Another thoroughly engaging, perplexing, misleading read! Great characters. Great story. Fun read.

Another episode in the life of Harry Hole. Kept me reading to the end, and enjoyed it very much. Makes me want to go spend a summer in Norway.

I wish I could read this in the original Norwegian. I think there is humour there that is missed in the translation. It's a bit clumsy, too, with names mixed up and a sense of things left out. Pretty good mystery, though -- very complicated.

Fourth book in the Scandinavian-noir sub-genre Harry Hole series set in Oslo, in which the Norwegian police detective investigates a murderous bank robbery which involves him in the Scandinavian Roma community through a Roma ex-lover .


Oslo Container port (YILPort Oslo) a fave setting for Nesbø's Oslo scenes

My audio edition was about thirteen and a half hours long. A dead tree copy would be about 475 pages. The original Norwegian copyright was 2002. English translation was performed in 2008. My audio edition had a 2016 copyright. I note this was the first of the series' audio books using the proper Norwegian pronunciation of the protagonist's name.

Jo Nesbø is a Norwegian mystery novelist and musician amongst other things. He has more than 20-books published, in both several series and standalone. This was the fourth book in the author’s Harry Hole (last name pronounced Whole-Eee in Norwegian) series. Currently there are 12 books in the series. This was also the 6th or 7th book I’ve read by the author. The most recent being The Redbreast (Harry Hole, #3) (my review).

It’s not necessary, but recommended that the previous books in the series, particularly The Redbreast be read before this one. Otherwise, some of the, long-term, series plotlines with Hole will not be easily understood.

In the story, Harry Hole, the somewhat damaged and alcoholic, Norwegian police detective is returned to the Oslo Serious Crimes Squad (Murder Squad) from the make work job he had in Redbreast. It’s hard to keep a good detective down? Here, he’s called in to support an investigation of a murder occurring during a bank robbery. Simultaneously, he becomes involved in the apparent suicide of a Roma ex-lover which compromises him professionally. The bank robbery case and the suicide draw Hole into the Norwegian Roma underworld. In addition, Hole’s independent way of investigation and his intimate relation with the victim of the suspicious suicide set him at odds with some of his police colleagues and superiors. This story: contains a complicated series of murders, one personally related to the protagonist; Edutainment on the contemporary, Norwegian Roma community and bank robberies; and keeps alive the long-term plotline of Hole being on the trail of his The Prince Oslo antagonist.

Nesbø goes to greater lengths to obfuscate the perp in this story than ever before. What looks like two related murders is actually more. The identities of the perps eluded me until Nesbø’s reveal. Nesbø also firms up his protagonist/antagonist(s) POVs technique here. It’s getting better book-by-book. I noted that the descriptive word gypsies, not the modern Roma description was used descriptively throughout. (The book was 20-years old.) Unfortunately, I felt the very tangled plot lines were not well untangled by the end of the book. In addition, the obligatory long-term plotline with The Prince added nothing to the story other than more pages. In addition, Nesbø’s now-traditional themes of: government bureaucratic self-serving, Women are Wiser (Harry acquires a new gal pal for the story), and Norwegian stodgy conservatism appear. I'm skeptical of the criminal psychology aspect that has been creeping into the series. This second-in-a-row story in Hole’s, native Oslo shows that Oslo has ample crimes to be solved. Although, like the earliest books in the series, Nesbø couldn’t resist changing the setting to someplace warm and sunny. (In this case Brazil.) This story also contains fewer police procedural and technical errors than found in previous books. In general, this was the most complex story in the series to-date, and requires a lot of concentration to follow.

This story was solid, at least as good as Redbreast, but still not gold. Hole’s falling off the wagon was predictable. (It happens in every book.) And, there's always new women, both friends, colleagues and lovers. Hole’s foibles are cherished, but are on the way to becoming too predictable. The perps were well hidden, but not for the first time, I felt the author cheated. I was also surprised that Norwegian travel Pr0n had returned to the series. I thought Oslo was an exotic enough locale for the story. I can also see as the series gets long, the author is improving as a writer. He’s taking bigger risks and working on more sophisticated stories. Those risks were not completely successful in this story. However, I’ll be listening to the next book in the series, [b:The Devil's Star|498389|The Devil's Star (Harry Hole, #5)|Jo Nesbø|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328611163l/498389._SY75_.jpg|968931] shortly.

Readers interested in Oslo detective novels might want to try [b:In the Darkness|13156124|In the Darkness|Karin Fossum|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1342480730l/13156124._SY75_.jpg|3262401] by Karin Fossum?

A rambling mess of a book with a completely preposterous story line. Somehow I managed to stay vaguely interested enough to finish this book, but it will definitely be the last Jo Nesbo I read.

A bank robber is causing panic in Oslo; he's brutally murdered a hostage and walked off with 2 million kroner. An old flame of Harry's is found dead, and he's concerned he had something to do with her death when he wakes up from a blackout. And Harry is quietly investigating Ellen's death because he isn't convinced that the case really is closed. Because of the murdered hostage, Harry is asked to join the robbery investigative team. He keeps quiet about his involvement or knowledge of his now dead old flame and strikes a deal with his boss to open Ellen's case back up if he can bring home a resolution to the bank robbery/murder case. Detective Tom Waaler, Hole's nemesis within the police department, works to get Harry arrested and convicted for the old flame's murder, and whoever actually murdered his old flame is playing a game of cat and mouse with Harry.

