Police by Jo Nesbø

(hb; 2013: tenth novel in the Harry Hole series. Translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett.)

From the inside flap

"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 . . . For years, detective Harry Hole has been at the center 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 is not in a position to protect anyone."


Review

Police is a good, steady-build cop procedural/thriller that brings together many of the character and plot threads that have been accumulating over the course of the past few Harry Hole books. When everything starts to mesh, about two hundred pages in, it is a difficult-to-set-down read.

My only nit about Police is that Nesbø toys with his readers too long, stretching out the tension too much, in a insult-your-readers way: there are two instances of this irritating habit, which is given away by his sudden, vague descriptions of characters (e.g., “the victim” instead naming or specifically describing a specific character). Chances are, most readers will not be put off by this (they are not serious writers, but readers who just want to be "entertained")  ─ while I view this as a note-worthy glitch, it is not a deal-breaker, and Police is still a solid transition novel for the series, tone-, plot- and character-wise.

Followed by The Thirst.

Phantom by Jo Nesbø

(hb; 2011, 2012: ninth novel in the Harry Hole series. Translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett.)

From the back cover

"When Harry left Oslo again for Hong Kong—fleeing the traumas of life as a cop—he thought he was there for good. But then the unthinkable happened. The son of the woman he loved, lost, and still loves is arrested for murder: Oleg, the boy Harry helped raise but couldn't help deserting when he fled. Harry has come back to prove that Oleg is not a killer. Barred from rejoining the police force, he sets out on a solitary, increasingly dangerous investigation that takes him deep into the world of the most virulent drug to ever hit the streets of Oslo (and the careers of some of the city's highest officials), and into the maze of his own past, where he will find the wrenching truth that finally matters to Oleg, and to himself."

Review

Phantom, one of my favorite Harry Hole novels, is one of the most personal entries in the series thus far. It has the usual in-depth character development (many of them ongoing), tight and corkscrew plotting, pop culture references, suspense and other genre elements that make Nesbø’s work addictive and top-notch. Be warned that there is more heartbreak than usual in this one, and its ending is a cliffhanger. When reading Phantom, you might want to make sure you have its sequel, Police, on hand.

The Leopard by Jo Nesbø

(hb; 2009, 2011: eighth novel in the Harry Hole series. Translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett.)

From the back cover

"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. "

Review

Leopard has the usual suspenseful thrills, twists-within-twists, and engaging and/or chilling characters as the two Harry Hole novels that preceded it. The bad guys are not hard to spot, but Leopard is more about the whys and hows the crimes were committed. This latest book runs a bit long in the end. That said, it is a minor nit, one that did not ruin my overall enjoyment of Leopard. Followed by Phantom.

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.

The Redeemer by Jo Nesbø

(hb; 2005, 2009: sixth novel in the Harry Hole series. Translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett.)

From the inside flap

"A 14-year old girl is raped at one of the Salvation Army summer camps. Twelve years later, at a Christmas concert in a square in Oslo, a Salvation Army soldier is executed by a man in the crowd. A press photographer has caught a suspect on one of the photos of the concert. Beate Lønn, the identification expert, is confused by how the face can change from one photo to the next. Inspector Harry Hole’s search for the faceless man takes place on the seamy side of the city, among those who seek eternal – or just momentary – redemption. And the gunman has not yet completed his mission."

Review

Redeemer is an excellent, hard-to-put-down police procedural/suspense book, one with lots of effective, character-centric twists and nuanced revelations (relating to the ongoing storyline about Tom Waaler, dealt with in The Devil'Star, and corruption within the police department). It is a novel worth owning. Followed by The Snowman.

The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbø

(2003, 2005: fifth novel in the Harry Hole series. Translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett.)

From the inside flap

"A young woman is murdered in her Oslo flat. One finger has been severed from her left hand, and behind her eyelid is secreted a tiny red diamond in the shape of a five-pointed star - a pentagram, the devil's star.

"Detective Harry Hole is assigned to the case with his long-time adversary Tom Waaler and initially wants no part in it. But Harry is already on notice to quit the force and is left with little alternative but to drag himself out of his alcoholic stupor and get to work.

"A wave of similar murders is on the horizon. An emerging pattern suggests that Oslo has a serial killer on its hands, and the five-pointed devil's star is key to solving the riddle."


Review

WARNING: Possible plot spoilers in this review.

Like Nemesis, its direct prequel, Star is an excellent, reader-hooking and suspenseful novel. Star has less tale twists than Nemesis, but that does not detract from its entertainment value. This plot pretzel reduction leaves more room for the resolution of an ongoing subplot about Hole’s investigative crusade against his corrupt professional rival (Tom Waaler), an investigation sparked after Waaler’s murder of Ellen Gjelten, Hole’s partner (in The Redbreast).

