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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
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,
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.
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”.
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'.
The Norwegian ambassador has been found dead in a seedy hotel where prostitutes meet johns for
“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.
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.
As this story begins, the Norwegian ambassador has been found dead in a brothel in Bangkok,
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)
Coming off his earlier triumph as
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.
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.
Last year saw the N.A. release of the first book The Bat. It was great to
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.
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.
Well, of course things get stirred up. There
Great suspense for summer reading. Must go back and read the first in the series to fill in the holes (pun intended).
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
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
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.
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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