The Snowman - Jo Nesbo

THE SNOWMAN

A Harry Hole novel

ISBN - 978-0-099-55174-4
FIRST PUBLISHED -  2010
PAGES - 550
GENRE - Crime/Thriller
BINDING - Paperback
SOURCE - my secret Santa :D

AUTHOR - Jo Nesbo

BEST-SELLERS - Headhunters, Phantom

SYNOPSIS - [From the back cover]

'SOON THE FIRST SNOW WILL COME.
 A young boy wakes to find his mother missing. Their house is empty but outside in the garden he sees his mother's favorite scarf - wrapped around the neck of a snowman.

AND THEN HE WILL APPEAR AGAIN.
As Harry Hole and his team begin their investigation, they discover that an alarming number of wives and mothers have gone missing over the years.

AND WHEN THE SNOW HAS GONE...
When a second woman disappears, it seems that Harry's worst suspicions are confirmed: for the first time in his career Harry finds himself confronted with a serial killer operating on his home turf.

...HE WILL HAVE TAKEN SOMEONE ELSE.'

Quotes - 

“Doubt is faith's shadow.”  

“Losing your life is not the worst thing that can happen. The worst thing is to lose your reason for living.” 

“It was the logic of retaliation that created the constitutional state. The enshrined promise of an eye for an eye, the sinner burning in hell or at least dangling for the gallows. Revenge is basically the foundation of civilization”  

“Everyone has a need to do penance. It’s a basic need, like washing. It’s about harmony, an absolutely essential inner balance. It’s the balance we call morality.”

FL Speak - First of all, if not for my Secret Santa, i don't think I'd have read this one any time soon. Although I've had read Jo Nesbo before, this is my first Harry Hole novel.

It all starts with the snow. As snow falls over Oslo, a woman goes missing from her house. Her scarf, carefully placed over the neck of a snowman on the porch. Harry Hole is immediately reminded of an anonymous letter he received months ago. As Harry forms his new team, a new police officer to the precinct joins him, Katrine Bratt.

When other wives and women goes missing, Harry and his start to look for patterns. It is clear by now that a serial killer is loose on the streets of Oslo. What he didn't count on was the fact that this killer is active all over Norway. As Harry peels layer after layer of carefully designed by the killer, the needle points to someone Harry didn't quite expect. Someone who is equally infamous. Someone who even Harry knows.

But Jo Nesbo is not known for writing a thriller which ends with the reader saying I-told-you-so. When another snowman appears, all clues goes for a toss as Harry realizes he has been played. Played by someone with knowledge and cunning. Played by someone who is invisibly guiding Harry. And that someone, is much closer to home. When the body of another famous police officer is discovered, Harry knows he has made a grave error. 

The next arrest simply blew me away. I was not expecting it, neither was Harry. But with 200 pages more to go, I realized this might not be the end of the case and I guessed right. Another pawn, another piece of the puzzle. As the snowman meticulously lay the foundation for a grand spectacle, Harry is jolted to the reality that his close friends might turn up to the next victim. It was a game. And it was personal.

I've no idea how to write a review for a crime thriller without dropping valuable hints. So I'll stop here. Regardless to say, this is what a thriller should be like. A ridiculous labyrinth of clues and false signals, a mastermind killer and a douchebag of a detective. 

Harry Hole is the complete package.

As the snow falls over Oslo, who will it be this time?

My Rating - 4/5 stars

PRICE - INR 350/-