Saturday, February 4, 2012

Book Review: The Snowman by Jo Nesbo

Title: The Snowman
Author: Jo Nesbo
Enjoyment Rating: 8/10
Referral: This is the book that started my Jo Nesbo kick. I saw it on the books table at Costco and had to read half a dozen books of backstory before I got to this
Source: I may have bought it that night at Costco, but there's no sticker on it.
Books I've read this year: 11

Well, I'm pleased to say that all that reading was worth it. The first time I heard about Norwegian author Jo Nesbo was when I picked up this book. It looked great, and the reviews I could see were fantastic. I wanted to read it, and then I did a little bit of research (because that's the kind of reader I am) and found that it was the seventh book in a series about Detective Harry Hole. The first two books haven't been translated into English, so I started at book three, and read through four, five and six, to varying degrees of pleasure. By the time I finished the sixth book, I was frankly a little burned out on Harry Hole. But this book, in which Hole tries to find a serial killer who is murdering woman and building snowmen in their yards as a calling card, was everything a thriller should be-- it was fast-paced and scary, well-written and well-plotted. It is a little bit hard to believe that Harry's longtime on-again, off-again love, Rakel, could have such bad luck with the men in her life, but after The Snowmen [SPOILER], Harry is looking like a better and better catch all the time.

3 comments:

Courtney said...

So can I skip the first 7 books and start with this one?

Mary said...

I'm wondering the same?

Shelah said...

Yeah, you can start here. You just need to know that Harry is an alcoholic, several of his partners have died in the line of duty, and Rakel is the love of his life.