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Trollnight
When American scientist Tony Stevens hears that his sister has been killed in a skiing accident in Oslo, he refuses to believe it. After much investigation, he discovers that whatever killed his sister is now after him.
- GenresHorror
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
92 people are currently reading
155 people want to read
About the author
Peter Tremayne
206 books473 followersPeter Berresford Ellis (born 10 March 1943) is a historian, literary biographer, and novelist who has published over 90 books to date either under his own name or his pseudonyms Peter Tremayne and Peter MacAlan. He has also published 95 short stories. His non-fiction books, articles and academic papers have made him acknowledged as an authority on Celtic history and culture. As Peter Tremayne, he is the author of the international bestselling Sister Fidelma mystery series. His work has appeared in 25 languages.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 24, 2024
Tony Stevens has to fly to Norway, Oslo. His sister Ann died from a skiing accident in a little town called Trolltinder. Problem is she wasn't skiing and afraid of heights. When more people are killed things get mysterious. Who killed those people? Inhabitants believe an old legend has come to life. Are trolls committing those terrible crimes? Captivating story between murder mystery and horror with some eerie motifs and references to the occult (the black magic racket described). Who is the uncanny "master" behind all that? A fine page turner from the 80s with many a good twist and a good ending. Really recommended!
February 14, 2024
This is a surprisingly well-written, independently published, horror novel, by an author of whom I had never heard. I write surprisingly because the story begins as a believable murder mystery, and then slowly begins to shade toward an excellent paranormal, monster tale.
Tony Stevens had been away on assignment for Doctors Without Borders when a notification belatedly arrives that his younger sister has tragically perished in a skiing accident in Oslo, Norway where she attends school. He is emotionally thrown, not by her burial, but by the fact that his sister was afraid of heights. She would have never attempted skiing; so, he begins to investigate the circumstance of her passing.
His sister, Ann, was working at a burial site near Trolltinder as part of her archaeological training, but the townsfolk are up-in-arms due to the disturbance of ancestral remains. It also seems that Ann had become involved in a group of seekers with supernatural connections and explorers of paranormal occurrences. Her death appears less accidental and more purposeful with a bend toward mythical or maybe even folkloric creatures.
I liked this story a lot. Although not a perfect tale, it was sufficiently nuanced to keep me intrigued throughout. The plot was winding, with the red herrings of an actual murder mystery, but also rife with the building suspense and horror of a good (bordering on great) scary monster novel.
Tony Stevens had been away on assignment for Doctors Without Borders when a notification belatedly arrives that his younger sister has tragically perished in a skiing accident in Oslo, Norway where she attends school. He is emotionally thrown, not by her burial, but by the fact that his sister was afraid of heights. She would have never attempted skiing; so, he begins to investigate the circumstance of her passing.
His sister, Ann, was working at a burial site near Trolltinder as part of her archaeological training, but the townsfolk are up-in-arms due to the disturbance of ancestral remains. It also seems that Ann had become involved in a group of seekers with supernatural connections and explorers of paranormal occurrences. Her death appears less accidental and more purposeful with a bend toward mythical or maybe even folkloric creatures.
I liked this story a lot. Although not a perfect tale, it was sufficiently nuanced to keep me intrigued throughout. The plot was winding, with the red herrings of an actual murder mystery, but also rife with the building suspense and horror of a good (bordering on great) scary monster novel.
June 4, 2018
This one keeps building and building and building and then, when you think you're about to see something resembling the title, it starts losing steam. There's a sharp contrast between the first third and the final portion where the villain hits all the hackneyed tropes from leading the heroes down to a basement with a loaded gun to tell them about their plan and lock them in, to the final scare from the villain you thought was dead. The real trolls never actually show up, as explained by both the narrator and our protagonists in the closing paragraph.
November 21, 2021
This book came onto my radar when Michael Patrick Hicks shared it was on Kindle deal for either $0.99 or $1.99 a few years back. The cover seemed to indicate that it was going to be a fun creature feature and with a title like 'Trollnight' I was excited. I didn't really read the synopsis, nor did I before diving in recently, but having now finished the book and reading the synopsis, I'm still a bit torn over how misleading it ultimately is.
I do have Tremayne's book 'Snowbeast!' as well, but I'm honestly nervous about diving into that one after reading this.
What I liked: The setup screams 'a book Steve will love.' After a woman dies in Norway her brother goes to try and find out more information. He's not convinced she died the way the authorities say and when he gets there discovers that a supernatural reason might be behind her death.
Yeah? Yeah? Sounds great, right?
