Broken by Jon Atli Jonasson

 

Broken by Jón Atli Jónasson.

Translated by Uentin Bates.

Published 12th June 2025 by Corylus Books.

From the cover of the book:

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 conenctions 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.

Broken takes place in a side of Reykjavik no visitor would ever want to see, as 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.

The first novel by award-winning screenwriter Jon Atli Jonasson to appear in English, Broken is the first of a razor-edged crime trilogy shot through with black humour and characters who leap off the page.

***********

When rookie cop, Dora, and her partner, Ellioi, attended an incident at a swanky house in Reykjavik late one night, there was no knowing that it would change the course of Dora's life. Years later, the brain injury she received that night from a stray bullet keeps her desk bound, and distant from her fellow officers who are uncomfortable with her strange ways. But Dora's unusual way of looking at the world also gives her an edge when it comes to solving crime.

Rado, born of refugee parents, has worked his way up the police ranks, but his connection to organised crime through his wife's family has derailed all his hopes of a successful career. With a major investigation underway into his father-in-law, Rado feels himself an outcast.

When a call comes in about a missing girl, the only officers available to answer are the two outsiders - Dora and Rado. Determined to prove their worth, they are willing to work together to the bitter end to solve this case, even though they make for an ill-matched pair. It is an investigation that takes them deep into the dark underbelly of Reykjavik, and to the dizzying heights of an exclusive new apartment block built to house the city's elite, and at every turn they are making powerful enemies...

Broken is the first novel from award-winning screenwriter Jon Atli Jonasson to appear in English, focusing on two very different detectives who are bound by their status as outsiders within the Reykjavik police department. 

Dora's life-altering brain injury has caused a shift in the way she perceives the world. It often puts her at odds with those around her who find her compulsions and vocal ticks unfathomable, but gives her an intriguing advantage when it comes to looking at cases from a different angle - something which her boss Ellioi seems to be the only one who appreciates. In contrast, Rado's family situation is less than ideal for a serving police officer, and no one wants to be associated with him. His position is made worse when a power struggle in Reykjavik's underworld drags him in.

And so the scene is set for an unlikely buddy story, which has a spectacular cinematic feel - perhaps unsurprising given Jonasson's pedigree as a screen writer. The plot soon thickens as the missing person investigation gets ever more complicated, corruption rears its ugly head, and threads from Dora and Rado's personal lives add deliciously gritty grist to suspenseful Nordic Noir mill. Both characters are written with such lovely depth,  and they make a formidable partnership - just as well since Jonasson throws substantial trials and tribulations at them in the course of the story. I adored Dora, and enjoyed how Rado gradually wins you over as you get to know him.

Jonasson packs this cracking police procedural with juicy themes, particularly when it comes to exploring different facets of outsiders through neurodivergence, race, immigration status, sex, and gender. I promise your thoughts will be well and truly provoked.

Another absolute stunner from the translated fiction genre, which is exactly what I have come to expect from Corylus Books, with bags of pitch black humour, and a kicker of an ending,  Beautifully translated by Quentin Bates too, who always pulls out the stops to keep you totally immersed in all the twists, turns, and nuances of every book he works on.

I cannot wait to meet Dora and Rado again in the next part of the trilogy!

Broken is available to buy now in hardcover and ebook. Thank you to FMcM Associates for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to join the blog tour.

About the author:

One of Iceland's foremost playwrights, Jon Atli Jonasson 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.