This, like other books in the series, is worth owning. Followed by The Redeemer.

Nemesis by Jo Nesbø

(hb; 2002, 2008: fourth novel in the Harry Hole series. Translated from the Norwegian by Don Barlett.)

From the inside flap

"How do you catch a killer when you're the number one suspect?

"A man is caught on CCTV, shooting dead a cashier at a bank. Detective Harry Hole begins his investigation, but after dinner with an old flame wakes up with no memory of the past 12 hours. Then the girl is found dead in mysterious circumstances and he beings to receive threatening emails: is someone trying to frame him for her death?

"As Harry fights to clear his name, the bank robberies continue with unparalleled savagery."

Review

Nemesis is an excellent, addictive, suspenseful and plot twisty read. Some of its multilayered tension is heightened by an unresolved, cliff-hangerish storyline from the previous book, The Redbreast (whose writing is less streamlined than Nemesis’s). This is one of the better entries in the Inspector Harry Hole series, one worth owning. Followed by The Devil’s Star.

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.

Cockroaches by Jo Nesbø

(pb; 1998, 2013: second book in the Harry Hole series. Translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett.)

From the back cover

"When the Norwegian ambassador to Thailand is found dead in a Bangkok brothel, Inspector Harry Hole is dispatched from Oslo to help hush up the case.

"But once he arrives Harry discovers that this case is about much more than one random murder. There is something else, something more pervasive, scrabbling around behind the scenes. Or, put another way, for every cockroach you see in your hotel room, there are hundreds behind the walls. Surrounded by round-the-clock traffic noise, Harry wanders the streets of Bangkok lined with go-go bars, temples, opium dens, and tourist traps, trying to piece together the story of the ambassador’s death even though no one asked him to, and no one wants him to—not even Harry himself."

Review

Cockroaches is dark, focused and exotic read, with obvious bad guys (not necessarily a criticism), intriguing characters, wry humor and a reader-hooking storyline. This second book is more a how-it-was-done than a who-done-it. It is also a vast improvement on its source book (The Bat) in that it does not run too long. The ending, with its satisfying wrap-up, is disturbing and portends darker sequels.

Followed by The Redbreast.

The Bat by Jo Nesbø

(pb; 1997, 2012: first book in the Inspector Harry Hole series. Translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett.)

From the back cover:

"Before Harry took on the neo-Nazi gangs of Oslo, before he met Rakel, before The Snowman tried to take everything he held dear, he went to Australia. Harry Hole is sent to Sydney to investigate the murder of Inger Holter, a young Norwegian girl, who was working in a bar. Initially sidelined as an outsider, Harry becomes central to the Australian police investigation when they start to notice a number of unsolved rape and murder cases around the country. The victims were usually young blondes. Inger had a number of admirers, each with his own share of secrets, but there is no obvious suspect, and the pattern of the other crimes seems impossible to crack. Then a circus performer is brutally murdered followed by yet another young woman. Harry is in a race against time to stop highly intelligent killer, who is bent on total destruction."


Review:

Bat is a flawed but worthwhile read. It is flawed because its plot feels scattershot at times, and, as a result, the book runs longer than it should, anywhere between twenty-five and fifty pages. What saves this otherwise so-so police procedural is its intriguing – for some exotic – environs [Australia], some of its interesting characters, its use of Aboriginal folklore, as well as other Australian cultural elements. Bat is not worth owning if purchased at full price but it is worth reading if bought used or borrowed from your local library.

Followed by Cockroaches.

Cold Hearts, by Gunnar Staalesen

(pb; 2008, 2013: sixteenth novel in the Varg Veum series.  Translated from Norwegian by Don Bartlett.)


From the back cover:

"On a frosty January day in Bergen, Norway, private investigator Varg Veum is visited by a prostitute.  Her friend Margrethe has disappeared and hasn't been seen for days.  Before her disappearance, something had unsettled her: she'd turned away a customer and returned to the neighborhood in terror.  Shortly after taking the case, Veum is confronted with a brutal, uneasy reality.  He soon finds the first body - and it won't be the last.  His investigation leads him into a dark subculture where corrupted idealism has had deadly consequences."


Review:

Cold  is a good, entertaining and tightly written  P.I. novel whose end reveals aren't revelations, but effective and intriguing with their lightning-quick pacing; this book is worth owning.

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This novel inspired the film with the same name: Kalde Hjerter was released in Norway on March 30, 2012.  Geir Meum Olsen wrote the screenplay.

Trond Espen Seim, who also directed this film, reprised his role of Varg Veum.   Bjørn Floberg reprised his role of Jacob Hamre.  Lene Nystrøm played Karen Bjørge.  Mads Ousdal played Thorvaldsen.  Gitte Witte played Maggie.  Ingrid Olava played Siv.  Kim Sørenson played Malthus.

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For further information on Varg Veum-related films, check out this site.