Nemesis

Harry Hole #4

by Jo Nesbø, Don Bartlett (Translator)

Captured on closed-circuit television: A man walks into an Oslo bank, puts a gun to a cashier's head, and tells her to count to twenty-five. when he doesn't get his money fast enough, he pulls the trigger. The young woman dies--and two million Norwegian kroner disappear without a trace.

After a drunken evening with his former girlfriend, Anna Bethsen, Police Detective Harry Hole wakes up at home with a headache, no cell phone, and no memory of the past twelve hours. That same day, Anna is found shot dead in her bedroom, making Hole a prime suspect in an investigation led by his hated adversary, Tom Waaler. Meanwhile, the bank robberies continue with unparalleled savagery, sending a rogue detective Hole from the streets of Oslo to steaming Brazil in a race to close two cases and clear his name. But Waaler isn't finished with his longtime nemesis quite yet.

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Detective, Mystery Thriller, Scandinavian Literature

474 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Jo Nesbø is a bestselling Norwegian author and musician. He was born in Oslo and grew up in Molde. Nesbø graduated from the Norwegian School of Economics with a degree in economics. Nesbø is primarily famous for his crime novels about Detective Harry Hole, but he is also the main vocals and songwriter for the Norwegian rock band Di Derre. In 2007 Nesbø also released his first children's book, Doktor Proktors Prompepulver.

Series:
* Harry Hole
* Doktor Proktor

For exclusive content about Jo Nesbø and his books, register for the official fan newsletter: https://jonesbo.com/newsletter/

Reviews

[Federico DN · Rating 2 out of 5]

This dude...

A professional bank robber and a murder in the middle of a robbery. An ex-lover and a fatidic reunion. An old enemy moving through the shadows. Harry Hole, the problematic detective from Oslo, will be sieged on many fronts, that threaten to destroy not only his job, but his personal life as well.

An acceptable installment, sometimes entertaining, but often pretty boring and lacking that excellent sustained thrilling atmosphere that characterizes the best works of Nesbo. The excessive length of the novel accentuating the dislike to the point of making it almost unbearable. Maybe the weakest of the series, at least so far.

The resolution of the mystery regarding Anna Bethsen felt rather unsatisfactory and convoluted; it's understandable how everything happened but leaves an ending with a taste of nothingness, and a sensation of "I read this whole book for this?" Ellen Gjelten was dearly missed, and though closer her murderer is still at large. Harry I found pretty despicable this time, uncaring little to nothing that he may have been unfaithful to Rakel and Oleg. And of course always messing everything up whenever he had a chance, but well that's good old Harry so I guess I can't blame him much for that!

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PERSONAL NOTE :
[2002] [480p] [Crime] [Not Recommendable]
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★★★★☆ 1. The Bat
★★★☆☆ 2. Cockroaches
★★★★☆ 3. The Redbreast
★★☆☆☆ 4. Nemesis
★★★☆☆ 5. The Devil's Star
????????? 6. The Redeemer
★★★★★ 7. The Snowman

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Este tipo...

Un asaltante profesional de bancos y un asesinato en medio de un robo. Una ex-amante y un fatídico reencuentro. Un antiguo enemigo moviéndose en las sombras. Harry Hole, el problemático detective de Oslo, se verá asediado por diversos frentes, que amenazan con destruir no sólo su trabajo, sino también su vida personal.

Una entrega pasable, a veces entretenida, pero de a ratos bastante aburrida y carente de esa excelente atmósfera de thriller sostenido que suele caracterizar las mejores obras de Nesbo. El excesivo largo de la novela no hace más que acentuar este desagrado hasta volverla casi insoportable. Tal vez la más floja de la saga, al menos hasta ahora.

La resolución del misterio sobre Anna Bethsen me resultó bastante insatisfactoria y compleja; se entiende todo lo que pasó, pero deja un final con sabor a nada y con una sensación de "¿Me leí todo este libro sólo para eso?" Se extrañó mucho a Ellen Gjelten, y aunque se está más cerca su asesino sigue aun suelto. Harry me resultó el bastante despreciable esta vez, sin importarle poco y nada que tal vez hubiese sido infiel a Rakel y Oleg. Y por supuesto siempre metiendo la pata en cada ocasión disponible, pero bueno ese es el Harry de siempre así que supongo que mucho no lo puedo culpar por eso!

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NOTA PERSONAL :
[2002] [480p] [Crimen] [No Recomendable]
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[chantalsbookstuff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buckle up, folks! If you're diving into one of Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole books, get ready for a rollercoaster of emotions and some serious detective drama. Now, I'll be honest, some of these books can feel a bit lengthy. At times, I find myself torn between loving Harry and being utterly frustrated with him. He's definitely a love-hate kind of guy.

One thing's for sure, though: Jo Nesbo does his homework. The attention to detail and the depth of his research shine through in every twist and turn. While this latest tale isn't my all-time favorite, it's far from bad. In fact, it kept me hooked enough to stick around until the end.

Here's the lowdown: Detective Harry Hole is back, and he's as maverick as ever. This time, he's tackling a spree of brutal bank robberies and the shady suicide of a female artist. Picture this: A man saunters into an Oslo bank, aims a gun at a cashier, and gives her a chilling countdown to 25. When the cash doesn't come fast enough, he pulls the trigger. The young woman dies on the spot, and two million Norwegian kroner vanish like smoke.

The plot thickens after Harry spends a boozy night with his ex, Anna Bethsen. He wakes up with a pounding headache, missing phone, and a blank memory of the past twelve hours. The kicker? Anna is found dead, shot in her own bedroom, and guess who's the prime suspect? Yep, our boy Harry. His nemesis, Tom Waaler, is all too happy to lead the investigation.

