The Bat (Harry Hole, #1)
Author: Jo Nesbø
Rating: â 3/5
Date Read: 2014/05/22
Pages: 369
[a:Jo Nesbø|904719|Jo Nesbø|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1313316680p2/904719.jpg] is known for his critically acclaimed, masterfully crafted series of mystery novels centered around alcoholic detective Harry Hole. The Bat, the first of the Hole books, is not quite so well known, nor is it masterfully crafted. In translating his work into English, it seems that his publishers may have tried to sweep the first two books in the series under the rug. Clearly, Nesbø didnât make a splash with a dazzling literary debut. The Bat feels as if it has been written by an author still in the shallow end of the pool, inching in slowly. If thereâs any genius in this book, I canât see it.
I knew this all going in, of course. But I am somewhat meticulous in my reading, and I cannot abide beginning a story in the middle. So, I started here. The Bat follows Norwegian detective Harry Hole (pronounced somewhat like Holy) to Sydney, Australia, where a young Norwegian woman has been murdered. Investigations ensue, with an interesting supporting cast: an Aboriginal officer, Andrew, an ostentatious transvestite, Otto, and (naturally) a seductive Swede, Birgitta.
The âfish out of waterâ setup didnât work well for me: thereâs something disingenuous about hearing the plight of indigenous Australians coming from a Norwegian. Thatâs not to say that outsiders canât have opinions, I just never got the idea that Nesbø was particularly invested in Australia. Tellingly, the next novel, set in Thailand, was the last to be translated. My guess is that middling mystery novels written by Norwegians but set abroad are a hard sell.
Anyway, this doesnât sound like a particularly positive review, and I guess itâs not. But I do plan on reading the rest of the books in the series, and I look forward to the third, which is supposed to be exceptional.
