Customer Reviews

Nemesis

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you're a fan of complex police drama, intelligenty written and cleverly crafted, then the talented Norwegian author Jo Nesbo's crime fiction should find a place on your bookshelf. "Nemesis" is the third English translation of Nesbo's tales of Oslo police inspector Harry Hole, chronologically fitting in between the two previous US releases, "The Redbreast" and "The Devil's Star" - both excellent and well worth finding and reading.

"Nemesis" starts with Hole painstakingly reviewing the surveillance video of an Oslo bank robbery that escalates to murder at the hand of the coldly proficient perp, an obvious professional who leaves nothing to chance, his face concealed with a baklava, his voice unprintable, no fingerprints, no fibers, few clues of any kind to crack the case. But from Jo Nesbo's pen, a mere bank robbery, even if seemingly unsolvable, is pedestrian. So to compensate, the author spins multiple and apparently disconnected story lines into hapless Harry's investigation and life, resulting in a near epic tale of crime that, while a bit confusing at times, is exactly the kind of convoluted crime mystery that will keep you glued to the pages, scratching your head, and by the end marveling through an expected series of whiplashing twists and Holmes-like deductive reasoning.

So back to those parallel threads. With Harry's beloved Rackel and son Olav off to Moscow to settle an ugly child custody case, Harry reluctantly succumbs to an almost-innocent dinner invitation of Anna, an ex-lover. The next morning, Harry awakes in what is apparently an alcohol-induced blackout with no memory of events of the previous twelve hours. This becomes a rather inconvenient issue when Anna is found dead in her apartment the next morning. While chasing down leads to the bank heist with criminologist Beate Lonn, Harry surreptitiously probes the death of Anna which, while ruled a suicide by the Oslo PD, Harry finds nagging incongruities, keeping them to himself but wanting the truth. While the introverted Beate Lonn pulls critical bank job clues from grainy video, Harry's solo investigative efforts into Anna's death wind their way into the mysterious and potentially deadly gypsy culture, including the most intriguing relationship between cop and incarcerated villain since "Silence of the Lamb's" Clarice Starling sparred with the brilliantly demented Hannibal Lecter.

Nesbo rises above the pack in crime writing with convincing characters and unusual themes, set against an appropriately gritty, dark, and dank Scandinavian backdrop. Hole is the interesting but not uncommon pulp cop - an alcoholic, a loaner an unrepentant maverick, the bane and joy of his beleaguered boss's professional life. But the real magic here is Nesbo's painstaking attention to detail and plot development, a master of foreshadow and deception, hiding critical clues for the reader in the most unlikely places, while building momentum for a climax as cerebral as it was suspenseful.

One final recommendation: if you haven't read any of Nesbo's Harry Hole novels, it would be best to start with "Redbreast", followed by this one, saving "The Devil's Star" for last. While each novel does stand on its own, Nesbo has the fiendishly clever habit of leaving some unfinished threads in each of these tales, so reading them out of sequence can be a bit unsettling. In any event, just do yourself a favor and subject yourself to the not-so-guilty pleasures of this accomplished crime writer.

In the tradition of the great European crime novels like "The Laughing Policeman", "Smilla's Sense of Snow" and Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series, Nesbo continues with his Harry Hole novels in this terrific new entry.

Hole, struggling with his alcoholism as well as his new love relationship and the death of his partner, finds himself caught up in trying to solve a murderous bank robbery while trying to convince his superiors that his partner's death is - contrary to their belief - still unsolved and that he should be allowed to pursue an investigation into it.

This is a compelling entry in the series, with rich characterizations and impeccable plotting.

The only thing that readers should be aware of is that the novels of the series published in English thus far have been translated and published out of sequence; this is actually the second book of the series, though it's come out in English third, and the plot line about his partner's murder was resolved in the third book - which was actually the first one published in English (The Devil's Star). Did you follow that?

If so, dig in and enjoy.

(4.5 stars) More like a fiendish sudoku puzzle than a traditional police procedural, this blockbuster novel, set in Oslo, challenges alcoholic Inspector Harry Hole to find solutions to four cold-blooded murders, which may or may not be related. A "square peg" in the police department, Hole does not hesitate to do things his own way, often infuriating his peers while still inspiring (sometimes grudging) respect for his honesty. A bank robbery in which a gunman executes his female hostage because the bank manager exceeds twenty-five seconds to fill a bag with money is just the start of the non-stop action. As Harry Hole investigates the similarities between this robbery and stunning earlier robberies by Raskol Baxhet, a gypsy now incarcerated, the reader is jerked every which-way, his/her perceptions constantly changing as new information emerges about the characters and the past.

