Sacrifice (original 2008; edition 2009)

Spooky and scary without resorting to gruesome...kept me up very late! And I also want to visit the Shetland islands now, as the book is suffused with their atmosphere and rugged beauty. ( )

This is the first book I've read for The Great Transworld Crime Caper. I'm a big fan of crime fiction so I thought I would take the opportunity to try out some new authors, the synopsis for Sacrifice left me looking forward to it arriving in the post.

The action kicks off within the first chapter of the book as Tora discovers the mutilated corpse buried on her land. From that point on I felt completely drawn in to the plot, and found it really hard to put the book down. There is no let up from the plot, even the quieter sections are all plot building, there is certainly no filler to be found. About halfway through I had a eureka moment and was sure I knew how the plot was going to end, whilst my thoughts were not wrong they definitely fell far short of the brilliant conclusion to the book. Bolton managed to fit so much into the plot yet it never felt unrealistic.

I found the characters easy to engage with, Tora particularly. I found myself getting really invested in her story, when she dug further and further into what was going on I felt anxious about what might happen to her. At the various points when her attempts were thwarted I found myself getting frustrated on her behalf. I also really liked the character of Dana, I found that I could identify pretty well with her.

The way the book is written worked really well for me. I've never travelled to the Shetland Isles but Bolton describes the area in such a way that I could picture it really clearly. I loved the way that folklore and legend was woven into the plot, I think the combination of this and the setting worked to make the book a really interesting read.
( )

This is the first book I've read for The Great Transworld Crime Caper. I'm a big fan of crime fiction so I thought I would take the opportunity to try out some new authors, the synopsis for Sacrifice left me looking forward to it arriving in the post.

The action kicks off within the first chapter of the book as Tora discovers the mutilated corpse buried on her land. From that point on I felt completely drawn in to the plot, and found it really hard to put the book down. There is no let up from the plot, even the quieter sections are all plot building, there is certainly no filler to be found. About halfway through I had a eureka moment and was sure I knew how the plot was going to end, whilst my thoughts were not wrong they definitely fell far short of the brilliant conclusion to the book. Bolton managed to fit so much into the plot yet it never felt unrealistic.

I found the characters easy to engage with, Tora particularly. I found myself getting really invested in her story, when she dug further and further into what was going on I felt anxious about what might happen to her. At the various points when her attempts were thwarted I found myself getting frustrated on her behalf. I also really liked the character of Dana, I found that I could identify pretty well with her.

The way the book is written worked really well for me. I've never travelled to the Shetland Isles but Bolton describes the area in such a way that I could picture it really clearly. I loved the way that folklore and legend was woven into the plot, I think the combination of this and the setting worked to make the book a really interesting read.
( )

After reading [b:Awakening|58345|The Awakening|Kate Chopin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170507247s/58345.jpg|1970518] by the same author, I couldn't wait to read her first book, which this was. Like [b:Awakening|58345|The Awakening|Kate Chopin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170507247s/58345.jpg|1970518], it features a highly skilled professional woman who is also a bit of an athlete and daredevil. Tora Hamilton, an obstetrician, has recently moved to her husband's native Shetland Islands with him. She is the sort of woman who, when a beloved horse dies of old age, rents a digger so that she can bury him herself. Her plans are foiled by the discovery of a human body which has been horribly mutilated and then carefully buried. Local police seem to want to brush her concerns aside, except for one woman detective who's also an off-islander. Ancient Shetland folklore and all-too-modern concerns combine for a thrilling plot, and Tora's personal and professional skills will both be badly needed if she is to survive. Can she trust even her own husband? I devoted a large part of a day to reading this book, it was one of the rare "can't put it down" variety. Highly recommended. ( )

I took this book home from the meeting at Terschelling.

For the story itself the book gets 3 stars, for the scenery, setting and information (whether true or invented is not important to me) it gets 4 stars. After doing the math, I give it 3.5 stars.

I liked the book. The detective part of the story was nice, well written, but didn't keep me really focussed untill I neared the end (at about 2/3 of the book I had to read on to find out what would happen to Tora and the other characters). The intriguing part of runes, their meaning, the Kuna Trow, Viking historical roots, that was far more interesting, what kept me reading in the first part of the book. ( )