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Friends this is my review of the book The Leopard by Jo Nesbo, which I have read recently. I have realised that as the sun has been shining, the Easter holiday's and lots of work I have become slightly lax in recording my thoughts about the books that I have been reading. But hopefully I will be able to catch up this week.
The Leopard is the continuing saga of Inspector Harry Hole and his particular skills in solving crime especially murder in and around Oslo. This time due to forthcoming cuts there are added tensions between the different law enforcement agencies. It seems that unless Harry can solve the crimes in 48 hours his section will be closed down. Things do not go quite according to plan and Harry has to jet off to Africa on expenses to solve the mystery. Of course Harry eventually solves the crimes, but the misery and body count along the way just grows. This then makes one question as to why am I reading the book. The horror and pain described is not that enjoyable, yes I do want to know the mystery and why it has been done. And yes the twists and turns are really good but the question is do they out-way the misery. I am not sure about that. For me a good story is one where there is a little light relief along the way. A point where one can come up for air, catch a breath and move on. Sadly this seemed to be lacking in this story. It just seemed to go down and down. If you like very dark horror mystery then this is the book for you but I am not sure if I will be reading the next book in the Harry Hole series – certainly I will need something a bit lighter for quite some time before considering it. So this was book This was book 28 week 23 fiction 25 (audio book 5) non fiction 3.
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Friends this is my review of the book The Snowman by Jo Nesbo, which I read recently. This book continues the saga of the maverick detective Harry Hole. Harry investigates a number of recent murders of women around Oslo, and finds links that leads him to realise that he has uncovered a serial killer.
Each of the victims are married mothers, and of course there is a snowman near the murder scene. Harry gets a new partner Katrine, and they get drawn together, both physically and as detectives. Things then get very complicated for Harry, especially as he starts to suspect someone known to him as the murderer. But all is not what it seems. At the same time Harry's superiors want a scapegoat to cover up the scandal for allowing a serial killer to be on the large and of course Harry is the person they choose. Can Harry solve the crime and clear his name.. Well yes but the true perpetrator is not who is expected. A good story but fairly gruesome and graphic in parts. As the saying goes sometimes less is in fact more. Still I will read the next book in the series. This was book 39 week 30 fiction 36 (10 on audio) non fiction 3 Friends
This is my review of The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo which I have read recently. It is the ongoing saga of detective Harry Hole. It is just before Christmas and the Salvation Army is preparing to sing carols to the shoppers as they get their last minute bargains. A shot rings out and one of the singers is hit and dies. Seemingly there is no motive for the killing, no suspect can be found, neither can the weapon, and the weather is worsening. The murderer has to stay the night due to the weather, only then to discover that he has shot the wrong person. What does he do not finish the mission or go home for Christmas? As the clues slowly reveal themselves slowly uncovering the professional assassin's history it becomes a race to save the intended victim from death, whilst at the same time the motive for the hit is revealed – a dark episode from the past. A very enjoyable, though complex book, that slowly reveals the secret as one is peeling an onion. As each layer comes off new information comes to light. Of course this now makes me want to read the next book in the series – The snowman, but I will have to wait a bit for that. So this good read was book 15 week 11 fiction 13 (2 on audio) non fiction 2 This is my review of The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo, and is the third book that I have read following the saga of Harry Hole.
This book continues straight on from where the last “Nemesis” finished. Poor Harry is on the way out. He is under threat of the sack for alcoholism, and everyone seems to be against him. He just needs to prove that his long time adversary Tom Waaler is guilty, and not the shining star that all seem to think he is. Harry is given a last case to solve before leaving the force, a serial killer who is making the sign of the Devil with murders. A young woman is murdered in her flat and the murderer leaves a red diamond in the shape of a five pointed star behind her eyelid. From there onward more murders follow, but is all it seems or is it too perfect? The story taking a surprising couple of major twists and keeps one guessing to the end. Jo manages to leave enough threads dangling so one wants to read the next book to see if they are then answered then. An enjoyable read - this was book 48 week 32 fiction 45 (13 on audio) non fiction 3 This is the second book I have read by Jo Nesbo and was just as enjoyable as the first. As one of the quotes says on the back of the book “A superb novel. Intricate, true gripping” . I can't agree more.
The story starts with a man robbing a bank and shooting dead a cashier, and it is all visible on CCTV. Then it gradually unfolds with twists at every juncture, till the detective Harry Hole has become the suspect, and he has to solve the mystery to free his name. Going along with this there are more bank robberies – are these copycat ones or the same person. All one great big mystery. It was really hard to put down as at nearly the end of each chapter a new twist in the tale was revealed. A thoroughly gripping book and fantastically translated by Don Bartlett. Besides the names it would be hard to tell that it had not been written in English as the first language. I can't wait to read the next book, but that will probably be a Christmas present. So this was book 23 week 15 – fiction 22 (8 on audio) non fiction 1 What an exciting book to have as book 52, the end of the first collection of 52 books that I have read or listened to. Having not read any Jo Nesbo before I had some concerns as to what he would be like. I know the hype had given good headlines but I have started books before that have had similar claims and they have not matched up with what has been said.
In this case it was the opposite, this is a real page turner. Maybe this is because of the unfamiliar Norwegian names, making it a requirement to concentrate just that little more on the text, what ever it is an utterly complex captivating story that spans a time frame from the 1940's to the current day. I thought I had worked out who the killer was, before the end, but the script had a totally unexpected twist that was very clever. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series and I hope it is as good as this. This was book book 52 – week 38 – fiction 46 (13 on audio) non fiction 6 and the end of the 2011 to 2012 book list. Next book will be starting a new book list |
Tim Fuller
Dyslexic doodles on photography, food (growing, cooking & of course eating), faith and other fascinating things. This is a personal blog expressing my views. Archives
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