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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
I was attracted to this book for two main reasons. The first was because it was recommended to me as a book about Norway. The second was because the preview for the movie looked scary af. So I had perhaps too high of hopes for this novel. I didn't love this book for a few reasons, most of which were my fault, some of which were Nesbø's. My first issue was just that I don't really love detective novels. I prefer my thrillers to either not be part of a "series" or be about a character who isn't in law enforcement. So I thought Nesbø spent too much time on Hole's personal life, and not enough time on the murders. As a result, I felt neither scared nor anxious as to what was going to happen, which was one of my goals in reading this. Further, I thought the twists and turns were lackluster and disappointing. I did enjoy the depictions of Norway, but wish the book could have brought more.
Probably 3.5 stars. This book was pretty good, but Nesbo's got nothing on Gillian Flynn.
This book was paced well and had a truly exciting last 100 pages. The last time I felt such suspense was reading Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime. I hate books with lame endings and this ending was not lame!
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A fantastic crime novel with a really gripping story line and intricate characters that makes the book hard to put down.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I enjoy the Harry Hole character - well devised detective stories - good escapism.
Very nice, easy to read, face paced story, that kept me to the very end. I was disappointed when it was over!
Would have been five stars but dragged on for a titch. Nesbo is playing 3D chess with some of these archs. Everything put in is purposeful and circular. A nice and tidy book.
Seventh book in the Scandinavian-noir sub-genre Harry Hole series set in Oslo, in which the Norwegian police detective investigates a true Norwegian serial killer of (mostly) women, whose Calling Card was to leave a snowman at the scene of the crime.
Holmenkollen Ski Jump, Oslo—Quite a ways to the ground?
My audio edition was about fifteen and a half hours long. A dead tree copy would be about 420 pages. The original Norwegian copyright was 2007. English translation was performed in 2010. My audio edition had a 2011 copyright. Robin Sachs was the book’s narrator.
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 seventh book in the author’s Harry Hole (correct last name pronounced Whole-Eee in Norwegian) series. Currently there are 12 books in the series. This was also the 9th or 10th book I’ve read by the author. The most recent being The Redeemer (Harry Hole, #6) (my review).
It’s not necessary, but recommended that the previous books in the series, particularly The Redbreast and The Redeemer be read before this one. Otherwise, some of the, long-term, series plotlines with Hole will not be easily understood.
Snow Means Death and the killer leaves a snowman as a Calling Card. In the story, Harry Hole, the Defective Detective, on the Oslo Murder Squad investigates Norway’s first serial killer. As per usual, multiple plots intertwined in the story. His breakup with Rakel Fauke still hangs heavily with him and features again in the story. Typically, the author targets either a Norwegian constituency or organization in each story. Here, it might be faithless Norwegian women and the medical profession? In addition, the long-term plotline of the shadowy Norwegian right-wing organization infiltrating the government raised their ugly, silver-haired, head(s). This story continued Nesbø ‘s increase in complication (and book length) of the Hole murder investigations. You might think that Red Herring was a Norwegian delicacy for the number of perps Nesbø threw at the reader? I was frankly glad when both Hole and the Perp separately provided their The Summations. The Snowman's was a lengthy autobiography in character.
This story was solid, but I felt whip-sawed during the course of the investigation. It started with flashback to the Perp’s childhood at the very start of the book with the Trapped in a Sinking Car trope usage. This first short chapter was crucial to the snowman Calling Card symbolism. I didn’t understand its significance until nearly the end. Hence the story started in a confusing fashion.
Nesbø’s novels have been becoming increasingly intricate book-by-book, to the point where I can no longer, with even supreme effort, spot the perp. Mostly, he employs clever riffs on more than one common trope with multiple antagonists and murders that eventually converge. For example here, there was the use of the Criminal Mind Games (a Nesbø staple), Villain with Good Publicity (for the Arve Støp character) and multiple uses of the Frame-Up tropes.
The body of the story was a long sequence of “Whac-A-MolePerp. Frankly, by the end I was tired of dining on Red Herrings. Ear-reading the book made this more annoying, because I was never quite sure how close the end was.
Interestingly, Hole’s typical falling off the wagon didn’t happen. He showed a fair amount of control of his alcoholism in this story. In addition, there was no foreign travel at all. (The very beginning of the series was Norwegian travel Pr0n.) Although, there were a couple of trips to Bjørgvin, Norway’s “Second City”.
There's always plenty of women, both friends, colleagues, new lovers and ex-lovers in the stories. Although, the new Katrine Bratt character threw me for a loop. She was not the expected new, female Buddy Cop for Hole. There was also the requisite amount of sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll for a Hole novel. I did not note any technical errors. This was despite several references to the antique S&W .38 revolver used by Norwegian law enforcement. Previous books have convinced me Nesbø learned about firearms on television. Although, that Hole was able to obtain Tear Gas canisters from the police armory as easily as checking out a library book and then transport them on a domestic flight seemed peculiar? Finally, the book contained the mandatory Sequel Hook.
