Product Description

Harry Hole, drunkard, loner and brilliant detective is reassigned to surveillance after a high profile mistake. He's bored by his new job until a report of a rare and unusual gun being fired sparks his interest because of its possible links to Neo Nazi activity. Then a former soldier is found with his throat cut. Next, Harry's former partner is murdered. Why had she been trying to reach Harry on the night her head was smashed in? The investigation leads Harry to suspect that the crimes have their roots in the battlefields of Eastern Front during WWII. In a quest that takes him to South Africa and Vienna, Harry finds himself perpetually one step behind the killer. He will be both winner and loser by the novel's nail-biting conclusion. He's your judge, jury and executioner ...And he must be stopped.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7076 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 368 pages

Review
A pair of assassination attempts bookend 50 years of postwar history in this bold, ambitious thriller.Oslo Detective Harry Hole's last case left him with a toxic reputation (The Devil's Star, 2006). Now he has to make a snap judgment about an unauthorized man waiting with an Uzi in the path of the visiting American president. The man he shoots turns out to be a Secret Service agent, but the Norwegian government, with no stomach for creating an international incident that might embarrass a fervent ally, promotes Harry to Inspector and boots him over to the National Security Service to keep him out of trouble. Thanks to his new posting, Harry, without at first knowing it, becomes the man most likely to foil a second assassination - this one terribly real and steeped in a series of betrayals that go back to World War II. Some of the intrigue in the dizzying series of cuts between past and present is ham-handed, and the shadowy figure variously known as Uriah (in 1944) and the Prince (in 1999) may tax some readers' patience. But it's well worth sticking with the story; both the hero and the villain are as compelling as the portrayal of Norwegians doing whatever it takes to survive the war and then paying the price.Nesbo bids fair to turn Norway into serious competition for Sweden as Scandinavia's crime center. (Kirkus Reviews)

Mark Sanderson, Evening Standard
‘a complex utterly captivating story... Nesbo, after just two
books, is proving to be a master’.

Time Out
"Flawlessly paced, it's a page-turner you won't want to put down"

Customer Reviews

'Holely' Engrossing
I took this on holiday with me and everyone around got fed up with me saying what a brilliant book this is. Well, it is, so there! The plot, the characterization and the quality of the writing all put me in mind of Martin Cruz-Smith and his Arkady Renko creation - there is no higher praise. I'm amazed it's taken the publishers so long to get this and Jo Nesbo's other two books (so far) translated into English. But, of course the good news is that there are five other Harry Hole books already written and hopefully, with release dates planned.

Excellent thriller
As a fan of scandinavian crime writers, I discovered Nesbo after Mankell, and some others and was not disappointed. Everything in the book scores right on target. Excellent plot with very interesting flashback into a very little known aspect of the second world war in Scandinavia ( little known to me anyway !), very credible characters all around, with a tiny reservation on the main detective , not massively endearing, but ok, and a deliberately frustrating ending, I guess carried on into the following volume now out.
A thriller I would recommend to anyone looking for quality 'gripping' factor.

The Hole truth
I must concur with most of the other reviewers - a superb detective story and a charismatic new detective to rival, if not surpass, Kurt Wallender. Where Nesbo scores over Mankell is the tightly plotted story line and plausible psychological motivation despite the complicated and dramatic theme. There are plenty of ironic twists and sharp dialogue as the grumpy (what else) and intuitive Harry Hole follows up a hunch about a deadly sniping rifle smuggled into the country that leads him via a trail of dead bodies to an amazing serial killer and a deadly vengeance whose origins date back to WW2 on the Eastern Front. There is a fair bit of scene switching from the trenches to the modern setting but the killer's identity is fairly well hidden. The reader also gets a fascinating insight into the Norwegian political conscience about their divided loyalty during the war. The detection is a tantalising chase and the action is compelling right to the end. Well written and translated and nesbo leaves a loose end that will surely propel Hole into another story soon. I've already bought the follow up Devil's Star and look forward to more sleepless nights.