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One of my favorite things is random reads. You need a book and you find the first one laying around (in this virtually so) so you pick it up and give it a go. This was a great surprise.
An excellent short book that surprises without shocking. Some of the twists were predictable but others really snuck up on me. A great ending.
"The snow was dancing like cotton wool in the light of the street lamps" is the opening line of this ultra light weight pulp. Then, for 198 pages it gets steadily, unbelievably worse.
That was three hours I'll never get back.
That was three hours I'll never get back.
Seemed like a bad translation to me. Super boring story on top of it. Meh.
The first Nesbø book I finished after many other attempts. Really a meditation on perspective and storytelling (of the personal narrative sort) wrapped in a crime novel. I don’t think this means I’ll become a Nesbø fan but it worked for me here.
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Jo Nesbø is a household name in the suspense/thriller genre. And since I’ve rarely venture out into that aisle of my bookstore, I’ve yet to discover all the hows and the whys he’s so popular. At 208 pages, this book did its damnest to convince me that he is as prolific in the genre as everyone claims him to be.
I get it. I get his style. I get his characters and the brutal violence that he could very well be known for. This man has written a number of books; including a couple of stand-alones that are critically acclaimed. As an inexperienced reader of noir fiction, I’m hardly an expert. But I hope you’ll give me some leeway when I say that Scandinavian thrillers are a different beast altogether. I think did him a disservice when I tagged this book as pulp fiction during the first few chapters of my reading. Truth is, it really is not.
It’s difficult to develop a rapport with a character whose line of work dealt with the murder of suspect characters. But Olav is what you would consider as an assassin with a heart. Depending on the assignment, the chances of him saving a kill is more than likely to happen. He does his research well; he finds anything worth saving before he goes for the kill. It’s a deterrent to success in his line of work. After all, he can’t save everyone. And while he is a killer with a kind heart, he could be also be as cold as a trained assassin could be.
His latest assignment led him to a whole world of trouble. He was to kill the wife of the man who give his assignments. During his usual surveillance, he found out that she was, indeed, cheating. But the circumstances can’t be as black and white. He sees the man beats her before they have sex. He concludes that he was blackmailing her, hence the forced sex. He didn’t anticipate how badly things will turn out when he decided to kill the man instead of his boss’ wife, however.
For such a short novel, Nesbø was able to give Olav depth in characterization: he’s not a very smart man; he’s naive. He killed his father. He can’t rob a bank, or be a pimp. He doesn’t smoke, drink or do drugs. He compares himself to his version of Hugo’s Jean Valjean. He adores his mother. In one of his assignments, he decided to save a deaf-mute girl who was forced into prostitution to pay off a debt. He’s been writing her an unsent letters ever since.
Amidst the violence, blood, and gore, there is something romantic about Olav’s line of work. Or perhaps, it’s Olav himself. Nesbø gave his readers a larger than life character that’s neither good or bad; hero nor villain; a saint, as much as he was a sinner.
Jo Nesbø’s latest work is good enough for inexperienced noir readers. It’s not as evolved as perhaps his Harry Hole series, but highly recommended if you’ve ever thought of trudging through an unexplored genre.
I get it. I get his style. I get his characters and the brutal violence that he could very well be known for. This man has written a number of books; including a couple of stand-alones that are critically acclaimed. As an inexperienced reader of noir fiction, I’m hardly an expert. But I hope you’ll give me some leeway when I say that Scandinavian thrillers are a different beast altogether. I think did him a disservice when I tagged this book as pulp fiction during the first few chapters of my reading. Truth is, it really is not.
It’s difficult to develop a rapport with a character whose line of work dealt with the murder of suspect characters. But Olav is what you would consider as an assassin with a heart. Depending on the assignment, the chances of him saving a kill is more than likely to happen. He does his research well; he finds anything worth saving before he goes for the kill. It’s a deterrent to success in his line of work. After all, he can’t save everyone. And while he is a killer with a kind heart, he could be also be as cold as a trained assassin could be.
His latest assignment led him to a whole world of trouble. He was to kill the wife of the man who give his assignments. During his usual surveillance, he found out that she was, indeed, cheating. But the circumstances can’t be as black and white. He sees the man beats her before they have sex. He concludes that he was blackmailing her, hence the forced sex. He didn’t anticipate how badly things will turn out when he decided to kill the man instead of his boss’ wife, however.
