Outside by Ragnar Jónasson

I love reading internationally and few locations are as evocative as Iceland, especially for a good scary story or a thriller. The place is so sparsely populated, it provides for haunting isolation and the weather is just an added bonus, because in Iceland it’s safer inside.
When one must go Outside, one must prepare. The weather can change on a dime, turn lethal in a blink of a snowstorm.
And yet, four longtime friends of the no-longer-should-be-friends-but-still-are-out-of-inertia-and-nostalgia variety decide to brave the Icelandic outside anyway for a hunting trip. They set off for a remote location, promptly get snowed-in, and the poop hits the blades. Oh, and there’s an armed man in the cabin, just kind of sitting there. Oh, and each of the characters has a secret.
Well, of course, they do, otherwise what sort of a thriller would it be. But you know, what kind of thriller it ends up being? An underwhelming one. The one with a fairly thin plot bulked up by constant perspective shifts and minutiae-driven in style.
It’s like…you know in cheesy soap-operaesque movies when something dramatic happens and the camera shifts from one face to the next for a reaction. It’s a really cheap sort of storytelling gimmick. Well, that’s exactly the style of this novel. All the author does is just pivot the camera from one character to the next and then gives them a few lines about their past and their motivations.
None of the characters are likeable or especially engaging. None of their secrets are that exciting. The writing is quite flat, more than the usually Scandinavian matter-of-factness. There’s just nothing much here. It’s pretty underwhelming, really.
I’ve heard about the author, but not caring for series as a format, never tried him until now with this standalone and I must say…it’s disappointing. Not a total waste of time, for it is mildly entertaining and an exceptionally quick read for the page count, and it randomly has a short story in the back which I really enjoyed. But not a glowing introduction to the author either. Going by reviews, many other readers share my opinion about the book. The location and the mood were there. The rest left a lot to be desired. Much like in Iceland in the winter...it might be best to avoid the Outside. Thanks Netgalley.