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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
3.5. Was entertaining and intriguing as usual... over the top in the conclusions! And some brutality that was hideous to imagine.
I'm still not sure how I became such a Harry Hole fan. Somehow, after reading one book, I decided reading them all was my next logical step.
Which means owning them, obviously.
Now, yes, I'll grant you, they look really cool on the ol' shelf, but there's always that nervous moment where you find one isn't quite as good as you hoped.
Thankfully, this hasn't happened with Lee Child or Caimh McDonnell yet, and it's probably small mercies that it's happened on book two of Nesbo's Hole escapades.
Granted, there are factors at play. I'm run down, fighting a cold and thanks to being unable to breathe am somehow getting by on about two hours sleep a night.
All of these will impact concentration, knowledge retention. They make following a surprisingly complex plot quite tricky.
But I remain convinced this isn't all on me.
Cockroaches just doesn't quite hang together.
For a start, Nesbo makes the classic mistake when putting the hero in a foreign location - we get all the tourist spots ticked off. Nesbo actually goes one further and mentions all of the major roads in Bangkok.
This adds bog all to the narrative, but does tell us he went there once and wanted to make sure we knew it.
Then there are the two major plot strands, one of which has an added political twist for shits and giggles. They intertwine in the end, but for at least half the book serve only to distract from the other.
There's a great story about an ambassador getting stabbed in a motel here. There's an interesting story about paedophiles. We get both.
And in many ways, end up with neither.
The paedophile is also quite disturbing, as Nesbo feels inclined to include a debate on the nature of such people and whether urges can be controlled.
I'm not saying it reads like getting a defence in early, but....
Also writing this as a direct sequel to The Bat causes some stumbles, as it requires the reader to have read the first book, and then to have actually remembered it.
However....
Once you have ploughed through the first two-thirds of this - and plough you will because despite all the problems it is still well written and still has Harry Hole in it - your reward awaits.
The final third - with Harry talking about the guilty party as if we should all have worked it out and a delightfully bloody showdown - really delivers.
Shorn of all the added gumpf Nesbo felt obliged to throw in, he rolls up his sleeves and delivers a roller-coaster ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat and turning pages while your tea goes cold.
Which, thankfully, reminds you of why you picked up the damn book in the first place.
Which means owning them, obviously.
Now, yes, I'll grant you, they look really cool on the ol' shelf, but there's always that nervous moment where you find one isn't quite as good as you hoped.
Thankfully, this hasn't happened with Lee Child or Caimh McDonnell yet, and it's probably small mercies that it's happened on book two of Nesbo's Hole escapades.
Granted, there are factors at play. I'm run down, fighting a cold and thanks to being unable to breathe am somehow getting by on about two hours sleep a night.
All of these will impact concentration, knowledge retention. They make following a surprisingly complex plot quite tricky.
But I remain convinced this isn't all on me.
Cockroaches just doesn't quite hang together.
For a start, Nesbo makes the classic mistake when putting the hero in a foreign location - we get all the tourist spots ticked off. Nesbo actually goes one further and mentions all of the major roads in Bangkok.
This adds bog all to the narrative, but does tell us he went there once and wanted to make sure we knew it.
Then there are the two major plot strands, one of which has an added political twist for shits and giggles. They intertwine in the end, but for at least half the book serve only to distract from the other.
There's a great story about an ambassador getting stabbed in a motel here. There's an interesting story about paedophiles. We get both.
And in many ways, end up with neither.
The paedophile is also quite disturbing, as Nesbo feels inclined to include a debate on the nature of such people and whether urges can be controlled.
I'm not saying it reads like getting a defence in early, but....
Also writing this as a direct sequel to The Bat causes some stumbles, as it requires the reader to have read the first book, and then to have actually remembered it.
However....
Once you have ploughed through the first two-thirds of this - and plough you will because despite all the problems it is still well written and still has Harry Hole in it - your reward awaits.
The final third - with Harry talking about the guilty party as if we should all have worked it out and a delightfully bloody showdown - really delivers.
