Jo Nesbo’s The Redeemer reviewed in Canada!
By Peter on Mar 31, 2009 in About authors, Crime Books, Jo Nesbo, bestseller
The Canadian newspaper Globe & Mail recently reviewed The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo. They view this book as probably Nesbo’s best, and possibly also one of the best crime books of 2009! Very nice for Jo Nesbo. Here is the review:
THE REDEEMER
By Jo Nesbo, translated by Don Bartlett, Random House Canada, 457 pages, $27.95
The Redeemer is the fourth Harry Hole novel in translation by Norwegian author Jo Nesbo. and it’s a tour de force. Nesbo has a plot here that is so tightly constructed and compelling that it’s impossible to put the book down.
This is a serial-killer story, and one with a punch. The killer is as faceless and proficient as the Jackal in Frederick Forsythe’s masterwork. The victim is killed in Oslo during a Salvation Army band performance, and, before anyone dies, some Salvation Army officers engage in some slightly sinful acts.
But just what is going on with these young people? Nesbo puts some slight touches of evil into quite normal little interchanges. All is not quite right with a pair of lovers and a couple of unhappy brothers. Nesbo is a subtle writer and the suspense is in the nuances.
As for Harry Hole, the policeman hero of the series, he’s one of the best of the new breed of Scandinavian coppers. He’s both professional and intuitive, and he relies on his team to uncover a trail of death moving across Western Europe.
What’s clever is just how the clues are dug up in a seemingly impenetrable case. There is no connection between the killer and the victim, no weapon and, of course, no discernible motive. How Hole uncovers the links in a chain of death is what keeps the story moving, and Nesbo never lets up on the truly gripping suspense. Absolutely Nesbo’s best translated into English so far, and, I expect, one of the year’s best.
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