REVIEW: POLITI

Cover design and illustration by

Fjeldheim & Partners/Bjørn Kulseth

POLITI

HARRY HOLE BOOK 10

BY

JO NESBØ

ISBN: 978-82-03-35294-2

Pages: 526

Publisher: Aschehoug

Published: 6 June 2013

Note: English translation, with directly translated title: Police, will be published in September.

On the cover:

(My translation.)

In the hospital a critically injured man lies in a coma. The room is guarded by the police, and no one is told what the name of the mysterious patient is. Meanwhile, policemen are being found killed at the scene of old, unsolved, murders. The police stand without any evidence and on top of that are missing their best investigator. In the hospital the patient is showing signs of regaining consciousness.

   The tag line under Nesbø's name translates as "Harry Hole is back". I guess it would have been impossible to keep that under wraps, but in a way it's a major spoiler for the novel. But Nesbø seems to be very well aware of what was going to happen when he wrote this novel, and he uses that this is a comeback for Hole, after the events of Ghost (Gjenferd), to great effect. And here's a natural place for this warning, that this review had to contain: 

Do not read this book without reading Ghost (Gjenferd) first.

   You see, this is really a sequel to Ghost (Gjenferd). If you haven't read that, now is the time to do so while you wait for this to be released. (Assuming you are waiting for the English translation.)

   It says a lot about this book that just acknowledging it is a Harry Hole book is a spoiler, and it's not easy writing a spoiler free review of it. But I did make a decision that I would have spoiler free reviews here, so that is what I am going to do. Even if having spoilers means I could write this in a third of the time, and that I sometimes have to be vaguer than I would have liked to.

   One of Nesbø's strengths lies in his ability to misdirect the reader. That is something he really excels at here. And it's not just the little things either, there are huge plotpoints in this book that will lure the reader to think they are going down a road they are in reality not even near. 

   Nesbø does this so incredibly well here, it's really a masterclass in almost telling someone something - just letting them add that little bit of detail themselves - and making them believe things are different to what they are. There isn't any lying to the reader, no sudden "pop-up" of solutions that the reader had not seen before, it's all in there. But sometimes not in the way you thought.

    Being a Crime/Murder Mystery novel, it's pretty important (, at least to me,) that there is some level of suspense. As you probably have already gathered, there's plenty of that in Nesbø's misdirecting. But there is also a lot of it in the more straightforward events happening in this story.

   Nesbø is very good at building up tension, and he really drags you into the middle of things and lets you experience them with the characters of the novel. Sometimes you almost wish he didn't get you so close to what is happening, there are things described here that can make for unpleasant reading for those who are in any way squeamish. Not that it veers into Horror territory, but Nesbø doesn't shy away from the fact that murder is not something pleasant.

   The Mystery elements are of course essential to a good Crime novel. And since this is a Murder Mystery where the main characters are police officers, that is supplied by investigating the murders that have happened. The mystery, or mysteries, surrounding who is, or are, the killers here is very well handled. I feel I repeat myself with the misdirection mention, but I think you'll understand why if you ever read this novel.

   The situation surrounding the investigation(s) are also constructed to bring some tension to the story. Once you do have a real grip on who is doing what, that doesn't mean the tension has left the story. Nesbø continues to serve up uncertainties and thrills until the end.

   Nesbø has combined high levels of tension and suspense with a narrative that moves forward pretty quickly. There are usually several elements in play at once here, especially in the beginning, and if one of them is at somewhat of a standstill there's movement in another one. This makes for a novel that is a fast paced read that is hard to put down.

   I've already mentioned that the main characters are police officers. Not all of them are, but most of them. And those that aren't are connected to the police in very natural ways. 

   Harry Hole is of course in the novel his name is on the cover, and false advertising is against the law in Norway. But I am actually not going to say anything about what he does, and what happens to him, in this novel at all. That specific character arc will be much more satisfying if you discover it wholly on your own, in my opinion.

