The Redeemer: The pulse-racing sixth Harry Hole novel from the No.1 Sunday Times bestseller

Man's compulsion to do what he considers good and right, even though it requires him to act in ways that society and the law consider morally and legally wrong, permeates this book on all levels, with several characters assuming this role of "Redeemer" in their actions throughout the novel. Norwegian author Jo Nesbo, in this fourth novel of the Harry Hole series to become available in English, introduces three seemingly disparate plot lines in this thriller set in Oslo--a hired assassin from Croatia is fulfilling contract killings in Europe and has just arrived in Oslo for his last job; the Salvation Army, its officers and soldiers, are trying to fulfill their mission by providing food, clothing, and shelter to those most in need of their help, no questions asked, and they are seeking some new leadership; and Harry Hole, an alcoholic police inspector, who is sometimes off-the-wagon, is still trying to find the Big Boss behind the gun-running and related crimes which brought down one of his fellow police inspectors in The Devil's Star, the previous novel in this series.Murders link the three plot lines, which quickly begin to overlap. To add to the complexity (and sometimes confusion) of this very complex mystery, there are a number of characters who are similar. In the Salvation Army subplot, two brothers look almost identical, and both are in love with the same woman, though one of them may be a dangerous sadist. The woman, Thea, is also a member of the Salvation Army, and her brother Rikard is a major player. Another attractive young woman, the daughter of the Salvation Army Commander, is also involved in the romantic angles, and it is easy to mix up these characters, especially when their roles overlap.The assassin who has come to Oslo has a characteristic called "hyperelasticity," which enables him to mimic with his facial structure, a number of different facial types, and descriptions of this person vary significantly when he commits a murder, raising questions about his true identity. In the third plot, Harry himself is still not exactly stable. Though he seems to be reconciled with the fact that his long-time love, Rakel, has written him off as an unacceptable suitor, Rakel's young son clearly still loves Harry, and Harry seems to be still pining for Rakel. Professionally, he must deal with an attack on one of his men.Nesbo is a compelling writer, one who has completely mastered the art of creating suspense and propelling the action along. In this novel he does something new, however, creating short action scenes in which he does not always identify the main character, presenting information for the reader to process and hold in the back of his/her mind till another piece of the puzzle is revealed to connect with it. Harry Hole might ring a doorbell, for example, and in the immediate next scene, another person entirely will be about to answer the door. This is a clever technique for involving the reader, but it does sometimes create confusion by forcing the reader to backtrack to keep all the characters and their immediate stories straight. Eventually, the loose ends get tied up, but the extent to which the resolutions are realistic is an open question, and some readers may lose track of all the issues before the conclusion. Nesbo does reflect much of the atmosphere of Oslo and the attitudes of the police, as he has in the past, but overall he has a less broad sociological focus here. Exciting and atmospheric, the novel's scope seems to be narrower than in the previous novels.

Every Harry Hole crime thriller I read - I am left more and more in awe of the pairing. The brilliant, pacey, detailed, character-deep, waffle-free prose of Mr nesbo - and the genius of the English translations by Don Bartlett.Clearly the ovellist gets the credit for the book - but Don must be priased for his ability to include mere English-speakers into this Oslo world of snow and ice, good and evil, winners and losers.I have read them all (all being 6 at the mo upto and including The Leopard) and I am quite struck by how I dont get bored with the Hole books. This is no mean feat - I dont care what you say but Grisham and Ludlum and other genre-sticking novellists do start to sound samey after a while. Robert Harris, Frederick Forsythe and other favourites of mine have to jump around subject matter to stay original.Jo doesnt - and that is his genius.I'm still waiting for someone I recommend him to - to come back to me and take me up on my challenge to "refund if you don'y enjoy" - but I have yet to pay out a bean.And needless to say I'm never ahead of Harry in guessing the out-turns. he always gets there first. The genius of replacing his out-going boss with a less flexible, uptight ex military is evr so clever. As is the will-he-wont-he constancy of harry's battle with Uncle Jim.One criticism - sometimes when you are 3/4 s of teh way through one of his books, and deliberately start looking for the least likely out-turn - at that time - you on more than one occasion WILL beat Inspectore hole.Nevertheless - again - thoroughly recommended.Once again - totally engrossingOnce again - written with wit, musicality, some spirituality and an ever ratcheting up tension.Its a miracle that whilst Mr and Mrs Larsson get 3 from 3 onto the screens - noone has done the same with these.maybe they wouldnt lend themselves to the movie theatres - but the Snowman is nothing if not cinematic. And i am sure that the world would take to Hole as readily as Bourne, Harry Potter and Lewis.Enjoy.Like all good authors - I am JEALOUS of those of you who havent jet dabbled in the Oslo world of Hole and friends.Well done Jo and Don.

My late piano teacher who was a Salvationist would have been horrified to read this book. Its central characters are a professional killer from the Balkans and the Oslo Corps of the Salvation Army. A most unusual and unlikely combination. There is a wealthy property development connection too. Despite my personal prejudice I found myself more interested in and concerned for the Balkan killer, which says something about the other characters. Harry Hole is his usual duir self in the freezing winter streets of Oslo. Makes you wonder really why people choose to live there, freezing cold, drug addicts in the streets, corruption in high places (a big secret, unresolved in previous books, is laid bare in this one) and even the Salvation Army is tainted.It's quite a big book and a gripping read. Some reviewers seem to have lost the plot somewhere along the way and got confused about the identity of the characters. I had no such problem; loved or hated all of them; and got swept along by the story. Left me wondering though - will the Norwegian Salvation Army issue a rebuttal?

This book is about Inspector Harry Hole, Jo Nesbo's many character. He's something like a Norwegian John Rebus (in that he's an alcoholic with authority issues), for those who know Ian Rankin's work. In this book he's investigating who killed a Salvation Army officer at one of their fundraisers. The killer later makes an attempt on his brother, brother's girlfriend, and a policeman assigned to prtoect them.It's not a bad read. It certainly rattles along at a fair old lick. My one criticism would be that it's impossible for the reader to guess that there'd be a plot twist at the end. Most authors give away a few clues as to the why of a crime in their books, but that doe4sn't happen here till it's all gettin wrapped up.Incidentally, I wouldn't start the series with this book. Not because it's bad, but because it gives away plot elements that occur in books that appear earlier in the series.

I became a Harry Hole fan quite a while back after reading The Snowman and I then decided to read the rest of the stories from the beginning. While each of them can be read in any order, there are continuing stories across the books and, possibly more importantly, Harry Hole's character emerges gradually over the books.In this story a Salvation Army officer is shot in what the police work out looks like a contract killing very quickly. However equally quickly it is clear the wrong person was shot and so there is a killer on the loose in Oslo. Harry needs to find the killer before he strikes again. His unorthodox/illegal ways are under threat as his old boss has retired and he used to protect Harry where he could. Another very good crime thriller from Nesbo with good pace and some great twists and turns in - Harry is an even more appealing character for me by the end of the book - looking forward to the next one.