When the video of the bank robbery/murder becomes available, Beate Lonn begins working the case with Harry. Beate is one of only ten people in the world who can remember every face she has ever seen, and Harry becomes her mentor. Both Harry and Beate are grieving--he for the loss of Ellen Gjelten, his partner and friend, murdered while investigating arms-trafficking, and Beate for the loss of her father, a police officer also murdered. Questions remain about both murders. When Harry, one night, accepts an invitation from Anna, a former lover, "for old times' sake," he becomes involved in yet another case--his own.

As Harry and his rivals within the police department work to solve the most recent murders, the author considers the psychology of the characters as much their actions, often switching points of view between paragraphs and scenes. The meticulously constructed plot moves at breakneck pace, and as Nesbo draws in new characters, each of whom has a past to be investigated, he juggles bits and pieces of information--and surprises--which change the direction and focus. The cases become more intertwined and more complex, and "Case Solved" proves time and again to be an illusion. The action moves from Oslo to Brazil and back, from mainstream neighborhoods to gypsy caravans and the Oslo jail, from the police department to the lonely citizens they serve, and from Harry to his long-time love, who is in Russia suing for custody of her son.

The reader's interest grows in Harry Hole, Beate Lonn, and several other characters, and Harry's relationship with jailed Raskol Baxhet, the gypsy robber, is particularly interesting, as he and Baxhet, a master manipulator, alternately despise and respect each other. Ultimately, the reader agrees that "A good manipulator can make you believe that the edge of a 100-kroner note is the edge of a knife." Author Nesbo proves to be a greatest manipulator of all. n Mary Whipple

The Redbreast: A Novel
The Devil's Star

In short: there are many reasons to recommend "Nemesis" but it grows convoluted and out of control as the book rolls along.

Having read "Nemesis" without the benefit of knowing what happened in "The Redbreast " (my mistake) I concur with other reviewers who urged reading "The Redbreast" first. There are many strands and relationships to understand and if you have a choice, start with "The Redbreast" if other reviewers are correct. I was in a fog in a few spots.

Still, the first half of "Nemesis" is meaty, rich and packs a punch. There are a few cliché elements to Hole and a bit too much about the bleak weather of Oslo, but the story is gripping and the clues are yanked from the murder and bank-robbery scene with keen tenacity.

During the first half of "Nemesis," I was feeling as if Nesbo might be moving to the top of my list. The pace is grinding, but interesting. It had a Dickensian feel. The scenes are sharply set-up and deliver neat bits of information that kept tugging the plot along. The writing is straightforward (though awkwardly translated at times) but vivid, too. "Astrid Monsen was forty-five years old and made her living by translating French literature in the study of her flat in Sorgenfrigata. She didn't have a man in her life, but she had a tape loop of a dog barking, which she put on at night. Harry heard steps and at least three locks being released behind the door before it opened a fraction and a small, freckled face peered out from beneath black curls."

You come to spots where the action bogs down--a whole paragraph thinking about how a cigarette is made--but Harry Hole's ruminations are also interesting and make him a complete character. When Hole receives permission to run a parallel investigation into the troubling and audacious bank robbery that has left a bank worker dead, you root for him.

And then comes the last stretch, where "Nemesis" blows up. Late in the book, Nesbo ramps up the point of view of the "bad cop" and it seemed to me a bit of a trick, to suddenly be asked to enter the world of a darker, menacing cop. I think I was so invested in Harry Hole that I found myself a bit miffed at being asked to live inside the head of another cop--and so late in the game. The plot grows complicated and I grew weary.
At nearly 500 pages, "Nemesis" is a commitment.

I haven't read much Scandinavian crime fiction--a little Henning Mankell, a little Peter Hoeg--but I'd probably go back to Mankell first.

Jo Nesbo's "Nemesis" is a fascinating 475-page book. And it's a challenge to read. But it's entirely engrossing. I read it in about 3 days. The main character, Harry Hole, a mid-30s detective on the Oslo, Norway Police Department, is a complex, frustrating man, neither quite likable nor unlikable. He's a cop with a brain and conscience. He is rash, but compulsively planful, complex, often a clumsy romantic and decidedly uncomfortable in his own skin. He is careless, frequently getting himself into self-imposed difficulties. He often thinks himself into a jam. He breaks rules and puts himself and others in great danger. He pressures people to do favors for him. He's wise and idiotic. He has bad habits: he drinks, swears, smokes, doesn't get nearly enough sleep and throws up. Hole gets himself beaten up or drugged, often runs scared (barefoot even), and relies on childhood friends to get him out of trouble. He's not a whole lot of fun to be around -- ever. He rarely says more than 10 words at a time, but when the verbal dam breaks, he speaks for 2 pages (something that happened about 4 times in the book). His past is full of pain. He is an occasional womanizer, bemoans his "loner-life" but is an excellent sleuth. He believes he has found happiness with his current flame, Rakel and extended family. He is not a person you would enjoy having as an office mate. However, he is someone you would want to cover your back. It would not interest me to have dinner with him, and I would probably not invite him to a party at my home.

