Home » Reading & Literature » Book Picks » Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg

Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg

© Kathy Kehrli

Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg

What if someone you knew mysteriously died? What if you had a sixth sense that gave you inside information that this death was really murder? What if each step you made, each new discovery, put your own life further at risk? Would you seek the answers at all costs? These are the circumstances that Smilla Jaspersen is faced with in Peter Hoeg’s wildly suspenseful thriller, Smilla’s Sense of Snow.

When young Isaiah is found lying in the snow, victim of a fatal fall from a seven-story building, Smilla cannot accept that it was an accident. First of all, Isaiah had an irrationally strong fear of heights. He would retreat to the roof only as a last alternative, because someone (someone that he was deathly afraid of) was chasing him. Coupled with Isaiah’s fear of heights is Smilla’s uncanny ability to ‘read’ snow. From the tracks on the roof, she can deduce that Isaiah was trying to jump to the adjoining building in a last ditch effort to escape his pursuer. So, when the police close the case, Smilla keeps searching. The things she discovers will put her own life in jeopardy.

Two years earlier, on an expedition to Greenland, Isaiah’s father suddenly died of food poisoning (or so they said). Smilla knows there is a connection between the two deaths. Her sleuthing will uncover a tear in Isaiah's pants where a muscle biopsy was taken, a cassette tape with a mysterious voice, an undercover drug operation and a parasitic worm that was the real culprit in the death of Isaiah’s father.

Now, the masterminds behind this deadly plot are heading back to Greenland to finish what they started and Smilla is on board ship. Will she make it back alive?

This novel has been translated from the Danish language into English and to give you fair warning, there are quite a few technical scenes, foreign words mixed in and many specialized descriptions. If you can get past the difficult jargon, however, you are sure to be in for one thrilling ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat to the very end. With such a suspenseful plot line, it's no wonder this book was a bestseller and the basis of a major motion picture.

Please join in my discussion on books versus movies and be sure to vote in my poll. The results will determine what books you see covered here next. To sign up for updates to this page and to discuss your favorite “not-to-be-missed” books, go to the following URL: "http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/Books-Y..."

The copyright of the article Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg in Book Picks is owned by Irene Taylor. Permission to republish Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.