Customer Reviews

The Snowman

5 star:		(86)
4 star:		(46)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

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. The Redbreast: A Novel would be the third book in this series; if you were to start this series my recommendation would be from The Redbreast. The series then follows through in order with Nemesis: A Novel (Harry Hole), The Devil's Star: A Novel, The Redeemer followed by The Snowman which then brings us readers in wait for The Leopard.

Review - The Snowman (Harry Hole, Book Seven)

Little snowflakes start to fall taunting us with what's to come. Flurries grow stronger settling softly on the ground, powdery and fluffy at first but darkness soon takes hold, the cycle turns. Subfreezing temperatures, crystals formulate and yet dipped in magical moonlight everything sparkles and glisten. This brings a gentle calm of all things white and beautiful..............until someone builds a Snowman!

November Oslo, Jo Nesbų brings us into his story during family hour. The first snow has fallen and a discussion is taking place about a solitary figure looming in the garden. A snowman with big black stone eyes staring into the house and yet no one seems to know who built it. That same evening a young boy wakes to find his mother missing, he looks for her but all he finds is her pink scarf which the snowman is now wearing.

Harry Hole is brought in to investigate, what is thought to be a missing person to others, Harry has doubts, convinced there is a connection after receiving an anonymous letter some months earlier signed "The Snowman". His team look into old case files they find an alarming number of wives and mothers disappearances. A second mother then goes missing this time the snowman leaves his signature and handiwork, Harry's horror is confirmed but to catch a killer his to become a pawn in a deadly game for the serial killer will only play against the best.

Love this Authors work, for me in all his books its what this author is not afraid to write about, social issues of life and the way he brings in nature, wildlife to identify, relate too, which keeps these books intelligent and interesting. The cycle of life with all its shaded areas, loyalties or disloyalties, weaknesses, infidelities, parenthood, control, goodness fighting fear/evil from within. I'm not so sure in looking back to the first two books after working my way forwards from the third book and all in translation in this wonderful series this Author proves to stay one step ahead he goes from strength to strength.

Jo Nesbų novels are very descriptive he pays attention to detail with brain teasing puzzles even for us long term readers still he pulls snow hats over our eyes. This novel is darker than the others, close contender the devil's star but darker for me is marvelous and skin crawling with suspense. The Snowman also has references to the first book written The Bat Man which is not in English translation, a story line based in Australia, any references made to that first book are explained throughout.

The Authors observation of people is once again uncanny all are well drawn. Harry Hole is a compelling character to read, still fighting the bottle urges and his love life is complicated. A new character emerges Katrine Bratt who joins Harrys team, you warm to her quickly as she takes the no nonsense approach with life and Harry which is really what he needs.

For any first time readers starting any Jo Nesbų books, go in with suspicion, gather your list of characters remember trust no one and suspect the rest. The author has a remarkable way of twisting and turning plots, throwing in enough red herrings, smoked and salted with changing subjects and diverted argument. Yet he keeps the story line and smaller stories, exciting, entertaining with added dry humor, tying up loose threads and even though he gives enough information pulls off a fast paced unexpected ending. You have to feel convinced and this author for me delivers each and every time.

The Leopard is next in translation and has already won the Danish award Palle Rosenkrantz Prize, congratulation to the Author. Even though its not listed on amazon yet, its already on my wish list in the hope I can have this in the not to distance future.

Fantastic, loved it , The Snowman comes Highly Recommended. Also adding here a thank you to Don Bartlett for the clear translation in the series.

Andrea Bowhill

Jo Nesbų: THE SNOWMAN

This is Nesbų's seventh Harry Hole novel, but the fifth to be published in English. While this is a serial killer novel, which I normally don't care for, I did enjoy this book. Nesbų is a fluid, lyrical writer, Don Bartlett a talented translator, and Harry Hole a compelling character.

It's the first snowfall of the season and a snowman appears outside young Jonas's house. Strangely, the snowman is facing the house, rather than the street. In the middle of the night, Jonas awakes and finds his mother is missing, but her scarf is now around the snowman's neck.

As Harry's team works this missing-persons case, Harry fears that they are actually dealing with a serial killer who has left a note for Harry, taunting him. His fear heightens as other crimes are discovered that seem to him to be related.

