I purchased this book for my own personal collection.
Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
Published: April 23, 2013 (first published 2012)
Summary:
When Harry left Oslo again for Hong Kong—fleeing the traumas of life as a cop—he thought he was there for good. But then the unthinkable happened. The son of the woman he loved, lost, and still loves is arrested for murder: Oleg, the boy Harry helped raise but couldn’t help deserting when he fled. Harry has come back to prove that Oleg is not a killer. Barred from rejoining the police force, he sets out on a solitary, increasingly dangerous investigation that takes him deep into the world of the most virulent drug to ever hit the streets of Oslo (and the careers of some of the city’s highest officials), and into the maze of his own past, where he will find the wrenching truth that finally matters to Oleg, and to himself.
My thoughts:
The further I get into this series, the more I come to see why so many die-hard crime fiction fans love Harry Hole. I was already a fan of Jo Nesbo’s writing before I really got into this series and now I can truly see his brilliance as a writer.
This latest installment picks up three years after we last saw Harry at the conclusion of The Leopard, so if you haven’t read any of the books in this series, this might be a good spot to jump in and test the waters, though of course, my opinion is always to start at the beginning. Either way, we find Harry hiding out in Hong Kong after getting kicked off the police force and when he finds out that he is needed back in Olso, he doesn’t hesitate – this case is personal and he will do everything he can to solve it, even if that means he has to work on the sly.
This book consumed me from the first page and even though it might be the darkest one yet in the series, I could not put it down until I finished it. I loved seeing Harry work as a vigilante, out for justice no matter the price. The twists and turns kept me glued to the pages and seeing how organized crime, a new drug and bad cops were all tied together really made for such a complex, layered story.
This series just gets better and better. It’s amazing how each book has been so new and exciting and action-packed and yet through all this, we still have continued character development when it comes to Harry, which is my favorite part. I cannot wait to see what the next book brings.
Books in this series:
- The Bat
- Cockroaches
- The Redbreast
- Nemesis
- The Devil’s Star
- The Redeemer
- The Snowman
- The Leopard
- Phantom
- Police
- The Thirst
- Knife
