Nemesis-Jo Nesbo

Grainy closed-circuit television footage shows a man walking into an Oslo bank and putting a gun to a cashier's head. He tells the young woman to count to twenty-five. When the robber doesn't get his money in time, the cashier is executed, and two million Norwegian kroner disappear without a trace. Police Detective Harry Hole is assigned to the case.

While Hole's girlfriend is away in Russia, an old flame decides to get in touch. Former girlfriend and struggling artist Anna Bethsen invites Hole to dinner, and he can't resist a visit. But the evening ends in an all too familiar way as Hole awakens with a thundering headache, a missing cell phone, and no memory of the past twelve hours. That same morning, Anna is found shot dead in her bed. Hole begins to receive threatening e-mails. Is someone trying to frame him for this unexplained death? Meanwhile, the bank robberies continue with unparalleled savagery.

As the death toll continues to mount, Hole becomes a prime suspect in a criminal investigation led by his longtime adversary Tom Waaler and Waaler's vigilante police force. Racing from the cool, autumnal streets of Oslo to the steaming villages of Brazil, Hole is determined to absolve himself of suspicion by uncovering all the information needed to crack both cases. But the ever-threatening Waaler is not finished with his old archenemy quite yet. (from Goodreads.com)

After I was hooked on Harry Hole series, I couldn't put this book down. It's even better than the first one. 

Three different stories, no one seems to see the connection. Twists around every corner. With every single page it makes you ask yourself what is going to happen next. The story with the gypsies from the Balkans is very well plotted. The robberies, the death of the former girlfriend, the gypsies , the author made an excellent connection. 

The title, "Nemesis", means revenge. Symbolic title.  In Anna's place there is an artistic piece, a statue named "Nemesis".

Who is revenging to who?

My opinion 5/5

The Redbreast-Jo Nesbo

1944: Daniel, a soldier, legendary among the Norwegians fighting the advance of Bolshevism on the Russian front, is killed. Two years later, a wounded soldier wakes up in a Vienna hospital. He becomes involved with a young nurse, the consequences of which will ripple forward to the turn of the next century.

1999: Harry Hole, alone again after having caused an embarrassment in the line of duty, has been promoted to inspector and is lumbered with surveillance duties. He is assigned the task of monitoring neo-Nazi activities; fairly mundane until a report of a rare and unusual gun being fired sparks his interest. Ellen Gjelten, his partner, makes a startling discovery. Then a former soldier is found with his throat cut. In a quest that takes him to South Africa and Vienna, Harry finds himself perpetually one step behind the killer. He will be both winner and loser by the novel’s nail-biting conclusion. (from Goodreads.com)


This is the very first book I read from Jo Nesbo, but since I read it, I bought them all. It's actually the third book from these series, but first one translated in english. The main antihero, Harry Hole, is very good presented. Single, alcoholic, sometimes drug user, but excellent in in his work : solving the crimes. 


When you read the first story, settled in 1944, you might think it's a love story. No,no. It's far away from a love story. The second story, the one in 1999, is a thriller so twisted so you won't put down the book until you finish with reading. This story has it all, crimes, well-plotted characters, twists around every corner. Every single page makes you asking yourself "Did they catch the bad guy this time?". 


And about the name, it's "hu-ul" , or "HEU-leh" in Norwegian, not "ho-ol". I read this book in serbian, it was pronounced well, so I didn't see the problem until I saw the comments on internet on reviews written in english.


My opinion: 4,5/5

The Whisperer-Donato Carrisi

This is the book that totally freaked me out. I was reading at 2.00 AM and  went to check if my front door was locked.

Six arms. Buried in the meadow. The arms belong to six little girls.Are the girls dead or alive? Where are the missing girls?
The criminologist Goran Gavila works on the case. Another member of the team is Mila Vasquez . Both, usually work alone. But now, they have to work as a team.
Goran Gavila has skeletons in the closet. He is a single parent to a boy since his wife left. He cannot understand why she left her own son.
Mila Vasquez has skeletons on her own. She was kidnapped as a child. She knows exactly what the missing girls are going through.
Five bodies are discovered, one after another. But there is no sixth body. Where is the sixth missing girl?
In the prison there is a new prisoner. He cleans after him so well, so there is no his DNA at all. No one knows who he is. No name, no fingerprints, no DNA. Nothing. His profile is sent to Goran Davila.

I loved this book. It turned me upside-down. There were so many twists, I couldn't put it down all night. Finished for one night (almost 600 pages). There were creepy moment that freaked me out (Is my front door locked?). There is very good psychological background in this story.

