Barb's Book Reviews: Review of "The Thirst: A Harry Hole Mystery" by Jo Nesbo

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Review of "The Thirst: A Harry Hole Mystery" by Jo Nesbo

In this eleventh book in the "Harry Hole" series, the Oslo police detective is chasing Valentin Gjertsen, a serial killer who's been Harry's nemesis for years. The book can be read as a standalone but readers familiar with the series will understand the characters' motivations better.

*****

As the story opens, recovering alcoholic Harry Hole - who's probably the best detective in Oslo - has been on the wagon for three years.

Harry is finally married to the love of his life, Rakel Fauke, and - because of a promise to Rakel - is teaching at the Police College rather than doing active detective work.

Meanwhile, a sadistic killer is using Tinder to meet and murder women. After a Tinder meet-up, the women's throats are ripped out with 'iron dentures' and their blood is drunk. Psychologists conclude that the killer is suffering from 'vampirism'.....a compulsion to consume blood.

Clues at one of the crime scenes point to a suspect named Valentin Gjertsen. Harry had caught Valentin years before and sent him to prison, but the killer escaped and had plastic surgery to make himself unrecognizable. It appears that Valentin is back in Oslo, killing women to satisfy his disgusting cravings. The psychopathic killer is also gleeful about matching wits with Harry once again.

Police Chief Mikael Bellman - an adulterous, exploitative, prick who's being considered for Minister of Justice - wants the perp caught quickly.....to benefit his career. Thus Bellman blackmails Harry into taking a leave from teaching to chase the killer. Harry forms an 'adjunct detective squad' consisting of himself, an up-and-coming young police officer, and a psychologist who's writing a Ph.D. dissertation on vampirism.

3

While Harry is trying to catch the vampirist, other things are going on in the novel: Rakel gets very sick and has to be placed in a medical coma; Bellman's wife gets fed up with his womanizing and plans to get revenge; a mediocre cop extorts Bellman into making him a detective; a rapist called the fiancé - who forces his victims to give birth to his children - is getting released from jail; and more.

The story turns out to be very complicated - maybe TOO complicated - and I almost needed a spreadsheet to keep up with the machinations of all the characters. Nevertheless this is a good book, recommended to mystery lovers.....especially fans of Harry Hole.

Rating: 3.5 stars

2 comments:

Carla Loves to ReadMay 10, 2018 at 6:14 PM
I have read one of the series and have a couple on my bookshelf. Have you read the previous ones to this. I don't like to be confused, so maybe it will be best to read them in order. Nice review.
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Barb SafferMay 10, 2018 at 9:00 PM
Thank you Carla. I haven't read all the books in the series but I've read quite a few. I read them out of order, partly because the English translations of the Norwegian originals)weren't released in order. If you can, you should probably try to read them in order.
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Barb's Book Reviews

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Review of "The Thirst: A Harry Hole Mystery" by Jo Nesbo

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