With bank heists ramping up and getting nastier by the day, Harry's got his work cut out for him. From the chilly streets of Oslo to the sweltering heat of Brazil, he's on a frantic mission to solve two cases and clear his name. But Waaler isn't done messing with him just yet.

In summary, while this book might not top my personal charts, it's a gripping, well-researched ride. If you're in the mood for some intense detective action and complex characters, Harry Hole's latest adventure won't disappoint.

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

The Good.

Jo Nesbo’s surly and reclusive Norwegian detective Harry Hole (pronounced Hooleh) is back in 2002’s Nemesis. Nesbo established Hole in The Bat and Cockroaches and then produced a phenomenal novel with his 2000 novel The Redbreast – one the genre’s best, akin to Stieg Larsson in narrative quality. Hole is engaged to investigate a bank robbery that went wrong, resulting in the death of a bank teller. A wider network of evil is uncovered and Hole is heavily tasked when he is implicated in one of the murders that follows.

Nesbo’s writing is the Good in this series. Like noir writers of the past, Nesbo can blend crime elements with a dark, somber setting and hold it all together with introspective and observant contemplations on a variety of subjects. Hole, through Nesbo, is an astute observer of human nature, society and the meaning of life. In Hole, Nesbo has created one of Nordic Noir’s most endearing and charismatic players.

Nemesis is about Blood Revenge and Vendetta and this theme is especially successful in the Nordic Noir setting. Nesbo introduces some very interesting Gypsy characters that add further depth and intrigue to this leitmotif. Add in recurring neo-fascist antagonist Tom Waaler to the mix and this is a delicious concoction.

The Bad.

I have a theory about some American Football coaches who are given the ominous label of “genius”. In a game situation if a certain play is expected or obvious, they will choose a different set. So if the offensive line and the running back have been chewing up yards all game, and they need 2 yards for a first down – he calls a weird pass play and fails. Why did you not go with the certain play??? Dance with the girl you brought to the party!

So, after the very, very good The Redbreast Nesbo follows up with the ambitious but narratively overcomplicated Nemesis. There is A LOT going on in this book, a murder investigation, Hole’s alcoholism, Hole’s possibility as a suspect, sub-plots, internal police intrigue, etc etc. The focused, relentless action in Redbreast was lacking, this was all over the place. Nesbo, no doubt trying to recreate his great success with Redbreast, outsmarted himself, jumped the shark and got too fancy.

The Ugly.

Darkly charismatic, wounded protagonist - ruthless and corrupt recurring antagonist - some sub-plots to come back to and have fun with – Nesbo could be sliding into a soap opera series. This would not be the worst thing in the world, I’ll still read it and clearly millions of fans world wide will as well, but Nesbo is too talented to settle for just a series.

Also, this is beginning to remind me of the 70s TV show Mannix, where it becomes commonplace for the hero to get the snot beat out of him in every episode. No doubt Hole is a tough customer, but he may also be the subject of a sadistic formula.

Overall.

Nemesis is another demonstration of Nesbo’s remarkable talent, and Hole is a crime fiction hero fans can enjoy revisiting again and again.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yet another series I keep pushing through, hoping it will get better because I have heard so many good things. This one fell completely flat. The story was disjointed. I didn't understand the relationships between the characters. Most of the time I had no idea what was going on or why. I understood the resolution, but I don't think I cared anymore. I spent the last 200 pages or so on autopilot feeling like it ended about 20 times but at the same time feeling like it was never going to end.

I will probably keep giving this series a shot because I still hope for a positive shift, but I am quickly losing hope!

[Phrynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a big, thick chunky book but I raced through it. On the cover Jo Nesbø is likened to Stieg Larsson but he is nothing like. Nesbø wastes not a single word in description or lengthy explanation. He just tells a great story with plenty of action and lots of great police work. I really enjoy Harry Hole as a character. He may be flawed but he must be nice because all the best people like him and the bad ones do not. And although he makes plenty of mistakes - he has to otherwise there would not be a story - he is always ultimately the smart one who solves the trickiest case. Other reviewers tell me this is not his best book so I am REALLY looking forward to the rest:)

[Metodi Markov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Нивото отново рязко се вдигна и започвам да разбирам, защо толкова хора харесват поредицата за Хари Хуле.

В "Немезида" имаме заплетена история за любов, отхвърляне и отмъщение. Сюжетна линия е свързана с положението на циганите в скандинавските общества - не разбрах само, как Ана е наследила огромна къща в Осло от баба си (световно известна оперна певица), след като родителите ѝ са били цигани-номади?

Беше ми интересно да прочета за банковите обири и за това, как полицията се бори с тях.

Над 500 страници е книгата и не бе скучна дори за момент.

Продължавам с "Пентаграма".

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes I feel as though I’m genetically hardwired to be a contrarian. Not because I actually like being different than everyone else or going against popular opinion, nor do I actually want to stand on the mountaintop and scream “All you fuckers are wrong.” Because let’s face it, it’s easy to follow everyone else, to march in line and in step, even if it sometimes means you’re headed for a cliff or the occasional mountain lion. Nor do I get some sort of sick, demented pleasure from bashing other authors and other people’s books, because I’m right there in the trenches with you, buddy. Not necessarily holding your hand, but we’re in the same foxhole, staring out at the same battlefield, and trying to make heads or tails of the opposition. Not that writing is a war, but it sometimes feels that way, to get those pesky words down on paper, and then actually have others get behind the words that you have written, until they make them their own.

So what does all of this mean for NEMESIS? Well, if you’re looking at the date I started this novel (by the way, that is not a misprint), and the day I finished it (that’s not a misprint either), there’s a massive gap between the two. Where I know I had plenty of fun, and most of this fun was had while not reading said novel. Does that mean it’s badly written? No, absolutely not. But it felt repetitive and redundant, and I was never fully engaged in the story. To be honest, it wasn’t even really all that close of a call. But I wanted to be engaged, I wanted to be fully invested, and I wanted to like this story, because so many others have called it a great and wondrous read with high ratings and glowing reviews. But I just can’t consider myself one of them. Maybe I was built with a different set of Legos.

