Nemesis

A gritty thriller with an existential, alcoholic detective and some worthy musings on the similarities between vengeance and what we talk about when we talk about justice. "Nemesis, the goddess of justice and vengeance." "Which the Romans pinched off the Greeks...They kept the scales, changed the whip for a sword, bound her eyes and called her Justitia...Blind justice. Cold-blooded vengeance. Our civilization rests in her hands. Isn't she beautiful?"

Well...isn't she?

Nemesis is in part a meditation on revenge and retribution. As Norwegian Detective Harry Hole says to a fellow police officer, "Revenge and retribution. That’s the driving force for the midget who was bullied at school and later became a multi-millionaire, and the bank robber who thinks he has been short-changed by society. And look at us. Society’s burning revenge disguised as cold, rational retribution – that’s our profession, isn’t it.”

Indeed, as Harry discovers, it was the Greek goddess named Nemesis who was the goddess of revenge, an act considered to be punishment by some, but implacable justice by others. The imposition of revenge in both its senses is the main theme of this book.

The story concerns a string of bank show more robberies in Oslo including a murder during one of them, committed by an expert in the elimination of any clues. Some additional murders seem related, if by nothing else than by the unusual choice of guns used to commit them. When Harry Hole is on a case, nothing is predictable, and the story feels like a wild ride to an unexpected conclusion. And yet, when you think back on it, the crimes are only a vehicle for the character developments, even though they sneak up on you behind the excitement of the chase.

Discussion: This is the second book in the Detective Harry Hole series of books that was translated. English readers were, prior to this year, forced to read the books in order of translation rather than in the logical progression written by the author. As much as I hated reading the out of order, I thought this book was the best of all of them, so it worked out fine for me in the end.

Harry Hole is a detective either loved or loathed by his co-workers. Fortunately, his boss, Bjarne Moller, is one of Harry’s fans, even though he finds Harry to be an “alcoholic obstreperous, stubborn bastard.” He considers Harry a troublemaker and an arrogant bullhead, but one of his best investigators. It’s a cost-benefit ratio with which Moller grudgingly abides.

Harry is not thought of as blatantly handsome, but he seems to exude a great deal of sex appeal, and women in these books quickly come to overlook Harry's other lapses.

It is in this book that we get to know most of the other “regulars” in the series as well. We meet Beate Lonn, a fellow officer who has a knack for facial recognition, and with whom Harry immediately bonds. We learn of the growing interest in Beate shown by Harry’s officemate, Halverson, and the growing treachery of another of Harry’s colleagues, Tom Waaler. And we see Harry’s struggles to stay in a monogamous relationship with his new love Rakel, currently in Russia fighting for custody of her young son Oleg. All of these plot strands will reappear in later books, and it was fun, illuminating, and in some instances bittersweet to revisit these characters back in the beginning.

Evaluation: Nesbo’s books are intelligent, complicated, and immensely rewarding as a reading experience. There isn’t one in the Harry Hole series I wouldn’t recommend. But if you have the opportunity to read them in order, it will be much less confusing, and there won’t be missing gaps in your appreciation of how events have turned out. I found Nemesis to be the least “standalone-esque” in this regard. show less

A gritty thriller with an existential, alcoholic detective and some worthy musings on the similarities between vengeance and what we talk about when we talk about justice. "Nemesis, the goddess of justice and vengeance." "Which the Romans pinched off the Greeks...They kept the scales, changed the whip for a sword, bound her eyes and called her Justitia...Blind justice. Cold-blooded vengeance. Our civilization rests in her hands. Isn't she beautiful?"

Well...isn't she?

Nemesis by Jo Nesbo is the fourth in his series featuring Norwegian Detective Harry Hole. Harry still reeling from the events that closed out the previous book and wants to investigate that crime but he is assigned to a bank robbery case where a bank clerk was murdered. Meanwhile his girlfriend and her son are in Russia and an ex-girlfriend gets in touch with Harry. When Harry goes to her house for dinner, he experiences a blackout and wakes up the next morning with no memory of what happened the previous night. He soon finds out that his ex-girlfriend was shot to death and then he begins to receive threatening e-mails about her death.

These various plot points keep Harry very busy, investigating multiple cases and finding himself show more implicated as well, but running throughout the book is a dark thread of revenge and the many twists that this book takes keeps both Harry and the reader on their toes. I love this series mostly for the intricate plots and the well developed characters. The story unfolds at a rapid pace and although the book is long, it never drags. Originally written in Norwegian, the translator, Don Bartlett deserves recognition for his excellent translation.

The Harry Hole series are gripping police procedurals but there is a direct overlap in this book from The Redbreast so I definitely recommend reading that one first. Harry himself, a recovering alcoholic, is a driven, linear man who stops at nothing to solve his case. This reclusive somewhat surly man makes for an enticing yet flawed hero and I am looking forward to continuing on with this series. show less

Nesbø’s writes characters. His men act out their faults on every page. His women mostly die. But, you do not read Nesbø for the people. He’s a plot man.

He starts off racehorse-style, running three plots side by side: dead banklady Stine, dead lover Anna, and dead policewoman Laura. Two of the plots gallop along; the third is a dark horse poking up her long-deceased head every fifty pages or so.

Then Nesbø’s gets tricky. The Inspector solves the murders, neat and tidy, but neatness is illusion. Norwegian crime has layers of evil and the Inspector keeps falling through holes, like a hard-boiled, hard-drinking Alice chasing after a gun-toting rabbit.

The twists get tiresome after a while. Nesbø’s pulls the rug out from under you show more one too many times. But you go on. You must see how it turned out even if it is 2AM. show less

I think I've had enough Harry Hole for a while. He's disgusting and tedious. Not a good combination. I wish the author would quit making his sex life integral to the plot. For two of three books I've read, Harry's sex life is front and center. It's unrealistic and annoying.

Harry rambles about his past, which, in turn, strays far from noir, and stumbles into maudlin. I can't help picturing him as a tall, overweight man with a bad combover, and a large forehead. In a poorly tailored suit. Columbo was better dressed. It's an unpleasant image to carry while reading, especially when women paw at him.

The solution to the entire mystery was completely ridiculous. Well, you see, there are 14 letters in the Nemo-Node alphabet, and if you hold show more the bank robber's note up to a mirror in the 4 o'clock sun, you can see how the handwriting is the same as the man who lives down the street who copied the homework of the suspect when he was in the third grade! And that's how he did it!

Was Nesbo reading an alien conspiracy site when he plotted it?

I wanted to like these books. One out of three isn't a good start. It could be the translation, but I don't think so. Maybe I will come back to them, but I doubt it. show less

More twists and turns than the Tour de France, plus a writer who offers humour, insight and moral commentary in just enough dose to feel like I learned or pondered something worthwhile. Crime writing of the first order.