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Overview
"A FINE NOVEL, AMBITIOUS IN CONCEPT, SKILLFUL IN EXECUTION, AND GROWN-UP IN ITS VIEW OF PEOPLE AND EVENTS....RANKS WITH THE BEST OF CURRENT AMERICAN CRIME FICTION." —WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD
Detective Harry Hole embarrassed the force, and for his sins he's been reassigned to mundane surveillance tasks. But while monitoring neo-Nazi activities in Oslo, Hole is inadvertently drawn into a mystery with deep roots in Norway's dark past—when members of the nation's government willingly collaborated with Nazi Germany. More than sixty years later, this black mark won't wash away, and disgraced old soldiers who once survived a brutal Russian winter are being murdered, one by one. Now, with only a stained and guilty conscience to guide him, an angry, alcoholic, error-prone policeman must make his way safely past the traps and mirrors of a twisted criminal mind. For a hideous conspiracy is rapidly taking shape around Hole—and Norway's darkest hour may still be to come.
"THE PACING IS SWIFT. THE PLOT IS PRECISE AND INTRICATE. THE CHARACTERS ARE INTRIGUIING....SURPRISINGLY WITTY AT TIMES AND OFTEN GRIM. BUT IT'S ALWAYS SMART." —USA TODAY
Synopsis
"A FINE NOVEL, AMBITIOUS IN CONCEPT, SKILLFUL IN EXECUTION, AND GROWN-UP IN ITS VIEW OF PEOPLE AND EVENTS....RANKS WITH THE BEST OF CURRENT AMERICAN CRIME FICTION." WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD
Detective Harry Hole embarrassed the force, and for his sins he's been reassigned to mundane surveillance tasks. But while monitoring neo-Nazi activities in Oslo, Hole is inadvertently drawn into a mystery with deep roots in Norway's dark past when members of the nation's government willingly collaborated with Nazi Germany. More than sixty years later, this black mark won't wash away, and disgraced old soldiers who once survived a brutal Russian winter are being murdered, one by one. Now, with only a stained and guilty conscience to guide him, an angry, alcoholic, error-prone policeman must make his way safely past the traps and mirrors of a twisted criminal mind. For a hideous conspiracy is rapidly taking shape around Hole and Norway's darkest hour may still be to come.
"THE PACING IS SWIFT. THE PLOT IS PRECISE AND INTRICATE. THE CHARACTERS ARE INTRIGUIING....SURPRISINGLY WITTY AT TIMES AND OFTEN GRIM. BUT IT'S ALWAYS SMART." USA TODAY
The Barnes & Noble Review
Harry Hole, newly promoted inspector for the Oslo-based national Security Service, is a surly, wounded sort, an emotional wreck. Introduced in Norwegian author Jo Nesbø's first novel, The Devil's Star, Hole lives alone, drinks too much, and is congenitally unable to relate to his fellow officers, save for his dependable partner, Ellen Gjelten. But Hole is good at doggedly and bravely solving crimes, and here he confronts a half dozen separate murders and felonies that initially seem unrelated. Of course, in prime Ross McDonald fashion, all interlock after a lot of globe-hopping footwork. Events both ultra-contemporary and lost in the mists of World War II usher in the headline-ready themes of the novel, in the manner of recent revelations concerning, say, Günter Grass's service in the Waffen SS. Nesbø's prose -- in a taut translation by Don Bartlett -- is delivered in compact, cohesive chapters that tantalize the reader without giving the game away. Redbreast defies categories like noir or police procedural, with more leisurely pacing and character unfolding than is common in domestic U.S. productions. And yet, this whole mode owes its very existence to American pioneers, and Nesbø's transnational stylings pay homage to this lineage, in everything from the faintly ribald name of his protagonist to an exegesis delivered by one character on the roots of Norway's America-philia. And could it be possible that the name of Harry Hole's boss, Bjarne Møller, is meant to echo -- Barney Miller? --Paul Di Filippo
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New WritersThe Redbreast is a compelling novel of war, love, and betrayal that stretches from the waning days of the Russian Front to present-day Oslo, a city perched on top of a powder keg: a restive Muslim immigrant population and a resurgent neo-Nazi movement. The wonder of this epic is that it's written within the confines of a classic crime novel.
