> Skip to content
  • Published: 1 October 2010
  • ISBN: 9781407092492
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 400

Operation Napoleon




A compelling international thriller sweeping from modern Iceland to America and Nazi Germany at the end of World War II.

1945: a lost German bomber crashes on the Vatnajökull glacier in Iceland.

Inexplicably, in the midst of World War Two, there are both German and American officers on board. One of the senior German officers sets off, a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist, never to be seen again.

1999, the US Army is secretively trying to remove an aeroplane from the Vatnajökull glacier.

Two young Icelanders become involved but end up paying with their lives. Before they are captured, one of the two contacts his sister, Kristin. Her quest to discover his fate takes her on a long and hazardous journey in search of the key to the riddle about Operation Napoleon.

WINNER OF THE CRIME WRITERS' ASSOCIATION GOLD DAGGER.

  • Published: 1 October 2010
  • ISBN: 9781407092492
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 400

About the author

Arnaldur Indridason

Arnaldur Indridason worked for many years as a journalist and critic before he began writing novels. His books have since sold over 13 million copies worldwide. Outside Iceland, he is best known for his crime novels featuring Erlendur and Sigurdur Óli, which are consistent bestsellers across Europe. The series has won numerous awards, including the Nordic Glass Key and the CWA Gold Dagger.

The Shadow District – the first book in the Reykjavík Wartime Mystery series – won the Premio RBA de Novela Negra, the world’s most lucrative crime fiction prize.

Also by Arnaldur Indridason

See all

Praise for Operation Napoleon

An international literary phenomenon - and it's easy to see why. His novels are gripping, authentic, haunting and lyrical

Harlan Coben

Rather than using excessive language and unnecessary description, Indriðason chooses a minimal style, which drip-feeds the details and keeps the reader guessing... Operation Napoleon is an intriguing novel, bleak and harsh in its description of cold, military narratives

Sophie Gordon, Aesthetica

There are hints of some of Indridason's trademark motifs-emotionally distant parents, brotherhood, the harsh Icelandic wilderness-but it's clear that he is using Operation Napoleon to address what seems to be a deeply controversial factor in Icelandic life: the US military presence at Keflavik

Euro Crime