Nesbo "writes" women very well. The 4 key women players in "Nemesis" are very, very interesting, immensely different one from the other, and in some ways single-handedly carry the story forward. I would love to have dinner with any of the women (Anna, Rakel, Vigdis, and Beate) at any time.

In fact, no one in the tale is cookie cutter, except perhaps Hole's own personal nemesis on the force, the egotistical and evil Tom Waaler, apparently a David Hasselback look-alike, who strangely enough, comes across as Nesbo's most superficial character in this and "Redbreast." I truly hope that in the next novel, Nesbo puts him where he belongs: in jail. I'm tired of reading about Waaler. Neither Hole nor Nesbo "needs" Waaler.

The challenging part of the book is keeping track of the 4 main story lines, a) the bank robbery/murder; b) the suicide/murder; c) threads of the unsolved and unresolved murders in "Redbreast" which continue to haunt Hole and the reader in "Nemesis;" and d) Harry's own very long (and slightly boring) list of personal issues and troubles. Intermixed with all these story lines are episodes and events that take place not only in Oslo and environs, but also in Moscow and Brazil. In other words, the plot and its execution are exceptionally complex and demanding. 5 or 6 people meet a horrible, grisly, and ghastly death. Grit your teeth, because you have a front row seat to it all.

Actually, I'm not really a fan of most detective stories. However, what's great about reading this detective story is its wide sweep of philosophy, moral choices, and life phenomena. Nesbo is obviously a brainy type, no intellectual slouch there! He forces you to think of other things than the typical "who done it." The end of the story, by the way, is nicely surprising. Nesbo is a rare author who can bring a story to a satisfying conclusion. (Attention: Arturo Perez-Reverte!) You become immersed in gypsy history, principles and philosophy whether you like it or not. The wonders and ordeal of living in Norway's difficult climate also come across clearly and cleanly. Many of the characters deal with various important issues of life, death, revenge, hate and love. For example, I really liked Nesbo's definition of Revenge read on page 142, "...the glee that Spite gives. The Small-mindedness. The Self-righteousness. The Sadism. The four `S's of revenge." Nice.

There are some translation problems in "Nemesis" but not as many as there were in "Redbreast." Don Bartlett, the translator, is British. Thus, the translation is in British English, which results in some humor for an American reader from time to time, as well as some annoyance. One would hope that the 100 or so colloquial mostly low-brow British phrases could be easily re-translated into standard American English for readers in the USA and Canada. My criticism in my review of "Redbreast" that Bartlett had likely dumbed-down the intellectual level of "Redbreast" to a low high school reading level does not apply in "Nemesis." Except for the few aforementioned British-isms, the translation is very high quality and quite likely as literate and eloquent in British English as the original Norwegian manuscript.

As for hypothetical dining scenarios, I would most of all like to have dinner with Mr. Nesbo. It's just a hunch, but is Harry Hole sort-of-kind-of like Jo Nesbo, in the sense of personality, looks, body type, self-concept, outlook on life and philosophy?

One final thing: Nesbo's "Nemesis" and "Redbreast" are relentlessly heterosexual, possibly the only real stereotypic aspect in Nesbo's writing. There are no gay people in Norway?

"Nemesis" is a great read. In its genre, it's a 5-star.

If you're a fan of complex police drama, intelligenty written and cleverly crafted, then the talented Norwegian author Jo Nesbo's crime fiction should find a place on your bookshelf. "Nemesis" is the third English translation of Nesbo's tales of Oslo police inspector Harry Hole, chronologically fitting in between the two previous US releases, "The Redbreast" and "The Devil's Star" - both excellent and well worth finding and reading.

"Nemesis" starts with Hole painstakingly reviewing the surveillance video of an Oslo bank robbery that escalates to murder at the hand of the coldly proficient perp, an obvious professional who leaves nothing to chance, his face concealed with a baklava, his voice unprintable, no fingerprints, no fibers, few clues of any kind to crack the case. But from Jo Nesbo's pen, a mere bank robbery, even if seemingly unsolvable, is pedestrian. So to compensate, the author spins multiple and apparently disconnected story lines into hapless Harry's investigation and life, resulting in a near epic tale of crime that, while a bit confusing at times, is exactly the kind of convoluted crime mystery that will keep you glued to the pages, scratching your head, and by the end marveling through an expected series of whiplashing twists and Holmes-like deductive reasoning.