As in previous books in this series, there are certain themes that connect the crimes being investigated and Harry's life. The complexity of the various plots means that the book begins slowly and deliberately to get the stories in motion. Then, about halfway through, things take off and become breathtakingly tense and exciting.

Several times you may think you have the whodunnit figured out, but there are more twists and turns to come. You learn new clues along with Harry, so there is no feel of trickery in the plot's movement. This is typical of a Harry Hole mystery, though in this case, probably because of the nature of the crime, the red-herring suspects were less believable than usual.

Harry's relationships with his team, his superiors and his former lover Rakel and her son Oleg continue to be an important part of the books. And as always, Oslo itself is almost another character.

Harry's self-loathing and titanic struggles with drink continue in THE SNOWMAN. His addiction to his job helps combat his addiction to alcohol, but in moments of despair he falls into the pit again. Another character tells Harry that all of the best stories are about losers. Readers of the Harry Hole series should agree.

Ideally, the Harry Hole series should be read in order, though that is not absolutely critical with THE SNOWMAN or its predecessor, THE REDEEMER. It would be unfortunate, however, to read THE REDBREAST, NEMESIS and THE DEVIL'S STAR out of that order, because they function as a trilogy in one important thread of the story.

Nothing like curling up with a good serial killer. But that is exactly what you should do. Go on, get good and comfy, turn off the phone, gather up your favorite munchies and prepare for a pounding long session with Jo Nesbo's Harry Hold and his neighborhood of friends and thugs. The fifth (English publication) in a series from master Norwegian yarn spinner, Nesbo maintains Detective Hole's premier position as the best of the hard driven cops in print. Not your typical boiler plate fare, this series stays taut and original from opening to close. Nesbo's books are extremely atmospheric with the Norwegian weather becoming a tactile character on its own. Likable or not depending on their personal take on life, the human characters are distinctive thinking forms of flesh and blood. Colors are every shade of gray in your imagination. There's just something about the way Nesbo weaves his tale and creates Hold's world that make his books unforgettable and not-put-downable.

In his fifth novel starring Oslo police inspector Harry Hole and his fellow officers, author Jo Nesbo provides a complete surprise. The Snowman, unlike his other novels, contains an element of horror that may soon make this his most popular novel among US audiences, a breakthrough novel which may finally put to rest the misperception that the Norwegian Nesbo is some kind of "successor" to the Swedish Stieg Larsson. It takes nothing away from Larsson and his terrific Millenium trilogy to say that Nesbo is a more versatile and more polished writer who has now written sixteen novels since 1997, including three children's novels, all of them huge successes in Scandinavia. He has received eight major prizes for his work and four "shortlist" nominations. If you enjoy tantalizing mysteries in the "Nordic Noir" genre and have not yet discovered Nesbo, I guarantee that when you do, you will not ever compare him to any other Scandinavian writer.

The novel opens dramatically in 1980, as Sara, a young mother with her son in the car, makes a stop at the home of her lover for a last goodbye. Their love-making is observed by a snowman who looms at the window, and Sara's young son, waiting in the car, believes that they are all going to die. Nothing more is heard about this episode, but in 1992, a terrible murder and dismemberment takes place on top of a mountain in Bergen, the first of the disappearances/murders by a serial killer who strikes on the first day of snow each year from 1992 - 2004. Each crime is witnessed by a snowman who appears at the murder scene. Police inspector Harry Hole, in charge of the investigation, is soon being taunted by the snowman whose sole purpose seems to be to suggest that innocent people are behind the crimes.

In the midst of all the turmoil involving the disappearances and the effects on the distraught families, Harry, an alcoholic, is trying, sometimes unsuccessfully, to stay on the straight and narrow. His long-time love, Rakel, has found peace with a new lover, and her relationship with Harry seems to be over. Other characters from past novels also appear here. Beate Lonn, an expert on facial recognition, is now caring for her baby son, born after the death of Halvorsen, who was her lover and Harry's partner. The obnoxious Magnus Skarre is still making Harry's life miserable. And a new female recruit, Katrine Bratt, is introduced and impresses Harry with her diligence and intelligence.

