranger. Both parties now face unknown and potentially deadly situations.

I was caught up in the story from the start. The sense of place--the desolation and remoteness of the highlands--combined with the life threatening storm set the perfect mood for the story. Unfortunately, I found the reactions of the characters to certain events that occurred to be unrealistic. I just couldn't buy into the author's explanation of their reactions to deadly situations--it didn't ring true--which is too bad because I did enjoy the majority of the book.

This one was just ok for me. I listened to the audiobook which was horrendously boring, as well as read the actual book. I did not like the narrators at all. The book took awhile setting the scene and developing the characters a bit. It was atmospheric and creepy at times and gave off vibes of John Carpenter’s The Thing.

Four friends desperately seek shelter in an abandoned lodge during an Icelandic snowstorm. This is bound to end well right? Forced to stay isolated together secrets between the friends become revealed and they all have the feeling they are being watched. They uncover disturbing things about the lodge and realize that their shelter where they felt so safe may have actually put them in danger.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Friends venture out into the Icelandic wilderness for a fun get-a-way but it turns into a survival tale.

Outside by Ragnar Jónasson is a recommended psychological thriller set in Iceland.

Four friends, Daniel, Gunnlauger, Armann, and Helena are on a reunion vacation in the Icelandic highlands hunting for ptarmigan when a blizzard strikes while they are out, away from the hunting lodge. Armann, who leads tours of Iceland, knows there is a safety hut nearby where they can take shelter and wait out the storm. As the group face frostbite or worse getting to the hut, they finally find it. When they get inside, however, none of them are expecting what awaits them within.

In this Nordic noir thriller each chapter is narrated by one the four characters. As their individual points-of-view propel the plot forward, we are also privy to their inner thoughts and feelings about members of the group. They have been friends for many years so they have a history between them and know each other's flaws, however they may not know the secrets they hold.

The novel opens with the brutal trek through the blizzard to the shelter where we know something terrible and frightening is already inside. Then the narrative jumps back in time to the start of their vacation and the history of their friendship, allowing the tension and suspense to build while leading up to the hut, what is inside, and what happens next. The brutal, unforgiving weather adds a dimension to the tension in the plot.

I was engrossed in the story right up to almost the end at which point I had to suspend disbelief and the final, abrupt denouement left me cold and wanting.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of St. Martin's Press via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Google Books, and Amazon.

I could not put this book down until the very end! Jonasson, who is often inspired by Agatha Christie, puts four characters alone in the snowy tundra, throw in a blizzard, a stranger, dark secrets from the past and creates a story for the ages. I really enjoyed the narrative style, short chapters with alternating perspectives from different characters that provided great tempo to the writing. The plot is very strong, the many twists are believable and surprising. I have other books by Jonsson on my TBR List and they just moved to the top of the list. I highly recommend this book and thank NetGalley and St Martin Press for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love Nordic/Scandi-noir, but I think this is the first book I've picked up by Ragnar Jonasson. And it was really weird. First, it is very short -- more novella than novel. Second, each chapter is only about two pages long and gives us the perspective of one of the four main characters. Honestly, it read more like a screenplay, with each chapter being that character's lines. And finally, each of the main characters was despicable.

The story is about four friends who go off for a weekend of (pheasant) hunting in the wilds of Iceland, and one doesn't survive the weekend. For the life of me, I could think of no credible reason these four would have gone anywhere together! From page one it's clear that, while the four might have been friends a long time ago, they are definitely no longer friends now. So why get together at all, much less take a weekend holiday together?!?!? If I were to give an oral book report on this novel, it would take me less than five minutes to sum up the entire thing. Day One four supposed friends go hunting and get caught up in a horrible snow storm. Day Two they all fall out and one ends up dead. Then they all go home. The End.

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing me an eGalley for review. This one was a disappointment.

What do you get when you mix old friends with grudges and a winter trek in the wild Icelandic highlands? You get a rather convoluted revenge story with an abrupt ending. This thriller kept me entertained on a long flight. I had started reading it and then switched to the audiobook for the flight. There were four narrators, one for each of the four friends, which made listening quite enjoyable: Carla Harrison-Hodge, Gil Sullivan, Jamie Maclachlan, and Reice Weathers.

This was a strange foursome, with one male apparently not really liked by the other three, so why was he invited? (You do find out eventually.) I really disliked all of them by the end of the book.

This was my first book by Icelandic author Ragnar Jonasson and, based solely on this book, I’m not sure I’d run to read another book by this author. I must say that the descriptions of the locale and the weather were terrific.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book and to Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.