Thursday 17 January 2013

Hannes Hafstein (1861 – 1922)


(Chapter 35, page 229:  Icelanders took their horses and saddles and rode to greet their hero, Hannes Hafstein, almost two centuries earlier. * )

Hannes Hafstein (1861 – 1922) was an Icelandic politician and national poet – one of Iceland‘s most loved poets; known for elegance and wits and still to this day considered an outstanding politician. In 1904 he became the first Prime Minister of Iceland and the first Icelander to be appointed to the Danish Cabinet as the Minister for Iceland, based in Reykjavík as Iceland gained Home rule. It turned out to be a landmark in Iceland‘s quest for Independence.

Another historic echo in the gripping political thriller "Vulture's Lair" by Hallur Hallsson. 


 

Book Description

5 April 2012
A gripping political thriller set a few years into the future when the EU has become a fully federal superstate. A political elite out of control. A lone man seeking the truth Murder, mayhem and intrigue leading to the Vulture's Lair Brussels. The highest ranking Icelandic official at the United States of Europe, Solman Smithson, hears the voice of his old friend Krummi, who is fighting off armed guards. Krummi and Solman grew up together in the Westman Islands but while Solman became a bureaucrat, Krummi went to sea as one of Iceland's last fishermen. The Vulture is looking down on its prey. The chance encounter takes place as the new president, Erich Devereux, is installed into power. But rumours circulate that corrupt votes put him in power. Murders and violent attacks on journalists and academics proliferate in an apparently unconnected way. And as momentum builds in Iceland for independence from the USE the tempo of violence and intrigue quickens. The Vulture moves toward its prey. Fate decrees that only the big fisherman from the Westman Islands stands in the way of the dark forces of chaos. But can a fisherman from Iceland work out what is really going on. And can he survive long enough to make a difference. The Vulture closes in.

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