Meanwhile, Harry joins forces within the robbery investigative team with Beate, a prodigy in the department. Together, Beate and Harry conduct their own separate but privately sanctioned investigation into The Expeditor, the name by which the killer bank robber is known. Three investigations happening concurrently are enough to make anyone dizzy. Can Harry clear his name, find The Expeditor, and get Ellen's case reopened?

I saw a review someone wrote on one of Nesbø's Hole titles that mentioned the rambling Nesbø is prone to do throughout his stories. Ramblings that don't have much to do with the actual story or character; if missing, nobody would know, and the story wouldn't be impacted negatively. As soon as I read that comment from the reviewer, I realized some of my hesitations about this series. There are portions of each book in which I'm bored, and the portions have those long ramblings. I was bored for at least 50% of the title in this title and was considering giving it up just as it got interesting and picked up. I'm the most invested in the continuing storyline between Hole and Waaler, and Harry's continued struggles to live in reality and not keep himself numbed with alcohol. Nesbø hasn't hooked me with his writing and this series, but he is stringing me along.

Wow.

It's about the only word that you can use to describe this book. Part of the Harry Hole series, the only problem with any of these books is that they have been translated completely out of series order, so if you started with the first available here - The Devil's Star then the sequence of events in Harry's personal and professional life have been out of kilter. Doesn't matter. Just accept that stuff happened before that book, and read the rest of them, if you have to - although now you can get hold of The Redbreast which is one of the earlier ones.

If you haven't read the series - start with The Redbreast, then The Devil's Star and then Nemesis - and then anything else that they publish. (There are other, earlier books, and a couple more to come later in the series and Nesbo is still writing).

But a little more on NEMESIS - as this was a for pleasure read in conjuction with some online reading companions at Murder and Mayhem, I won't do a full formal review. The book starts out in a shocking way - a bank robbery occurs, a hostage dies and just for a moment you think Harry's been in the bank. Rapidly an investigation team is pulled together and we're introduced to a new character - a Video Analysis expert - a woman with instant recall of faces - Beate is the daughter of a dead cop. As Harry and Beate form a working partnership that allows them both to be a little different, a little outside the norm of the rest of the investigation team, Harry is still more than willing to go it alone if he needs to. Especially when an ex-girlfriend of his is found shot dead.

As with a number of crime books I've read recently, there are elaborate connections to be drawn between all of the participants in this story, but these connections aren't forced or used as a simplistic plot device. There are also some beautiful touches of humour built into this book - scathing in some places, gentle and kind in others. There are also elements of historical information built in - the plight of the gypsies in European history, including World War II. The events around World War II have been frequently referred to in many Scandinavian crime fiction books - and I think it's that element of investigating and discussing society in general, that really appeals to me. Alongside the philosophy and contemplation that seems to be a given - there are observations of human nature, of the nature of being that are completely absorbing and really very thought provoking.

But if the sign of a truly exciting, interesting and engaging book is firstly how quickly 474 pages just wizz by and then how often you're reading snippets out loud to anybody else in the house - then on those two factors alone, NEMESIS is an outstanding book.

Nemesis means 'to give what is due' in Greek. The ancient Greeks gave the idea of a vengeful fate to a goddess who could dish out spectacularly over-the-top punishments against those the gods felt had disrespected them.

To tell the utter truth, I experience schadenfreude with frank unadulterated delight. Fortunately for my soul, I am not given much opportunity to indulge myself. Also, perhaps fortunately, such scruples as I possess in this area of my psyche become engaged if the punishment seems too much beyond what it is deserved. I know I'm not expressing something unknown to others (I'm looking at you, gentle reader of murder-mysteries!)

For some of you, this novel, the fourth in the Harry Hole series, will have you swearing off revenge (at least, through the holiday season). For others (of which I number), you'll take notes.

Kidding! I'll not take notes, anyway. Somebody like Hole would probably find a knuckle hair of mine on the pages. Anyway, my admiration tends to be intellectual and my wishful thinking only wishful. Like most readers, I'd rather think (and read) than do. It's why my couch has a sizeable dent while my running shoes need dusting. If I feel like calling upon my inner Nemesis, I'll blog like everyone else.

There is no dust on Harry Hole, or on the murderers echoing each other in Nemesis (yes, I AM punning very weakly on the nymph Echo, who, in one story, was torn to pieces and spread all over the earth. I usually overuse the word mirroring). Everyone in the novel has a reason to produce their inner Nemesis, so many that I kept looking for a character with no unhealed motive for vengeance of one sort or another. Oleg, Rakel's son, is the single possessor of a pure heart.

I made the mistake of listening to an audiobook version at first. Do not listen to this story of Nemesis. Either check out the physical book from the library or buy it. This is a particularly convoluted, complex, and tangled plot, where two unrelated murders occur and Harry works on solving them simultaneously for almost 500 pages. Along the way, Hole is also concerned over his girlfriend Rakel's custody fight with her ex-husband, a Russian professor who is connected to powerful people in Russia. If that isn't enough, the author made it a certainty that he'd fry the reader's brains into a crispy desiccated block of cheese in adding in Hole's ongoing personal Nemesis investigation into his ex-partner's murder by an unknown (to him, but not to us fans) arms dealer, although Hole has suspicions. Hole solves each murder at least three times - and I'm still not certain he got it right!

This is an years-old previously published novel, so there are many plot descriptions in print. I'd advise keeping yourself as ignorant as possible of the puzzling maze of false turns, if the Hole series is new to you, to really enjoy this particular book in the series. However, it is this same delight which is deciding me to give this award winner only four stars, IMHO. It struck me like crop circles - the how it was done was so foremost in my mind I could not relax and enjoy the entertainment. Too clever by half, as Nemesis might say.