Harry Hole, the Oslo cop with the unforgettable name, is back in Jo Nesbo's gripping Nemesis . In this sequel to the best-selling Redbreast, Harry is involved in the investigation of a bank robbery gone bad, the teller shot at point-blank range for the apparently unpardonable error of handing the money over mere seconds past the one-minute deadline given by the robber. While Harry's significant other, Rakel, is away in Moscow, he agrees to meet an old flame for dinner. It will be casual, he thinks, no problem. As it turns out, a rather serious problem is in the offing. Next morning, Harry has a splitting headache, and no clear memory of the previous evening. Next day, he is called to a death scene, where he is dumbfounded to discover that his date of the previous evening is dead of a gunshot wound to the head. Although early indications are that it is a suicide, that doesn't ring true for Harry. Still, he cannot give her death the attention it deserves, since the bank robbers' escapades are becoming both more frequent and more violent. Then further investigation into the supposed suicide leads the police to suspect foul play; Harry finds himself the prime suspect. It will be a race against time to find the killer before Harry is put away for a murder he did not commit, or rather, a murder he's pretty sure he didn't commit, given the lapse in his memory. High tension, lightning pace, a flawed but ultimately sympathetic protagonist: Nemesis has it all. Copyright 2009 BookPage Reviews.

Norwegian Detective Harry Hole (introduced in Redbreast) has managed to drag himself out of his alcoholic stupor in time to save his relationship with girlfriend Rachel and his fellow cops. He's gotten sober just in time: first, a cashier is killed in a bank robbery, but Harry is sure it was an intended murder; then, he has dinner with an old flame only to black out and wake up the next morning to the news of her death. With the help of Beate Lonn, a new officer in robbery with a gift for recognizing faces, he runs his own investigations, tracing leads all the way to Brazil and Egypt. Nesb offers up another top-notch mystery thriller, thickly layered, perfectly plotted, and briskly paced to keep readers hooked. With ties to events in Redbreast, this is an excellent sequel, but it doesn't stand well on its own. Recommended for all fiction collections and essential for Scandinavian crime lovers. [This is actually the third in the series; the second, The Devil's Star, has not yet been published here.—Ed.]—Jessica E. Moyer, Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis

When a bank teller is shot during a holdup at the start of Norwegian bestseller Nesb's beautifully executed heist drama, Oslo Insp. Harry Hole investigates, along with Beate Lnn, a young detective with the ability to remember every face she's ever seen. Meanwhile, Harry receives a call from Anna Bethsen, a woman he hasn't seen in years. After he meets Anna, recovering alcoholic Harry awakens the next morning with a hangover and the news that Anna is dead, apparently by her own hand. While Harry quietly looks into Anna's death, he and Beate uncover ties in their bank robbery case to one of Norway's most notorious bank robbers, who's currently in prison. The deeper Harry digs, the clearer it becomes that Anna's death is linked to the robbery. Expertly weaving plot lines from Hole's last outing to feature the inspector, The Redbreast (2007), Nesb delivers a lush crime saga that will leave U.S. readers clamoring for the next installment. (Jan.)