The Redbreast by Jo Nesbø

(pb; 2000, 2006: third book in the Harry Hole series. Translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett.)

From the back cover

"1944: Daniel, a soldier, legendary among the Norwegians fighting the advance of Bolshevism on the Russian front, is killed. Two years later, a wounded soldier wakes up in a Vienna hospital. He becomes involved with a young nurse, the consequences of which will ripple forward to the turn of the next century.

"1999: Harry Hole, alone again after having caused an embarrassment in the line of duty, has been promoted to inspector and is lumbered with surveillance duties. He is assigned the task of monitoring neo-Nazi activities; fairly mundane until a report of a rare and unusual gun being fired sparks his interest. Ellen Gjelten, his partner, makes a startling discovery. Then a former soldier is found with his throat cut. In a quest that takes him to South Africa and Vienna, Harry finds himself perpetually one step behind the killer."

Review

Redbreast is a slow-build thriller that runs long in parts but is ultimately worth reading. Its setting is less exotic than the settings of previous books (Redbreast takes place in Hole’s native Norway). Despite that, it is still a mostly interesting book that digs into Norway’s Nazi past and brings it to the eve of the twenty-first century. When the plot and character strands come together, between the middle and the last quarter of Redbreast, the novel becomes a hard-to-set-down read, with its cliff hanger-ish chapter endings. I would not purchase this for full price but it is worth borrowing from a friend or the library. Followed by Nemesis.