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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder
Moderate: Pedophilia
Lots of twist and turns in an exotic setting that keeps you trying to keep up but the end is still surprising.
Easily readable, short chapters and not getting stuck on too many background details while keeping it interesting enough.
Easily readable, short chapters and not getting stuck on too many background details while keeping it interesting enough.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Detective murder story based in the Norwegian community in Bangkok. At the end the murder plot as unravelled is too complicated and the ending seems unnecessarily violent. But up to that point is good fast moving thriller hence the rating.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Okay, I got Nesbø out of my system.
Did this get made into a movie yet? It would require having everyone in Hollywood walk onto the set for a minute, dropping a piece of info, and then leaving.
Did this get made into a movie yet? It would require having everyone in Hollywood walk onto the set for a minute, dropping a piece of info, and then leaving.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Harry Holes Weg führt ihn diesmal ins korrupte Thailand.
Auch beim zweiten Mal lesen finde ich das Buch immer noch klasse.
Wer skandinavische Krimis mag und keine Angst vor einer Reihe hat sollte unbedingt Jo Nesbö lesen.
Auch beim zweiten Mal lesen finde ich das Buch immer noch klasse.
Wer skandinavische Krimis mag und keine Angst vor einer Reihe hat sollte unbedingt Jo Nesbö lesen.
'Better bad luck than no luck, Pappa used to say.'
A detective at once celebrated and disgraced is sent to Thailand to investigate the mysterious death of a Norwegian ambassador.
This is another Jo Nesbø book that I read fully aware that Nesbø is an excellent author in his current form. Back in 1998, he still wasn't quite there yet.
This is a very well-written book with punchy dialogue, translated very nicely by Nesbø's regular English translator, Don Bartlett. It has a very clever and thrilling mystery, seen through the eyes of a clever and deducing detective. The latter, unfortunately and like his debut [b:The Bat|17345209|The Bat (Harry Hole, #1)|Jo Nesbø|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1364767794l/17345209._SY75_.jpg|1994708], does make this book feel a bit all over the place. The author follows his brain a bit too closely with a tad too little explanation until the end. It's a problem, because while it's good for a mystery to be confusing, I really don't think that it's because I'm an idiot that I couldn't follow Harry's train of thought. I think part of our problem here is that the author's love of developing his characters through interactions and actions rather than pure description results in a lot of scenes with limited narrative purpose, and it does throw a lot off.
Our tropey protagonist doesn't develop all that much in this book. He's still an alcoholic, though he's doing his best to kick it, and though he's less fixated on women in this book, it's probably mostly because the two main women in this book are either less obvious or less legal. (The bickering relationship between Harry and the former is absolutely brilliant and pops off the page beautifully. 'Thanking you.' 'Fuck you.' Harry grinned. I love it.) The crime, perpetrator, and circumstances are significantly more imaginative, though, combining corporate crime with child abuse and pornography. This combination doesn't really help with the all-over-the-place issue, but it certainly makes for a more unique and morally grey investigation than the first book's.
I can't speak to how well Thailand is represented by Nesbø, but it feels like he's done his homework, and, even if he has not, this version of Thailand is very well-developed and not only serves as an effective, engaged setting, but often feels like a character all its own. This is an ongoing strength in Nesbø's work, alongside excellent, dimensional representation of diverse characters - this time including Thai characters, varying degrees of mental health issues and mental disabilities, and more well-handled LGBTQ characters. Okay, the handling of trans characters isn't perfect - you can imagine what we're dealing with in a book set in 1990s Bangkok - but he does better than one would expect in a Nordic noir written in 1998.
To round this off, I'm just going to quote the end of my The Bat review, which all still rings true in this book:
"This is an unfocussed book, with a lot of potential."
'Trust me.'
'Why should I?'
'Because you've got no choice.'
A detective at once celebrated and disgraced is sent to Thailand to investigate the mysterious death of a Norwegian ambassador.
This is another Jo Nesbø book that I read fully aware that Nesbø is an excellent author in his current form. Back in 1998, he still wasn't quite there yet.
This is a very well-written book with punchy dialogue, translated very nicely by Nesbø's regular English translator, Don Bartlett. It has a very clever and thrilling mystery, seen through the eyes of a clever and deducing detective. The latter, unfortunately and like his debut [b:The Bat|17345209|The Bat (Harry Hole, #1)|Jo Nesbø|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1364767794l/17345209._SY75_.jpg|1994708], does make this book feel a bit all over the place. The author follows his brain a bit too closely with a tad too little explanation until the end. It's a problem, because while it's good for a mystery to be confusing, I really don't think that it's because I'm an idiot that I couldn't follow Harry's train of thought. I think part of our problem here is that the author's love of developing his characters through interactions and actions rather than pure description results in a lot of scenes with limited narrative purpose, and it does throw a lot off.
Our tropey protagonist doesn't develop all that much in this book. He's still an alcoholic, though he's doing his best to kick it, and though he's less fixated on women in this book, it's probably mostly because the two main women in this book are either less obvious or less legal. (The bickering relationship between Harry and the former is absolutely brilliant and pops off the page beautifully. 'Thanking you.' 'Fuck you.' Harry grinned. I love it.) The crime, perpetrator, and circumstances are significantly more imaginative, though, combining corporate crime with child abuse and pornography. This combination doesn't really help with the all-over-the-place issue, but it certainly makes for a more unique and morally grey investigation than the first book's.
I can't speak to how well Thailand is represented by Nesbø, but it feels like he's done his homework, and, even if he has not, this version of Thailand is very well-developed and not only serves as an effective, engaged setting, but often feels like a character all its own. This is an ongoing strength in Nesbø's work, alongside excellent, dimensional representation of diverse characters - this time including Thai characters, varying degrees of mental health issues and mental disabilities, and more well-handled LGBTQ characters. Okay, the handling of trans characters isn't perfect - you can imagine what we're dealing with in a book set in 1990s Bangkok - but he does better than one would expect in a Nordic noir written in 1998.
To round this off, I'm just going to quote the end of my The Bat review, which all still rings true in this book:
"This is an unfocussed book, with a lot of potential."
'Trust me.'
'Why should I?'
'Because you've got no choice.'
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is the 2nd book from a series written by a Norwegian author that features a very flawed, but very bright Norwegian detective. I enjoy the series because the detective gets sent overseas when tragedy strikes a Norwegian citizen. The first was set in Sydney; this one was set in Bangkok. I imagine I'll end up reading the entire series. For crime/thriller readers, this is a good one.