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Overview
It seems the city of Oslo has a serial killer on its hands, and Detective Harry Hole is assigned to the case. Only he is not happy with his colleague Tom Waaler, whom he suspects of arms smuggling and murder. A previous Jo Nesbø title was voted best Norwegian crime novel of all time.Synopsis
Oslo is sweltering in the summer heat when a young woman is murdered in her flat. One finger has been cut off and a tiny red diamond in the shape of a pentagram—a five-pointed star—is found under her eyelid. Detective Harry Hole is assigned the case with Tom Waaler, a colleague he neither likes nor trusts. He believes Tom is behind a gang of arms smugglers—and the murder of his partner. But Harry, an off-the-rails alcoholic, is barely holding on to his job and has little choice but to play nice.
Five days later, another woman is reported missing. When her severed finger is found adorned with a star-shaped red diamond ring, Harry fears a serial killer is on the loose. Determined to find the killer and expose the crooked Tom Waaler, Harry discovers the two investigations melding in unexpected ways. But pursuing the truth comes at a price, and soon Harry finds himself on the run and forced to make difficult decisions about a future he may not live to see.
One of the brightest stars of Scandinavian crime writing, Jo NesbØ has been compared to Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly, and Henning Mankell. His novels are bestsellers throughout Europe, acclaimed by critics and revered by aficionados of thrillers and mysteries. Brilliantly plotted and paced, The Devil's Star shows NesbØ at his absolute best, combining powerful emotional resonance with truly stunning suspense.
The Washington Post - Patrick Anderson
The Devil's Star is a big, ambitious, wildly readable story that pits the protagonist against a serial killer and an enemy within the Oslo police department. The novel has its flaws, but for most of the way it's compelling…a novel worth reading, for its characters, for the quality of its writing and for its wealth of detail.
Editorials
New York Times Book Review
“An elegant and complex thriller . . . Ingenious design. . . . Nesbo’s book eloquently uses its multiple horrors to advance a disturbing argument: suppressing history is an open invitation for history to repeat itself.”Vogue
“Nobody can delve into the dark, twisted mind of a murderer better than a Scandinavian thriller writer.”Entertainment Weekly
“Nesbø has a knack for Euro noir.”Toronto Star
“In crime fiction terms, the ongoing Harry Hole is epic along the lines of something Count Tolstoy might have dreamed up. . . . Tremendous emotional resonance.”USA Today
“Readers now can savor NEMESIS. . . . Nesbo’s storytelling abilities are incomparable. NEMESIS is crime novel as art form and great entertainment.”The Times (London)
“Astonishingly confident. . . . The Devil’s Star scores with an intriguing plot and Nesbo’s mastery of pace and tension.”The Independent
“Jo Nesbo has a credibly scary line on the power of corruption, and his complex plot culminates in a nail-biting episode with overtones of The Day of the Jackal.”London Review of Books
“Bucks the trend… Nesbo’s long-range plotting is careful, and the debate about the Norwegian elite’s behaviour during the war cleverly managed.”New York Times Book Review
“The dense plot is supremely detailed. . . . A crisp, clean translation. . . . Satisfying.”Daily Telegraph (London)
“Superb.”Washington Post Book World
“A fine novel. . . . THE REDBREAST certainly ranks with the best of current American crime fiction.”The Guardian (London)
“A well-crafted rollercoaster of a book. . . . Nesbo sets a cracking pace, the shambolic Hole is exasperating and endearing by turns, and a series of spectacular plot twists lead to a thrilling finale. Highly recommended.”Booklist (starred review)
“Nesbo returns with another novel that is every bit the multitextured, complexly plotted, psychologically rich thriller that made Redbreast such an unqualified success. . . . No doubt about it: Nesbo belongs on every crime-fiction fan’s A-list.”Patrick Anderson
The Devil's Star is a big, ambitious, wildly readable story that pits the protagonist against a serial killer and an enemy within the Oslo police department. The novel has its flaws, but for most of the way it's compelling…a novel worth reading, for its characters, for the quality of its writing and for its wealth of detail.—The Washington Post
Publishers Weekly
A serial killer taunts Harry Hole in Nesbø's searing third crime novel to feature the Oslo police detective to be made available in the U.S. (after Nemesis). Still suffering from alcohol-fueled demons and obsessed with hunting for evidence against a clearly dirty cop, Hole grudgingly agrees to help look into the murder of a woman whose finger has been amputated and a red diamond stuck under her eyelid. More bodies follow, with the murderer leaving identical five-pointed diamonds (the titular devil's star) at each crime scene. At first the killings appear to be random, but Hole soon discovers an ominous pattern. Nesbø brilliantly incorporates threads from earlier novels, including Hole's often tumultuous relationship with his lover, Rakel, without ever losing the current story's rhythm. Even with—or perhaps because of—his flaws, Hole is arguably one of today's most fascinating fictional detectives. 5-city author tour. (Mar.)Library Journal