You see, the characters resembled emotionless pits; the dialogue felt trite and pedestrian; the plot plunked along like a Corvette ambling down the train tracks on a Sunday afternoon, to the point that I had to reread the back cover copy to figure out what it was I had just finished; and I ended up so lost within the twists and turns of the story that I forgot where the heck I even was.

If I were to sum up this novel, I’d say it made me want to kick Justin Bieber. Which isn’t that much different from how I normally feel. What I really want to find is the novel that makes me want to hug the Biebs. I’m thinking it’s not possible, but I’m going to continue to hold out hope that it’s out there somewhere, and I will continue to expend energy looking for it.

Cross-posted at Robert's Reads

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es un libro muy largo, pero no por eso va a ser tedioso y aburrido. Todo depende del escritor y de la forma que éste narre la historia.
Este es el cuarto libro de la saga de Harry Hole (de un total de 13 libros, hasta ahora), y debo decir que me estoy enganchande a Harry más y más. No porque sea un super detective con muchos conocimientos, experiencia y efectividad, sino por el contrario: Me agrada de sobremanera que Nesbo cree a este personaje que está muy lejos de ser perfecto, que le guste salir, tomar alcohol, que no sea en absoluto políticamente correcto. Me gusta que sea un tipo normal y no un superhéroe.
Quiero también destacar la habilidad que Nesbo tiene al escribir y, por lo menos en mi caso, no he podido "adivinar" al asesino hasta que ya casi lo dice literalmente. Primero crees que es uno, después el otro, después el otro y después el otro, pero resulta que no... también usando esos "plot twists" en el final da esa impresión de "Wow!".
En cuanto a los personajes, creo que en los cuatro libros me han gustado. En esta ocasión, tenemos un poco más desarrollada la historia con Rakel y Oleg, y también la aparición de una nueva personaje: Beata. Quizás la reemplazante de Ellen, pero no me gusta llamarlo así.
Como dije al principio, es un libro muy largo, pero no se siente como tal, ya que la historia va de giro en giro. En esta oportunidad tuvimos la ocasión de leer acerca de lugares lejanos a Noruega, como Sao Paulo o D'ajuda, ambos lugares en Brasil. También me gusta que, al igual que los libros previos, se haga referencia a personajes, situaciones y lugares que vimos en los libros anteriores. Personajes como Birgitta y Ellen, o situaciones como cuando estaba ahogándose en la piscina en Bangkok o algunos "flashback" de Australia.
Le pongo 4 estrellas y no 5 porque hubo momentos en que me perdía un poco del hilo conductor, ya que habían muchas cosas pasando a la vez, también con muchos personajes, pero sería más un 4,5 que un 4.
Ya estoy listo para leer el siguiente libro de esta muy buena saga, por lo que lo recomiendo totalmente.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm four books into Nesbø's popular Harry Hole series and even though I've liked all of them so far, they haven't quite wowed me as much as I'd hoped.

One thing that I really do like about this series is Hole himself, the flawed protagonist with his demons with alcohol is very much the focus of these stories.
The fact that he wakes up with no recollection from the previous evening's dinner with an old flame instantly makes his colleges think his been drinking again.
When her body is found in mysterious circumstances, Hole becomes implicated in her murder.

Prior to Hole's encounter with his ex-girlfriend, the Norwegian had been investigating a fatal bank robbery.

It was interesting having two mysterious play out over the course of the novel, but neither made had me desperate to finish the next chapter like all good crime novels should achieve.
Nesbø's style makes for easy reading and with a book this length it wasn't a chore to continue.

I'm definitely going to persevere until The Snowman, I'm hoping by then that I've found why this series is so highly recommended.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this 4th book in the 'Harry Hole' series, the detective gets involved in dual investigations. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****



Inspector Harry Hole of the Oslo police is an alcoholic who's trying to stay on the wagon. That's hard for the detective, who tends to follow his own rules and infuriates his bosses. In this book Harry gets involved with two investigations: a bank heist that left a female employee dead; and the alleged suicide of a young woman.

To investigate the bank robbery Harry and his partner Beate Lønn - who can remember every face she's ever seen - study CCTV tapes of the holdup.



These provide clues that lead to a convoluted probe of various suspects. Things become even more confused when the bank robberies continue after the ring leader is identified. Are copy cats at work?

Meanwhile, Harry's girlfriend, Rakel, is in Russia for a custody battle.....



.....so the detective accepts a dinner invitation from an old flame named Anna.



Against his better judgement Harry succumbs to various kinds of temptation - and wakes up in his bed the next day with no memory of the night before.



Worse yet, Anna is found dead in her apartment.

Harry is assigned to Anna's case and - though it's being called a suicide - the detective is sure she was murdered.



Harry's in a tricky position though: he has to investigate the killing without admitting he knew Anna....or he risks becoming a suspect himself. Things get even harder when Harry starts to get threatening emails from the real killer.

The book has a complex plot involving foreign travel, bank robbers, gypsies, unfaithful spouses, drug addicts, prison inmates, a rich executive, corrupt cops, and more. The underlying theme of the book is nemesis - getting revenge for perceived wrongs. And some of the characters have long discussions about the military strategies of Sun Tsu, author of the 'The Art of War.'



There's a bit too much of this for my taste, and the story slows down in places.

By the time I finished the book my head was spinning with the twists and turns. Good story, recommended to mystery readers - especially fans of Scandinavian suspense novels.

