Wolf Hour

Shortly after I started to read this book there was a news alert that there had been a massacre of Jews at Bondi Beach in Sydney. Groups of people were meeting at the beach to celebrate the beginning of Hanuka, an eight day Jewish festival. Two men, a father and son, fired at the gathering on the beach from a small bridge and initially killed fifteen people with another forty admitted to hospital. Reading a novel which largely deals with the effects of uncontrolled gun crime in the USA therefore had a greater impact on me than it would have if I read it at another time.

Wolf Hour by Norwegian author Jo Nesbo and translated by Robert Ferguson is a crime novel primarily set in Minneapolis in October 2016 with some chapters set in September 2022 when a Norwegian author arrives to research the dramatic events that occurred in the city six years earlier. A man is shot by a hitman but the event receives little coverage in the news.  During the book there are a number of killings mainly revolving around past events  that occurred in the local crime world, involving gun related crime.

The story is told from different perspectives so the reader must concentrate to follow the initial chapters but it is soon easy to become immersed in the plot and the lives of some of the main characters. Homicide detective Bob Oz is a good but troubled detective with an aversion to guns. We gradually learn of his back-story as well as the back-stories of many of the characters he investigates. The second amendment features throughout the book as the targeted characters are involved in crime and gangland wars. The climax builds as a National Rifle Association conference is to be held in the city.

Jo Nesbo has written another gripping crime novel which also focuses on the stories behind the crimes being committed as well as their impact on the victims and their families. A major theme questions why the right to own a gun is such a feature of American culture. 

Killing Moon

Harry Hole had retreated to the United States where he attempts to forget the past by drinking himself into oblivion. But Harry cannot stay out of trouble and when a friend is captured by debt collectors he agrees to take on a job in Norway provided that there is enough money to pay his friend's ransom.

Harry is hired by a business tycoon to help police solve the crime for which the media is blaming him. Two girls who had recently attended the same party have disappeared and eventually are discovered, dead. Who is behind the killings and why? 

Killing Moon by Jo Nesbo is number 13 in the Harry Hole series. The story, as well as murder, includes addiction to drugs and alcohol, drug dealing, child molestation, sexual activities, friendship as ongoing themes. Different sections of the story are interwoven throughout the novel which also includes a series of red herrings to mislead the reader and numerous twists and turns that multiply towards the end of the book. It is indeed a great read and difficult to leave before finishing the novel.

Phantom

Phantom is the seventh book (published in English) in the Harry Hole crime series by Scandinavian author, Jo Nesbo and the first that I have read. It took me a little while to become involved in the story, primarily because of the many different voices used to tell the narrative, however once I had time to read a few chapters without interruption I found the book hard to put down.

Harry Hole has returned to Oslo from Asia when he learns that Rakel's son, Oleg, has been charged with murder. As Harry determines to discover the truth his investigations involve understanding the structure of the Oslo drug trade including its infiltration into the police force and city hall. Harry is a flawed and damaged character facing many demons from his past as well as the  dangers he encounters from those following him throughout his investigations. The book is about addiction - drugs and alcohol - but it is also about making choices and doing things because, rightly or wrongly, they are the right things to do.