Shorn of all the added gumpf Nesbo felt obliged to throw in, he rolls up his sleeves and delivers a roller-coaster ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat and turning pages while your tea goes cold.
Which, thankfully, reminds you of why you picked up the damn book in the first place.
Daleko bolja od Šišmiša - bolja priča, bolji likovi, napetije, zanimljivije, mračnije.
It was a bit jarring to read a book this early in the series - I had to stop and think back to certain keystone events in Hole's life -- and the (re)appearance of a non-dead character was a bit jarring, too.
This book also takes place early in the stages of his alcoholism, which plays a key role in this plot: both in the beginning and the end of the book.
It is a bit strange that they waited this long to translate this and release it in the US - it is an integral book in the series, and it goes a long way in explaining his distrust of the police force and politicians.
All of the Harry Hole books are pretty unflinching when it comes to violence, but be warned if you find child sexual abuse to particularly difficult to handle.
This book also takes place early in the stages of his alcoholism, which plays a key role in this plot: both in the beginning and the end of the book.
It is a bit strange that they waited this long to translate this and release it in the US - it is an integral book in the series, and it goes a long way in explaining his distrust of the police force and politicians.
All of the Harry Hole books are pretty unflinching when it comes to violence, but be warned if you find child sexual abuse to particularly difficult to handle.
It was a little hard to follow at points. There is a lot going on with a multitude of main characters and can get a bit confusing.
This is book number 2 in the series which I'm enjoying immensely. Some of the translation by Don Bartlett is a bit awkward at times in its colloquialisms and expressions but otherwise an easy read. I plan on finishing the entire Harry Hole series in the coming months.
Harry Hole is a sufficiently pained protagonist, and clever on top of that, I just don't know if after the first two books in the series I care enough about him.
The plot was twisting enough without be completely over the top contrived. Overall an entertaining mystery, but I don't think I've been entertained enough to continue with the series, I need more connection to my characters.
The plot was twisting enough without be completely over the top contrived. Overall an entertaining mystery, but I don't think I've been entertained enough to continue with the series, I need more connection to my characters.
I enjoyed the mystery of the story, but didn’t care for the topic. The writing was good. I’m looking forward to continuing the series.
Not nearly as good as the first Harry Hole book. In this one, the Norwegian police detective is sent abroad again, even though he's been drinking too much and really shouldn't be sent anywhere. It turns out there are more Norwegians in Thailand than I would have imagined, and one of them -- the ambassador to Thailand -- has been murdered. The case is really convoluted, and in the end, I felt there were too many holes in the story (no spoilers). It just didn't come together well.
The amusing or clever parts that made [b:The Bat|17345209|The Bat (Harry Hole, #1)|Jo Nesbø|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1364767794s/17345209.jpg|1994708] fun to read were few and far between in this book. There were a few good moments, especially when the Thai police detectives were involved. A scene when one of them is picking a lock really hit the mark perfectly.
Overall, there was too much gritty, ugly stuff (pedophiles, child porn, the drunken wife of the dead ambassador, and more murders) with unnecessarily graphic description. The seamy underbelly of Bangkok comes across -- especially those pathetic bars where extremely young women are working very hard to pick up fat old Western men -- but the balance is off. The heat, the traffic, the feel of the city before the elevated train was completed -- all good, very realistic, but not enough to make up for all the flaws.
The amusing or clever parts that made [b:The Bat|17345209|The Bat (Harry Hole, #1)|Jo Nesbø|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1364767794s/17345209.jpg|1994708] fun to read were few and far between in this book. There were a few good moments, especially when the Thai police detectives were involved. A scene when one of them is picking a lock really hit the mark perfectly.
Overall, there was too much gritty, ugly stuff (pedophiles, child porn, the drunken wife of the dead ambassador, and more murders) with unnecessarily graphic description. The seamy underbelly of Bangkok comes across -- especially those pathetic bars where extremely young women are working very hard to pick up fat old Western men -- but the balance is off. The heat, the traffic, the feel of the city before the elevated train was completed -- all good, very realistic, but not enough to make up for all the flaws.
fast-paced