Jo Nesbø is a super popular Norwegian writer. But I don’t much like Inspector Harry Hole, the lead character of his dark crime novels. An angry drunk much of the time.
At the start of The Redeemer (book #6), Harry is on the wagon. And even attends AA meetings.
Harry is both Oslo Crime Squad’s most brilliant detective, and its most frustrating. He struggles with authority
… the assassin – calling himself Stankić – arrives in Oslo and kills a Salvation Army officer, Robert Karlsen, during a Christmas street concert. Stankić has a facial anomaly known as hyperelasticity, wherein his facial muscles can be manipulated voluntarily to stop people from recognizing him. …
When a murder attempt is made on Robert’s brother Jon, it is believed that the Karlsen family is being attacked. …
From there it’s a long, complicated plot. Well written.
Still … I’m not a huge fan of this series. I’m only reading it because I’m back in Norway.
London Rules is 6th in the Slough House series — where the washed-up MI5 spies go to while away what’s left of their failed careers.
The “slow horses,” as they’re called, have all disgraced themselves in some way to get relegated here. If they can’t be fired for any reason, they are reassigned to work under Jackson Lamb.
Herron is a very funny writer. Most of the best lines are from Lamb who’s a bigoted, philistine, obese, spectacularly flatulent, alcoholic chain-smoker.
But smart. And loyal to his misfits.
Oscar-winning actor Gary Oldman plays Lamb in the TV series.
In this book — the weakest in the series, so far — the head of MI5 is trying to protect the prime minister.
Politicians are corrupt and much mocked.
Over at Slough House, somebody wants to kill their tech geek, Roddy Ho. Nobody can imagine why.
The new book is also set specifically after the EU referendum.
Its antagonist, Dennis Gimball, is the UK’s leading Eurosceptic MP, with a wife who writes a tabloid column.
As in earlier books, which featured a floppy-fringed bicycling Westminster populist, Herron adeptly negotiates the rules of satire and the laws of libel to create fictional public figures who simultaneously hit more than one real-life bullseye.
During a series of terrorist attacks on Britain, Slough House detects a threat to Gimball, making the reader wonder whether the espionage rejects are capable of saving the politician and, frankly, whether we want them to. …
Two birthdays were celebrated. AJ and one of his original business partners from Munich in AJ’s Fitness. This is Bettina, a classy lady. She and her husband are an impressive couple.
The guests were friends from the fitness studio — as well as friends and family from North America. AJ’s husband Darin is originally from Reno. (A very funny guy. Constantly entertaining. They’ve been together for 31 years.)
Saturday afternoon was a pool party. I skipped it fearing all large bodies of water. 😀
Saturday night was the BIG party at a huge, exclusive villa.
I slept on the upstairs patio couch.
You’d be correct in ASSuming that a smelly backpacker was out of place in a mansion this impressive. 😀
Birthday presentations.
I was happy and honoured to be able to attend.
I do love southern Spain, too. If forced to live amongst the chain smoking Europeans, it would be in Andalusia.
Having run out of books in Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme series, I resorted to trying one of his stand alone novels.
Very good.
When a night-time call to 911 from a secluded Wisconsin vacation house is cut short, offduty deputy Brynn McKenzie leaves her husband and son at the dinner table and drives up to Lake Mondac to investigate. Was it a misdial or an aborted crime report?
Brynn stumbles onto a scene of true horror and narrowly escapes from two professional criminals. She and a terrified visitor to the weekend house, Michelle, flee into the woods in a race for their lives. …
Rick McCharles 