The Bat is a detective novel written by Jo Nesbo featuring
the first appearance of Harry Hole. The book was translated by Don Bartlett and
released on the 11 October 2012 by Harvill Secker. Despite being the 1st
novel in the Harry Hole series this book was released in English after several
other books in the series.
PLOT
Norwegian police officer Harry Hole is sent to Sydney by the
Royal Norwegian Police Directorate to serve as the Norwegian attaché for the
Australian police's investigation into the murder of a young female Norwegian
B-celebrity, Inger Holter, who was residing in Australia.
Why I read it?
I had heard a lot of things about Jo Nesbo mostly "the
new Stieg Larsson" and I really loved the Millennium Trilogy. At least
here in the UK Jo Nesbo has been on posters at bus shelters and in train
stations for a couple of years at least (that is how I find books often). With
all that I thought it was worth checking out, in the back of my mind I knew
that for some reason they started translating the books part way through the
season so I guess it was lucky that I decided to start when the first book
became available.
What I thought
That was a hell of a read. This pretty much sums up my
thoughts after getting through the first instalment of the Harry Hole series.
The book cannot be described as an easy read but it is definitely exciting.
Harry Hole is a very flawed man and investigator you compare him to someone
like Alex Cross whose demons are a lot more understated if ever mentioned the
difference is stark. That doesn’t mean you should not try The Bat it means that
you should be prepared for a darker take on the detective story.
Should you be willing to try I think you will be rewarded
for the effort. The story is engaging and takes us on a tour of the darker side
of Sydney and the darker side of human nature. My only issue is that the Sydney
police team that Harry works with throughout this book seem to lack in the way
of characterisation especially when compared with the other characters we meet.
That is only one issue though and on a whole it doesn't get
in the way of the story. Harry Hole is an interesting take on the detective
novel and a gritty one at that, if you
think you are up for the challenge.
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