blame the characters, not Nesbø - they clearly drove the story forward, in a fabric, and to a neatly folded, solved fabric. And all these characters with their drive the story to a very dark soup. Everyone, even with the most polished and shiny public face has a dark side and their secrets. A lot of interesting characters, and everyone's suspicious. The same type of characters in the police force (a chief who's not exactly agreeing with Harry is a recurrent theme in the series), the same amount of twists and turns. Imagine Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch, make him more noir and to get his bottle easier and place him in Norway. Oslo and exotic Norway (and a bit of Hong Kong and Congo), how much more exotic or Nordic can you get? Harry is noir. This one would work great outside the series too, but it is much more enjoyable if you read the HH books in order. Nesbø's Harry Hole books should come with at least two warnings on them Never start to read one if you need a full night of sleep (you will be up until way too late because the story is just too addictive), and never start to read one if you don't have at least one more Harry Hole, ideally in chronological order lined up waiting for you next, since you'll probably be going on Harry Hole binge. There is always another nut job serial killer out there and who else can find them? And you know Rakel and Oleg need you. Now you have faded in the sunset again back into your squalid corner of the world. Nothing is ever straight forward in you life is it Harry? You dodge department infighting, avalanches, and trial by fire, volcanoes, bullets and the bite of a very bad apple. You put together the clues peel back the layers to find the killer only to have more twist and surprises placed in your path. You have got to stop messing with the H Harry it makes you vulnerable. You don't give a toss what your colleagues think of you or whether your boss throws you in jail. How many could Norway have and why are their killings so over the top gruesome? What ever happened to just shooting them. Then this woman Kaja from Oslo Crime Squad shows up at you doorstep, pays your gambling debt and convinces you to come back to Oslo and chase down yet another Norwegian serial killer. The good life for someone who has given up on life. Just smack, glass noodles and gambling on losing horses. You moved to Hong Kong where you graduated at the top of your class from Jim Beam to heroin. You quit Crime Squad for good, sulking from the trauma and devastation in your life caused chasing down that twisted Snowman.

Last time I heard from you, you lost the woman you loved, her son who called you Dad and your middle finger.

The leopard nesbo