FYI: I listened to the audio version of this book, narrated by Norwegian Thor Knai. To me it sounds like the author's name is pronounced 'Joe Nesba' and the main character's moniker is 'Harry Hula.'

You can follow my reviews at http://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com/

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ο Χάρι Χόλε βρίσκεται μπλεγμένος από εκεί που δεν θα το περίμενε ποτέ, όταν μια πρώην (αλλά πολύ παλιά πρώην) αγαπημένη του βρίσκεται νεκρή και αυτός είναι ανάμεσα στους βασικούς υπόπτους, καθώς ήταν μαζί της το βράδυ πριν πεθάνει. Ο ίδιος, τύφλα στο ποτό που δεν θυμάται πότε ήπιε, δεν θυμάται επίσης τίποτα από όσα έγιναν εκείνο το βράδυ. Προσπαθώντας, λοιπόν, να ξεδιαλύνει το θολό μυστήριο γύρω από τις δικές του κινήσεις και τις συνθήκες θανάτου της νεαρής κοπέλας, εισάγεται στην κουλτούρα των αθίγγανων (ναι, είναι παντού και με χοντρές άκρες σε όλους και σε όλα!)

Επίσης, το εγκληματολογικό τμήμα απασχολεί μια σειρά ληστειών τραπεζών, σε μια από τις οποίες υπήρχε θύμα μια ταμίας. Η κάμερα δείχνει ότι ο ληστής – δολοφόνος κάτι της ψιθύρισε πριν την σκοτώσει, κάτι που ανάβει τα λαμπάκια του Χάρι Χόλε και τον οδηγεί μέχρι τη Λατινική Αμερική προκειμένου να συλλάβει το δράστη.

Παράλληλα, τρέχει η υπόθεση του θανάτου της Έλεν, που είχε ξεκινήσει στο προηγούμενο βιβλίο, όπου οι αναγνώστες ξέρουν περισσότερα από τον αγαπημένο μας επιθεωρητή και λαχταρούν για τη λύση της υπόθεσης.

Πάμε στα τετριμμένα λοιπόν: καταιγιστική δράση, κινηματογραφική πλοκή (παρεπιπτόντος ο Φασμπέντερ με το Χιονάνθρωπο έρχεται σε ένα χρόνο από τώρα!!!), αφήγηση που κόβει την ανάσα και διαβάζεται μονορούφι! Οι δράστες και στις δυο υποθέσεις δεν μπορούν να γίνουν αντιληπτοί παρά μόνο προς το τέλος του βιβλίου και οι λόγοι που οδήγησαν στα παραπάνω εγκλήματα επίσης δεν είναι οι προφανείς. Νέμεσις είναι η ελληνική θεότητα για την εκδίκηση. Η σύνδεση του τίτλου με την υπόθεση γίνεται, πάλι ως συνήθως, στο τέλος του βιβλίου.

Χθες έπεσε στο μάτι ένα άρθρο του VICE για τους 10 λόγους για να παντρευτείτε έναν αστυνομικό (http://www.vice.com/gr/read/10-logoi-..., το λες λίιιιιγο ειρωνικό, εγώ όμως θα σας πω έναν και μόνο: Χάρυ Χόλε!!! Και η Ράκελ συμφωνεί (σε αυτό το βιβλίο!)

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nesbø continues to dazzle with his wonderful Harry Hole series, in this fourth novel. When a single individual enters a bank and takes the female teller hostage, demands are made to empty an ATM full of money. Using the hostage to disguise their voice, the robber offer an ultimatum that cannot be completed in the specified time, and the teller is killed. With the Robbery Division unable to make any progress on the case, it is sent to Harry Hole and video evidence expert, Beate Lønn as a murder investigation. With Hole's girlfriend, Rakel, in Russia fighting for custody of her son, Harry agrees to have dinner with a former lover, Anna, who reappears out of the blue and wants a platonic chat. Waking up at home the next morning with all the signs of a massive hangover, Hole is shocked to learn that Anna apparently committed suicide the night before. However, some of the evidence points at a potential murder, covering up to confuse everyone. Keeping this under wraps, Harry engages in an off-the-books investigation and reaches out to a member of Anna's family, who is in prison for previous bank robberies, promising to solve her murder if insight on the bank robberies can be provided. As Lønn discovers the intimate closeness of the robber and teller through analysis of the video surveillance, she surmises that they must have known one another. When further heists are completed and no teller is harmed, Hole and Lønn agree that this first robbery held a special component; the teller. After heading around the world to follow a lead in South America, Hole and Lønn appear to close the case when they find a confession in a suicide note from the teller's brother-in-law. Returning to Norway, Hole is contacted through anonymous email servers by someone calling themselves S2MN. All traces point back to Hole, who cannot remember what happened with Anna, though he is fairly certain that he is innocent. However, fellow police officer Tom Waaler trips on some evidence that could implicate Hole and a warrant is issued for our protagonist's arrest. Hole dodges his colleagues to clear his name and trips on a key piece of evidence staring him in the face. All the while, someone by the name of the Prince has Hole in his crosshairs, killing those who might be able to uncover the truth behind Hole's former partner's murder. Nesbø offers the reader a wonderful omniscient view into this and all other storylines in this jam-packed novel with a final chapter that may bring Hole and the Prince into a massive stand-off. A sensation second book of an imbedded trilogy within the larger Harry Hole series.

There is no question that Nesbø is a sensational writer. That his books can be so addictive in a language other than the original adds to their greatness. The Harry Hole character is highly complex on many levels, from his alcoholism through to his past lovers and struggles with work. Nesbø offers ongoing insights into the dark world of Hole's life and his attention to detail to solve the most complicated of cases. Building on this and other periphery characters within Hole's sphere, Nesbø offers detailed character development that will only draw the reader closer to the protagonist. The reader finds themselves fully involved in the plot and the multiple storylines on offer. The reader must pay close attention in order to sift through the busy narrative and Hole's varied activities. I find myself wanting to reach for the next novel to discover how the Prince storyline ends, or if it will continue for the rest of the series.