For such a short novel, Nesbø was able to give Olav depth in characterization: he’s not a very smart man; he’s naive. He killed his father. He can’t rob a bank, or be a pimp. He doesn’t smoke, drink or do drugs. He compares himself to his version of Hugo’s Jean Valjean. He adores his mother. In one of his assignments, he decided to save a deaf-mute girl who was forced into prostitution to pay off a debt. He’s been writing her an unsent letters ever since.
Amidst the violence, blood, and gore, there is something romantic about Olav’s line of work. Or perhaps, it’s Olav himself. Nesbø gave his readers a larger than life character that’s neither good or bad; hero nor villain; a saint, as much as he was a sinner.
Jo Nesbø’s latest work is good enough for inexperienced noir readers. It’s not as evolved as perhaps his Harry Hole series, but highly recommended if you’ve ever thought of trudging through an unexplored genre.
Not Jo Nesbo's best book. Too romantic. Not my type.
"Blood on Snow" is the newest book from Norwegian author Jo Nesbo. It's the first book in a two book series with the second book being "Midnight Sun", expected in 2016. Contrary to what we're used to from Nesbo it's a rather short book, not even counting 200 pages (more on this at the end). Also important to know is that after "The Son" we have again a book without main Nesbo protagonist Harry Hole.
Main character this time is Olav, a 'fixer' for one of the biggest crime lords in Oslo. His newest assignment is to 'fix' the wife of his boss. Unfortunately he falls in love the moment he sees her and from there Olav stumbles from one problem into another.
It's again good writing from Nesbo with an intruiging story. Unfortunately it's only a short story and it doesn't provide the depth we're used to from Nesbo, and we certainly don't get the many unexpected plot twist Nesbo is known for. It still remains a very enjoyable read and it isn't all that predictable either ... otherwise it wouldn't be a real Nesbo.
So, again a nice book from Nesbo, definitely not his best work, but still recommended to all Nesbo fans!
Rating: 7/10
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If I need to give one point of critic, this goes to the Publisher. It's a very short book, only counting 184 pages in a large print, and equal to a 100 pages book in a normal print (roughly estimated). Still the Publisher decided to price the book at €17.90!!! Way to much in my opinion. I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't have any coupons that were about to expire (not even if Nesbo is one of my favourite authors). In the end I only payed €8.90 thanks to this, but still I don't consider this fair pricing from the Publisher.
Main character this time is Olav, a 'fixer' for one of the biggest crime lords in Oslo. His newest assignment is to 'fix' the wife of his boss. Unfortunately he falls in love the moment he sees her and from there Olav stumbles from one problem into another.
It's again good writing from Nesbo with an intruiging story. Unfortunately it's only a short story and it doesn't provide the depth we're used to from Nesbo, and we certainly don't get the many unexpected plot twist Nesbo is known for. It still remains a very enjoyable read and it isn't all that predictable either ... otherwise it wouldn't be a real Nesbo.
So, again a nice book from Nesbo, definitely not his best work, but still recommended to all Nesbo fans!
Rating: 7/10
--------------------------------------------
If I need to give one point of critic, this goes to the Publisher. It's a very short book, only counting 184 pages in a large print, and equal to a 100 pages book in a normal print (roughly estimated). Still the Publisher decided to price the book at €17.90!!! Way to much in my opinion. I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't have any coupons that were about to expire (not even if Nesbo is one of my favourite authors). In the end I only payed €8.90 thanks to this, but still I don't consider this fair pricing from the Publisher.
Quick thoughts 💭
❕Able to read in one sitting
❗️Olav “The Fixer” falls in love too easily
❕Dark + gritty
❗️More of a character study than a thriller
❕interesting short story
❗️I would read more by this author but this one was not my favorite… ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Happy reading ❄️📖🩸
❕Able to read in one sitting
❗️Olav “The Fixer” falls in love too easily
❕Dark + gritty
❗️More of a character study than a thriller
❕interesting short story
❗️I would read more by this author but this one was not my favorite… ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Happy reading ❄️📖🩸