So much conflict—men vs. women, science vs. business, the earth vs. its population.

The reader starts out seeing Anna primarily as her job title—she’s a geoscientist, an expert in volcanoes in an area built on volcanoes, but hasn’t seen substantial volcanic activity. She’s practical, and makes decisions about her job and her life based on the science, never on something as flighty as feelings.

When Anna finds herself suddenly overwhelmed by a passionate love, and the science of the volcano stops giving her straight answers, she doesn’t know how to respond to it all. Her choices begin to change the path of everything, as her life as she knew it quickly unravels.

The writing/translation style took a little bit of getting used to (as in the quotes above, no quotation marks are used), but the conversations were easy enough to discern from the main character’s internal dialogue.

While the ending may not be considered anyone’s happily-ever-after, this reader feels it was perfect for the book. This book was 5 out of 5 stars, and strongly recommended for those who enjoy family dramas, stories about Iceland, and those who don’t need a traditional happy ending.

Anna is a volcanologist who has devoted her life to studying the patterns of volcanic eruptions in Iceland, specifically on the Reykjanes Peninsula. She’s happily married with a grown son and young daughter. However, a series of steady, recent eruptions lead her to believe that this escalation will lead to catastrophe for the country. At the same time, she becomes obsessed with Tomas Adler, a photographer documenting the work of the scientists, and begins a passionate love affair with him. The title of The Fires becomes significant as the rising heat and fire begin to destroy the peninsula and the heat of passion starts to destroy Anna’s marriage and forever change her life.

The Fires is dark, depressing and very exciting Iceland noir. It is at times a difficult read, full of unfamiliar Iceland place names, scientific facts and volcano history. However, the plot dominates and keeps the reader turning the pages as fast as possible. I think The Fires would make an excellent movie. It’s a very visual book: you can see the steam rising from fissures, feel the ground shaking with earthquakes, and see the city rushing by as Anna makes a desperate trip on the back of Tomas’ motorcycle. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Crossing and Sigríður Hagalín Björnsdóttir for this ARC. Special thanks to translator Larissa Kyzer.