Kudos Mr. Nesbø for another wonderful novel. You are a master, no matter what language in which you are read.

Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I abandoned the series last year after reading the first two books and just recently picked the series up again. Don't know if I just happen to be in the right mood but I'm really enjoying the series so far. In a way Harry Hole reminds me on a million other male detectives and mc's in crime novels but his character is starting to grow on me quite a bit. Want to know what going to happen with him next. Pretty sure I'll pick the next book sooner rather than later but I've got a few books and library books I need to focus on

[Razvan Banciu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once you fell in love with an author, it matters less WHAT he writes than HOW he does. That is my case with Mr. Nesbo , after reading his beauty "The Son".
So, I'm a little bit subjective and try not to observe that he's a tremendous story-teller but quite a poor finisher. And I feel for it...

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is indeed one of the more complex books Jo Nesbo has written about his anti-hero Harry Hole. But it is still a great read and for people that do like serious and original police-novels or thrillers this a must-read book.

Harry Hole is revisited by an old girlfriend from his more addictive years and somehow she ends up dead and Harry is the most obvious perpetrator.

A bank gets robbed and a women working in the bank gets killed in cold blood for no obvious reason but the manager was too slow in handing over the cash. Hole gets added to the team that handles robberies and he wants to investigate it as a murder.
He does get face to face with the most ingenious bank robber who gave himself up years ago and seems to be doing som form of penance and by chance the ex-girlfriend who did die turns out to be his family.

These are the least complex story-lines that run in the book and Hole's aversion toward normal police procedures des bring him into straight confrontation with his colleagues who walk on the less good side of the law and those whom get upset by this abnormal operating policeman that seems to get success were none was expected.

Another dark passage through the world of Harry Hole and one you should not pass up for any reason whatsoever. Only four stars because some of the story-lines are from other books and can befuddle the average reader.

But what a great read, and only to be really honest to first time Nesbo readers, start at the beginning and unlike me skip through the books like a bloody Skippy ball. And it is not an easy book to follow so do not like me take the book to work to rad in the breaks that is really tough for this book. They your time to sit down and absorb the reading offered by Nesbo.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nemesis is the fourth instalment of Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole detective series and I must say this series keeps getting better. In Nemesis, Harry is working to clear his name when one of his previous girlfriends is found dead, while also working in a parallel storyline on a series of bank robberies/murders.

I do find that I have to keep my wits about me while reading Nesbo's books, often needing to thumb back a few chapters to reread bits and pieces that may have seemed insignificant at the time. It's a bit like being a detective while reading - taking note of seemingly trivial details and filing them away as relevant points of interest.

For me, Harry is a loveable rogue of a cop - full of integrity even though some of his methods are not by the book. I'm liking the Tom Waaler thing which has been woven through the last book Redbreast, this one and is clearly going to be a theme in the next book. If you ask me, Tom is the Nemesis - perhaps this is another play on words that I need to file away in my mind when i start reading Nesbo's next story.

[Bill Riggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

A complicated, complex plot line involving several investigations but Nesbo pulls it off masterfully. I am impressed more and more with his skills with each book I read.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nemesis, the fourth in the Harry Hole series (and finally pronounced correctly [close to “hoo-leh] for the first time in the audiotaped versions of these books I am listening to), has a lot going on. I think too much, really, which is not to say it isn’t created by a talented writer. By the third book, The Redbreast, the best one so far, he began to really prove himself, with rich novelistic themes and multiple threads and real political and historical stakes. And this one has multiple threads, too; it just feels like too many threads. Keep down that thread count, Jo!

But allow me to make my case. This book is about:

*Harry’s continued struggles with alcoholism (though it is not really clear what happens the night his ex, Ann, is killed, after he has seen her for dinner and has spent time at her house. Blackout? He assumes so.
* Harry’s continued struggles with women. Oh, yeah, Anna. At the end of Redbreast Harry is happily with Rakel and her eight-year-old son Oleg. In this one, she is in Russia, so he of course agrees to meet his old girlfriend, Anna, and he has no idea what happened (and we don’t either) that night. Was he unfaithful to Rakel? There’s a new cute colleague (who has a photographic memory), a possible temptation. Every attractive woman he meets is a threat to his equilibrium. At the heart of it is Rakel and whether he can stick it out with her.
*Harry’s continued struggles with violence. One aspect of this is that he makes mistakes that get him beat up in every book. He can be very violent, too.
*Harry’s continued struggles with breaking the law in order to solve crimes, such as hiding the fact that he was (one of the?) last people Anna saw. He makes a deal with an imprisoned criminal, a Romany gypsy, who is in an international crime syndicate.
*Yeah, we’re all over the world, not only in Oslo but Moscow and Brazil; feels a bit like Bond in that way, though more low-life, noir, of course. Bond has flaws but neither Bond nor Fleming admit he has many. Harry is likeable, but is WAY flawed. Likeable, impassioned, talented, but he makes lots of mistakes to be a cop that the brass likes.
*Harry’s continued struggles with being an outsider, one who can'f fit in the police organization very well.
*The central theme is Nemesis, a Greek revenge myth. Who/what is Harry’s nemesis? His colleague Tom Waaler who looks like David Hasselhoff? Alcoholism? Infidelity? Someone who seems to be killing some of the women he falls in love with over these now four books? But a central theme is revenge, for sure.
*There’s a series of bank robberies and murders Harry and the police in general are trying to solve; this is the central crime focus of the book, actually. Could we have just stuck with this? Nope, Nesbo says.
*Harry is busy, in all this; he has to protect Rakel in Moscow from the Bad Guys who theatent o kill her.
*Harry is always trying to figure who killed his first wife, Ellen; this is always on-going in the books as a continuing issue.
*There’s a running psych theme of suicide; people are struggling with it, Harry goes to see a psychologist to get some background on why people do it. Is there such a thing as revenge suicide?
*There’s a “Purple Rain” theme throughout. Nesbo is, besides being a thriller writer, a rock musician. so e music figures in throughout.
*Harry is reading Nesbo’s fave crime writer, Jim Thompson; someone also references Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry (they both break rules). These last two issues are not a problem, just threads he weaves in.

