The Defense Attorney (2016)

A mother flees with her young daughter from the United States to Iceland in breach of a court ruling. A team of specialists are hired to retrieve the child. They befriend the mother, deceive her by staging a film shoot, and try to kidnap the child in the night. Supreme Court lawyer Stefan Bjarnason makes an appearance in Icelandic literature for the first time. He is the Defense Attorney, the protagonist of the story. Quick witted, smooth and confident in both defense and attack, he is fickle in his private life, unable to sustain a relationship, and is constantly between women. The story involves love, friendship, infidelity, abuse, cold blooded murder, and an unexpected ending. Despite a harsh storyline the narrative is written with manly sensitivity; it is sweet and beautiful with sharp wit and humor that is never far off. A thrilling crime drama!

Reviews

The Defense Attorney is an exciting novel that is difficult to set aside before it’s finished. The characters are believeable and some are incredibly similar to nationally recognized figures. It is a funny, entertaining, and thrilling story. The book’s author, Oskar Magnusson, worked in the field of law and introduces his readers to that world... The novel’s main character is the supreme court attorney Stefan Bjarnason who takes on a difficult custody case – a case which Oskar himself could have worked on during his career as a lawyer. The Defense Attorney is like so many other good books that collect grains of truth here and there... Once you’ve started reading, it is difficult to put down – but that’s how a good book should be.

Vilhjalmur A. Kjartansson, Morgunbladid daily

The Defense Attorney is a bulletproof, action-packed crime novel. Oskar manages to stich together such dramatic situations that the reader can’t help but laugh out loud. An extremely funny and thrilling crime story. Yeah. That’s new.

Jakob Bjarnar Gretarsson, Frettabladid daily (interview)