So back to those parallel threads. With Harry's beloved Rackel and son Olav off to Moscow to settle an ugly child custody case, Harry reluctantly succumbs to an almost-innocent dinner invitation of Anna, an ex-lover. The next morning, Harry awakes in what is apparently an alcohol-induced blackout with no memory of events of the previous twelve hours. This becomes a rather inconvenient issue when Anna is found dead in her apartment the next morning. While chasing down leads to the bank heist with criminologist Beate Lonn, Harry surreptitiously probes the death of Anna which, while ruled a suicide by the Oslo PD, Harry finds nagging incongruities, keeping them to himself but wanting the truth. While the introverted Beate Lonn pulls critical bank job clues from grainy video, Harry's solo investigative efforts into Anna's death wind their way into the mysterious and potentially deadly gypsy culture, including the most intriguing relationship between cop and incarcerated villain since "Silence of the Lamb's" Clarice Starling sparred with the brilliantly demented Hannibal Lecter.

Nesbo rises above the pack in crime writing with convincing characters and unusual themes, set against an appropriately gritty, dark, and dank Scandinavian backdrop. Hole is the interesting but not uncommon pulp cop - an alcoholic, a loaner an unrepentant maverick, the bane and joy of his beleaguered boss's professional life. But the real magic here is Nesbo's painstaking attention to detail and plot development, a master of foreshadow and deception, hiding critical clues for the reader in the most unlikely places, while building momentum for a climax as cerebral as it was suspenseful.

One final recommendation: if you haven't read any of Nesbo's Harry Hole novels, it would be best to start with "Redbreast", followed by this one, saving "The Devil's Star" for last. While each novel does stand on its own, Nesbo has the fiendishly clever habit of leaving some unfinished threads in each of these tales, so reading them out of sequence can be a bit unsettling. In any event, just do yourself a favor and subject yourself to the not-so-guilty pleasures of this accomplished crime writer.

Extra Information: The first two books for this Harry Hole series The Bat Man and The Cockroaches have not been produced for translation at this time. If you were to start this series my recommendation would be from third book The Redbreast: A Novel. The series then follows through in order Nemesis, The Devil's Star, The Redeemer (A Harry Hole Mystery) which will then bring everyone up to date for the release of The Snowman March 2010.

Review - Nemesis (Harry Hole, Fourth Book)

Nemesis is a suspenseful, tightly complex twisted plot, full of illusion, nothing is as it seems. Jo Nesbų once again captivates us from the opening chapter with crystal clear visuals, letting our imagination take pictures of everything happening second by second. Were all standing in a bank queue; a robber walks in and quickly controls the area. He directly stands before a female bank cashier she's given twenty five seconds for him to receive his money, when he doesn't get the cash on time; six seconds too late, she's executed at point blank range, the robber escapes leaving no forensic evidence. Harry Hole is assigned to the case, all he has as a lead is grainy CCTV footage, a playback of the crime in slow motion, what he needs is a fatal mistake, just one discrepancy, until then the robber continues his spree of evil across Oslo.

Meanwhile Harry's girlfriend is in Moscow fighting for custody of her son. An old flame of Harry's gets in touch, they decide to meet up. The first part of the evening remains clear but as the night continues things become blurry with a complete touch of memory loss, how did he make it home? A phone call from a colleague brings nothing but more bad news, his ex has been found in her bed its an apparent suicide. Harry sets about to cover tracks while trying to unravel that fateful evening but as he starts to receive strange e-mails, he realizes someone wants to play a deadlier game!

Nemesis spirit of divine retribution. Jo Nesbų gives us a real brain teasing puzzle that's thrilling and gripping, just when you thought you had it; the plot twists and turns and takes us in many direction with art of trickery, manipulation. This book comes with all things dark, shady characters, crooked policeman, dirty family secrets and sibling rivalry, scars run deep, it's a marvelous story of betrayal and revenge.

Love this author work his very descriptive always changing the view, different reflections and it also comes with brilliant characterization, clear insight, observation and mannerism of people. Harry Hole is a compelling character to read, If you're reading about Harry for the first time, expect a loner, an alcoholic full of cynicism, who tends not to fit in with the office crowd but that's what he prefers, rubbing just about anybody up the wrong way, but he remains likeable. It's that touch of humour that Jo Nesbų adds to his characters and chapters (titles) which gives the novels an edge that rolls so easily into these thrillers, it translates into an English dry sense of humour and flows nicely into all the stories intertwining.

