Jo Nesbo Books Review

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Novella Poinsett

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Aug 3, 2024, 4:59:02 PM8/3/24

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The Redeemer is the latest thriller from the Norwegian Jo Nesb and once again features his alcoholic maverick cop, Inspector Harry Hole. It begins with a rape at a Salvation Army summer school, then leaps forward twelve years and two seasons, to freezing cold Oslo at Christmas. The Salvation Army is doing good works among the lowlife junkies of the Norwegian capital. One of them has slipped through the safety net, and Harry Hole is investigating his apparent suicide when one of the Sally Army officers is executed by a professional hit man. The assassin, a product of the war in the former Yugoslavia, realises he has murdered the wrong man but by now the indomitable Harry Hole is on the case . . .

With too many themes and too many sub-plots it felt to me that Nesb was trying too hard. In places, too, the book read like a film script, with an over-abundance of 'cut-to' scenes (the whole of chapter two, for example), and while the sudden jumping from scene to scene might work in a movie, on the page it had the counter-effect of diluting the tension. On the positive side, there were a number of well-worked set-piece scenes (a vacuum cleaner used as an instrument of torture, for instance) and Harry Hole's fluctuating relationships with alcohol and the opposite sex is always interesting.

Perhaps I was expecting too much after my enthusiastic response to Nesb's earlier books. Perhaps it was because, since then, I have re-read the excellent Martin Beck series of books by Sjwall and Wahl. (Beck was the prototype for, among others, Wallander, Rebus and Harry Hole.) In my humble opinion, Nesb could not hope to compete with Sjwall and Wahl. Whatever the reason, while an enjoyable read, I'm afraid I found The Redeemer never quite met my high expectations.

You can read more book reviews or buy The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges 2.99 for standard delivery for orders under 20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo at Amazon.com.

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.

***Short & Sweet Reviews are short, quick reviews. These will mainly be used for series books where I have already done full reviews on some of the earlier books or for books that I feel will suffice with a quick review. These will not be used for review requests or blog tours.

I'm Kristin. I always have a book with me wherever I go! I am married and have two chocolate labs - Maddie and Chloe. In addition to reading, I also enjoy yoga and walking - I am a big audio fan and love listening to audio books while out walking!
Contact me: k2reader(at)gmail.com

When the conversation ended I quickly scrambled to my computer to plug in my digital recorder to review the interview, only to find that my batteries had died about 20 minutes into our conversation. I was crushed. Here I was, ready to transcribe every word and publish it for all to see, and now I had nothing to show. No proof that my dream-come-true had even occurred. So I present to you faithful reader, a very short version of a great conversation with Jo Nesb.

CHRIS: In a recent NPR segment, you were interviewed while walking the streets of Oslo. Based on that interview it seems like Oslo is a little brighter than the version you write in your novels. Do you think the city is as dark as you present it, or is Harry just the type of character who requires a darker landscape?

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