   Hole is not the only character in the book of course. There are several other important players in this story. What may be most satisfying to many is that two of them are female police officers, and that they both play a vital role in what happens.

   There's other characters as well here. Many of them will be familiar to those who have read previous Harry Hole novels, but they are supplemented by some new arrivals. The character gallery here is really good, - another highlight of the novel. Nesbø handles the diverse cast really well, and he gives each of them a distinct personality of their own. And much more importantly they all seem to be well rounded and realistic, even though since this is fiction they may exist on the outliers of people you'd normally expect to meet.

   This novel is set in Oslo, a city I have spent quite a lot of time in, seeing as I never have lived more than a two hour train-ride away, and my grandparents used to live there. My brother still  lives not far outside the city. Nesbø gets the feel of Oslo across very nicely. What you get in this story is how the city, and to an extent Norway, is. He also makes use of the fact that Norway has very few murders in the narrative.

   Harry Hole is a different kind of hero than the American or English investigator. He lives in a society that in many ways are different from US or English society, and Nesbø's writing reflects that. As a Norwegian myself I can say with great confidence that even though he has had international success he hasn't changed how he writes. This is still Norwegian Crime, with all the little details that separates that from Crime written anywhere else.

   I feel I have been rambling on more than enough now. This hasn't been easy to keep spoiler free, and it has been made even more difficult by there really not being much left to do after that than to try to avoid just gushing about how great Nesbø does things in this novel.

   Nesbø just seems to get better and better as a crime writer. This is the tenth Harry Hole novel, and in some ways they all lead up to this. This is a bit more polished, a bit tighter, a bit better plotted, has a bit better misdirection, or in short just is a bit better than the last Harry Hole novel from Nesbø.

   This is modern Crime at its best, everything here is so close to perfection that I have a hard time seeing how it could be improved. For Nesbø fans who are up to date this will come as a welcome continuation of a great Crime series

   If you haven't read anything by Nesbø before, as mentioned above, this is not the place to start. But  this really is so well written that you should do yourself a favor and catch up to it. It is really that good.

LINKS: Jo Nesbø  Aschehoug

  

REVIEW: THE COLORADO KID

Cover art by Glenn Chadbourne

THE COLORADO KID

BY

STEPHEN KING

ISBN: 978-1-848631-26-7

Pages: 174 (+afterword)

Publisher: PS Publishing

First published: 4 October 2005

This edition published: December 2010

On the cover:

(From the publisher's web-site. There's no text on the actual cover.)

On an island off the coast of Maine, a man is found dead. There's no identification on the body. Only the dogged work of a pair of local newspapermen and a graduate student in forensics turns up any clues, and it's more than a year before the man is identified. And that's just the beginning of the mystery. Because the more they learn about the man and the baffling circumstances of his death, the less they understand. Was it an impossible crime? Or something stranger still? 

   I feel it's important to get one thing clear from the outset when it comes to this novella; It is not SFF. If anyone ever needed any evidence that King is not solely a SFF writer, this would be exhibit A. What we have here is a story belonging in the Mystery genre. A strange mystery perhaps, but not as strange as to take it into the SFF genre.

   We learn very early on that this is a mystery, and what this novella really is, is the story of this mystery being told to (what is arguably) the book's main character. And what really struck me is how simple, yet complicated, the structure of this story is.
   In one way the story is actually too simple to really work. Although I thought it was great the whole time when reading it, there was the feeling every time I did my review notes (,something I do after every chapter, ) that this shouldn't really work. But it is undeniable that it does. Part of it comes down to King's storytelling ability, something that this kind of storytelling structure really shows off to great effect. And part of it is because although you do know it is a mystery, the discovery of what the mystery is makes for compelling story in itself.

   We get quite close to the main characters, there's three of them. And in a sense these three characters are more important than the mystery we are being told about. It's the interaction between the three, the two who tell the story of the mystery and the one being told the story, that makes everything work - even though as I pointed out earlier, in some ways it shouldn't.
   King manages to tell us quite a lot about these three characters as the mystery is told. I really felt I got close to them, and by the end of the novella I had even come to care about them. That is not really unusual for King's characters, but he does show here that he can do it in few pages if he is so inclined.

