Cockroaches

by Jo Nesb©ı

Paper Book, 2014

Status

Available

Publication

New York : Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, A division of Random House LLC, 2014.

Description

Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ? In this installment of the New York Times bestselling series, Jo Nesbo sends Inspector Harry Hole to Thailand to investigate the murder of an ambassador. "Nesbø never lets a page go by without making characters and situations vivid."??Houston Chronicle ??I can??t think of anyone who makes my skin crawl like Nesbo."??The New York Times Book Review When the Norwegian ambassador to Thailand is found dead in a Bangkok brothel, Inspector Harry Hole is dispatched from Oslo to help hush up the case. But once he arrives Harry discovers that this case is about much more than one random murder. There is something else, something more pervasive, scrabbling around behind the scenes. Or, put another way, for every cockroach you see in your hotel room, there are hundreds behind the walls. Surrounded by round-the-clock traffic noise, Harry wanders the streets of Bangkok lined with go-go bars, temples, opium dens, and tourist traps, trying to piece together the story of the ambassador??s death even though no one asked him to, and no one wants him to??… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member TheCrow2
Harry Hole in Bangkok. He was sent there to investigate the bizarre death of the norwegian ambassador but he quickly realized that he was intended NOT to reveal the real motives behind the murder. The bureuocrats didn't count on just one thing, how stubborn the ex-alcoholic, burn-out Hole could
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be... Great!
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LibraryThing member Schatje
This is the second Harry Hole mystery, although it the last one to be translated into English.

Harry is sent to Bangkok after the Norwegian ambassador is murdered in a motel. He is told to fend off any possible scandal while investigating. Really, he is expected to complete a cursory investigation,
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but this is not Harry’s modus operandi. As he uncovers secrets which might be damaging to the reputation of Norwegian politicians and bureaucrats, he exasperates his superiors but persists nonetheless.

Harry is a flawed detective with inner demons. He is an alcoholic who somehow manages to remain sober while conducting a murder investigation. He is generally intelligent and astute, but during this case, makes a terrible mistake. He himself admits, “he’d behaved like an amateur” (351). This is not typical Harry behaviour as found in later books in the series; perhaps it can be attributed to the fact that this was only the second of Nesbo’s forays into detective fiction.

Harry works closely with Liz Crumley, a Thai-American homicide inspector. She is a character I wish Nesbo had included in other books. Her blunt take-no-prisoners attitude is refreshing, especially when contrasted with the bureaucrats who keep information from Harry.

This novel would certainly not serve as a positive advertisement for Thailand. The focus is on the seediness and corruption found in the country, complete with gangsters, loan sharks, drug dealers, prostitutes, and paedophiles.

I love the Harry Hole mysteries; I must admit, however, that this is not the best of the series. I much prefer the ones that are set in Norway.
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LibraryThing member karieh
With “Cockroaches”, I have now read all of the Harry Hole novels. As compelling as they have been, the experience is a bit like watching a horrible wreck happen in slow motion. You can see what’s coming and you don’t want it to happen – and there is nothing you can do to prevent it –
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but you cannot turn away.

Harry Hole is one of the most deeply flawed main characters I’ve ever read about. His compulsion, his need to not only protect and save those few people that are close to him but to protect and save all innocent people, then feeds into his addiction to self-destruction. Every time he loses someone, he takes the loss in, surrounds himself with the grief and darkness, and tries to become lost himself.

“Responsibility. If there was one thing he had tried to bury last year, it was responsibility. Whether it was for the living or the dead, himself or others. It only involved guilt and was never rewarded anyway.”

This case, which takes place in Thailand, has a different feel to it than the books set in Oslo. The heat takes the place of the bitter cold, and the passions and desires of the people are out in the open instead of being hidden and bottled up.

Still, it is a Harry Hole case – meaning that even when the killer is caught, even when some sort of official justice is done – Harry will take any failure, any loss inside himself until it consumes him – as it does again in “Cockroaches”.
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LibraryThing member ebyrne41
(4 stars, just) This is the second of ten titles (to date!) in the Harry Hole, but the last to be translated (originally published 1998, english translation 2013). Will there be an eleventh? I wouldn't bet against it, having heard Nesbo speak on a couple of occasions, I think the urge to revisit
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Harry will prove too powerful for him to ignore it.

