The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo
When last we saw our hero--brilliant but flawed Oslo police detective Harry Hole (in The Phantom)--he was in extremely dire straits. His beloved Rakel was waiting for him (blissfully unaware) at the airport and Rakel's son, Oleg, was a surly teenager with an extremely dark side. So imagine my surprise (and confusion) when I started reading Jo Nesbo's new novel, The Redeemer. Oleg is a happy, young boy. Rakel has broken up with Harry. And Harry is just working on a case, like it's any other day.
I then realized that, once again, the powers that be have decided to publish these books in English totally out of chronological order. The Redeemer was in fact published in Norway several years before The Phantom.
(If you're new to this excellent series, find a list of the proper sequence and read them in order. It will make for a much less disjointed experience.)
I also found this story a little hard to follow because it keeps switching between the viewpoints of Harry and the killer, a Croatian hit man who has been hired to knock off a Salvation Army "soldier." Eventually you get used to it, but it is still an odd construction. Anyway, once you get a handle on the alternating viewpoints, it's a good story and you have to admire Harry's dogged persistence and determination. I'm still hoping to find out if Harry survived what happened at the end of The Phantom so my fingers are crossed that the sequel to that one (in English) shows up soon.
Just as an aside, I wonder what the tourism board of Norway thinks about this series of highly popular books. The picture that Nesbo paints of Oslo--bleak, filled with drug addicts, and suffering from miserable weather--really does not make one want to visit.
I then realized that, once again, the powers that be have decided to publish these books in English totally out of chronological order. The Redeemer was in fact published in Norway several years before The Phantom.
(If you're new to this excellent series, find a list of the proper sequence and read them in order. It will make for a much less disjointed experience.)
I also found this story a little hard to follow because it keeps switching between the viewpoints of Harry and the killer, a Croatian hit man who has been hired to knock off a Salvation Army "soldier." Eventually you get used to it, but it is still an odd construction. Anyway, once you get a handle on the alternating viewpoints, it's a good story and you have to admire Harry's dogged persistence and determination. I'm still hoping to find out if Harry survived what happened at the end of The Phantom so my fingers are crossed that the sequel to that one (in English) shows up soon.
Just as an aside, I wonder what the tourism board of Norway thinks about this series of highly popular books. The picture that Nesbo paints of Oslo--bleak, filled with drug addicts, and suffering from miserable weather--really does not make one want to visit.
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