Many folks consider this to be the penultimate Harry Hole novel. It was good, but not the best I've read in the series. (I would vote for [b:The Redbreast|465226|The Redbreast (Harry Hole, #3)|Jo Nesbø|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320540474l/465226._SY75_.jpg|1487876].) This story felt overly complicated and also too long. As mentioned above, I ear-read this book. I’m certain, I would have been better-off eye-reading it. That was so I could concentrate more on it. With this book, I'm on the ‘back-side’ the series. With each book the stories get longer and also more intricate. Nesbø has also greatly improved as a writer, and he’s still experimenting with techniques. Although not always successfully. I’ll be listening to the next book in the series, [b:The Leopard|23355220|The Leopard (Harry Hole, #8)|Jo Nesbø|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1413045306l/23355220._SY75_.jpg|7112263] shortly.
Readers interested Nordic Noir as a sub-genre may be interested in Scandinavian Noir: In Pursuit of a Mystery (my review)?
Holmenkollen Ski Jump, Oslo—Quite a ways to the ground?
My audio edition was about fifteen and a half hours long. A dead tree copy would be about 420 pages. The original Norwegian copyright was 2007. English translation was performed in 2010. My audio edition had a 2011 copyright. Robin Sachs was the book’s narrator.
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 seventh book in the author’s Harry Hole (correct last name pronounced Whole-Eee in Norwegian) series. Currently there are 12 books in the series. This was also the 9th or 10th book I’ve read by the author. The most recent being The Redeemer (Harry Hole, #6) (my review).
It’s not necessary, but recommended that the previous books in the series, particularly The Redbreast and The Redeemer be read before this one. Otherwise, some of the, long-term, series plotlines with Hole will not be easily understood.
Snow Means Death and the killer leaves a snowman as a Calling Card. In the story, Harry Hole, the Defective Detective, on the Oslo Murder Squad investigates Norway’s first serial killer. As per usual, multiple plots intertwined in the story. His breakup with Rakel Fauke still hangs heavily with him and features again in the story. Typically, the author targets either a Norwegian constituency or organization in each story. Here, it might be faithless Norwegian women and the medical profession? In addition, the long-term plotline of the shadowy Norwegian right-wing organization infiltrating the government raised their ugly, silver-haired, head(s). This story continued Nesbø ‘s increase in complication (and book length) of the Hole murder investigations. You might think that Red Herring was a Norwegian delicacy for the number of perps Nesbø threw at the reader? I was frankly glad when both Hole and the Perp separately provided their The Summations. The Snowman's was a lengthy autobiography in character.
This story was solid, but I felt whip-sawed during the course of the investigation. It started with flashback to the Perp’s childhood at the very start of the book with the Trapped in a Sinking Car trope usage. This first short chapter was crucial to the snowman Calling Card symbolism. I didn’t understand its significance until nearly the end. Hence the story started in a confusing fashion.
Nesbø’s novels have been becoming increasingly intricate book-by-book, to the point where I can no longer, with even supreme effort, spot the perp. Mostly, he employs clever riffs on more than one common trope with multiple antagonists and murders that eventually converge. For example here, there was the use of the Criminal Mind Games (a Nesbø staple), Villain with Good Publicity (for the Arve Støp character) and multiple uses of the Frame-Up tropes.
The body of the story was a long sequence of “Whac-A-
Spoiler
fifth (Jonas Becker, Arve Støp, Idar Vetlesen, Katrine Bratt and finally Mathias Lund) perp at theInterestingly, Hole’s typical falling off the wagon didn’t happen. He showed a fair amount of control of his alcoholism in this story. In addition, there was no foreign travel at all. (The very beginning of the series was Norwegian travel Pr0n.) Although, there were a couple of trips to Bjørgvin, Norway’s “Second City”.
There's always plenty of women, both friends, colleagues, new lovers and ex-lovers in the stories. Although, the new Katrine Bratt character threw me for a loop. She was not the expected new, female Buddy Cop for Hole. There was also the requisite amount of sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll for a Hole novel. I did not note any technical errors. This was despite several references to the antique S&W .38 revolver used by Norwegian law enforcement. Previous books have convinced me Nesbø learned about firearms on television. Although, that Hole was able to obtain Tear Gas canisters from the police armory as easily as checking out a library book and then transport them on a domestic flight seemed peculiar? Finally, the book contained the mandatory Sequel Hook.
Many folks consider this to be the penultimate Harry Hole novel. It was good, but not the best I've read in the series. (I would vote for [b:The Redbreast|465226|The Redbreast (Harry Hole, #3)|Jo Nesbø|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320540474l/465226._SY75_.jpg|1487876].) This story felt overly complicated and also too long. As mentioned above, I ear-read this book. I’m certain, I would have been better-off eye-reading it. That was so I could concentrate more on it. With this book, I'm on the ‘back-side’ the series. With each book the stories get longer and also more intricate. Nesbø has also greatly improved as a writer, and he’s still experimenting with techniques. Although not always successfully. I’ll be listening to the next book in the series, [b:The Leopard|23355220|The Leopard (Harry Hole, #8)|Jo Nesbø|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1413045306l/23355220._SY75_.jpg|7112263] shortly.
Readers interested Nordic Noir as a sub-genre may be interested in Scandinavian Noir: In Pursuit of a Mystery (my review)?