I love Jo Nesbo's work. I first heard about him on NPR about a year or so ago, and I went out and bought The Redbreast based on the review that I had heard. I have always loved gritty novels, and this stuff sounded like it was right up my alley. Well, it was. It is. Nesbo's Harry Hole is the best kind of "hero" in my book (well, that phrase sounded better in my head, but there you go): he's an alcoholic, bleakly hopeless man, but a brilliant detective. He's always on the verge of something, and that's all I'm going to say about that because I want you to read these novels.
This review is about Nesbo's eighth Harry Hole installment, but only 6 of them have been translated into English as of yet. Nesbo is Norwegian, and is immensely popular in his home country. With good reason. I don't know how he does it, but Nesbo manages to craft his novels into a mystery/philosophy/textbook conglomeration that stuns me every time. Doesn't sound too appealing does it? But it is. It works. Harry's so damaged and so real that every aspect, every move, every decision in his life is a philosophical treatise even if Nesbo never devolves into actually spouting any philosopher (thank God). Nesbo also researches exhaustively, and here is where the textbook element comes in: I learn something about something that I never knew I wanted to know each time. I can't explain it any better than that, although I will try.
In The Leopard, Harry Hole begins in Hong Kong, returns to Norway, travels to the Congo, back to Norway, again to the Congo, and back to Hong Kong all over again. Seem like a bit much? Well, it could be in less capable hands. Yes, there is a mystery: a series of terrible murders in Oslo, and Harry's expertise is needed even if he is the disgrace of the Crime Squad for his drinking and his attitude. Two young women have been found dead, with curious wounds in their mouths, and no idea of motive or connection to one another. More murders follow, and it is up to Harry to find the connection, battle the politics of an evolving government, fight his own demons, and track down the killer.
To be honest, there is a lot going on in this novel and at times it does become a bit much. Some of Harry's adventures in Hong Kong and the Congo seem extremely fantastical in nature, but I give Nesbo kudos for creativity. However unlikely, those situations do feel like something Harry would find himself in somehow, but there is one element revolving around heroin that is extremely tiresome. There is also a sort of romance that I found unpleasant, but highly realistic. Which is probably why I found it unpleasant in the first place: romance can be messy and ugly, and Harry's usually are.
I love Harry Hole and I can't wait until Nesbo produces a new novel in this series. Phantom is already out in the UK, and I might just break down and order a copy from amazon.co.uk to satisfy my obsession, and the first two novels are due to be released sometime this year. FINALLY!
I highly recommend these novels, but be warned that happy endings are as rare for Harry as they are for the rest of us.