This one is based in a very hot, humid and traffic-infested Bangkok, where Harry is dispatched to investigate the death of the Norwegian ambassador and long-time friend of the Norwegian President, found dead in a hotel room with a knife in his back. There are those who want this case wrapped up and hushed up quickly, and discovery, or rather revelation, of the truth of what took place also not a priority for those same people. Scandal has to be avoided and part of Harry's job is to ensure there is none. Harry of course is not so inclined to pay such scant regard to uncovering the truth when he investigates, which makes for a certain tension between him and his superiors. It turns out too that the Ambassador and his family have their secrets, and getting to the bottom of those secrets becomes necessary for Harry and the half-American Thai police captain Liz in order to solve the case and discover the killer. But getting to the bottom of the case is not easy; Harry relationship with alcohol is not a good one, something his superiors are aware of and which might have been a significant factor in his being sent to Bangkok in the first place. Plus, danger lurks in the form of the killer and a big and dangerous Chinese individual. Bangkok and all its seediness would appear a natural enough setting for Harry who seems to be in his element there as he mixes with the locals, the underworld and the Norwegian expat community.

Having now read all of the series, I can say that this second is a definite step up from the first in the series (The Bat), which is the one I liked the least. This has a much better plotline, while Hole's character is much more developed and interesting as a result. But wait!, they get even better with the third in the series, 'Redbreast', capably followed by 'Nemesis' and 'The Devil's Star'.
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LibraryThing member bfister
The second novel in the Harry Hole series has just come out in the United States. The series began with foreign settings, with The Bat taking Harry to Australia and Cockroches taking place in Thailand.

The Norwegian ambassador has been found dead in a seedy hotel where prostitutes meet johns for
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business. Harry is sent to provide assistance, investigating the case with a brash, Amazonian inspector who is bald and nearly as tall as he is. They both realize soon enough that, as scandalous as the circumstances are, it’s not nearly as grimy as the reality that is being covered up.

“He saw something move in the gloom, on the sink, a couple of antennae swinging to and fro. A cockroach. It was the size of a thumb and had an orange stripe on its back. He had never seen one like this before, but that was perhaps not so peculiar – he had read that there were more than three thousand different types of cockroach. He had also read that they hide when they hear the vibrations of someonoe approaching and that for every cockroach you can see there are at least ten hiding. That meant they were everywhere.”

The corruption Harry senses hiding behind the surface is not just in Thailand, but also at home in Norway, where nothing is quite as it seems.

I enjoyed reading this book quite a bit more than I’ve enjoyed recent entries in the series. Harry (though he is struggling to stay sober) seems more light-hearted, less heroic, more spontaneous in his approach to investigations. The plot twists and turns, but without the elaborate mechanics of later entries in the series and I never felt manipulated. Thailand is wonderfully evoked, and the characters pop off the page. It’s also not quite the doorstop later books have become. All in all, I’m happy to have read this early entry in the series and am happy to get reacquainted with the entertaining detective whose company I enjoyed so much.
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LibraryThing member Makis
The Norwegian ambassador for Thailand has been found in a brothel with a knife sticking from his back. No clues, no motives and a potentially very awkard situation for the politicians back home. Hole is sent to investigate with strict orders to keep the case out of publicity. With the help of some
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Thai police he unravels a lot more than anyone bargained for.

I wasn't too impressed with the first Harry Hole book by Jo Nesbøs (Flaggermusmannen). But this second book is much better and it is much easier to see why he is such a popular author. The first book had hints about it but this improved on them while getting rid of some of the weaknesses. Even though he did still spend a lot of time explaining all sorts of trivia, it somehow felt less forced or artificially added.

The biggest improvement, however, was simply structure. Whereas the first book felt like a tourist trip with a theme this was much more like a detective story. Even the way Nesbø took the reader along blind-siding and tricking him was much better.

