Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published May 2013
416 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
Christmas shoppers stop to hear a Salvation Army concert on a crowded Oslo street. An explosion cuts through the music and the bitter cold: one of the singers falls dead, shot in the head at point-blank range. Harry Hole - the Oslo Police Department's best investigator and worst civil servant - has little to work with: no suspect, no weapon, and no motive. But Harry's troubles will multiply. As the search closes in, the killer becomes increasingly desperate, and Harry's chase takes him to the most forbidden corners of the former Yugoslavia.
Yet it's when he returns to Oslo that he encounters true darkness: among the homeless junkies and Salvationists, eagerly awaiting a savior to deliver them from misery - whether he brings new life or immediate death.
With its shrewdly vertiginous narrative, acid-etched characters, and white-hot pace, The Redeemer is resounding proof of Jo Nesbø's standing as one of the best crime writers of our time.
"Starred Review. Perhaps not the best novel for a Nesbø initiate, but those with an affinity for the darkest and most literary crime fiction will want to get here as soon as they can." - Kirkus
"Recommended for the many fans of Nesbø as well as for readers who appreciate maverick, intuitive detectives who fight the system almost as often as they fight crime." - Library Journal
"At times the book feels padded with lengthy asides and banter, but the primary narrative, told in powerful prose, never fails to grip." - Publishers Weekly
"The Redeemer is Nesbø's fourth novel and it proves to be as brilliant as his other three. It provides a grimly realistic portrait of the Norwegian capital - druggies shooting up in public; refugees being exploited in private - as well as an engrossing mystery, full of twists." - Evening Standard (UK)
"The killer's boyhood in the war-torn Balkans gives added depth to a complex story, impossible to second-guess, which proves that greed, lust and a desire for revenge lurk within the saintliest of folk." - Daily Telegraph
"Hole in one... Jo Nesbø has done it again. This autumn's Harry Hole crime novel is conceived on a large scale and masterfully carried out. ... One of Norwegian literature's most outstanding storytellers just happens to be named Jo Nesbø." - Verdens Gang (Norway)
"Right on the mark...Jo Nesbø draws his bow, takes aim and hits a bull's eye. He has the language, he has the suspense - and he has Harry Hole... a storyteller who doesn't give the reader a moment' s breathing room, it's full-bore 464 pages to the end ... In case you haven't already been saved by Jo Nesbø, it's high time you were." - Bergensavisen (Norway)
"A tour de force. Nesbø has a plot here that is so tightly constructed and compelling that it's impossible to put the book down. This is a serial-killer story, and one with a punch." - Margaret Cannon, The Globe and Mail
"Nesbø has been gradually climbing up the competitive league of Nordic crime writers. With The Redeemer he's touching the summit, and his hero, the stubborn, insubordinate Oslo detective Harry Hole, has become my favourite copper from those parts. ... Terrific shocks, tension and atmosphere." - The Times (UK)
This information about The Redeemer was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jo Nesbo is one of the world's bestselling crime writers, with The Leopard, Phantom, Police, The Son and his latest Harry Hole novel, The Thirst, all topping the Sunday Times bestseller charts. He's an international number one bestseller and his books are published in 50 languages, selling over 33 million copies around the world.
Before becoming a crime writer, Nesbo played football for Norway's premier league team Molde, but his dream of playing professionally for Spurs was dashed when he tore ligaments in his knee at the age of eighteen. After three years military service he attended business school and formed the band Di derre ('Them There'). They topped the charts in Norway, but Nesbo continued working as a financial analyst, crunching numbers during the day and gigging at night. ...
... Full Biography
Link to Jo Nesbo's Website
Name Pronunciation
Jo Nesbo: According to the author's website, Jo is pronounced like 'you', and Jo says the 'o' in Nesbo is similar to the vowel in Inspector Clouseau's pronunciation of the word 'bomb'
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