My opinion : 5 / 5

The Indian Bride-Karin Fossum

The very first time when I saw the title, I thought: oh, another book about India. 

Next thing I noticed: inspector Sejer mystery. 

Yesss... thriller: crime and mystery,my favorite. 

I thought: this is one of the inspector's cases. But I was wrong. My whole first impression was wrong. 

The plot is placed in Norway. Gunder Jomann was shy man in his early fifties. Living whole life with his mother and sister. His sister Maria gives him a present, book about all nations in the world.He is impressed by the image of an Indian woman and goes all over to India to find a wife who looks like that photograph. He buys a gift for his future bride, a nice piece of norwegian jewelry. There he meets Poona, they marry, he comes back to Norway, and she has to come two weeks after. The day when she arrives, Gunder's sister is injured in a car accident. He has to choose one of them: staying at the hospital with the sister, or going to the airport to wait the wife. He chooses the first. He sends a friend to go to get Poona, but he never finds her. Poona never arrives in her new home. 

In the small town where Gunder lives, the police discoveres a body of a woman. Her whole face is smashed. Her clothes are different then locals , she is probably from India or Pakistan. But, one thing is outstanding,a nice piece of norwegian jewelry on her clothes. 

Inspector Sejer has got the case. 

This book left me with couple of questions. The man who was arested, is he the real killer? Was there a conspiracy? Is there part two of this book? 

This was a creepy north story, but honestly, I was expecting more. 

My opinion:  3 / 5

Blood Royal-Harold Robbins

At the beginning, I thought, this is a story about princess Diana. While in real life, the princess divorced, in this story, she murdered the prince.

There are three stories in this book.

The first one is about princess of Wales,her childhood, her duties, her feelings.The whole story is based on Diana's real life. Being raised to be aristocrat, being raised to be a princess, not being able to show feelings in public. Accumulating her feelings, she finally snaps, resulting in murdering the husband.Not just any husband, but the Prince of England himself.

The second story is for her female american lawyer. Her life is similar to the one of the princess, with one big difference, this woman was born poor. She also murdered her husband.

The third story is for a serial killer. A tabloid journalist working on the story for the princess discovered a body in a church. The head was from a different body, and the ears were from a third body.

I didn't feel strong connection between all these stories. Of course, they are all connected at the end, but it didn't turn me upside-down. The connection was very poor. Also, it seems like the final story isn't finished at all. Is there part two?

I read that when Harold Robbins died, this book wasn't finished, so other authors did the job. Maybe, that's why this book isn't good enough like others from this author.

My opinion: 2/5

Queen Of The South-Arturo Perez-Reverte

The story starts from the end. The narrator is a journalist who writes a biography book for Teresa Mendoza, Queen of the south, or La reina del sur, the only woman among the narco-mafia in Southern Europe.

Teresa‘s story starts twelve years ago, in Mexico. She was a girlfriend of local narco diller, Guero Davilla, who was killed. They were after her too. She had to run to save her life.

Her childhood was really bad. Father, unknown. Mother, prostitute. Growing up in a bad neighborhood, raped when she was just a little girl, she was dealling drugs as a teenager. Until, one day, a very expensive dark car stopped next to her on the street, and Guero Davilla came into her life.

Teresa had a good life living as a girlfriend of a pilot who was smuggling drugs across the border. Until, one day, he was killed, and she had to run. She ran to Spain and there she met another local drug dealer, Santiago Fistera. She was living with him and started to help him with his work. Learning about boats and shipments, good with numbers, she was part of “the dynamic duo”. Until one day,they crashed into a rock during the running from the police. Santiago died, and Teresa was sent to prison.

In the cell, she met Patty. And, it’s a classic “Count of Monte Cristo” story. Patty is an ex-girlfriend of a drug dealer who had hidden half tone cocaine. After leaving the prison, they both took the cocaine hidden in a cave, and sold it to the russian mafia.

And the queen was born.

I liked the character of Teresa. Strong woman. Always standing on her feet. Being no one, becoming someone. There were moment when she had several different personalities, couple of other Teresas watching her from a different angle.

There were only three men into Teresa’s life. Guero, Santiago, and Teo. They were all liars and dealers, but in someway, they all loved her.

At the beginning, I liked the character of Patty, too. In prison, she loved reading books. I always adore people who love books. She was like Abbé Faria from “Count of Monte Cristo”. But, after that, she disappointed me.

This is a book for surviving. Book of international crime, drug dealing, corruption, smuggling. It is also book about love and friendship. Book about life.

My opinion: 4 / 5