A Harry Hole Novel (9) (Harry Hole Series)

Harry Hole is a very flawed detective but he always gets his man. He also has the greatest mess of a life of any detective I've ever read. He's quite well drawn, quite realistic as a person. This book is hard going emotionally and un-put-down-able at the same time. The drug addicts and dealers that this story revolves around are in every town and city in this world and that makes it realistic and also very sad - but it's a great read. I highly recommend it but do yourself a favour and read the other ones first so you have the whole history. It will make the book much better for you. By the way, there's a very good twist in the tale and it runs right through the book but isn't evident until the very end. So persist....

Nesbo renews my faith in the crime novel but more so, the fallible hero within this genre. Not since early Arkady Renko novels - Gorky Park and Polar Star, have I loved a central character within a book so much. I've read all the Hole novels except Cockroaches which won't be released in English until next year and can truly say, that each one gets progressively better. Don't get me wrong, all are excellent, but i'd suggest you go in order starting with The Bat. You won't be disappointed until you realize that there are no more Hole novels to read.....

Definitely recommended for Harry Hole fans!!! Once again, Harry is swallowed up by a case, which will have a twist at the end. What I liked best about this book was how Harry spared the person he loved most from a very sad experience.

Everybody knows that it is nearly impossible to put a Harry Hole thriller down before finishing. This one (I have slowly gone through all of them in order) is worse: it's absolutely unputdownable from the very beginning (whether we like the ending or not, has nothing to do with this).
So: Rent a hotel room, don't tell anybody where you are going, cancel any possible appointments, forget all your phones, tablets, laptops at home, order piles of takeaway and drinks, and: READ ...

Joe Nesbo does it again , with a twisting, turning, plot, and great characters. If he is not the best and most prolific "PI" writer around, I don't know who is. Talk about "rough justice". Harry Hole; bad name, great , unforgiving character. Jo Nesbo does not scrimp on the writing.

Nesbo has been billed by some as being similar to Stieg Larsson. Phantom is the third book of the Harry Hole series that I've read and, including Phantom, I've been disappointed twice (liked The Snowman, didn't like The Leopard).

The beginning of the book is completely confusing and I almost put it down after 50 pages. Nesbo starts each thread of the story without using any character names and includes the perspective of a rat at the murder scene, which totally lost me. Gusto's (the murder victim) "dying thoughts" is one of these threads, which actually does add to the story later in the book, but these segments are a mess in the beginning.

I thought things got better through the middle, but slid downhill again as Nesbo explained and then discarded most of the potential solutions to the mystery. There were so many twists (not in a good way), I found myself forgetting whether a certain character had been eliminated from suspicion for Gusto's murder. And, the nail in Phantom`s coffin is that I absolutely despised the ending. Though I love Harry Hole as a character, I think I'm done with Nesbo's books for awhile.

For more reviews, check out my blog, Sarah's Book Shelves.

Harry Hole is a crazy Norwegian cop gone astray on drugs and alcohol. This book brings us to the end of his days - or does it? After a long stay in the East, he returns to Oslo to help his ex-girlfriend and love for life and her son who has been involved in a drug-related killing. Harry battles drug barons, ex-colleagues, friends and foes - all in a desperate fight to save his loves son. Nesbø is a fine writer of Crime noir, and Harry is a dark specimen as good as any. I doubt we've seen the last of any of them.

Phantom revisits old characters and gives them new a new life that resonates with who they have become, strikes the reader as real and relevant. Beware: for those that like a neat bow on their endings, this is not for you. Ends in a tense and sad cliffhanger you hope has a way out.

Like his writing. Enjoy some books (mystery, drama, thriller) by foreign authors. Find it takes longer to read as their style is different from American writers. I can't read the books as fast but that is okay with me. I liked the series that Jo Nesbo did. A friend got me started on them as this author is a favorite of her father's.

Be prepared to stay up and read all night! Another great story by Jo Nesbo. I have read three of his other books and each one is a good read! Jo Nesbo is a wonderful storyteller. This one takes you into the underground world of the drug trade in Oslo. He manages to bring to life the intrigues of the drug trade and personalize it. Good story!

