Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Norway's answer to Columbo/Bergerac

The Redbreast
Nemesis
The Devil's Star

 ... [The Oslo Trilogy:]

By ... Jo Nesbo

My friend Jim told me about Jo Nesbo, he said I'd enjoy reading his books. Jim won't just read any old rubbish, so I took him up on his recommendation.

The author is Norwegian; the translation is by someone in East Anglia. The stories are great.

Although each book has 'The Next Stieg Larsson' plastered on the front, the only resemblances I can see between the two are that A) the author is Scandinavian and B) the action takes place in Scandinavia (Oslo and Norway, as opposed to Stockholm and /Sweden) - oh, and the stories move on at a cracking pace. I enjoyed all three (in fact I haven't quite finished the third).

The main character is Harry Hole, an Oslo policeman who get promoted to 'Inspector' very early on in the story. Harry is an alcoholic and doesn't seem able to stay sober long enough to keep a relationship together; and he isn't too bothered by 'rules'. Although each book is self contained, each one follows the previous one and I'm looking forward to some sort of denouement now, as I reach the end of book three.

Like many other great fictional characters, Harry is difficult to understand yet easy to admire. He smokes, he drinks and he has a touch of Lee Child's Jack Reacher about him. I'm looking forward to reading the next three books later in the year.