The Redbreast (Harry Hole, #3)

by Jo Nesbo

Robin Sachs (Narrator)

In 1944, Daniel, a soldier legendary among the Norwegians fighting the advance of Bolshevism on the Russian front, is killed. Two years later, a wounded soldier wakes in a Vienna hospital. He becomes involved with a young nurse, the consequences of which will ripple forward to the end of the century. It was 1999: Harry Hole, working alone having caused an embarrassment in the line of duty, has been promoted to inspector and is lumbered with surveillance duties. He is assigned the task of monitoring neo-Nazi activities; fairly mundane until a report of a rare and unusual gun being fired sparks his interest. Ellen Gjelten, his partner, from his police officer days makes a startling discovery. Then a former soldier is found with his throat cut. In a quest which takes him to South Africa and Vienna, Harry finds himself perpetually one step behind the killer. He will be both winner and loser by the novel's nail-biting conclusion. The Redbreast won the Glass Key for best Nordic crime novel when it was published in Norway, and was subsequently voted Norway's best crime novel.
"The Devil's Star", Nesbo's first novel featuring Harry Hole to be translated into English, marked Nesbo as a voice to watch in the ever-more fashionable world of Nordic crime.

• ISBN10: 0307933660
• ISBN13: 9780307933669
• Publish Date: 1 August 2011 (first published 7 September 2006)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Harper Audio
• Format: Audiobook
• Duration: 14 hours and 30 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

When they advertise Jo Nesbø as ‘The Next Steig Larsson’, I’m inclined to pass on this author. But since a lot of people seem to be raving about this author, I thought I better check him out, especially when they class his Harry Hole series as Hard-Boiled. I’ve found the only reason they are calling him the next Larsson is simply because he is another Scandinavian crime writer; which means some overly graphic murders, Nazis and an expected twist. The Redbreast is the third book in the Harry Hole novel but the first available in English. Hole is investigating neo-Nazi activity which leads him to further explore Norway’s activities on the Eastern Front during WWII.

Full review can be found on my blog;
http://literary-exploration.com/2012/05/06/book-review-the-redbreast/