A gripping crime thriller of the wounded hero variety from Jo Nesbø. Nothing earth shaking here, in fact the lead detective character is pretty recognizable, the formula has been done countless time in books and films spread over time and geography, but that doesn't mean this is hum drum. The plot twists do keep one guessing and there was genuine sense of drama and the hair on my neck most definitely stood up at one point (and I'm pretty jaded about such things) If I wanted to compare to other Scandinavian crime drama works, I would think more Henning Mankell than Stieg Larson, although Nesbø's work & style is different enough that you won't feel it is just another knock off.

Some minor hits center on quick scene changes with much obvious clue that he just flipped to a new plot thread or even back in time. Maybe the atmospherics of the horror angle could have been pumped up a little, but i sense that he only wants to walk his story so far out on the pure horror front, preferring to stay within the bounds of a plausible crime fiction. Both these are minor dings, rest assured I thoroughly enjoyed this book (I read it in just over one 24 hour period), it only fell short of five stars because I've been giving to many of them out lately.

(I did guess the killer successfully and fairly early I think)