It is impossible to describe the complexity and cleverness of this plot without risking spoilers, and the novel is too much fun to read to risk that. Suffice it to say, the novel is detailed and intelligent, and will keep even the most jaded mystery lover intrigued and wanting to see how it is all resolved. Medical mysteries run parallel with the murders, old mysteries from the cold case files get dredged up and investigated, characters are not who they appear to be, and who the snowman is and exactly how he is able to pull off his crimes with the whole country watching keep the reader on tenterhooks. When the last little piece finally falls into place at the end, every detail in the novel suddenly makes sense--and provides a satisfying sense of finality to this challenging case. A non-stop thriller that may very well keep you up reading till the wee hours--and great fun! Mary Whipple

I rate this novel as outstanding.

The plotting is complex and yet simple, with lots of detail and twists. The style is light and, while carefully paced, has a sharpness and vivid movement; Nesbo almost paints his scenes, and accomplishes a lot with few wasted words (Yes, of course this is a translation but it seems clear that the strengths are intrinsic to the original and while there are some clumsy sentences, the overall voice comes through vividly and compellingly.) What most stands out for me in Nesbo's work is how he makes you walk alongside the characters, including the monsters. It's not quite the same as identifying with or empathizing with them as being engaged with them. Their motivations, fears and self-justifications make them all too real. Harry Hole, the detective at the center of the story is a stock character: alcoholic, a failure in his relationships, brilliant, dominating, fatalistic and sad. There is no sense of possible redemption and it seems clear that he will continue to unravel. Nesbo doesn't explain or justify him but somehow you come to understand him and in the end hope for him. Nesbo is equally skilled in depicting the women who are the victims and in several ways the real protagonists. Several of them stay on in my mind as real people beyond the constraints of the story.

One of the difficulties in reviewing any mystery/thriller is not giving away too much of the plot. This one has many gyrations and turns that come together convincingly. His villains are sociopathic and self-absorbed; I am not an admirer of horror shows like Silence of the Lambs or Stephen King's work but my guess is that Nesbo travels in their territory but at a somewhat more discreet level of overt nastiness. I didn't have a sense of horror though the story is horrific and there is always a wariness a you read of something evil this way treads. What makes the book effective for me is the skill in the story-telling. There is no striving for effect and the plot and characters intertwine smoothly and dramatically not melodramatically.

It's time to stop pigeonholing writers like Nesbo as part of a Scandinavian "school" of thriller/mystery, with the corresponding benchmarking with Henning Menkel (Wallender) and Stieg Larssen. Nesbo has his own voice, characterization and touch. He is for me one of the Big League players in the field that includes Michael Connolly, Robert Crais, Lee Child and George Pelicanos. He matches them in his own distinctive strengths and adds a special weightiness and power. The Devil's Star is the other book in his Harry Hole series that I have read that along with this establishes him as a brilliant mystery writer - the story is very well constructed - and like all the ones above as a mythmaker, in that Hole stands out along with Menkel's Wallender, Connolly's Bosch and Haller and Child's Reacher as powerful inventions of characters who command the page, engage your concern and draw you into their world.

Strongly recommended.

The Snowman has one of the worst opening chapters that I have read that includes what is also one of the worst "love" scenes that I have ever read. I pressed on optimistically and almost quit reading after around 50 pages because the writing was often poor and wooden; however, I continued and began enjoying the plot and story...This required me to overlook choppy sequences and unexplained or non-sensical connections within the plot. Even with those criticisms the book was somewhat entertaining. I wonder how much of the literary quality was lost in translation.

The book centers around gruesome and evil killings of mothers of children. This is definitely not a pleasant story. The detective Harry Hole figures mysteries out on the smallest bits of evidence based on epiphanies that come to him out of nowhere. He is a womanizing, drinking and get-things-done kind of detective typical of the genre. In the end, I liked him enough to give the book 3-stars despite some poor qualities.

The setting of Norway lended an interesting quality to the book for me that sustained my reading during some tedious places in the story.

If you are reading this then your curiosity has been peaked by a recommendation or you may have, like myself, read the Stieg Larsson Millennium Trilogy and have heard that Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole detective novels are also very good. Not true. They are great. Equal to Larsson's book and better if you like crime/detective novels. If you are an American like myself you'll feel like you know Oslo pretty well by the third book and have found a new friend in Harry, a sympathetic schlub of a detective with unique Colombo-ish insights. Nesbo is a story teller of the highest order who'll keep you guessing all the way. Enjoy.

