“The Bat” by Jo Nesbø (translated by Don Bartlett) – Oslo’s Finest

The Bat by Jo Nesbo (Book cover)
Though the world of literature certainly is filled to the brim with countless thrillers and murder mysteries, I saw new additions are always welcome, if of course, they can bring a solid experience to the reader, if not something new to the genre itself.

It seems that a certain number of people were a bit dubious when Jo Nesbo, author of The Headhunters, decided to create his own detective series starring Oslo Crime Squad investigator, Harry Hole.

In his first book of the series, The Bat, Jo Nesbo details a peculiar investigation for Harry, as he is dispatched all the way to Sydney to look into the murder of a Norwegian woman.

Though his orders were not to get too involved, Harry senses something greater at work, and the closer he gets to the solution, the more alarmed he becomes at his realizations: there is a psychopath on the loose, and those hunting him are perhaps the least safe from his wrath.

Being the first book in the series, it felt to me as if Nesbo preferred to concentrate on developing the Harry Hole characters rather than putting together a plot that is unforgettable and out of this world. Many pages of text are dedicated to explaining to us how Harry works, what makes him tick, and why he became the man he is.

Nevertheless, the plot remains quite fast-paced, even though it does digress from the point at times by dropping folk stories and descriptions of aboriginal culture upon us.

Not that they are not interesting, but in some cases they simply had no place in the book, at least in my humble opinion. Harry may be the main concern, but that doesn’t mean Nesbo didn’t pay attention to his other characters; most of them are lively, unique and just fun to follow in the context of the book, and I found the villain to be quite an interesting character to try and understand.

The Bat by Jo Nesbo (Book cover)
As far as the story itself goes, as I said previously, most of you probably won’t find it to be anything extraordinary or out of this world. Nevertheless, in this department the book still manages to remain solid, make sense, and keep you interested in what new discoveries are going to be made next.

All in all, The Bat is quite a solid debut novel for Harry Hole, and if there is a greater focus on the story itself in the future entries, this series should be more than worth following.

As of now though, I highly recommend mystery genre fans check out The Bat… after all is said and done, it remains a solid and fulfilling experience.


Jo Nesbø (Author)

Jo Nesbo


Personal site

Jo Nesbo is a Norwegian musician and book writer who has gained a solid foothold in his native country, selling more than 1.5 million copies of his novels in Norway (9 million worldwide) and having them translated in more than 40 languages.

One of his more famous books is The Headhunters, on which a very successful 2011 film was based.

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