The only problem I had with the book was that it was hard to keep track of some of the characters so I ended up going back checking who is who. Especially the Thai policemen felt lacking in personality, except for the one that wasn't really a Thai.
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LibraryThing member nbmars
This is the second novel in the Harry Hole series, but it appeared in English translation in the United States only after Nesbo ended the series. No matter. Fans of Harry Hole always appreciate more.

As this story begins, the Norwegian ambassador has been found dead in a brothel in Bangkok,
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Thailand. Harry is sent to investigate. As Harry tries to get to the bottom of what happened, he also struggles with the temptations of alcohol.

Nesbo excels at making us feel the atmosphere in Bangkok, but there is no sacrifice of suspense in the process. The plot is complex, with many hidden layers. Analogously, Harry muses about cockroaches:

…he had read that there were more than three thousand different types of cockroach. He had also read that they hide when they hear the vibrations of someone approaching and that for every cockroach you can see there are at least ten hiding.”

Harry tries to stay detached from the case, but of course he can’t, no more than he can cope with the ensuing need to blot the darkness from his consciousness.

Evaluation: It is always risky to evaluate a writer’s technique from a translation. However, it seems that Nesbo had not quite yet mastered his craft when he finished Cockroaches. Sometimes the plot borders on the confusing rather than the merely complex. Nevertheless, we can see in this book that the author has great potential. In particular, Nesbo is able to conceive of truly terrifying situations in which a hero might find himself, and truly horrible things that evil people might do to others. Fans of Harry Hole will appreciate this opportunity to rejoin Harry in the early days of his detective career.

(JAB)
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LibraryThing member jerhogan
This stands up to the rest of the Harry Hole series with the exciting scrapes Harry gets into and the ingenious way he gets out of them.
LibraryThing member michigantrumpet
This is the second of Nesbo's Harry Hole series, but only recently has been translated and released in English. I've been reading the series completely out of order as they become available at the local library, so this hasn't proved a difficult transition for me.

Coming off his earlier triumph as
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played out in The Bat, Hole has been recruited to Thailand to investigate the murder of a top Swedish diplomat in a seedy Bangkok hotel room. Political repercussions abound and the powers-that-be want this resolved as quickly as possible. They certainly don't want Hole to investigate too far into Bangkok's seamier underworld. Unfortunately, he and his Thai associates aren't being given the full story..

An engaging and quick read. Descriptions of Thailand are atmospheric and provide an exotic sense of place. One gets a real sense of Nesbo's growth as a writer in comparing this earlier work with those later in the series. I continue to be tickled to the phonetic connection between Hole's superior, Bjarne Moller and 70's TV icon, Barney Miller.
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LibraryThing member Xleptodactylous
Harry Hole is once again sent to another country to work on a case that involves a Norwegian: this time it's the Norwegian Ambassador to Thailand in Bangkok. There he meets the widow and daughter of the ambassador and a whole lot more Norwegians to boot; it seems the place is crawling with them.
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Alongside intrigue and trying to avoid political scandal, Harry once again fights against alcohol and people who just won't tell the truth.


The Harry Hole series is full of very quick reads that are exactly what one wants from a thriller and crime novel: murder, intrigue, lies and deceit and a detective who is slightly unhinged and intriguing themselves. Whilst it's fairly formulaic, if you're looking for that then that's great. There's not much different with these books (though I've only read the first two) but with average expectations you'd do worse elsewhere.
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LibraryThing member Twink
I've been a fan of Norwegian author Jo Nesbo's Detective Harry Hole series from the first North American release. But, sometimes, the order of publication in North America does not match the original release/writing date.

Last year saw the N.A. release of the first book The Bat. It was great to
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read the first book and discover the 'origins' of Harry. (my review) And the second Harry Hole book, Cockroaches, is newly released.

The Norwegian ambassador in Thailand has been found dead in a known brothel. It's definitely murder, but that won't play well in the papers. Just back from his surprising success in helping the Aussies solve a case, Harry finds himself volunteered to head to Thailand to help the local force close the case.

Fans of Nesbo know what a conflicted soul Harry is. It's revealing to read the first books in this series and see the origins of the character as Nesbo fleshes him out. As well, there are glimpses into Harry's life that help to explain his addictive and self destructive tendencies.