After finishing this one, I'm actually surprised I didn't DNF it. I'll get more into that in the next section, but let's talk about what I enjoyed.
The book bristles with tension and dread. We expect something monumental to happen and we get sucked along as more and more layers are unveiled and we get the expected 'the plot thickens' moments. I enjoyed how Dr. Stevens kept after the truth, believing his gut feeling about his sister and how he was willing to put himself in danger time and time again to try and uncover the truth.
The setting of the book was also phenomenal and it actually works to make this book almost timeless. Set in a remote location in Norway, where often they have to walk/hike to different places, even if cellphones were prominent or this was set in the current reality, they most likely wouldn't have reception. This allowed for the action to pick up when, if set in a modern city, would simply be over after a phone call or text message.
As for the troll aspect, well, the few chapters were we see some troll action are the best parts of the book.
What I didn't like: I typically try and remain completely spoiler free, but this book completely lies to the reader with the synopsis, so boo on that. Look, the reality is, this book is about a brother and a police chief who uncover a black magic group and need to discover why people have been murdered. The trolls are seldom even an issue, and we get more time hearing about how the townsfolk believe a troll is seeking vengeance than any actual troll action.
We get a number of ridiculous plot points - such as the entire reason Dr. Stevens doesn't believe his sister died skiing was because she had a fear of skiing and being outside. That's it. Seriously. It gets brought up over and over again.
We also get characters shrugging after every single sequence of dialogue as well as they either have a moment of emotion pass over their faces or they bite their lip and look away. Every time. Doesn't matter which character it is, someone will say something and BAM - a shrug or lip bite.
And lastly (I could actually go on but won't) one of the most interesting characters, Inga, gets left behind every time to wait for the police simply because she's a woman. It drove me batty. Here, Dr. Stevens doesn't speak much/any Norwegian and has never been here before, but he frequently leaves her and runs off while chasing a hunch. It became laughable.
Why you should buy this: Look, at the end of the day, if this was called something else, say 'A Death in the Fjord's' and was marketed as a thriller with nothing to do with Troll's the book would be infinitely better and infinitely more accurate. You may very well love this 'who-done-it' thriller, but you won't be getting any sort of Troll fix here and for that, I'm truly disappointed.
I do have Tremayne's book 'Snowbeast!' as well, but I'm honestly nervous about diving into that one after reading this.
What I liked: The setup screams 'a book Steve will love.' After a woman dies in Norway her brother goes to try and find out more information. He's not convinced she died the way the authorities say and when he gets there discovers that a supernatural reason might be behind her death.
Yeah? Yeah? Sounds great, right?
After finishing this one, I'm actually surprised I didn't DNF it. I'll get more into that in the next section, but let's talk about what I enjoyed.
The book bristles with tension and dread. We expect something monumental to happen and we get sucked along as more and more layers are unveiled and we get the expected 'the plot thickens' moments. I enjoyed how Dr. Stevens kept after the truth, believing his gut feeling about his sister and how he was willing to put himself in danger time and time again to try and uncover the truth.
The setting of the book was also phenomenal and it actually works to make this book almost timeless. Set in a remote location in Norway, where often they have to walk/hike to different places, even if cellphones were prominent or this was set in the current reality, they most likely wouldn't have reception. This allowed for the action to pick up when, if set in a modern city, would simply be over after a phone call or text message.
As for the troll aspect, well, the few chapters were we see some troll action are the best parts of the book.
What I didn't like: I typically try and remain completely spoiler free, but this book completely lies to the reader with the synopsis, so boo on that. Look, the reality is, this book is about a brother and a police chief who uncover a black magic group and need to discover why people have been murdered. The trolls are seldom even an issue, and we get more time hearing about how the townsfolk believe a troll is seeking vengeance than any actual troll action.
We get a number of ridiculous plot points - such as the entire reason Dr. Stevens doesn't believe his sister died skiing was because she had a fear of skiing and being outside. That's it. Seriously. It gets brought up over and over again.
We also get characters shrugging after every single sequence of dialogue as well as they either have a moment of emotion pass over their faces or they bite their lip and look away. Every time. Doesn't matter which character it is, someone will say something and BAM - a shrug or lip bite.
And lastly (I could actually go on but won't) one of the most interesting characters, Inga, gets left behind every time to wait for the police simply because she's a woman. It drove me batty. Here, Dr. Stevens doesn't speak much/any Norwegian and has never been here before, but he frequently leaves her and runs off while chasing a hunch. It became laughable.