This is book 4 of Nesbo for me, and I’d say 3.5 instead of 4 star rating because of its over-ambition, but you have to give him credit for trying to do all this at once, for sure. Not many can do it, of course. And not many should, either, I'd say. I will read more of him, though. I am going to at least read The Leopard and The Snowman, as others think these are his best. Now, for fun, I am going to read Nemesis by Agatha Christie, where I can compare the wits of Harry Hole to Jane Marple. Identical twins?

[James Thane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nemesis is a complex psychological thriller that weaves together the strands of two different investigations that prove to be interrelated.

When a teller is shot and killed in a dramatic bank robbery, Oslo homicide detective Harry Hole is assigned to the team investigating the crime. But Harry, a recovering alcoholic with a ton of other issues, does not work well with others and soon finds himself investigating apart from the larger team, assisted only by a young detective and video analyst, Beate Lonn. As the bank robber strikes again and again, the pressure builds on the police to resolve the crimes and capture the mastermind behind them.

In an apparently unrelated development, Harry agrees to have dinner with an old girlfriend while his current love is out of town. He wakes up the next morning with a world-class hangover, apparently having fallen off the wagon and with no memory of the last twelve hours. Unhappily, the former girlfriend turns up dead, apparently having died during Harry's blackout.

As Harry digs into the series of bank robberies and the death of Anna, his former lover, it becomes apparent that the two cases may be related, and Harry soon finds himself with major problems.

This is a densly-plotted, well-written book that will appeal to lots of readers, particularly those who have completed the Steig Larsson trilogy and who might be looking for a new Scandinavian protagonist.

[Labijose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es la cuarta entrega, nada desdeñable, de Harry Hole. Nesbo no suele defraudar, y tiene una fama muy merecida en el panorama literario de los “nordic noir”. La trama es interesante, aunque algo compleja. Muy bien escrita, pero cuya resolución, al menos en mi opinión, no termina de estar al nivel del conjunto. Veo demasiadas casualidades en la misma, lo que le resta credibilidad. Además, enlaza con la novela anterior y con la posterior, de forma que el lector que no siga las novelas en orden cronológico puede perderse fácilmente, y eso es algo que me molesta en los escritores de series. Por lo demás, me lo pasé muy bien con su lectura. Nesbo sabe colocar las palabras adecuadas en frases bien construidas, y sabe enganchar al lector. ¡Lástima que no cierre sus novelas de forma global, obligándote a seguir enganchado a la siguiente entrega! Es un truco muy recurrente, que me obliga a rebajarle una estrella.

[Μιχάλης · Rating 4 out of 5]

Διαβάστηκε μέσα σε 24 ώρες, αν αυτό σας λέει κάτι.
Pageturner αστυνομικό με τα όλα του. Γραφή που ρέει, πολύ δουλεμένη πλοκή και με έναν ρυθμό που σε κρατάει από το γιακά όσο σου πετάει μικρές πληροφορίες και ανατροπές και χαρακτήρες που, χωρίς να ξεχωρίζουν, σου μένουν και διακρίνονται ο ένας από τον άλλον. Μην περιμένετε γραφή που θα σας εκτοξεύσει (αν και το βιβλίο είναι μετάφραση από την αγγλική μετάφραση, δε θα μου έκανε εντύπωση αν ο Nesbo είναι κανένας βιτρουόζος της πένας και όλη του η ομορφιά χάνεται στη μετάφραση) ξέρει όμως όλα τα κόλπα για να τραβήξει το ενδιαφέρον του αναγνώστη.

Στο βιβλίο υπάρχουν τρεις βασικές υποθέσεις που συγκλίνουν και αποκλίνουν: η ληστεία της τράπεζας είναι μία καλοστημένη υπόθεση, τα στοιχεία είναι εκεί από την πρώτη σελίδα και αναπτύσσεται μέχρι τέλους επαρκώς. Η υπόθεση με την "αυτοκτονία" από την άλλη... δε με έπεισε η λύση της αλλά γενικά η ιδέα του mastermind που τα έχει όλα σκεφτεί εξαρχής με ενοχλεί. Όσο για την υπόθεση του Πρίγκιππα, που εκκρεμεί από το προηγούμενο βιβλίο, εδώ προχωράει πολύ καλά αλλά ήλπιζα ότι θα έκλεινε.
Σε κάθε περίπτωση, παρά τα όποια παράπονα οι υποθέσεις έχουν μεταξύ τους πολύ καλή συνέργεια και ταιριάζουν απόλυτα και στα character arcs.

Αναρρωτιέμαι σε πόσο χρόνο θα διαβάσω το επόμενο...

[Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty good read, but messy. Too much going on. I am currently on the lookout for a mystery that doesn't "end" three times before it actually ends. Allow me to give away the entire book - It was that guy who killed the apparent suicide victim! No, it was that guy! No, actually she killed herself after all. What about the bank robber? That guy! No, that guy's brother! No, it's a copycat & the first bank robbery was actually a murder! Are we done yet? Let's let the bad guy threaten the nice lady detective aaaannnddd, we're through! I am a tremendous fan of Beate Lonn, as I imagine her as Amy Ryan from the second season of the wire. Oh, sweet Beatrice Russell. I like Harry Hole, too, so as I wait for The Snowman (which I'll definitely read because I have to make sure that Waaler gets his comeuppance) to move up in my hold queue, I'll check out other books in the series.