For anyone starting this series I would always recommend from The Redbreast and then following the series through with this book; Nemesis, The Devil's Star and finally The Redeemer. I read all books as they were published out of order which caused no problems either; but to get the full feel of the characters who come and go and references to other story lines it always best to take it from the top.

With added news reports from the Afghanistan War giving us a sense of time making this novel a modern day contemporary thriller another hugely enjoyable read to this series. Nemesis made Publishers Weekly list the best books of the year top 100 for 2009. Highly Recommended

Also adding here a thank you to Don Bartlett for the clear translation in the series.

Andrea Bowhill

There have been seven Harry Hole novels, but this is only the second to be published in the United States (the first was "The Redbreast"). Both demonstrate the author's uncanny ability to continually lead the reader astray with one false conclusion after another before disclosing, in a final twist, a most unexpected dénouement.

In the present novel, these principles apply to two separate story lines. One involves a bank robbery in which a woman is shot in the head. The other finds a woman with whom Harry had a short affair shot in her bed the day after Harry had dinner at her home (but he can't remember a thing about the evening). In fact, there are clues implicating him in the deed and in fact, the cover asks the question: "How do you catch a killer when you're the number one suspect?"

The translation by Don Bartlett from the Norwegian flows smoothly. The novel was a number one best-seller in Norway, spending 39 weeks on the best seller list. Past novels from this author saw Bangkok and Australia as settings. Nesbo is now writing the next Harry Hole novel which will take him to Hong Kong, so Harry certainly gets around. It should be well worth waiting for, if the past is prologue. Highly recommended.

Beware of this Viking! Nesbo plays mindgames with his poor delighted readers. Many of the short chapters are a new challenge to find your bearings. This can be tedious, in case that you just look for a page turner. This is not a simple page turner, but one of the more intelligent cop stories that I have read for a while.

The ingredients are not all that original. You have the troubled cop with the difficult private life and the alcohol problem (who happens to be called Harry on top of all the other similarities to Bosch), you have the inside trouble in the police force, the overlapping of new cases with the past.. But then it is not Los Angeles, but Oslo, which makes for a wonderful change of scenery. Very exotic.
Want an example for what I call mindgames in my opening above? The story opens with Harry observing a bank robbery. Of course we figure out after a while that his observing is done on the video screen with the help of security camera coverage. We read what he sees, not his interpretation of it. This leads to us mistaking a routine money delivery visit for filling the ATM, by the armoured pickup truck, for the actual robbery, which we know is going to happen.

More mindgames are played by the hero's nemesis via e-mails, also not exactly a new idea, but very effective.
As I said, this Viking is out to trap you in your own expectations. It is fun. Harry doesn't dislike his colleagues on principle, he dislikes them by instinct. It is a completely normal paranoia. While he thinks they are all after him, in reality probably a maximum of half of them is.
As far as music goes, this Harry is as reliable as his Californian namesake, and comparable to his Scottish colleague Rebus. When the radio plays Another Day in Paradise, he turns it off.

And another added value: Dilbert's principles are in full swing in the Norwegian police force. As they are probably in every larger organisation in the Western world. (I would so love to see a Chinese Dilbert; not just a translated one, but a genuine local equivalent.)

On the down-side, if there must be one, (must there?), I would admit that one might find holes in the plot if one wished to poke too hard. But then, I don't really give that much for the plot when I like the writing, the mood, the speed, the humor.
The author knew that there are holes, why else would he call the hero Harry Hole?

The Snowman's blurbs are what drew me to Jo Nesbo's work. But I did research on the Harry Hole series and have done my best to read them in order:
1. The Redbreast 2. Nemesis 3. The Devil's Star 4. The Redeemer 5. The Snowman 6. Leopard

I hope that's the order anyway. I agree that these book require a commitment. One of my biggest problems with the Redbreast was all the characters and keeping them straight. I felt like I was reading Tolstoy--in that sense, anyway. I didn't have that problem with Nemesis. The twist at the end is not what I would have predicted, and I really thought this book was better than the Redbreast. Some reviews of the Redbreast didn't like that some subplots were not complete, and they continue on in this book. Some of them remain unfinished in book 2. Overall, I felt like Nemesis had more suspense. Harry Hole is grumpy, moody, an alcoholic, and reckless. But you like him. You know he's trying to ultimately do what's right. I'm looking forward to reading more of the series, but this series, I'll admit, does not have me going straight from book 1 to book 2 to book 3 as the Millennium series had me going. I'm not chomping at the bit to read the next book, but I know I'll get to it!