But, Harry's sense of justice and unerring desire to ferret out the truth seems to override everything else - often to his own detriment. What the higher ups want is this embarrassing event quietly put to bed. That's not what Harry wants.

Nesbo paints a disturbing portrait of Thailand with his settings and characters. Nesbo inserts social commentary into his books that is always thought provoking. In Cockroaches, it's hard to find a player who isn't corrupt or has nothing to hide.

Nesbo's writing keeps the reader feeling unsettled and unsure of what will happen next. I hate predictable plots and Nesbo kept me guessing. (He usually does)

I've read some negative reviews of these earlier books. I think it's important to remember that the character is still evolving in these first books. Speaking for myself, (and having enjoyed all of the later Hole books), I've really enjoyed these early glimpses into a crime series I really enjoy. Definitely recommended.
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LibraryThing member bookczuk
The English reading world was introduced to Harry Hole in the middle of things which, if you think about it, is often how we meet people in actual life. We're more likely to pop in and out of lives, filling in the the missing details and background as we go along. It is only with a small, select
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group, that we know them from start to finish.

With The Bat, we met Harry, already fully-formed and fully-broken, only to break again. In cockroaches the "newest" Hole to be published in English, but in actuality, the second in the series, we travel with Harry to Bangkok, where he is sent to investigate the irregular death (aka murder) of the Norwegian ambassador. It's a gritty, duplicitous, deceptive world and slice of society where Harry does what Harry does best: follows his gut, sometimes stumbling and usually pissing off the wrong people. But, for those of us who love Nesbo's series, getting this backstory, was grand. Even if you haven't read others in this series (which primarily come after this one), this is a good psychological thriller with which to jump on the Hole bandwagon.

It's no wonder I really dislike cockroaches, dirty little buggers, every one.
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LibraryThing member tangledthread
This is the first Harry Hole crime story that I've read and I'll be back for more. In this one, Harry travels to Bangkok and the behest of politicians who want him to investigate the murder of a diplomat. But in doing so, he is not to "stir things up".
Well, of course things get stirred up. There
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are twists, turns, and plenty of red herrings to keep the reader engaged. Not to mention the violent fight scene at the end that makes Harry seem almost super human as the reader cheers him on.

Great suspense for summer reading. Must go back and read the first in the series to fill in the holes (pun intended).
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LibraryThing member icolford
Cockroaches is the second of Norwegian author Jo Nesbø's Harry Hole (pronounced "Ho-leh") crime series, which now number ten. This novel was published in 1998 but is the last to be made available in English translation. Harry Hole will be a familiar type to anyone who reads crime fiction: a
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relatively young detective (30-something in this novel) fighting booze and depression and nursing a grievance, whose abrasive style and bullish insistence on uncovering the truth at any cost pisses off his colleagues and supervisors, who nonetheless value and acknowledge (if somewhat grudgingly) his prodigious sleuthing skills. But even in this early work Nesbø infuses Hole with depth and individuality sufficient to make him a compelling protagonist. In Cockroaches Hole is fresh off a harrowing case that concluded in Australia, and fresh off the wagon as well. When the Norwegian ambassador in Thailand turns up dead in a grimy hotel room Hole is summoned to Bangkok to get to the bottom of what happened. In the seamy and steamy Thai capital he encounters a sexually permissive culture and plenty of people seeking gratification in ways that fall just short of illegal. The murder of the ambassador appears to have a sexual element. But in this novel very little is as it initially seems, and despite threats and misgivings and numerous violent encounters Hole allows his instincts to lead him down one dangerous path after another until he has the murderer cornered and desperate. The plot is convoluted and the ending a bit overwrought, and it's possible English readers will have difficulty with the mix of Thai and Norwegian names. But Cockroaches is still an absorbing noir thriller that will have you at the edge of your seat more often than not.
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LibraryThing member polarbear123
These first two books are about nesbo finding his feet and style. It's almost here in this second book, Hole is starting to become the jaded super sleuth of the later novels. A quick read and lots of fun.
LibraryThing member 66usma
I have to admit for the first 2/3 of the book that the book seemed to aimlessly wonder, but I thought that the final1/3 with Hole's solution to the murders was excellent, particularly with the belt clue(?). I normally prefer different subjects and characters , rather than recurring character books,
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but I do enjoy Jo Nesbo, although this was not one of his best.
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LibraryThing member piemouth
Good mystery; a complicated plot with a lot of interesting characters. I'll be reading more of his mysteries.
LibraryThing member ffortsa
Harry Hole is once again off the leach, this time in Bangkok to resolve the murder of an ambassador, preferably without any fuss. Well, we know that won't happen.