Why you should buy this: Look, at the end of the day, if this was called something else, say 'A Death in the Fjord's' and was marketed as a thriller with nothing to do with Troll's the book would be infinitely better and infinitely more accurate. You may very well love this 'who-done-it' thriller, but you won't be getting any sort of Troll fix here and for that, I'm truly disappointed.
July 9, 2018
Great storyline. Surprise ending!
I enjoyed this book. The personalities of the characters were well developed and helped the story come alive. The main character was very likeable and relatable. The story got bogged down a little as the author tried to bring all the characters and their stories together to relate to the main character, but on the whole, it was an enjoyable story that grabbed your interest. The ending was a surprise and totally different from what you thought it was going to be; which was what the author wanted all along. I would have liked that the love interest of the main character had a more substantial part at the end of the story, since she was such an integral part of the story as a whole.
I enjoyed this book. The personalities of the characters were well developed and helped the story come alive. The main character was very likeable and relatable. The story got bogged down a little as the author tried to bring all the characters and their stories together to relate to the main character, but on the whole, it was an enjoyable story that grabbed your interest. The ending was a surprise and totally different from what you thought it was going to be; which was what the author wanted all along. I would have liked that the love interest of the main character had a more substantial part at the end of the story, since she was such an integral part of the story as a whole.
January 29, 2021
Peter Tremayne excels in establishing cold, bleak settings for his horror novels, and TROLLNIGHT is no exception. The creepy little town in Norway where much of the story takes place is vividly brought to life and works wonderfully as a backdrop for unknown horrors. Tremayne sometimes fails to populate his settings with likable protagonists, but in this case the hero and his Nordic girlfriend are pretty well developed and easy to root for. Sadly, the horrors in TROLLNIGHT are underwhelming. In some ways this is more of a mystery novel than a horror book, and not a particularly good mystery novel, either. The troll suggested in the title is underused and finally not particularly scary anyway. If you're looking for a wintry mystery with a few horrific touches, then you might really like TROLLNIGHT. For me, though, it was a big letdown.
February 8, 2018
Trollnight
The imaginations of mankind are wonderful. They give us many things. They might even have or give answers to the things we believe we know . The mind can control many things and when many minds are merged unbelievable things may happen. This book amazingly takes you through all these aspects. Read, ENJOY ! I RECOMMEND !
The imaginations of mankind are wonderful. They give us many things. They might even have or give answers to the things we believe we know . The mind can control many things and when many minds are merged unbelievable things may happen. This book amazingly takes you through all these aspects. Read, ENJOY ! I RECOMMEND !
June 11, 2019
Good until 80%
This was a weird experience for me....usually the first 30% is the hardest to get into in a book and at 75% the book flies by.
I debated stopping reading this book at 80%. For me the problem was I started to really dislike Tony. He came off like this arrogant American doctor in the end... I found it very difficult to finish. Great story but it fizzled for me.
This was a weird experience for me....usually the first 30% is the hardest to get into in a book and at 75% the book flies by.
I debated stopping reading this book at 80%. For me the problem was I started to really dislike Tony. He came off like this arrogant American doctor in the end... I found it very difficult to finish. Great story but it fizzled for me.
December 6, 2022
A bit disappointed
On finishing this book I was left feeling a bit disappointed. Its my own fault as I expected something completely different as an ending. Only my opinion so have a go and see what you think
On finishing this book I was left feeling a bit disappointed. Its my own fault as I expected something completely different as an ending. Only my opinion so have a go and see what you think
September 10, 2019
The premise is great. What I read was good. I just couldn't get in to it.
June 22, 2024
“Trollnight” sells itself as a supernatural creature story when it is in effect a police procedural thriller. The story has Doctor Tony Stevens travelling to Norway to investigate the recent death of his sister as he is not convinced by the authorities’ explanation. In Oslo he begins to uncover a tale of crooked black magic adepts which leads him to the mountain town of Trolltinder, which appears to be in a state of hysteria relating to an academic excavation of a Viking grave. The locals claim the grave to be a relic of the trolls and disturbing it will lead to disaster. This is a light, easy read that opens with a mystery and setup that is full of tension. That tension escalates as the plot deepens and strange new subplots are opened. The remote Norwegian settings are nicely handled with Tremayne’s writing providing a real sense of place allied to some nicely realised character depictions. Unfortunately, the ending is rushed and anti-climactic with revelation and dispatch of the baddie handled over a few measly pages. The “trolls” only stop being skulking presences at the end when their true nature is disappointingly revealed. Overall, this is a fun read that rather runs out of steam and ends in a disappointingly rushed and non-supernatural ending.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews