Review: MIDNIGHT SUN, Blood on the Snow, BooK 2, Jo Nesbo

My Take:

This is the second in the Blood on The Snow series, stories about Norwegian contract killers.

It is a little longer than the first in the series which I reviewed on this blog a couple of years ago.

Jon Hansen is on a bus heading north, as far away from Oslo as he can get.

A small time drug dealer in desperate need of extra money to save the life of his young daughter with leukaemia, he took a job with The Fisherman as a debt collector and fixer. If he can’t collect the debt then The Fisherman expects him to eliminate the person owing the money. But killing things has never been his strong point and he falls at the first hurdle when the victim offers him money in return for letting him disappear. In addition his finger just won’t pull the trigger.

And so now The Fisherman is after him and he is on the run. He gets as far as Kasund on the Finnmark plateau and gets off the bus in the middle of the night, spending the rest of the night on the floor of the local church. Saying he is there for the hunting season he takes a cottage some distance out of the village and waits to see if The Fisherman catches up with him.

In some ways this is a story of redemption, even a love story. Something a little different, with some humour, but still noir.

My Rating: 4.4

Review: THE THIRST, Jo Nesbo

• Format: kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 3361 KB
• Print Length: 538 pages
• Publisher: Vintage Digital (April 20, 2017)
• Publication Date: April 20, 2017
• Sold by: PRH UK
• Language: English
• ASIN: B01LXW31Q5
• series: Harry Hole #11

Synopsis: Amazon


HARRY HOLE IS BACK!

THERE’S A NEW KILLER ON THE STREETS...
A woman is found murdered after an internet date. The marks left on her body show the police that they are dealing with a particularly vicious killer.

HE’S IN YOUR HOUSE… HE’S IN YOUR ROOM
Under pressure from the media to find the murderer, the force know there’s only one man for the job. But Harry Hole is reluctant to return to the place that almost took everything from him. Until he starts to suspect a connection between this killing and his one failed case.

HE’S OUT FOR BLOOD
When another victim is found, Harry realises he will need to put everything on the line if he’s to finally catch the one who got away.


My Take


Harry Hole is as content as he's ever been. He is married, working as a lecturer at the Police Academy, even using his previous cases as examples for his students. He has promised his wife Rakel that he will never return to active policing. And his stepson Oleg has joined up.

But amongst the police force his reputation is legendary as the one who never lets a killer get away, even putting his own life on the line. And now murders are happening and the police think they know who is responsible - someone who did escape from Harry four years earlier.


Police Chief Mikael Bellman wants to be the Minster for Justice and a quick resolution to this nasty case is just what is needed. He needs Harry to come back, even though Harry is the bane of his life.


This is a gritty noir read, not for the squeamish.  It involves a vampirist, as well as being a long novel in three stages. Just when you think it is finished you realise that your Kindle is saying there is still 2 hours of reading left and Harry points out there are still some loose ends.

An excellent read.


My rating: 4.8

I've also read
NEMESIS
THE REDEEMER
5.0, THE SNOWMAN
4.8, THE LEOPARD
4.7, HEADHUNTERS
4.7, PHANTOM
4.7, THE BAT
4.7, POLICE
5.0, THE SON
4.4, BLOOD ON SNOW

Review: BLOOD ON SNOW, Jo Nesbo

• published Random House 2015
  
• English translation by Neil Smith, from Norwegian
• this edition Random House Large Print, 164 pages
• ISBN 978-0-8041-9488-4
• source: my local library

Synopsis

From the internationally acclaimed author of the Harry Hole novels—a fast, tight, darkly lyrical stand-alone novel that has at its center the perfectly sympathetic antihero: an Oslo contract killer who draws us into an unexpected meditation on death and love.

This is the story of Olav: an extremely talented “fixer” for one of Oslo’s most powerful crime bosses. But Olav is also an unusually complicated fixer. He has a capacity for love that is as far-reaching as is his gift for murder. He is our straightforward, calm-in-the-face-of-crisis narrator with a storyteller’s hypnotic knack for fantasy. He has an “innate talent for subordination” but running through his veins is a “virus” born of the power over life and death. And while his latest job puts him at the pinnacle of his trade, it may be mutating into his greatest mistake. . . .

My Take

Olav tries to put what he does for a living on a professional footing: he refers to those who pay him as his clients, and those he kills as units. This is part of his own strategy to remain aloof and to depersonalise what he does.

When he is contracted to kill the client's wife, things begin to go wrong, and Olav makes a decision which means his client will be gunning for him, literally. Olav tries to play Oslo underworld bosses off against each other. But not everyone is as loyal as he thinks they are.

BLOOD ON SNOW is really a novella, a quick read, a short snippet of Olav's life, not a Harry Hole novel. Even so, we learn quite a bit about Olav, his background, and what he does.

I think the thing I liked best was the twist in the tail in the final pages.

My rating: 4.4

I've also reviewed
NEMESIS
THE REDEEMER
5.0, THE SNOWMAN
4.8, THE LEOPARD
4.7, HEADHUNTERS
4.7, PHANTOM
4.7, THE BAT
4.7, POLICE
5.0, THE SON

Review: THE SON, Jo Nesbo

• e-book courtesy publisher Random House UK, Vintage Publishing on Net Galley
• ISBN 9781448161102
• published in 2014
• stand-alone

Synopsis (NetGalley)

SONNY’S ON THE RUN Sonny is a model prisoner. He listens to the confessions of other inmates, and absolves them of their sins.

HE’S BEEN LIED TO HIS WHOLE LIFE

But then one prisoner’s confession changes everything. He knows something about Sonny’s disgraced father.

SONNY WANTS REVENGE

He needs to break out of prison and make those responsible pay for their crimes.

WHATEVER THE COST

My Take

Jo Nesbo really proves in this book that he is the master storyteller.

A prison inmate, a heroin addict, serving time for two murders, has so far been in prison for twelve years. Another brutal murder occurs while he is on day release supervised by a prison officer.  When he is questioned by the police Sonny immediately confesses to the murder and they decide they have to look no further.

But then Sonny learns something from a fellow prisoner that leads to him retracting his confession and then escaping from a prison that is thought to be impossible to break out of.

To be honest the story that Nesbo develops strains the bounds of credibility but that doesn't seem to matter as he reels you in page after page. You can't help wanting to know how it all turns out. And all the way through there are little mysteries that keep you guessing. 

It is a fairly black book, with widespread corruption, a number of gruesome murders, and shattered dreams.

One of the best books I've read this year.

My Rating: 5.0

I've also reviewed
NEMESIS
THE REDEEMER
5.0, THE SNOWMAN
4.8, THE LEOPARD
4.7, HEADHUNTERS
4.7, PHANTOM
4.7, THE BAT
4.7, POLICE

Review: POLICE, Jo Nesbo

• published by Harvill Secker London 2013
• ISBN 978-1-84655597-98
• 518 pages
• translated from Norwegian by Don Bartlett
• #8 in the Oslo sequence
• from my local library

Synopsis (Random House Australia)

The police urgently need Harry Hole
A killer is stalking Oslo's streets. Police officers are being slain at the scenes of crimes they once investigated, but failed to solve. The murders are brutal, the media reaction hysterical.

But this time, Harry can't help anyone

For years, detective Harry Hole has been at the centre of every major criminal investigation in Oslo. His dedication to his job and his brilliant insights have saved the lives of countless people. But now, with those he loves most facing terrible danger, Harry can't protect anyone.

Least of all himself.

My Take

A Jo Nesbo novel is never a light read, and at 518 pages POLICE bears this out. It has taken me over a week to read, partly because I didn't seem to be able to digest more than about 50 pages at a time.

This is not a novel you can read as a stand-alone either. There are references to Harry's earlier cases, and indeed remembering a little about some of them seems crucial to making sense of POLICE. There are characters such as the Chief of Police Mikael Bellmann and Harry Hole's lover Rakel who provide a thread of continuity from one novel to another.

Harry Hole's clear up rate is legendary in the Oslo Police and so we know that if he can't work out who the Cop Killer is, no one can. But Harry is no longer officially part of the police force, which is a conundrum. And for about a third of the novel we are wondering exactly where Harry is.

I came away from POLICE wondering if every thread had been satisfactorily tied off. Certainly corruption is not confined to the criminals and the official version of events is not always what actually happened. Underneath is Harry Hole's version of justice.

My rating: 4.7

Reviews to check
Karen @ EuroCrime
Marilyn Stasio @ New York Times

Did you see this news? (from Jo Nesbo's site)

We are delighted to announce two new novels from Jo Nesb繪 writing under the pen name Tom Johansen. The first book, Blood on Snow, will be published in autumn 2014 with the second, Blood On Snow 2 (working title), to follow in spring 2015. Further information about both books and Tom Johansen will be revealed in early 2014.

It seems also that, though translated as #8 in "the Oslo sequence" POLICE is actually #10 in the series.

I also saw this among the site's news items.

30 September 2013

Jo has four titles on the bestseller lists in Norway this week. Doctor Proctor and the Great Gold Robbery (Doctor Proctor #4, published in 2012) is No. 1 and Police is No. 8 on the official list for fiction.
Phantom (Harry Hole #9, published in 2011) is No. 11 and Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder (Doctor Proctor #1, published in 2007) is No. 14 on the official paperback list .

For me it reinforces how little I actually know about Jo Nesbo although I have read all of the following
NEMESIS
THE REDEEMER
5.0, THE SNOWMAN
4.8, THE LEOPARD
4.7, HEADHUNTERS
4.7, PHANTOM
4.7, THE BAT

Crime Fiction Alphabet 2013: J is for Jo Nesbo

Following a pattern established in 2012, my contributions to the Crime Fiction Alphabet in 2013 will feature authors or books that I have read recently.

My choice this week is THE BAT by Jo Nesbo

I read this as an audio book. Set in Sydney, this is the first Harry Hole book, only recently published in English.

Harry is out of his depth.
Detective Harry Hole is meant to keep out of trouble. A young Norwegian girl taking a gap year in Sydney has been murdered, and Harry has been sent to Australia to assist in any way he can.
He's not supposed to get too involved.
When the team unearths a string of unsolved murders and disappearances, nothing will stop Harry from finding out the truth. The hunt for a serial killer is on, but the murderer will talk only to Harry.
He might just be the next victim.

See my review

See what others have chosen for the letter J.

Review: THE BAT, Jo Nesbo - audio book

• Format: audio book from Audible.com, narrated by Sean Barrett
• Length: 10 hours 43 minutes
• series: Harry Hole Book 1
• published in audio 2012
• Published in Norway 1997
• translated into English 2012 by Don Bartlett

Publishers Summary (Audible.com)

The thrilling first book in the best-selling Harry Hole series, never before published in English.

Harry is out of his depth.
Detective Harry Hole is meant to keep out of trouble. A young Norwegian girl taking a gap year in Sydney has been murdered, and Harry has been sent to Australia to assist in any way he can.
He's not supposed to get too involved.
When the team unearths a string of unsolved murders and disappearances, nothing will stop Harry from finding out the truth. The hunt for a serial killer is on, but the murderer will talk only to Harry.
He might just be the next victim.

Appearing in English for the first time, The Bat is the legendary first novel from the worldwide phenomenon Jo Nesbo.

My Take

Jo Nesbo was almost coy at Adelaide Writer's Week last year when he told us THE BAT would be released in English during 2012. It's setting alone, Harry Hole in Sydney investigating the murder of a Norwegian tourist, ensures that it is of interest to Australian crime fiction addicts, especially those who have followed Harry's progress in the later novels in the series. 

I wondered at the time whether his coyness was related to the Australian setting, whether he thought that Australian readers would be supercritical about comments made about our home by an "outsider". Or was he embarrassed because he thought we would find the story unpolished?

But how could that be? THE BAT was awarded with the most prestigious crime writing award in Norway, The Riverton Prize (Rivertonprisen) 1997 for Best Norwegian Crime Novel of the Year, as well as the premier crime writing award in Scandinavia, The Glass Key (Glasnyckeln) 1998 for Best Nordic Crime Novel of the Year.

Nesbo himself says
“Written in beginner’s euphoria. A story which bears the marks of where it was written, both in terms of geography and my life. Just recently I read it on the radio, and to some extent I was dreading all the mistakes new writers make, but what struck me was how fresh and bold it is.”

Most reviews point out how much THE BAT fills in Harry Hole's back story.
Maxine Clarke said "THE BAT is a serviceable, tense crime novel with intriguing hints of what is to come".
But reviewers are divided about whether they like this book as much as later titles, whether delaying its availability in English was a good idea or not.

For me, the Harry Hole we meet in THE BAT isn't really the same person as we meet in later titles, although the signs are there.
In addition there's a lot more evidence of research into the setting than we get in later titles, possibly because Nesbo felt he had to explain the setting more to his Norwegian readers. At times it reads as if he has picked up a book of Aboriginal legends, studied the map of Sydney very carefully, and read a few travelogues.
I had trouble accepting that the Sydney Police would give Harry Hole such powers in directing action in a crime investigation.

Nevertheless an enjoyable and worthwhile read for me.

My rating: 4.7

Other Reviews to consider

• Sarah at Crime Pieces
• Maxine at EuroCrime
• Bernadette at Reactions to Reading
• The Sunday Times

Reviews on MiP of other books in the Harry Hole series
NEMESIS
THE REDEEMER
5.0, THE SNOWMAN
4.8, THE LEOPARD
4.7, HEADHUNTERS - not a Harry Hole
4.7, PHANTOM  

Review: PHANTOM, Jo Nesbo

• Published by Harvill Secker 2012
• translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett
• ISBN 978-1-846-55521-3
• 452 pages
• source: Library book

Synopsis (Random House Australia)

Summer. A boy is lying on the floor of an Oslo apartment. He is bleeding and will soon die. In order to place his life and death in some kind of context he begins to tell his story. Outside, the church bells toll. Autumn.
Former police inspector Harry Hole returns to Oslo after three years abroad. He seeks out his old boss at Police Headquarters to request permission to investigate a homicide. But the case is already closed: the young junkie was in all likelihood shot dead by a fellow addict. Yet, Harry is granted permission to visit the boy's alleged killer in jail. There, he meets himself and his own history.
What follows is the solitary investigation of what appears to be the first impossible case in Harry Hole's career. And while Harry is searching, the murdered boy continues his story. A man walks the dark streets of Oslo. The streets are his and he has always been there. He is a Phantom.

My take

An interestingly structured, but very noir book, with the dominant narrator a boy who is already dead. And a rat with a problem.

Harry Hole is a very changed person physically, with a titanium finger to replace one lost in THE SNOWMAN, and a dreadful scar on one side of his face. He has returned to Oslo because of a newspaper report he read and a suspicion about the identity of the perpetrator of a murder. When he tries to get a job in the police he is told the case he wants is already solved and so he goes it alone, calling in favours, going right to the top, and uncovering a drugs network to top them all.

Inevitably he contacts Rakel, the love of his life, but he also realises there is no going back, there is only the future. But do they really have one? Not in Norway it seems.

I struggled to get into this book and then to bring all the strands together. I'm still not sure that I have the definitive grip on who did what and why. It seemed to me to be bleaker and darker, if that is possible, than earlier novels.

My rating: 4.7

Other reviews of PHANTOM to check

• Petrona
• Euro Crime (Karen Meek)
• Crimepieces
• The Crime Segments 
• Crime Watch,
• The Game’s Afoot

Other reviews on MiP of Jo Nesbo novels
NEMESIS
THE REDEEMER
5.0, THE SNOWMAN
4.8, THE LEOPARD
4.7, HEADHUNTERS 

• Jo Nesbo on Facebook
• Jo Nesbo website
• Complete list of Harry Hole books, including the one set in Australia that started it all. Not yet available in English.

Review: HEADHUNTERS, Jo Nesbo

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 362 KB
• Print Length: 265 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1846555930
• Publisher: Vintage Digital (September 1, 2011)
• Translated from Norwegian by Don Bartlett
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005EWDA2E
• Source: I bought it

Product description (Amazon)

Roger Brown has it all. He's the country's most successful headhunter. He has a beautiful wife and a magnificent house. And to maintain this lifestyle, he's also a highly accomplished art thief.
At a gallery opening, his wife introduces him to Clas Greve. Not only is Greve the perfect candidate for a position with one of Roger's high-profile clients, he is also in possession of 'The Calydonian Boar Hunt' by Rubens, one of the most sought-after paintings in the world.Roger sees his chance to be rich beyond his wildest dreams and starts planning his boldest heist yet.
But soon, he runs into trouble - and this time money is the least of his worries...

My take

Norwegian crime fiction writer Jo Nesbo is well known to us for his Harry Hole police procedural series. I have read and reviewed a number of them (see the list below).
HEADHUNTERS is a stand-alone, not a Harry Hole title.

Set in Oslo, the novel's central character is Roger Brown, a highly successful corporate headhunter.

Roger Brown, the headhunter who has never nominated a candidate for a job he did not get, who if necessary manipulates, forces, levers and rams the candidate in, who has clients who trust his judgement implicitly, who without a moment’s hesitation place their company’s fate in his – and only his – hands. 

To put it another way, it was not Oslo Port Authority who appointed their new traffic director last year, it was not Avis who appointed their Scandinavian director and it was quite definitely not the local authority who appointed the director of the power station in Sirdal. It was me.

Roger's problem is that he leads a lifestyle that demands an income well beyond what he actually earns, but Roger has come up with a ploy by which he supplements his income by stealing from the people he interviews.

In the interviews Roger uses a nine-step model developed by American police investigators designed to lead to confession. In Roger's case he wants the person being interviewed to come to realise how unsuitable he is for the job. The rare interviewee who does not, is the one who is suitable for the job. In the process Roger discovers what assets the person has that might be worth stealing. When a theft takes place the finger of suspicion never points back to Roger because he has other measures in place.

HEADHUNTERS begins at a very sedate pace and in fact had me wondering why I was reading it. I know some readers who give a novel 20 or 50 pages to ramp up. If it hasn't grabbed their interest, or they can't see where it is heading, then they abandon it. They might easily have done so with HEADHUNTERS. But it is not in my nature to abandon ship and my persistence was rewarded when, at 20% into the novel, Roger interviews Clas Greve. Greve appears to be very clever, able to turn the tables on Roger. From that point on the action ramps up and we are reading a fast moving thriller.

This is a very clever novel. Although the cards are all on the table, in fact some of what the reader is told is ambiguous and there are a number of red herrings. I particularly enjoyed a scene towards the end where the police investigator gives an extended television interview in which he explains the events for the benefit of the audience. It reminded me of a Hercule Poirot denouement, except that HP doesn't usually get it wrong.

HEADHUNTERS isn't Nesbo's best novel, and I'm not sure I ever want to read about Roger Brown again, but it is still top level crime fiction.

My rating: 4.7

Other reviews you might like to check:

• Petrona
• The Independent
• Nordic Book Blog

Reviews on MiP of Nesbo books
NEMESIS
THE REDEEMER
5.0, THE SNOWMAN
4.8, THE LEOPARD

Review: THE LEOPARD, Jo Nesbo

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 926 KB
• Print Length: 624 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1846554004
• Publisher: CCV Digital (January 20, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004FV4XBC
• Source: I bought it

Hardback: 611 pages (Jan. 2011) Publisher: Harvill Secker
Translated into English by Don Bartlett

#6 of Nesbo's books to become available in English
Previously reviewed here:
NEMESIS
THE REDEEMER
5.0, THE SNOWMAN

Publisher's blurb
In the depths of winter, a killer stalks the city streets. His victims are two young women, both found with twenty-four inexplicable puncture wounds, both drowned in their own blood. The crime scenes offer no clues, the media is reaching fever pitch, and the police are running out of options. There is only one man who can help them, and he doesn’t want to be found. Deeply traumatised by The Snowman investigation, which threatened the lives of those he holds most dear, Inspector Harry Hole has lost himself in the squalor of Hong Kong’s opium dens. But with his father seriously ill in hospital, Harry reluctantly agrees to return to Oslo. He has no intention of working on the case, but his instinct takes over when a third victim is found brutally murdered in a city park. The victims appear completely unconnected to one another, but it’s not long before Harry makes a discovery: the women all spent the night in an isolated mountain hostel. And someone is picking off the guests one by one. A heart-stopping thriller from the bestselling author of the The Snowman, The Leopard is an international phenomenon that will grip you until the final page.

My take

I've spent a bit of time worrying about how I can review THE LEOPARD without spoilers, because, although you could read it as your first taste of Nesbo, it is really not a stand-alone. However, if you've got it's fat pages in your hands then don't let me prevent you from reading it. But it will make you want to read earlier novels particularly THE SNOWMAN and REDBREAST.

At the end of THE SNOWMAN, as the blurb says, Harry Hole, deeply traumatised, resigned from the Crime Squad, and took off for Hong Kong where he attempted to lose himself. The only detective in Norway who has any experience in dealing with serial killers is Harry Hole, and that is why Politioverbetjent Gunnar Hagen wants him back. He sends an officer to Hong Kong to find Harry and bring him back. But it is the news that his father is dying that puts Harry on that plane.

But solving this case is more urgent than just stopping a serial killer. A long standing battle has re-surfaced, not just good versus evil. The Minister of Justice is wondering yet again why he is paying for two criminal investigation units.

It’s all about cuts and rationalisation in the force. About jurisdiction. The old fight, Crime Squad versus Kripos. Whether there are enough resources for two specialist branches with parallel expertise in a small country. The discussion flared up when Kripos got a new second in command, one Mikael Bellman.

It's a battle that Gunnar Hagen wants to win, and finding and stopping a serial killer will do it.

THE LEOPARD is seriously noir, not for the faint-hearted. There are descriptions of torture that will take your breath away. Things that Harry does to himself that will nearly make your heart stop. But you'll keep reading because you'll want to know how it all turns out.

I thought I got a better vision of Harry Hole, saw him in a clearer light in THE LEOPARD. He felt a bit more human too.

..... the man who was a living legend not just at Oslo Police HQ but in every police station across Norway, for good or ill. .......He liked Harry Hole, had liked him from the first moment he had clapped eyes on the tall, athletic, but obviously alcoholic Norwegian stepping into Happy Valley to put his last money on the wrong horse. There was something about the aggressive expression, the arrogant bearing, the alert body language that reminded him of himself ..

A driven man. A junkie. A man who does what he must to have what he wants, who walks over dead bodies if need be.

He couldn’t care less about personal prestige, he only wants to catch the bad boys. All the bad boys.

The other thing that seems to emerge more for me in THE LEOPARD was Jo Nesbo, through his characters, considering criminological and philiosophical issues.

What is it, where is it, whatever it is that makes a murderer? Is it innate, is it in a gene, inherited potential that some have and others do not? Or is it shaped by need, developed in a confrontation with the world, a survival strategy, a life-saving sickness, rational insanity? For just as sickness is a fevered bombardment of the body, insanity is a vital retreat to a place where one can entrench oneself anew. For my part, I believe that the ability to kill is fundamental to any healthy person.

and again

That was what life was: a process of destruction, a disintegration from what at the outset was perfect. The only suspense involved was whether we would be destroyed in one sudden act or slowly.

Perhaps it has always been there in previous novels, but I've just missed seeing it.

A great read, if just a bit long. By the end, I really did want it to finish.
My rating: 4.8

Other reviews to check:

• Karen Meek at Euro Crime
• Norman on Crime Scraps
• Glenn at International Noir Fiction
• Declan at Crime Always Pays

Where I'm "counting" this book:

• e-book challenge
• Nordic Challenge 2011 
• translated books

Crime Fiction Alphabet: H is for Harry Hole

No, the image to the right is not Harry Hole, it is his creator Jo Nesbo.
I don't think Harry Hole has a TV image yet, but perhaps someone can correct me.

You haven't met Harry Hole yet? Well, if you like gritty  Norwegian crime fiction then you need to make his acquaintance soon.

THE REDBREAST, my rating 4.5   
First published in Norwegian 2000. Translate into English 2006. Norwegian's history stretches its tentacles into the year 2000. This features Norwegian detective Harry Hole recently promoted to Inspector to hide the true story of how he came to shoot an American security agent during a  visit to Oslo by the American President.
A crime novel that is more a thriller than a mystery. A complex story.
Harry is tracing the importation into Norway of a rare weapon, when reports come in that it has been fired. A veteran  ex-soldier is found with his throat cut, and Harry keeps coming up with the same set of names.   

THE DEVIL'S STAR   my rating 4.8
 Set in Oslo. Detective Harry Hole is an alcoholic who has been absent from work for the last 4 weeks.
He is highly valued by his boss who has covered up for him and marked his absence as annual leave. But now it is crunch time. He has been assigned to a case with an adversary whom he is convinced was responsible for the death of a colleague. Harry has no choice now - he must return to work or quit. The new case involves what appear to be serial killings where the murderer is leaving clues related to a five-pointed star - the devil's star. Highly recommended.

Check some of my other reviews
NEMESIS
THE REDEEMER
THE SNOWMAN

I have yet to read THE LEOPARD which I have on my Kindle.

The list of titles - courtesy EuroCrime - showing the order you should read them in.

Detective Harry Hole, Oslo, Norway

• The Bat Man	2012	1
• The Redbreast	2006	3
• Nemesis	2008	4
• The Devil's Star	2005	5
• The Redeemer	2009	6
• The Snowman	2010	7
• The Leopard	2011	8

This post is a contribution to this week's Crime Fiction Alphabet - letter H

Review: THE SNOWMAN, Jo Nesbo

Harvill Secker 2010
Published in Norwegian 2007, translated into English by Don Bartlett 2010
ISBN 9-78186-553486
453 pages
Sequentially #7 in the Harry Hole series

The way children turn out is determined mainly by two things: conscious decisions their parents make; and their DNA over which they have no control at all. Sometimes the two combine with totally unpredictable consequences.

Nearly twenty four years after the day in November 1980 when Sara Kvinesland spent 40 minutes making love to her nippleless lover while her son waited in the car, the first snow arrived early in November.  Inspector Harry Hole of the Oslo Police Crime Squad thought of the peculiar letter he had received a few weeks earlier. On that day too Katrine Bratt from Bergen joined the Oslo squad, and that night Jonas Becker awoke to find his mother gone.

By the middle of the next day the early snow has melted and the snowman in the front garden is on the point of collapse. When Jonas Becker tells Harry Hole that he doesn't know who made the snowman, and that during the night it was wearing his mother's scarf, Harry thinks again of the strange letter.

Has Harry finally identified a serial killer? Twelve years before there was a death where the killer's "signature" had seemed to be a snowman. And the policeman in charge of that case had disappeared without trace. And Harry has that letter...

There are many threads that hold this novel together: a celebrity who has a hereditary disease who has passed it onto his children, cases of women who have disappeared without trace, important calendar dates in the lives of American Presidents, and Harry's personal life, under acute attack from a number of angles.

Harry Hole will be permanently scarred by the events of THE SNOWMAN, but do we believe him when in the final pages he says he is going away and never coming back?

Despite its length THE SNOWMAN is a real page turner, and will not disappoint. Somehow the character of Harry Hole seemed a bit clearer to me: he still has his problems with alcohol, he is constantly focussed on his work, and there are those in the police hierarchy who see him as an easy scapegoat. But the values that make Harry the good cop that he is come come through loud and clear.

My rating 5.

Other reviews of Nesbo titles on this blog
NEMESIS (5)
THE REDEEMER (4.8)

Other reviews of THE SNOWMAN:
Crime Scraps
Material Witness
Petrona

I am "counting" this title both in the 2010 global reading challenge and the Scandinavian Reading Challenge.

Reprise: Review, THE REDEEMER, Jo Nesbo

A few days ago I used xtranormal.com to make a "movie" of a my review of SHADOW by Karin Alvtegen.

"Reg" suggested in his comments on that post that I try doing one with THE REDEEMER by Jo Nesbo, a review that I wrote late last month.

So, here it is.


Also available here

What do you think?

Review: THE REDEEMER, Jo Nesbo

Published by Harvill Secker 2009, ISBN 9781846550409, translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett, first published in Norwegian in 2005, 457 pages.

The shooting of a Salvation Army officer at point blank range as Christmas shoppers stand listening to a street concert in Oslo is almost unthinkable. Many saw the assailant, the gun in his hand, but predictably, afterwards, they were almost of no help. If there is an irony, it is that the victim should not have been there, having changed his shift with his brother.

At Police HQ Harry Hole is investigating another case, the death of a young heroin addict, found dead in a unit at the container terminal. Harry's boss Bjarne Moller is leaving. If it hadn't been for Moller's protective wing Harry would have been off the force years ago. Harry mistrusts his new boss, Gunnar Hagen, who threatens to make him toe the line.

You can almost feel Nesbo building this book, layer on layer, investigating how events that took place over a decade before, can have consequences in present time. You certainly forget that it is translated, so natural is the English.

We've already met Harry Hole, most recently in NEMESIS, and before that in THE REDBREAST and in THE DEVIL'S STAR. (see below for my mini-reviews). THE REDEEMER is a great read, a book whose ending may shock. Harry's personal life is also once again at the centre of this book.

My rating: 4.8

THE REDEEMER has been shortlisted for the 2009 CWA International Dagger. Check Euro Crime's CWA International Dagger polls

Check these other reviews of THE REDEEMER

• Crime Scraps
• International Noir Fiction
• DJs Krimiblog
• Detectives Beyond Borders
• Reviewing the Evidence
  

Jo Nesbo's own site

The correct order in which to read the novels that have so far been translated into English:

• THE REDBREAST
• NEMESIS
• THE DEVIL'S STAR
• THE REDEEMER

THE REDBREAST, my rating 4.5
First published in Norwegian 2000. Translate into English 2006. Norwegian's history stretches its tentacles into the year 2000. This features Norwegian detective Harry Hole recently promoted to Inspector to hide the true story of how he he came to shoot and American security agent duringa visit to Oslo by the American President. A crime novel that is more a thriller than a mystery. A complex story. Harry is tracing the importation into Norway of a rare weapon, when reports come in that it has been fired. A veteran ex-soldier is found with his throat cut, and Harry keeps coming up with the same set of names.

THE DEVIL'S STAR, my rating 4.8
Translated from Swedish. Set in Oslo. Detective Harry Hole is an alcoholic who has been absent from work for the last 4 weeks.
He is highly valued by his boss who has covered up for him and marked his absence as annual leave. But now it is crunch time. He has been assigned to a case with an adversary whom he is convinced was responsible for the death of a colleague. Harry has no choice now - he must return to work or quit. The new case involves what appear to be serial killings where the murderer is leaving clues related to a five-pointed star - the devil's star.

Books sitting on my TBR

Here are just 5 of the books sitting on my TBR waiting to be read.
It will take me a while to get around to them, so I thought I'd tell you about them here.
They are available here in Australia in paperback.

THE REDEEMER Jo Nesbo

Over on CRIME SCRAPS Uriah Robinson says "it is a gripping read, with a narrative drive that makes it impossible to put down". It is a Harry Hole novel, and NEMESIS was one of my best reads for 2008, so I am really looking forward to it.


ABOUT FACE Donna Leon

Now Donna Leon is an author that I really look forward to catching up with. Her Brunetti series really brings with it a taste of Venice. I identified Donna Leon as one of my favourite authors soon after beginning this blog. I love the way she brings modern issues to bear in a mystery. Books to the Ceiling says "As ever, it is a pleasure to spend time in the company of Commissario Guido Brunetti, especially when he is at home. "

PUNTER'S TURF Peter Klein

Peter Klein is a new-to-me Australian author. This book was published on March 1, 2009, and appears to be after the fashion of Dick Francis, whom I have always enjoyed. This is Klein's first novel.

The blurb:

John Punter, professional gambler and amateur private investigator, has seen his fair share of crime and shady dealings, both on the race track and off it. So when the daughter of a bookmaker friend is abducted, following hot on the heels of a gruesome murder after an abduction-gone-wrong, Punter's offer of help is gladly accepted.

But then, just when everything seems to be going right, a local trainer hits a run of unusual bad luck and a young jockey dies under suspicious circumstances. With the help of a journalist friend, Kate, Punter begins to put the pieces together, and finds himself drawn into a tangled web of underworld crimes that are much more sinister than he had anticipated...

BLACK ICE Leah Giarratano

This latest title (her 3rd) from a very talented Australian writer is not due for publication until July 1, 2009.
Leah has been making some impact this year hosting Beyond the Darklands on Channel 7. I reviewed VOODOO DOLL last year, giving it 4.8.
Leah's first novel VODKA DOESN'T FREEZE was long-listed for the 2008 Ned Kelly Awards for Best First Fiction, and I won't be at all surprised if VOODOO DOLL is long-listed for Best Fiction in 2009.
The publisher, Random House Australia, says "As with her previous two Jill Jackson novels, psychologist Leah Giarratano writes with disturbing insight into the criminal mind. A taut and suspenseful read from one of Australia's new breed of crime writers."

FRACTURED Karen Slaughter

FRACTURED is another published by Random House Australia.
The book was short listed for the HAWAII 5-0 award at Left Coast crime.
When I reviewed TRIPTYCH in 2006 I gave it 4.6.
In 2007 SKIN PRIVILEGE met a mixed reception from Slaughter fans, when she apparently tired of one of her central characters, and did something quite irreversible.

FRACTURED appears to take up again with Will Trent, one of the detectives from TRIPTYCH.
After a rather tenuous start, Confessions of a Bibliophile says "the mystery ...is a good one. .... There is not yet a third book in this series, but I hope there will be."

If you've read any of these five, do tell me, without spoilers, what you thought of it.

Weekly Geeks # 19: Top 10 books published in 2008

The challenge in Weekly Geeks #19 is to, before October 25,

1. Compile your list of favorites. Please be sure that books you choose actually were published in 2008, or at the very earliest in the winter holiday season of 2007. Sometimes books that come out then are left out.

