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Description
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole is now streaming on Netflix • In the electrifying first installment of the New York Times bestselling series, Harry Hole of the Oslo Crime Squad is dispatched to Sydney to observe a murder case. As he circles closer to the killer, Harry begins to fear that no one is safe, least of all those investigating the murder. The victim is a twenty-three year old Norwegian woman who is a minor celebrity back home. Harry is free to offer assistance, but he has firm instructions to stay out of trouble. Never one to sit on the sidelines, Harry befriends one of the lead detectives, and one of the witnesses, as he is drawn deeper into the case. Together, they discover that this is only the latest in a string of unsolved murders, and the pattern points toward a psychopath working his way across the country. Read more
Publisher : Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
Accessibility : Learn more
Publication date : July 2, 2013
Edition : Original
Language : English
File size : 1.2 MB
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
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Top Amazon Reviews
Format: Kindle
THE BAT is the first in the series, but was only recently made available in English and for Kindle. I was thrilled to read it, as the subsequent books in the series refer to Harry's investigation of a serial killer in Australia. But as I gobbled it up, literarily speaking, one thought kept surfacing: this is a strange way to start a detective series. The book introduces Harry Hole as an Oslo detective sent to Sydney, Australia to assist in the investigation of the murder of a Norwegian woman who was a moderately successful Norwegian TV star. His guide throughout the investigation is an Australian detective named Kensington who is of Aboriginal descent. Kensington's boss isn't thrilled to have Harry there and wants to shut him out even as Kensington keeps introducing Harry to strange folks in the outback as well as in bars in Sydney's red light district called King's Cross. Now, I've been to both Oslo and Sydney (including a night of clubbing in King's Cross) and the two cities have a lot in common. They are both vibrant and modern with an athletic vibe and a well-educated populace. Lots of tall white people in rock band tees. Just like Harry. But Nesbo makes the differences really speak to the reader by using the murder investigation to reveal the lifestyle, history, and integration difficulties of Australia's Aboriginal population. We discover pain and passion through Harry's eyes in a way that neither the Norwegian detective nor the reader expect to do so. The serial killer does bad stuff, the ending is full of suspense, a romance goes awry, and the roots of Harry's self-destructive behavior--more of a central issues in later books--are revealed. But overall, I can't shake the feeling that this was an odd way to start a mystery series, because at no time do we see Harry as particularly Norwegian or in his natural element. We don't meet his colleagues or understand the context for any continuing series. I recognized places in Australia, and loved the great descriptions, easy dialogue, and twisty plotting. But I'm not sure I'd be compelled to read more in a series set in Norway if I only had this story to go on. Bottom line? Read THE BAT by Jo Nesbo, but not as your introduction to the Harry Hole series.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2013 by CA reviews
Format: Kindle
One of the last books to be published in the US, this is the first of the Harry Hole (Hoo-leh) series and is a must-read for Nesbo fans and hard-boiled crime thriller fans alike. Maybe 4 stars is a fairer rating based solely on content, plot, development, etc., but having read nearly all the other in the series, this is a must for Nesbo fans and gives great insight into the main character, so on that merit alone I rate it 5 stars. Harry Hole is one of the all-time best developed, flawed-yet-likable crime-fighting characters. Being a big fan of Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch in particular, Harry Hole is right up there. A detective in Oslo, this book stands alone in that it is set in Australia rather than Norway. I thought I'd be a bit disappointed in this but I actually enjoyed the location. The character development of some of the other police officers in Australia were weakly developed, and there are other holes in the story line, but nonetheless it is a very good read. The Redeemer (A Harry Hole Novel) has also been recently released in the US (next on my reading list.) Police: A Harry Hole Novel, the latest book in the Harry Hole series is set to be released October 2013. Perhaps not quite as strong as subsequent works, The Bat is an impressive first work for Jo Nesbo, and I can't recommend the series strongly enough. I'd recommend reading them as much in order as possible (although I didn't do this and didn't lose too much continuity.) His later works in particular are not for the faint of heart, mind you. (The Snowman (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) comes to mind...) Dig in if you can handle this genre; you won't regret it.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2013 by Andie
Norwegian author Jo Nesbo's seven thrillers available in English are the third through ninth of the Harry Hole series, beginning with The Redbreast, published in the US in 2006, and continuing through Phantom, published in the US in October, 2012. The Bat, Nesbo's first Harry Hole novel, now translated and available in the UK and Canada, was originally published in Norway in 1997, and it is intriguing for many reasons, not least for the growth it shows in Nesbo's narrative and stylistic talents. Here Norwegian author Jo Nesbo first introduces Harry Hole, an unconventional, very young detective. Harry has been sent to Australia to help investigate the murder of Ingrid Holter, a young, blonde Norwegian woman with an Australian work permit. Harry's first discovery is that no one there can pronounce his name correctly, always calling him "Hole," as in "mole." Ironically, he starts referring to himself as "Holy," much closer to the correct pronunciation, though not to his character, and the spelling continues in the narrative. His second discovery is that he will be working with a powerfully built former boxing champion, an Aborigine on the force whom Harry finds intriguing, both