Nesbo has outdone himself with this newest of Harry Hole! Story told in an interesting way, from different angles. Many plot twists that make sense in the end. Suspense keeps the reader turning the pages, making it hard to put down. Not only is Harry's detective mind at it's best, also shows his human side as well. One of the best, if not THE best, in the Harry Hole series! Looking forward to more from Mr. Nesbo!

Though this was perhaps the most depressing of the Harry Hole books, it was impossible to put down. I know going in that Harry is a mess, but this time I really worried about him. His relationship with his "son" Oleg is heartbreaking, but so real. There are so many times I wish he'd rethink his decisions, but this is Harry, and he's gonna do what he's gonna do. That's what makes him Harry. Of course "Phantom" has left me eager for the next, and then the next of these wonderful Joe Nesbo books.

Phantom by Jo Nesbø became one of my favorite books on the life and career of Harry Hole even as I was reading it and yet I almost missed it. I was certain I had read it but my bookseller kept insisting that I had not finished this one. After scanning a quick summary of the plot on Goodreads, I realized my bookseller was right.

One of the reasons that I found this to be one of my favorites is that in this novel Harry is clean and sober and has been for awhile. Harry is very effective at solving cases even when he is drinking but he has reached the stage, as an alcoholic, where his favorite beverage, Jim Beam, makes him ill almost as soon as he opens the bottle. A second reason this volume is a good one is that when Harry is sober he gets along better with others because his self-loathing takes a back seat to his pride that he has exercised self-control and that he has improved his fitness level with lots of physical exercise. Harry can be quite appealing when he is sober.

Harry’s lady love, who he has to avoid because of his self-destructive habits and his dangerous lifestyle, needs him. He flies back to Oslo after several years in Hong Kong. Harry is no longer a policeman; he apparently collects debts owed to his new boss through intimidation and more if necessary. Rakel’s son, Oleg (18), who sees Harry as a father figure, has been jailed for murder in what appears to be a private war with his best friend and drug dealing partner, the too-handsome-for-his-own-good Gusto Hanssen (19). How could things have gone so wrong with Oleg?

Oslo has been flooded with drugs for a long time but lately things have started to change. There are still dealers but there are only two teams, the elusive Dubai, and the “Hells Angels wannabes” Los Lobos. Oslo’s Orgkrim (a department within the police force) seems to be getting a grip on the drug trade and the drug scene seems to benefit from being organized. The number of addicts is decreasing and Oslo is starting to improve its international reputation. Heroin, which has to be smuggled in from abroad, has almost disappeared from Oslo’s streets to be replaced by a lab-compounded form of heroin called Violin, which is made right in Oslo. Soon there is only one dealer in Oslo, the man they call Dubai and that is who Gusto and Oleg work for.

Dubai is the phantom of the title. He lives a hidden life protected by his honchos and the way he has arranged his life, both personally and professionally. But he is not the only phantom we meet in this novel. We also meet two new policemen of interest who will loom large in future installments and who live double lives, which gives them the occasional quality of phantoms.

We get as close to romance and a few lighter social moments than we ever get in a Harry Hole saga but this situation is just as dangerous and life-threatening and complex as any of the crimes Harry untangles. What he finds may end up being everything but the real murderer of Gusto (who tells his own story posthumously at the beginning of each chapter). Gusto represents another phantom in this very villainous tale spiced with a bit of flirtation. This time follow the rat.

Good stuff!

I stumbled upon 'The Redbreast' in a friend's book collection in South Korea. Because it is difficult to find good English reading in Korea, I would read anything I could find. I was hooked on Nesbo's plot from the first page and have since read every one of the Harry Hole series. I am so impressed by the complexity of the plot and characters, the unpredictable twists of each story and the absolute brilliance of Don Bartlett's translation. I obviously haven't read the original scripts but if they are anything like Bartlett's translations, Nesbo is a modern literary genius. I cannot recommend his work enough. I hope the books never stop coming.

