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A review by charles__
Nemesis by Jo Nesbø
3.0
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?
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?