personally and culturally. Ingrid Holter, the victim, was working at a local bar when she was killed. An attractive blonde, she had been fending off advances from her strange bartender; avoiding her even stranger landlord and his vicious "Tasmanian Devil" of a dog; and spending her nights with a man known to have many connections to the drug world. As the police investigate, it becomes clear that they may be looking for a serial killer obsessed with blonde women. A check of past murders shows four women who have been strangled with the killer's bare hands, leaving no clues. As he helps investigate, Harry also falls in love, gets physically attacked, sometimes viciously, and fights his battle with the bottle, once again. Episodes from Harry's teen years include some stories about his sister, about his yearning to be punished for a death he caused as a youth but which others covered up, and about his family. These homey details stand in stark contrast to the life of Andrew Kensington, the Aborigine officer with whom he is working. Part of the Stolen Generation of Aborigine youth, who were removed from their parents and educated by outsiders, Andrew has been doubly hurt, denied a family and denied a culture. Nesbo reveals much about Aborigine culture here, their myths and legends, beliefs, and value system, and while it is clear that the author is fascinated with this culture, these digressions, unfortunately, do not advance the action and feel added on to the story. The novel occasionally resembles a travelogue, with each trip to a new part of Sydney or outside it described in vivid detail, though Nesbo does provide enough blood and thunder to keep readers reading, even as they may wonder where the sometimes rambling plot is going. The characters often "converse" in long paragraphs, instead of conveying information through the give and take of normal conversation, making the dialogue feel unrealistic in places. For those familiar with the series, this one is worth reading, but if you have not yet discovered Jo Nesbo, my suggestion is to start with The Redbreast, probably Nesbo's most interesting and challenging thriller, and go forward from there. The Redbreast is set in Norway, the country Nesbo knows most intimately.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2012 by Mary Whipple
Format: Paperback
Totally Improbable, But Fun Would any real-life detective set up his girl friend, a lovely, vulnerable, young woman, as bait to catch a sociopathic killer? Would any detective proceed with this scheme knowing his fellow policemen have failed in similar scenarios? Jo Nesbo creates some rather implausible situations in his Harry Hole series of novels, yet I love reading them. I overlook the quirky plots because I like the detectives in Scandinavian crime novels. So, if you liked Lizbeth Salander and Mikael Blomquist or Kurt Wallander, you will enjoy Harry Hole. Most of the novels in this genre use the same formula. The detective is a knight errant who perserves against evil in order to save women and/or children. These knights, however, are not without their blemishes and back stories. In the novel, The Bat, Harry goes after a rapist murderer who has moved from place to place in Australia. Like the partners Mikael Bloomquist and Lisbeth Salander, Harry teams up with an Aborigine detective and finds the villain right under his nose. Harry is interesting because of his self-destructive tendencies (alcoholism), his defiance of authority, and his perseverance (to the point of endangering his own life). We root for Harry because he is a good person, hard-driving, and a romantic. He is not perfect but he is real. I love it when he uses duct tape to bind up his wounds in two of the Nesbo novels and I loved his going through customs in Australia in this novel and being stopped because he had misplaced his visa. He always is having women problems but that is because he is obsessed with finding criminals and can't attend to their needs. In this book and in others, we go deeply into the psyche of the killers. Harry thinks, "The human soul is a deep, dark forest and all decisions are made alone...." You will enjoy the mystery in this novel, but you will also enjoy Harry's missteps as he brilliantly solves the crime in an Australian society fraught with racism, prostitution, corruption, and addiction.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2013 by Amazon Customer
Format: Kindle
THE BAT - the first inspector Harry Hole novel - is about a Norwegian cop who travels to Australia to investigate the grisly murder of a Norwegian female living abroad in Sydney. Harry, working with the Sydney police, soon realizes that he's hunting a serial killer and people on the police force and in the community know a lot more than they're willing to talk about. This was my first time reading Jo Nesbo and to be honest the first half of the book moved kind of slow and seemed to drag on. There was a lot of backstory on various topics: racism in Australia against aborigines, the gay population and neighborhoods in Sydney, and tidbits from the past about Harry and various other characters that he meets - but there wasn't much progress or action regarding the murder investigation. However, about halfway through the book the pacing suddenly picks up and the author melds all those backstories into one strong narrative that finishes as a terrific mystery / thriller. There's a lot to like in this book - the writing is outstanding, the dialogue is sharp (especially considering it's a translation from the original work), and there's some great insight into human nature and motivations. It's a very cerebral book - the protagonist, flaws and all, struggles against his demons and makes some serious mistakes along the way, but he doesn't luck or back into a solution. It's not a neat and tidy, everything falls miraculously into place type book with a happy ending - it's dark with plenty of twists that lead Harry to observe: "Human nature is a vast, dark forest." All in all, it's a great book and I look forward to reading the other books in the series.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2013 by dch822
