Reykjavik Literary Agency

A 1970s murder mystery draws the reader into an eerie exploration of humanity's connection to music.

Electronic artist and musical misfit Grima ventures to East Iceland to play at the local metal festival, although she finds little in common with metalheads and feels the festival much too mainstream for her eclectic taste. The journey becomes a turning point when she comes across an old Swedish folk album that is linked to a chilling murder mystery from the 1970s. As an ancient piece of music begins to exert a mystical influence over her, Grima finds herself ensnared in a web of supernatural connections.

Lake of Fire is a philosophical horror story that strikes a new chord in Icelandic literature. It traverses time and space, shifting between contemporary Iceland and Sweden's "progg" movement, exploring humanity's relationship to music from unexpected and often dark perspectives.

English Sample, Long synopsis, Reader's Report

Reviews

“It’s a notoriously difficult thing to write about music—but when you do it well, something magical happens. Wild and thrilling and bizarre as Lake of Fire can be, it achieves something even more unusual: capturing the music-making life, in both its mundanity and its glory. And that is a rare thing indeed.”

JOHN WRAY, NOVELIST

“[Gunnar’s] most ambitious work to date but also his most masterfully crafted narrative.”

EINAR FALUR INGOLFSSON / MORGUNBLADID DAILY

“This book is nothing short of remarkable—a genuinely outstanding accomplishment.”

THORGEIR TRYGGVASON, KILJAN, ICELANDIC NATIONAL TV

“The slow-burning weirdness escalates until the horror utterly possesses the reader.” ALEXANDER DAN, AUTHOR OF SHADOWS OF THE SHORT DAYS “An otherworldly and elaborate novel.”

INGI MARKUSSON, AUTHOR OF THE SHADOW BRIDGE

“The book is an artfully crafted horror story that weaves together mythology and mysticism with the enchanting power of music, playing with the boundaries of reality and fantasy, magic and madness, and keeps the reader in its gripping hold until the very last page.”

SVANHVIT SIF SIGURDARDOTTIR, THE LITERATURE WEB

Lake of Fire (2024)

Reviews