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A review by andyshute
The Redbreast by Jo Nesbø
3.0
File this under shamelessly jumping on the bandwagon. Escaping to the book shop last week I felt the need for something less cerebral to reignite my current reading drought, so I picked up he first of the Harry Hole books. Well, I thought so - it's actually the third (the first two aren't published in English yet). It doesn't make too much of a difference though, excepting a few references to recent events in Australia and Thailand.
Harry is generally a good character to read, though a little underdeveloped in my mind (alcoholic, alone, maverick etc, etc), much like the supporting cast (though I quite liked Ellen, brief as her appearances are). I thought his burgeoning relationship was actually handled quite nicely.
Plot wise, things truck on at a leisurely pace as we flit between the second world war (something I found quite interesting, not knowing much about Norway's involvement) and the current day (well, 12 years ago now). It's perhaps a little too slow at times though I actually found the ending to be genuinely thrilling, with an escalating feeling of tension and excitement. That's not something I often feel. We're given enough clues to try and figure out what's going on, without being able to fully piece it together (there are some helpful pages of exposition near the end to set everything straight).
The Norwegian settings are subtly integrated with the story resulting in a different atmosphere though this feels more American than the Wallander stories. I think the huge 'The Next Stieg Larsson' sticker on the front of all his books is rather unfair too - for a start, Nesbo is a better writer (see my Dragon Tattoo reviews for my issues there), but it's also rather a lazy comparison and not really that accurate. I'm sure it sells though.
Anyway, I quite enjoyed the book, finding it easy and enjoyable to read, generally engaging and varied enough to feel like it's own creation rather than a generic police procedural. I'd be keen to pick up the next, hopefully discovering where they're going with the big plot reveal midway through which is left undiscovered.
Harry is generally a good character to read, though a little underdeveloped in my mind (alcoholic, alone, maverick etc, etc), much like the supporting cast (though I quite liked Ellen, brief as her appearances are). I thought his burgeoning relationship was actually handled quite nicely.
Plot wise, things truck on at a leisurely pace as we flit between the second world war (something I found quite interesting, not knowing much about Norway's involvement) and the current day (well, 12 years ago now). It's perhaps a little too slow at times though I actually found the ending to be genuinely thrilling, with an escalating feeling of tension and excitement. That's not something I often feel. We're given enough clues to try and figure out what's going on, without being able to fully piece it together (there are some helpful pages of exposition near the end to set everything straight).
The Norwegian settings are subtly integrated with the story resulting in a different atmosphere though this feels more American than the Wallander stories. I think the huge 'The Next Stieg Larsson' sticker on the front of all his books is rather unfair too - for a start, Nesbo is a better writer (see my Dragon Tattoo reviews for my issues there), but it's also rather a lazy comparison and not really that accurate. I'm sure it sells though.
Anyway, I quite enjoyed the book, finding it easy and enjoyable to read, generally engaging and varied enough to feel like it's own creation rather than a generic police procedural. I'd be keen to pick up the next, hopefully discovering where they're going with the big plot reveal midway through which is left undiscovered.