BOOK REVIEW

Cockroaches – Jo Nesbø

Sensational crime story would outshine most Hollywood blockbusters

         Nesbø was a name imprinted on my mind after my mother raved for years about the Norwegian author’s work, especially the crime novel series featuring Inspector Harry Hole. After another visit home during which I heard more from her about the latest book’s plot than any other subject, I decided to succumb to her implicit insistence that I determine first-hand what made these books so celebrated. Nesbø is revered amongst crime readers for his multi-layered plots that bring his protagonist Hole, a classic loose cannon type in the police force, into the world’s darkest corners.

         Cockroaches sees Hole sent to Bangkok to investigate the death of the Norwegian Ambassador to Thailand, the case ringing with turpitude from an early stage as the homicide occurred in a seedy brothel outside the city. Hole soon discovers that the Ambassador was indebted to notorious loan sharks following major horse betting losses and he himself soon becomes embroiled in the labyrinth of underground clues. Nesbø deploys a plethora of absorbing characters, each of whom steps forward just long enough for readers to crystallize their image before they step back into the shadows and the plot moves forward. Hole is forced to navigate these furtive individuals, from the Ambassador’s gorgeous but apathetic daughter to a former intelligence officer who has spent his life fighting his inborn pedophiliac nature. Beyond this psychological nexus, Hole also comes close to death as you might expect, but these incidents are written with such detail that I twice had to actually put the book down.

Though Cockroaches was no more than a random choice for my first Hole book, I later learned it wasn’t the first in the series nor even the most popular. Like those who first discover a terrific TV show after it’s been on air for several seasons, it fills me with childish excitement that there are actually nine more Harry Hole adventures to experience, with another to come in 2017. Hopefully my mother won’t mind if that’s all I talk about next time I visit.

      -NP, September 2015