Devastated by his inability to convince his superiors that fellow detective Tom Waaler is both guilty of his former partner Ellen's murder (The Redbreast) and an arms dealer, Harry Hole goes on a four-week bender. Dragged back to work by his loyal boss, Harry is partnered with Waaler to investigate what quickly looks like a serial killer on the loose in Oslo who leaves star-shaped red diamonds with his victims. Upset by his inability to maintain a relationship with girlfriend Rakel and her son, Harry dries out and buries himself in the case, investigating with only the help of forensic tech Beate and determined not only to identify the killer but finally to get Waaler. VERDICT Harry is one of the best lone-wolf cops for the 21st century, and Nesbø's third book is equally as good as The Redbreast and Nemesis. Scandinavian noir is alive and well, and Nesbø is one of its best authors. Highly recommended, especially for readers who like Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander series (Faceless Killers) or Arnaldur Indridason's Inspector Erlendur series (Jar City).—Jessica Moyer, Univ. of Minnesota, Coll. of Education & Human Development, MinneapolisKirkus Reviews
As a serial killer terrorizes Oslo, Inspector Harry Hole (Nemesis, 2009, etc.) is battling even more fearsome demons. When copywriter Camilla Loen is shot to death, her index finger removed and a star-shaped red diamond tucked beneath her eyelid, Chief Inspector Bjarne Moller has the bright idea of pairing his heir-apparent, Inspector Tom Waaler, with barely functional alcoholic Harry, who's spent most of the previous month on unofficial leave drowning his grief over his late colleague, Officer Ellen Gjeltsen. But Harry doesn't just dislike and distrust Waaler; he's convinced that Waaler is Prince, the mob's inside man who murdered Ellen. So the salt-and-pepper rapport between Harry and Waaler is more like arsenic-and-cyanide. Even pulling Harry off the case so that he can investigate the disappearance of producer Wilhelm Barli's wife turns sour because a parcel containing her severed middle finger swiftly makes it clear that singer/actress Lisbeth Barli has become another victim of the Courier Killer. The exhaustingly wide-ranging case poses three crucial questions. What pattern underlies the Courier Killer's choice of victims and modus operandi? When the police arrest an innocent suspect, can Harry protect him long enough to get the goods on the real killer? And how can he possibly neutralize the hydra-headed Waaler, who grows more dangerous the more he's thwarted?Not all the answers are equally interesting, but even readers new to this white-hot series will be impressed by Nesbo's generous plotting and his insight into dark places in the human soul. Author tour to New York, Portland, Ore., San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C.Booklist
"Nesbo returns with another novel that is every bit the multitextured, complexly plotted, psychologically rich thriller that made Redbreast such an unqualified success. . . . No doubt about it: Nesbo belongs on every crime-fiction fan’s A-list."Michael Connelly
"Jo Nesbø is my new favorite thriller writer and Harry Hole my new hero."The Guardian(London)
"A well-crafted rollercoaster of a book. . . . Nesbo sets a cracking pace, the shambolic Hole is exasperating and endearing by turns, and a series of spectacular plot twists lead to a thrilling finale. Highly recommended."Toronto Star
"In crime fiction terms, the ongoing Harry Hole is epic along the lines of something Count Tolstoy might have dreamed up. . . . Tremendous emotional resonance."The Guardian (London)
“A well-crafted rollercoaster of a book. . . . Nesbo sets a cracking pace, the shambolic Hole is exasperating and endearing by turns, and a series of spectacular plot twists lead to a thrilling finale. Highly recommended.”Daily Telegraph (London)
"Superb."The Times (London)
"Astonishingly confident. . . . The Devil’s Star scores with an intriguing plot and Nesbo’s mastery of pace and tension."Vogue
"Nobody can delve into the dark, twisted mind of a murderer better than a Scandinavian thriller writer."New York Times Book Review
"An elegant and complex thriller . . . Ingenious design. . . . Nesbo’s book eloquently uses its multiple horrors to advance a disturbing argument: suppressing history is an open invitation for history to repeat itself."London Review of Books
"Bucks the trend… Nesbo’s long-range plotting is careful, and the debate about the Norwegian elite’s behaviour during the war cleverly managed."Washington Post Book World
"A fine novel. . . . THE REDBREAST certainly ranks with the best of current American crime fiction."USA Today
"Reading THE REDBREAST is like watching a hit movie. . . . The pacing is swift. The plot is precise and intricate. . . . THE REDBREAST is surprisingly witty at times and often grim. But it’s always smart."Booklist (starred review)
“Nesbo returns with another novel that is every bit the multitextured, complexly plotted, psychologically rich thriller that made Redbreast such an unqualified success. . . . No doubt about it: Nesbo belongs on every crime-fiction fan’s A-list.”The Independent
"Jo Nesbo has a credibly scary line on the power of corruption, and his complex plot culminates in a nail-biting episode with overtones of The Day of the Jackal."Entertainment Weekly
"Nesbø has a knack for Euro noir."Book Details
Published
March 1, 2010
Publisher
HarperCollins Publishers
Pages
452
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780061133978