It is difficult to write a review without touching on the plot which has surprises at every turn. Harry has greater realization of the complexity of his personality but remains a flawed character. The plot intertwines his personal life with his gift of solving complex crimes. The result is an excellent tale of love, hate, deceit and despair.

Harry Hole finally sobers up and is in good form. Phantom is better than his more recent books. I was getting a little weary of Harry's binges. Nesbo continues to impress and I look forward to his next one, whether another Hole epic or on some other cast of characters. He continues to amaze.

Harry Hole, burned out Oslo ex-Homicide Inspector, interrupts his journey to death by bottle and needle and gets clean to hopefully save one of the two good parts of his former life. The clock ticks and life is diminishing second to second. Nesbo can tear out a reader's heart.

Found the whole series engrossing. The flawed protagonist is much more interesting than a Dudley Doright character and his hard slog to fight his demons and still do his job is fascinating. Written as though by someone who may have gone through the same struggles as the main character. Anxiously awaiting the last of the current untranslated books due out in US in February, Number two in the series, I believe.
Also interesting to note the subtle differences in cultures.

Phantom was the last book in the Nesbo series and was one of his best...I enjoyed them all! I believe Nesbo's books are actually somewhat better than Steig Larrson. Henning Mankell is also great amongst the European writers and I've read all the books by all of these three

Nesbo's complex twists and turns come full-circle once again in another literary masterpiece! If you've read the Harry Hole series in order, this will be a compelling intense storyline for everyone fully-vested. Nesbo/Harry have explored new depths in this 9th installment, they are new-chartered waters not typical of either but show a true human factor and how we evolve through space and time. I hope this series and Nesbo never seize to amaze me! Melanie Diamond

How much better can Jo Nesbo get with his writing/plots? I have read and re-read all of his books and am always sorry to arrive at the last page. I am hoping there will be another Harry Hole story and soon. If you have not discovered this superb author, get one of his books and you will understand what all the hype is about regarding Nesbo.

Spoiler alert.....I was bitterly disappointed in this book. How could this be the end of Harry. Read it and you will ask yourself the same question. Luckily, you will find the answer later. Enjoy it, but don't fret needlessly.

Like the Steig Larrsson trilogy I have a hard time putting my finger on what I liked so much about this book, but I did enjoy it. The story is told at a good pace. Lots of action, but all trackable. I'll be buying more from this author.

The one problem with books in a series is repetition. If you've read the other Harry Hole books, some of the content will be familiar, but this is a fresh story, and there's more than enough to keep a reader guessing, and entertained. Well worth a read.

Harry Hole returns from Asia to save his almost step-son Oleg.from a murder charge. Intrigue,treacheryand love-erotic and filial,cause everyone to lose sight of the obvious. . A great continuing character is challenged again. Excellent tome.

Harry Hole is back in Oslo, changed but still the same Harry. This plot has unexpected twists and turns, the same sense of danger from without and within as Nesbo's other Hole novels, and a return to Hole's old haunts and relationships. I enjoyed this as much as the others in the series and think Nesbo is a master of the dark Scandinavian mystery movel.

I was conflicted during this thriller since it involved characters we knew and loved from previous novels, and the unusual surprise turns uncovered by Harry Hole, Detective. Without giving away the plot and finale, I hope there is another twist in the next novel.

I found that this book required that one read other books - like a college course's prerequisites. I spent an inordinate amount of time paging back to identify characters that I would have known from previous books. It made a good story a difficult slog.

This complicated whodunit didn't capture my fancy as much as the earlier books. I won't give away the ending but I think Jo Nesbo needs to move on to something else. If you like lots of arcane plot twists you may like this better than I.

I enjoy Harry Hole novels, but I realy would like him to be a little more upbeat. He needs to get over Rakel, and have more sunlight in his life. Why do all great detectives have to have such a sour take on life. My husband is a great detective, but he also has a great sense of humour, and is not a drunk or junkie.

Harry confronts his old life back in Norway in this twisting and turning story set in Oslo's underbelly of drugs. Exploring guilt, love and betrayal, Nesbo weaves a web of mystery so thick it's impossible to see where it's going until it gets there. A great detective story with all the old favourite characters.