Monday, November 20, 2017

The Snowman by Jo Nesbø

(hb; 2007, 2010: seventh novel in the Harry Hole series. Translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett.)

From the inside flap

"Oslo in November. The first snow of the season has fallen. A boy named Jonas wakes in the night to find his mother gone. Out his window, in the cold moonlight, he sees the snowman that inexplicably appeared in the yard earlier in the day. Around its neck is his mother’s pink scarf.

"Hole suspects a link between a menacing letter he’s received and the disappearance of Jonas’s mother—and of perhaps a dozen other women, all of whom went missing on the day of a first snowfall. As his investigation deepens, something else emerges: he is becoming a pawn in an increasingly terrifying game whose rules are devised—and constantly revised—by the killer."


Review

Snowman is an excellent, suspenseful read, with its corkscrew/character-centered plot twists, masterful pacing and engaging [or chilling] characters. Not only that, it sets up a possible future foe for Hole to tangle with! Followed by The Leopard.

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Tomas Alfredson directed the resulting film, which was released stateside on October 20, 2017. Peter Straughan, Hossein Amini, and Søren Sveistrup wrote the screenplay.

Michael Fassbender played Harry Hole. Rebecca Ferguson played Katrine Bratt.  Charlotte Gainsbourg played Rakel. Michael Yates played Oleg. Jonas Karlsson played Mathias.

Ronan Vibert played Gunnar Hagen. J.K. Simmons played Arve Støp. Val Kilmer played Gert "Iron" Rafto. Toby Jones played DC Svensson. Jakob Oftebro played DC Magnus Skarre

David Dencik played Vetlesen. Genevieve O'Reilly played Birte Becker. James D'Arcy played Filip Becker. Jeté Laurence played Josephine Becker. Chloë Sevigny played Sylvia Ottersen / Ane Pederson.



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