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