When Harry Hole, a police detective best described as a brilliant burnout, accidentally shoots one of the president's secret service agents during a rehearsal for an upcoming summit meeting, he believes it's the end of his career. However, the politics of the moment demand a hero, not a fall guy, and Harry is promoted to inspector instead. He begins to piece together disparate threads: threats of violence on Norway's upcoming Independence Day, the illegal importation of a Marklin rifle (a favored weapon of assassins), and a murder committed outside a pizza parlor frequented by neo-Nazis.
Much more than a mystery, The Redbreast delves deeply into Norway's involvement in World War II, exposing the face-saving myth of the resistance movement and the deep-seated anger of the Russian war veterans who served as scapegoats for the national shame. A nail-bitingly suspenseful read, Nesbø's American debut is not to be missed. (Spring 2008 Selection)
USA Today
“Reading THE REDBREAST is like watching a hit movie. Author Jo Nesbo’s scenes are so vivid that you can imagine them playing across the big screen. The pacing is swift. The plot is precise and intricate. The characters are intriguing.”Literary Review
“Original…demands concentration but it’s worth the effort.”New York Times Book Review
“An elegant and complex thriller . . . Ingenious design. . . . Harrowingly beautiful scenes.”Daily Telegraph (London)
“Exciting, witty, melancholy and thought-provoking.”Washington Post Book World
“Certainly ranks with the best of current American crime fiction.”Sunday Sport
“Paced to grip and twiddle with your insides, this is a fine thriller.”Marilyn Stasio
"Pristinely translated by Don Bartlett, Nesbo's book eloquently uses its multiple horrors to advance a disturbing argument: suppressing history is an open invitation for history to repeat itself."—The New York Times
Patrick Anderson
…this is a fine novel, ambitious in concept, skillful in execution and grown-up in its view of people and events. In important ways it's also a political novel, one concerned with the threat of fascism, in Norway and by implication everywhere. All in all, The Redbreast certainly ranks with the best of current American crime fiction.—The Washington Post
Publishers Weekly
Shifting effortlessly between the last days of WWII on the Eastern front and modern day Oslo, Norwegian Nesbø (The Devil's Star) spins a complex tale of murder, revenge and betrayal. A recovering alcoholic recently reassigned to the Norwegian Security Service, Insp. Harry Hole begins tracking Sverre Olsen, a vicious neo-Nazi who escaped prosecution on a technicality. But what starts as a quest to put Olsen behind bars soon explodes into a race to prevent an assassination. As Hole struggles to stay one step ahead of Olsen and his gang of skinheads, Nesbø takes the reader back to WWII, as Norwegians fighting for Hitler wage a losing battle on the Eastern front. When the two story lines finally collide, it's up to Hole to stop a man hell-bent on carrying out the deadly plan he hatched half a century ago in the trenches. Perfectly paced and painfully suspenseful, this crime novel illuminates not only Norway's alleged Nazi ties but also its present skinhead subculture. Readers will delight in Hole, a laconic hero as doggedly stubborn as Connelly's Harry Bosch, and yet with a prickly appeal all his own. (Dec.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationLibrary Journal
In the latest Scandinavian crime fiction import, award-winning and best-selling Norwegian author Nesbø introduces Detective Harry Hole. A talented, dedicated detective with drinking issues, Hole is nearly as depressed and grim as Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander but closer in age and style to Ake Edwardson's Erik Winter, occasionally sporting 1980s band T-shirts, always wearing black Doc Marten combat boots, and regularly referencing popular movies. After an unfortunate incident involving an American Secret Service agent, Hole is transferred to the political unit. Left to his own devices, he investigates the purported import of a Marklin (the world's best and most expensive rifle) while keeping an eye on a neo-Nazi ex-con who recently avoided jail. A lengthy and complex story with subplots involving an old man dying of cancer and flashbacks to World War II and the role of Norwegians who fought for Hitler on the eastern front; one of the more fascinating detectives in modern crime fiction; and a well-drawn, engaging set of secondary characters make this one of the best new series of 2007. Highly recommended for all libraries. [In 2004, Norwegian book clubs voted The Redbreastas the best Norwegian crime novel ever written; the second book in Nesbø's "Oslo" trilogy, The Devil's Star, is available on Amazon UK.-Ed.]
—Jessica E. Moyer