Nesbo renders a special texture for Bangkok that feels real, right down to the traffic an air pollution, the varieties of ex-pats and why
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they stay, the inevitable sex traffic (it is Bangkok, after all). And the case twists among these threads admirably.
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LibraryThing member jan.fleming
Harry is on a special mission

Detective Harry Hole arrives in a steaming hot Bangkok. The Norwegian ambassador has been found dead in a seedy motel room, and Harry has been sent to investigate. It's clear that the Ambassador's family are hiding some secrets of their own, but few people are willing
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to talk.

He needs to solve a crime and avoid a scandal

When Harry lays hands on some incriminating CCTV footage, things only get more complicated. The man who gave him the tape goes missing, and Harry realises that failing to solve a murder case is by no means the only danger that faces the unwary.

But in an unfamiliar city, who can you trust?

A great pre "Oslo Sequence" Harry Hole adventure in a steamy, sweaty Bangkok...

"He felt like he has entered a bathroom and someone had turned on a scalding hot shower. He knew the secret to tackling high humidity was to ignore it. Let the sweat pour down you and think of something else. The light was worse. It pierced the cheap dark plastic glasses through to his shiny alcoholic eyes, and cranked up the headache that until then had only been rumbling in his temples.
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LibraryThing member Y2Ash
Finally, the second Harry Hole novel has been translated into English! In Cockroaches, Harry Hole is sent to Thailand to investigate the murder of the Norwegian ambassador in a brothel. Of course, this a Harry Hole mystery and the investigation of a murder segues into a believable investigation
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into a child pornography ring.

The title Cockroaches comes from the adage that for every cockroach you see, there are hundreds hidden behind the way. That's how this mystery played out; for every bad guy there is; there were a hundred hidden.

I was not as frustrated with Harry in this book. He kept on the straight and narrow for the majority of this novel and I was proud of him. He was haunted by Brigitta's death and his sister's rape. The reason Harry can break open these Russian doll-type cases because of his fierce determination and resilence. He's a dog with a bone and he never lets go.

I am so happy that I am not up to date with the Harry Hole series. Now I can continue reading them in order and be spared the confusion.
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LibraryThing member drewsof
A terrifically well-executed mystery, dropping our chilly Nordic detective into another locale halfway 'round the world that strikes him as utterly foreign - and as a result, we get to watch him grow 'out of his element', as it were. Perhaps it's good to read these novels after the rest of the
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series - having established what Harry is like at home before we see him take off for parts more exotic. And yet, there's a sense of history in these stories - a slight release of tension because we know what will go on to happen to Harry. The stakes, high as they might get, are always hobbled.

More TK at RB:
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LibraryThing member Ma_Washigeri
Timed this one right. Snow and cold here to contrast with the heat in Bangkok. Another tangled web of a plot. Have another part of a star for an engaging lot of characters. Glad I kept some notes of who was who as there were quite a lot of them!
LibraryThing member decaturmamaof2
Interesting but not by far as thrilling / twisted as Nesbo's later work.
LibraryThing member PhilipJHunt
I guess I'll eventually get to read all the Harry Hole (Hur-ler) detective novels. This is my 4th so far. A crackingly complex plot with plenty of hints along the way to keep us guessing. And a Holmes-style reveal towards the end. Too much violence and gore for my personal tastes - otherwise
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probably an extra star.
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LibraryThing member dougcornelius
A mash up of a Norwegian police detective in Bangkok. It works well most of the time as the story takes you through the twists and turns of who did what.

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