   This really is a story that appeals to my love for the weird and strange. In many ways it is common - just a slice of reality - but at the same time it is a wonderfully bizarre story that fits in very well with some of King's more fantastical work.
   I think this would be of interest to anyone who likes mystery, and also to those that like to read about a slice of small town life. And it should be a high priority for those that like to see the mundane mixed with the strange.
   And of course, it goes without saying that this should have a place on the shelves of every Stephen King fan. This is King at his absolute best, and he really shows off how great a teller of stories he is in this novella.

NOTE: I don't do "buy links" (, a matter of principle for me,). But I know this can be a bit difficult to find in a paper edition, so if you want to own this novella in Hardcover version it might not be a bad idea to start looking on the publisher's website.

LINKS: Stephen King  PS Publishing

REVIEW: EMPIRE STATE

Cover by Will Staehle

EMPIRE STATE

BY

ADAM CHRISTOPHER

ISBN: 978-0-85766-192-0

Pages: 416 +Extras

Publisher: Angry Robot Books

First published: 27 December 2011

This edition published: 5 January 2012

On the cover:

THE EMPIRE STATE IS THE OTHER NEW YORK

 It's a parallel-universe, Prohibition-era world of mooks and shamuses that is the twisted magic mirror to our bustling Big Apple. It's a city where sinister characters lurk around every corner, while the great superheroes who once kept the streets safe have fallen into deadly rivalries and feuds. Not that its colourful residents know anything about the real New York...until detective Ray Bradley makes a discovery that will change the lives of all its inhabitants.

   If you have read Crime Noir, you'll recognise both the atmosphere that this novel creates and its 20th century setting. But it's not as simple as that, this isn't "just" Crime Noir but rather a mix of genres. Christopher blends Crime Noir with superheroes and parallel universes, and he does it in such a way that his novel retains the rugged realism of Crime Noir.

   The story starts off in a way that isn't out of place in any 1930s set crime novel, but that changes very quickly, and we are soon transported into the realm of SFF. Structurally however the story stays in the realm of Crime Noir. It moves rather slowly, and it can feel frustrating at times that the answers to all the questions the novel poses take a long time to get answered. But that is not a flaw, Christopher deliberately holds his cards to his chest while he builds the characters and setting.

   The slow pace is wonderful for the atmosphere of the book, and Christopher really pays back the readers patience when he gives us the answers to the many mysteries we are presented with along the way. It's impossible to predict what will happen, or what role many of the characters eventually will have in the story. This makes each revelation more powerful, and adds a lot to the depth of the story.
    Although the pace is slow, the story never gets dull. Christopher's writing is great throughout, and he's very good at holding on to the readers interest. And more importantly there's no authorial cheating. When the answers come they do so in a way that feels natural to the story, and there is no revelations that come out of the blue.

   There is also quite a bit of action in the book, especially towards the end. The action is very well done, it is written in a way that creates a lot of tension, and the change of pace from the slower build up gives it a very nice urgency.

   When there's a mix of different genres, like in this novel, there's always a danger that some element of it feels like it is put there as an afterthought. That is not the case here at all, the SFF elements and the Crime Noir flow together seamlessly, and it is definitely all needed to make the novel a whole.
   I never felt that anything suffered in the mix either, there's full development of all the genre parts of this novel.  The crime, superheroes, and parallel universe all are fully developed. And together they make something that feels fresh and exciting.

   All in all this is a wonderful debut novel, there's not really any flaws at all. Whether your preference lies in parallel universes, crime, or superheroes, this is a novel that should find its way into your hands at the earliest opportunity. The world, the characters, and the story are all excellent and together they will give you a great reading experience.

LINKS: Adam Christopher  Angry Robot Books