2. Come back and sign Mr Linky with the url to your top books of 2008 post.

3. If you happen to see any non-WG bloggers making similar lists, please grab the url and come put it in Mr Linky for them. Let them know you’re doing that, please, in case they have some sort of objection; if they do, they can ask me to remove their link. I’ve already seen a couple favorites of 2008 posts, which is another reason I wanted to get started early.

4. Feel free to make changes to your list if you read something new in the next few weeks. After about October 25, I can’t guarantee your changes will be reflected in the master list. We’ll probably start compiling lists around then.

5. Please consider whether you’d like to help me compile lists.

If you follow my blog, then you'll know that creating such a list is no problem for me.
You can see my ranked list for all the books I have read in 2008 at Smik's Reviews (all my reviews)

Here are my top 10, chosen from books published in 2008

SHATTER, Michael Robotham
A CURE FOR ALL DISEASES, Reginald Hill
NEMESIS, Jo Nesbo
FAN MAIL, PD Martin
CARELESS IN RED, Elizabeth George
VOODOO DOLL, Leah Giarratano
WHERE WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS?, Kate Atkinson
A KILLING FROST, R.D. Wingfield
DEAD MAN'S FOOTSTEPS, Peter James
NO TIME FOR GOODBYE, Linwood Barclay

There don't seem to be all that many crime fiction readers amongst my fellow weekly geekers, so my choices probably won't poll all that well, unless fellow crime fiction bloggers decide to chime in. There are some Australian authors in my list too - Michael Robotham, PD Martin, and Leah Giarratano - and they probably won't poll particularly well overall either.

Also, in our genre we have so much choice, so the choices could be wide ranging rather than concentrated. Much will depend on people sticking to the published in 2008 rule. Of course what it doesn't take into account that some books are published in some countries earlier than in others. We often find that books published in Australia are not available in the UK or the US until later, or vice versa. There are always flaws in any rule.

Meanwhile, you've read my list. Are any of mine in your top 10? What crime fiction have I left out that you would put in your top 10? Please feel free to list your top 10 in your comment, but only those published in 2008. I might work up a "local" poll for us in a couple of weeks time.

NEMESIS, Jo Nesbo

Harvill Secker, 2008, ISBN 978-1-846-55039-3, 474 pages

It is a busy Friday afternoon in October in Oslo. The bank robber is wearing a boiler suit and a balaclava, and is brandishing a gun. He whispers instructions to the female cashier for the ATM to be opened and unloaded. Less than 90 seconds later she is dead, executed. The aging, frantic bank manager has taken too long to open the ATM and the gunman carries out his threat to kill her, despite the fact that he now has the money, two million kroner. He then disappears without trace into the crowded street.

It's been a year since Detective Harry Hole's partner Ellen Gjelten was killed, and Harry has rejoined the Crime Squad and is part of the team investigating the bank murder. A newcomer to the squad is an expert in gaining information from video footage. In the course of the investigation she becomes Harry's new partner.

The Harry Hole we first met in THE DEVIL'S STAR and then again in REDBREAST is dealing with his alcoholism and has been semi-successful in giving up smoking. Just now though, he's on his own, because his girlfriend Rakel and her young son have gone to Russia to fight a custody battle. Harry accepts an invitation to coffee from an old flame Anna, and then finds himself at home without any recollection of how he got there. Then he hears that Anna is dead. Harry is not at all sure that he might not have killed her, although the police investigation concludes suicide.

When the bank robbery investigation is stalled, it is decided to try a new tack. Harry and his new partner Beate will be allowed to work on their own. This suits Harry down to the ground as he feels stifled by having to follow orders. A break through leads them to believe they know who the bank robber is. Nevertheless they still need proof and the bank robberies continue - but are they the real thing, or copy-cats?

The remarkable thing for me about NEMESIS is that just when you believe everything is stitched up, Nesbo reminds you of something you forgot, and the roller coaster ride takes off again. The other thing that I noticed is that I have a much better idea of what Harry looks like than I did after the earlier two novels - that is probably a bit trivial, but it is also very satisfying. I also liked Harry's new partner Beate Lonn and the relationship that is building between them.

Harry Hole is not just a Norwegian version of the other "modern" loose cannons in crime fiction: Rankin's John Rebus, Wingfield's Jack Frost, and Mankell's Kurt Wallander to name few. Sure he shares some of their problems - the alcoholism, tobacco addiction, poor social relationships, and a workaholic to boot. But, at just under 40, he is younger than them, with much of his career before him, and for me each novel is defining him more clearly.

NEMESIS is the 3rd of Jo Nesbo's highly acclaimed novels to be translated from Norwegian into English and it is well worth while to try to read them in order. Just to make things tricky, look for THE DEVIL'S STAR and then REDBREAST (this is not their translation order). You will see from Nesbo's own website that there are in fact many more Harry Hole books - let's just hope we see them in English. He is certainly a crime fiction writer to treasure. [Visit his website too and read extracts in English, or sign up for his newsletter]

My rating: 5.0