I first heard of The Snowman by Jo Nesbø. It was getting quite a bit of press. When I read that it was part of a series, I tried to do what I always do which is start at the beginning. Unfortunately, the entire series hasn’t yet been translated from the original Norwegian to English. Only 4 so far. I decided to bite the bullet and start where I could when I kept hearing him in reference to “If you liked Steig Larsson, you’ll like Jo Nesbø.” I started with Redbreast which I believe is actually 3 or 4 in the series.
Summary of the series as I know it: Harry Hole is a gifted investigator and an alcoholic. He isn’t a very friendly guy nor is he too social with his peers. Not too many friends, not too many allies on the job. He is however, one of the best minds they have so he gets some special treatment. These are intricately plotted. They don’t drop the ball. They don’t befuddle you with useless info or too many characters. You do grow found of the drunk curmudgeon of course, but you also think he’s an ass too. The mysteries themselves are a bit out there, some more than others. The Snowman particularly got under my skin as far as creepiness factor.
I do not understand why they aren’t being translated to English in order. And of course, I screwed up and read The Snowman before Nemesis, thus spoiling a few things for myself.
I do not understand why they aren’t being translated to English in order. And of course, I screwed up and read The Snowman before Nemesis, thus spoiling a few things for myself.
If you like thrillers and mysteries that are macabre and scary as hell, these are right up your alley. I am really enjoying them. And yes, if you liked Steig Larsson, you will like these.
Overall, I’ll give the series thus far 3.5 out of 5 stars.
My #fridayreads this week are Tinkers by Paul Harding and Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones.
Library checkouts are:
Nemesis by Jo Nesbø
Headhunters by Jo Nesbø
Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
The Weed That Strings The Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley
A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley
Chime by Franny Billingsley
Bless The Beasts & Children by Glendon Swarthout
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Shine by Lauren Myracle
We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
If you compare scandinavian litterature to american, what would the biggest difference be?
I enjoy reading in both swedish and english so for me the difference is very obvious.
Have you ever read Jeff Noon? Amazing author and very freaky books. Vurt, Pollen and Needle in the groove are the ones I’ve read but my housband told me that Cobralingus is fantastic too.
If Johan Theorin is translated to english (from swedish) you could try him aswell.
I adore your clever and lovely blog!
I love these books! They have so many twists and turns and I can never guess what is going to happen; I love the unpredictability of them. I’m eagerly awaiting the translation of more of them.