Michael
The Snowman is the 7th in Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole thriller/mystery series.
Harry Hole is a brilliant, generally unpleasant, alcoholic police detective. And while it seems strange that someone this damaged can remain on the police force, I am willing to suspend my disbelief. The Snowman is the name given to a serial killer who targets women. Why he targets these women is a spoiler that I won’t reveal, although anyone who has seen the TV series will know why (I have not seen the series).
There are many secondary characters and Nesbø is skillful enough that I had no trouble keeping them apart. All the non-serial killer characters are imperfect to a greater or lesser degree; some of them understand this and try to compensate and some do not.
The plot is fast-moving. There are number of twists and turns that are handled well. I guessed the killer about half-way through the book, but this didn’t bother me since this is far more in the thriller category than the mystery category. It was fun waiting for Harry to figure everything out.
The setting is dark and dreary Norway, mainly in the cities of Oslo and Bergen and their surroundings. Perhaps it is this aspect of the actual climate of Scandinavia that makes thrillers set there so gruesome and gory, and The Snowman is certainly gruesome and gory.
I enjoyed reading this novel, perhaps as a way to avoid thinking about how gruesome and gory the real world is.
The Snowman is the 7th in Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole thriller/mystery series.
Harry Hole is a brilliant, generally unpleasant, alcoholic police detective. And while it seems strange that someone this damaged can remain on the police force, I am willing to suspend my disbelief. The Snowman is the name given to a serial killer who targets women. Why he targets these women is a spoiler that I won’t reveal, although anyone who has seen the TV series will know why (I have not seen the series).
There are many secondary characters and Nesbø is skillful enough that I had no trouble keeping them apart. All the non-serial killer characters are imperfect to a greater or lesser degree; some of them understand this and try to compensate and some do not.
The plot is fast-moving. There are number of twists and turns that are handled well. I guessed the killer about half-way through the book, but this didn’t bother me since this is far more in the thriller category than the mystery category. It was fun waiting for Harry to figure everything out.
The setting is dark and dreary Norway, mainly in the cities of Oslo and Bergen and their surroundings. Perhaps it is this aspect of the actual climate of Scandinavia that makes thrillers set there so gruesome and gory, and The Snowman is certainly gruesome and gory.
I enjoyed reading this novel, perhaps as a way to avoid thinking about how gruesome and gory the real world is.