“Cockroaches” by Jo Nesbo – Thai Mayhem

Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo, despite being published very recently, is advertised as actually being the second novel in the series, speaking in terms of the order in which events occur. I was worried that this sudden jump back in time would work against Nesbo and throw some chaos into his timeline.

However, to my surprise and relief this book felt more like an episode isolated from the rest of Nesbo’s adventures, giving this book the ability to stand on its own, even if Harry Hole hadn't become a renowned name in criminal literature.

In any case, to give a brief overview of the plot itself as is always the case, here goes nothing. Harry Hole is living his life as usual in Oslo, when suddenly the Norwegian ambassador to Thailand is found dead in a brothel in Bangkok.

In hopes that he will be too drunk and out of his element to actually put the pieces together, Hole’s superiors send him all the way to Thailand to tie up the investigation nicely and neatly.

Though Hole may have been thrown to the wolves, he understands that there is much more than meets the eye with seemingly random death, and that beneath the filthy and grizzly underbelly of Bangkok, somewhere the truth is covered in heaps of dirt and blood… and it goes without saying that many people are opposed to him digging through it.

Though Cockroaches may be a bit more of an episode in Hole’s career, it certainly reads and feels like any other novel in the series. Of course, it still manages to maintain certain noticeable unique aspects, with the first one being the setting.

Though this novel probably doesn’t do Thailand’s good side any justice, it does go out of its way to paint a dirty, cruel, filthy and slimy Thailand underworld, one where pleasure is the ultimate goal, no matter what means are used to achieve it.

Whether it is truly like that I do not know for I haven’t visited Thailand, but it certainly makes for a dangerous and exciting place to lead the investigation.

The characters themselves are also quite often a reflection of their world, with there being very few redeeming humans to speak of. We have the opportunity to get rather well-acquainted with the important ones, and chances are that they will leave an impression on you.

The mystery itself is developed at a rapid and brutal pace, throwing danger as well as vital clues Hole’s way more often than not. The build-up to the climax is something which, in my opinion, was done masterfully, with tensions mounting to unbearable heights and giving the reader the impression that we are moving further and further away from the world of humans, and closer to that of violence, chaos, power and pleasure.

The story isn’t all action though, as business is mixed with pleasure; there are plenty of passages which explore Hole’s life, inner demons, and relationship with his closed ones.

All in all, Cockroaches is an exciting and interesting novel in the Hole series which doesn’t ruin the series’ timeline despite being published just now. It is full of intensity, violence, morbidity, breathtaking descriptions, and takes you on a journey through a very specific kind of hell, one where life is dirt cheap.

I definitely recommend it to Nesbo fans and anyone looking for a gritty detective story with a bit more naturalism to it.

---

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.