The Bat: Read the first thrilling Harry Hole novel from the No.1 Sunday Times bestseller (Harry Hole, 1)

Product Information

For years, detective Harry Hole has been at the centre of every major criminal investigation in Oslo.

What’s surprising about this book is the laidback pace, in comparison to something like Killing Moon which moved fast as there was a set deadline to solve the case in that work. He's an international number one bestseller and his books are published in 50 languages, selling over 55 million copies around the world. Since the book was translated into English in England, American readers may find the prose a bit awkward in spots. The mystery itself is well-constructed, despite a number of sequences where the author would shove clues in our face.

The passport official looked up from the special visa and studied him, but the pursed mouth was gone. I seriously wonder if it had been the first book translated into English would the series be so popular. Kirkus Reviews states that "It’s an unusual debut since the very first page finds Harry clearing passport control in Sydney, half a world away from his native Oslo.

He feigns surprise and answers that he’s from Queensland, causing Hole to splutter an embarrassed apology. That fits my thoughts on Jo Nesbø’s character Inspector Harry Hole of the Oslo Crime Squad perfectly. Police officers are being slain at the scenes of crimes they once investigated, but failed to solve. I was more amused than astounded by the way Hole develops deep friendships with people within a few days of being in Australia working on a murder case in a second language.Some of the flaws in the book could simply be a translation issue, but there are sections where the plotting is just poorly thought out, and dive deep in cliché when the story would have been served better by avoiding them. It was more than thirty hours since he had taken off from Oslo via London, and after the change of planes in Bahrain he had sat in the same bloody seat by the emergency exit. Harry Hole had a suspicion that passport officials in most places in the world would have added a “sir,” but he had read that this type of formal pleasantry wasn’t especially widespread in Australia. Please don't take my opinion as I do have a habit of zoning out on books when I have to focus on too many plots or characters. The Harry Hole character displays the brilliance of a Sherlock Holmes combined with the angst of a man constantly battling alcohol and the demons from his past.