[Aya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Мога само да кажа, че скоро си поръчвам всички книги за Хари Хуле. По-добро ревю от това, здраве му кажи.

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just couldn't get into this one. I don't think blackout alcoholics could be very good detectives. They couldn't catch a cold, let alone a master criminal. The plot line in this story gets so complicated as to become downright silly. I think I'll lay off Nesbo for a while.

[Paul Curd · Rating 4 out of 5]

There really should be a health warning or spoiler alert printed on the cover of this book. It is the third of Jo Nesbø's Harry Hole series of detective novels to be translated into English. The first was The Devil's Star, but actually The Devil's Star turns out to be the third in the series and very much the sequel to Nemesis. For some reason, the novels have been translated and published in the UK out of sequence (I guess the reason is they published the best one first to test the water . . .). Unlike most detective series novels, you really do need to read Nesbø's Harry Hole books in the correct order to get the most from them. While each novel stands alone to a certain extent, there is a thread running through them that is best followed chronologically. So if you haven't read the first in the series, The Redbreast, maybe you should do so before you read this book!

Nemesis begins with grainy CCTV footage showing a masked man walking into a bank and putting a gun to a cashier's head. He tells her to count to twenty-five. When he doesn't get his money in time, she is executed. No forensic evidence is recovered, but the Oslo police treat the incident simply as a bank robbery gone wrong and the investigation is assigned to Rune Ivarsson, the arrogant Head of the Robbery Unit. Maverick detective Harry Hole, however, has spent the whole weekend studying the CCTV videotape and believes the case should be treated as a murder, which means it should be investigated by the Crime Squad (of which he is a member). As a result, Harry is temporarily attached to the Robbery Unit in a semi-detached role with a brief to pursue the case in parallel to the main investigation.

Lurking somewhere at the back of all this is an event that took place in Nesbø's earlier novel, The Redbreast. In The Redbreast, Harry's partner and close friend, Ellen Gjelten, is beaten to death with a baseball bat. As a result, Harry had an alcoholic relapse, something he is still recovering from at the start of Nemesis. In Harry's opinion, the case of Ellen's murder had never been cleared up satisfactorily. Harry had found incriminating evidence against a suspect, but before justice could take its course Inspector Tom Waaler had shot the suspect dead in an alleged fire fight. Harry doubted Waaler's story, and felt the dead suspect's motive for killing Ellen was never satisfactorily explained.

But Ellen is dead, and Harry needs a new partner. He is assigned another female detective Beate Lønn, whose father had been an Oslo cop shot on duty during a bank raid a few years earlier. When Harry first meets Beate she reminds him of a corpse Ellen and he had once fished out of Bunnefjord. Is this a foreshadowing of events to come? Will history repeat itself?

Meanwhile, Harry's girlfriend is away in Russia, sorting out a messy divorce. While she is away, and the investigation into the bank robbery/murder is just beginning, Anna an old flame gets in touch with Harry. He meets her for a drink and goes for a coffee back to her house, where he admires a series of paintings Anna is working on. She has called the paintings Nemesis, after the goddess. A few days later, Harry goes back to Anna's for dinner, but the next morning he wakes up at home with a terrible hangover and no memory of the past twelve hours. The same morning Anna is found shot dead in her bed. Harry investigates the case without revealing his association with the dead girl, but then he begins to receive threatening e-mails by someone who seems to know there is more to Anna's death than the police suspect. Is someone trying to frame him for Anna's murder?

This is a very complex (or maybe that should be complicated) novel. There are several plots and sub-plots, clues and red herrings, and many a twist and turn. It is very well written (and the translator should get an honourable mention here) and on the whole an enjoyable read. But it is a very long book at nearly 500 pages. Around about page 300 I was beginning to wilt under the complexity of it all. But just as I was starting to run out of stamina, Nesbø introduced a shocking new element relating to Ellen Gjelten's murder and reinvigorated the story.

The ending is a puzzle, and I scratched my head over it for a while before discovering that all is revealed in the third book in the series, The Devil's Star.

[Toralf Saffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein Fall mit vielen Facetten

Bei einem Banküberfall wird eine Angestellte grundlos erschossen. In die Ermittlung des Raubdezernats wird auch Harry Hole eingebunden, der eigentlich noch immer versucht den Tod seiner Ex Kollegin aufzuklären. Kurze Zeit später wird eine ehemalige Geliebte von Harry tot aufgefunden, welche offenbar Selbstmord beging – nur war Harry in der Nacht vor Ihrem Tod bei ihr und wachte danach mit einem völligen Blackout auf. Obwohl in diesem Fall nicht ermittelt wird, bekommt Harry Nachrichten vom mutmaßlichen Täter, Puzzlestücke, die bald eine Spur bilden.
Diese Geschichte läuft auf mehreren Ebenen – da sind die zwei aktuellen Fälle, die Suche nach den Hintergründen von Ellens Tod, das Schicksal von Rakel und Oleg – Harrys aktueller Beziehung und dann ist da auch noch eine neue Figur – Beate, eine junge Kollegin mit einem phänomenalen Gedächtnis für Gesichter, deren Vater – auch ein Polizist – ebenfalls bei einem Banküberfall erschossen wurde. Der damalige Täter sitzt bereits ein, ist für Harry aber ein wichtiger Partner bei der Aufklärung des aktuellen Mordes. Kurz gesagt – es ist kompliziert und mittendrin Harry – alkoholkrank, sarkastisch, unkonventionell und unberechenbar, dazu Oslo im Regen. Der perfekte Skandinavien Krimi.
Der Handlungsstrang windet sich von Kapitel zu Kapitel, klare Ermittlungsfortschritte enden in Sackgassen, mehrere Verdächtige finden ein blutiges Ende und auch Harry gerät ins Visier der Ermittler, speziell in das von Tom Waaler – der Mann, von dem der Leser alles weiß und an den sich Harry langsam heranpirscht. Die Spannung ist extrem hoch und die überraschenden Wendungen schon fast zu viel des Guten. Am Ende herrscht zwar Klarheit und doch bleibt für mich ein großer Sack voller Fragezeichen. Aber wenigstens haben alle wichtigen Protagonisten das Ende des Buches lebend erreicht – was in dieser Reihe ja nicht immer so war. Jo Nesbo hat jedenfalls genug Cliffhanger für die Fortsetzung gelassen, auf die ich mich schon freue.