Harry Hole is a Norwegian detective who has been sent to Australia to solve the shocking murder of a B-list Norwegian television presenter. From the start Hole can tell that something is off about this case. Something is simmering just beneath the surface. If only he could focus on the case instead of the pretty redhead he just met. If only he could focus on the case instead of being tempted to fall off the wagon. I enjoyed this book because Hole is a flawed yet lovable character that you can not help but root for. He is intelligent and has an interesting backstory. I also enjoyed how many other characters Nesbo gave us and how dense the suspect pool was. I figured out who the killer was pretty early on but was still keen to finish the book because I wanted to see how Hole would catch them. I also really enjoyed Nesbo's vivid descriptions of Australia. Nesbo's Australia felt very well researched and also well understood. I am late to the party with the Harry Hole series and because of this I am able to read them in order as all the books in the series have now been translated. I am aware that quite a number of loyal fans more familiar with the series are of the opinion that this is the worst book in the series and advise newbies to give it a miss. Admittedly, it's not the best detective novel I have ever read but it is entertaining and I am looking forward to watching Nesbo and Hole develop as author and character respectively.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2017 by Reader2307
Format: Paperback
By now most readers of crime fiction know the somewhat odd release schedule of this series. But just in case....Jo Nesbo, author of the Harry Hole series, writes in Norwegian, hence the need for English translations. Which don't often get financed by publishers until the author has a favorable track record. Nesbo's third book, The Redbreast was the first to be translated into English and published in the UK and the US. The Bat is the first in the series, only recently translated, and first published in English between the release of books 9 and 10. Book #2, Cockroaches, is scheduled for release in the US Oct 15, 2013, and the newest Harry Hole, #10 The Police, will be out December 10, 2013. This is a series that relies heavily on events in previous books, so finally having The Bat available is a bit of a blessing and a curse. A blessing because there have been many references made to events in this book which have been confusing and are now clear, and a curse because eager fans like myself will read three Harry books in five months with very different time periods. For example, The Bat was written in the late 90's. Cell phone technology was still very new for most users and not all features we enjoy today were available then. So there is considerable description of how cell technology works and how a caller's location can be tracked by getting data from 2-3 towers, etc. Then another passage where a called party id's his caller, not by caller ID which apparently wasn't available then but rather through some amateurish analysis of background noise. Felt like a 1939 movie for a moment there. "The Bat" takes place in Australia, where Harry has been sent to observe, or is he being punished, or is he expected to assist? Anyway, Harry behaves for the first 50% of the book except for one rather silly bar room brawl. But then we finally see the real Harry, the bad boy Harry, and the book begins to get interesting. There's a gorgeous redhead, and there's an old flame that Harry ruminates about, and a critical point in the ending where the two somehow get mixed up in Harry's mind and confuses him - and me. Enough that I had to go back and read the passage twice more. There is a good twist and there are two especially tense scenes describing a carnival beheading act. Also, the location for the climax was an interesting choice, and the ending was two thumbs up. So as usual, mostly strong positives from Nesbo. But there are a few so-so matters as well. I have no doubt that had I read this book first in the series, I would have rated it much higher than 4 stars (and I think 4 is generous). But after 7 Nesbo books which have steadily gotten better, I have high expectations, and this fell short. The writing is good, but that first half was just too slow. I thought the choice of bait in the climax was totally unrealistic as was the short shrift paid to a recently discovered victim. Finally, I have read negative comments about the translation of this book; I found it to be acceptable with very few distracting phrases and expressions.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2013 by Kenneth C. Mahieu
Like many others, I have been reading remarkable Scandinavian thrillers since I finished Larsson's Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. Early on I found the wonderful Harry Hole series by Jo Nesbo, and my only complaint was that the first two in the series had never been translated to English -- and now here it is -- the first Harry book! I ordered it as soon as I saw it was available and began reading the day it arrived (rather than throwing it into the capacious "To Read" pile). It was everything I'd hoped for. As a fan of this character I so wanted to read the first in the series, and indeed this did explain some things about Harry and went a ways toward explaining some of the allusions from later books. It is a strange book in the sense that here is a new Norwegian detective, the first book about him -- but he is in Australia! This seems an odd way to begin a new (literary) relationship, tossing the protagonist in a foreign country when we haven't even got to know him yet -- but it works. This is a wonderful and interesting read, with Harry travelling across the globe to help in the investigation of a Norwegian woman who's been murdered in Sydney. Along the way we get backstory on this charming and flawed man, who it seems has also been sent away because of problems he had back home. Through Harry we also learn a bit about Australia and its indigenous people, including the Aboriginal symbol for death, the bat. In later books characters often refer to Harry as the police detective who solved the serial killer case in Australia -- and here it is! I am anxious for the second (and as yet untranslated) book in the series, and then I will probably read the rest of the series again. Harry is a terrific character, and Nesbo writes with such intelligence and charm that it will be a pleasure to rediscover this amazing detective. Publisher -- THANK YOU so much for the translation. If you enjoy thrillers and mysteries, particularly Scandinavian, you will love this terrific series, and are lucky to be able to start with this previously unavailable volume. Highest recommendation.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2012 by audrey frances