The Harry Hole series presents the reader with somewhat of an anomaly. On the one hand, we are informed that Norway is virtually free from serial killers. On the other hand, Hole is reputed to be the only detective in the nation with experience in catching serial killers, having accomplished his experience in Australia and also attending an FBI course. And then, serial killers tend to appear in the Harry Hole novels, including this one.

The first of several missing persons is a married mother, and the only clue is a snowman outside her home. Shortly before her disappearance, Hole received a mysterious letter which, in retrospect, leads him to believe there was a link between it and the woman's vanishing. In reviewing unsolved cases, Harry and his team find an alarming number of wives and mothers have gone missing over some years.

Once again, Jo Nesbo has written a taut thriller, one that is forceful and gripping and, this time, full of madness. His novels just keep on getting better and better. Fast-paced and staggering, always keeping the reader looking ahead to the next shift, keeping one off balance with wonder. Highly recommended.

Harry Hole is a Norwegian detective especially trained in catching serial killers. He spent some time in Quantico learning these skills but serial killers are very rare in Norway. It just so happens that right now there is a serial killer loose in Norway. He's been active for over fifteen years and his emblem is a snowman. Whenever he kills someone, he leaves a snowman in their yard. He has been nicknamed `The Snowman" by the Nowegian police force and this has been picked up by the civilian population.

Jo Nesbo has created an unremitting page-tuner in The Snowman. It was hard for me to come up for air. The writing excels, the pace is adrenaline pumping, and the clues take roundabouts throughout the book. The translator, Don Bartlett, is excellent. The writing is smooth, readable, and I would never have guessed that this book had been translated.

Harry Hole, like many police officers, is tortured by demons. He struggles with alcoholism, is still in love with his ex-wife, is the bad boy of his department and is afraid of the dark. At home, his walls are torn down because of a mold problem so he doesn't even have a comfortable place to rest.

The Snowman is attracted to women with children. He does not target men or single women unless they are getting too close to finding out his identity. Harry Hole gathers a team of four and together they seek out this serial killer who uses a sadistic means to kill his victims. Sometimes he will even behead them and put their head on top of the snowman.

Harry and his team travel from Bergen to Oslo in search of this monster and they keep thinking that they have found him, only to realize that they have been tricked and he is still at large. The Snowman is smart, always one step ahead of them and Harry has a feeling that he is being watched and that the Snowman is someone he knows - someone in his personal or professional circle.

The Snowman doesn't ever leave any clues. The crime scenes are immaculate, there is no DNA nor are there any fiber traces. The cuts are clean and immaculate. Sometimes, there is not even a body to be found which drives Harry to the brink.

I've read many police procedurals and hardcore mysteries but this is the best one I've ever read except maybe for Deon Myer or Lawrence Block. They are each excellent in their own way as Nesbo is in his. There is not one part that lets up interest. Once picked up, the reader is bound to the book like super glue.

I was amazed to learn that Jo Nesbo, author extraordinaire is also a musician, songwriter, and economist. He published his first Harry Hole book in 1977 "and it was an instant hit, winning the Glass Key Award for the best Nordic crime novel (an accolade shared with Henning Mankell and Steig Larson). This is my first Harry Hole novel but it won't be my last. I just ordered two more and can't wait to start them. I checked his reviews on Amazon and they are consistently excellent. I am always excited to find a new author and Jo Nesbo is it for me.

I'm a big fan of Jo Nesbo and I found The Snowman to be the best book in the series so far.

Since so many others have summed up the book so well, I'll just say that this is one scary, shivery read. I love Harry Hole, the wounded hero, and find his struggle with his personal demons as compelling as his search for the killer. I also loved that the book kept me guessing. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, I found out I was wrong. This kept me turning the pages as quickly as possible, definitely a page-turner for me.

The Snowman is not a book for the faint-hearted, so cozy mystery readers beware, this is not the book for you. Thriller readers will definitely love it, though. It's chilling and guaranteed to send a shiver down your spine--even if it's 90 degrees outside. I loved every tension-filled, scary moment.

I can't wait for the next book in the series. For me, this is the ultimate compliment I can give an author. Please keep them coming!