[Steven Godin · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first foray into Scandinavia crime noir, which seems in the last 10 years to have come out of nowhere to take the world by storm, TV as well. Nemesis is a decent read, not as dark as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but not as good either. In Harry Hole there is a detective you believe in, he has flaws like everybody else, there are moments of tension, and a good developing plot/story, where footage of a bank robbery has been looked at hundreds of times and the police searched for finger prints twice as long as normal but nothing. Not a hint or a clue, not even a trace of evidence. The bank was robbed with not a single lead to go by. This thief was a pro, and appears to have struck elsewhere.
Then there is the suspicious suicide of Hole's old flame, landing him in the firing line, so how will Harry solve the case if the whole town suspects him?

There is so much here in common with American crime fiction, in terms of plot, but the difference lies all in Scandinavia itself, creating a snowy, dark atmospheric landscape that seeps into your bones, although it never really feels that chilling in tone, mostly following the deep police investigation and studying Harry Hole, not just as a detective, but as a human being as well.

[Saša · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prve dve trecine knjige su bile prilicno dobre, misteriozni pljackas banaka i u isto vreme ubica, Harijevu staru ljubav Anu pronalaze mrtvu u zaključanom stanu... sve je zvucalo vrlo zanimljivo i vuklo te napred.
A zatim, u poslednjoj trecini je Nesbø jednostavno poludeo (opet) ali s obzirom da ovog puta imamo dve paralelne price u realnom vremenu, isto tako imamo i krajnje zakukuljeno, zamumuljeno finale.

Nesbø se toliko (previse) trudi da napravi sto vise obrta da to na kraju ispadne real mess.
Toliko da mora da predje ukratko sta se ustvari sve dogodilo za slucaj da nekom citaocu ne bude jasno.
A ionako ce vecina da pogodi ko je ubica ili da prosto pomisli; ma ajde molim te..
No dobro, bar imamo jednog pravog protiv-kandidata Stivenu Kingu sto se tice zavrsnice.

Sto se tice ostalih detalja, karakteri su sve sadrzajniji, pripovedanje je sve bolje, Nesbø/ Harry je sve bolji.
Jaca trojka i idemo dalje. Bar zbog te dve trecine.

Puno pozdrava svim Goodreads drugarima, vidimo se krajem avgusta.. :)

[Mihaela Abrudan · Rating 5 out of 5]

În acest volum interesant e că urmărim în același timp un jaf, o crimă și o sinucidere misterioasă toate având ca punct comun un triunghi amoros. În fiecare volum Hole are câte o polițistă ca parteneră și este de apreciat faptul că Nesbo îi plasează întotdeauna pe picior de egalitate sau chiar ele sunt "creierul" investigației. Interesant a fost finalul, când credeai că totul este lămurit și dovedit o singură frază întoarce ancheta și aduce o surpriză. De remarcat stilul complex de scriere al lui Jo Nesbo care nu se limitează la simple relatări polițienești, așa cum sunt thriller-ele obișnuite, în acest volum suspecți sunt niște țigani, iar modul în care au fost percepuți de societate de-a lungul timpului este foarte bine prezentat de autor.

[LenaRibka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know how how to describe what I feel at the end of the book!


I know exactly what I felt at the beginning of Nemesis (and through three quarters of the plot):

I thought, it was one of the best mystery books I ever read.


And then...the final spurt towards the finishing line...and...my initial sensations about my reading orgasm went rapidly downwards. And, believe or not, I finished it, if not confused, but more conflicted than I'd like to.



The Book#4 in the series is VERY VERY complex. Many many things happen here.

It has both, advantages and disadvantages.
The goody: it won’t leave you time to catch a breath, the plot pacing is EXTREMELY fast. Less good: the plot is very scattered and demands a lot of brain work (don't even try to read it at work, between the meetings, very challenging). As a reader, you need to digest A LOT of information, while the focus of the story keeps on changing CONSTANTLY. And toward the end the author intensifies this effect, starting LITERALLY to jump from one scene to another.



Strangely enough, but I found it actually pretty refreshing and thrilling, while reading the first 80%, and then, instead of being complex and multilayered the story-line turned into over-complicated and incomprehensible.

My biggest irritation is the resolving of two running cases. Not the fact that they were resolved, and for sure not the fact that it was Harry who did the whole job (bless him!), but the way the perpetrators scheduled their plans (REALLY?!), and a very weird extravagant WAY to fulfill their plans. Very confusing, utterly improbable and very soap-opera-like.Self-staging suicide was my biggest problem. I don't buy it. No way.

The final thoughts:

Jo Nesbo is a very talented author, and he is getting better and better with every installment. It is just so...I have very high exceptions for his works, maybe I became a bit more critical and a bit less reasonable and a bit more bitchy and a bit less logical, but it was 10 stars for me for the first half of the book, and not more than 3 towards the end.

I can't wait to read the next sequel though. Does it explain my critical mood?!





***And of course I want to read it only with my girls! BR with Sofia and Alona