“Phantom” by Jo Nesbo – Innocence Lost

Phantom by Jo Nesbo (book cover)
It seems that there is no stopping Jo Nesbo, who has penned one Harry Hole after the next, encountering great success in the process of bringing to life one of modern literature’s most recognizable detectives.

 Phantom is yet another chapter in Harry Hole’s legacy, this time around being centered on the death of Gusto, a local junkie, and perhaps more importantly, the man who was accused of the murder: Oleg, a boy Harry helped to raise a while ago.

Being understandably dear to him, Harry sets out on a personal investigation to find out what truly happened to Gusto and who is to blame for it.

In the process, Harry is drawn into the macabre underground world of drugs, sex and violence which lurks beneath Oslo, going face to face with not only the most vile drug to hit the city’s streets, but also with numerous elements of his own past.

As has become quite usual with Harry Hole novels, the bulk of the story is focused on the plot itself, with any elements pertaining to character development being fluidly dispersed throughout the text, never encumbering the reader with more information than he or she can handle.

The characters themselves are quite interestingly developed, and Nesbo has conducted a rather delightful experiment by providing a narration of Gusto’s final moments, dispersed throughout the book.

We get to witness his last thoughts and actions before falling into the eternal sleep, making him much more relatable than the junkie victim he was first portrayed as. The more the story goes on, the more we start to care about whether or not the mystery is solved and Gusto’s killer is brought to justice.

Considering that the bulk of the story revolves around drugs in Oslo, their effects on the people who take them, the smuggling (etc…etc…), it is safe to say that Nesbo took a different approach to crime than he did in his previous novels.

Readers who aren’t really interested in this aspect of crime may find certain parts to be a bit tedious, but Nesbo is, after all, a very solid writer who can make drying paint seem exciting, at least for a little while.

Phantom by Jo Nesbo (book cover)
I have to admit that for the first time, it felt as if the author’s imagination surpassed Hole’s capabilities, with some of his exploits being a bit hard to believe. However, it is only a minor flaw, one you’ll surely forget about once you reach the rather surprising ending.

All in all, though some aspects of Phantom may not really please Harry Hole regulars, it remains a very solid murder mystery, one surely worth reading if you are a Nesbo fan.


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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