No, after reading this, I am going to steer away from Jo Nesbo, the plot was wildly complicated and I love intellectual, cerebral reads, but this one was just chaotic and the deus ex machina left me cold. In addition, many of the characters name were very similar and this contributed to my frustration. I ended up looking the book up on Wikipedia for some clarity, but even that didn't really help. I was very, very disappointed and will ask Audible for a refund. I wasted 17 hours on this baby because I hate to give up a book, and I kept thinking that it would improve. But then, I also believed in weapons of mass destruction, so maybe the fault lies within!

No doubt something on the mystery lines again, but I will read the reviews more carefully this time. Many reviewers shared my nonplussed reaction.

The narrator was fine, the problem was the content of the storyline.

Having 2 characters with multiple personality disorder (and I am a psychologist so I am familiar with the disorder) was over the top. The book was also weighted down with so many subplots and characters who never re-appeared or plotlessness that vanished.

Yikes, run don't walk!

No I would not. it was too lengthy and kept jumping from one time period to another in short spurts ... I did not like that at all. It makes it really hard to listen and to the story line.. dragging. on.

Oh yes. LOVE the Snowman.

All of it. such a wonderful energy to his voice.

Nope.... its too long and dragging as it is ..

I tried twice to get into this book and couldn't so never finished it.

I have listened to all his books. Trying to get into the new Son but not like it either

Didn't like from the beginning

Intense, Brilliant, Nesbo

Harry Hole

Take your time. The plot twist and turns. There are flash backs which sometimes makes it difficult to follow the story line. I even went as far as to use a character chart to better understand the story line.

This is my first Jo Nesbo. Of course now I have to read more to find out how the subplot plays out. And yes, there is one. But mostly I enjoyed this one because it gave me a glimpse into a sidebar story of WWII that I had never paid any attention to. The fact that Norway surrendered to Germany and Norwegians ended up fighting in the German army in Russia. Made sense as Russia had always been a more obvious enemy for Norway, but the whole Nazi think complicated it of course. Anyway, definitely an entertaining story.

Yes- To anyone who likes murder mysteries and espionage, this is the best of both worlds.

Of course Harry Hole. He is just such a unpredictable predictable character. Gentle but raw; loving but also full of angst. He is great!

He has all of the nuances down to a science. Awesome narrator! I can't imagine anyone else doing quite the performance he does for these Nesbo stories.

A story of extreme love and harbored hatred

Yes, the way the book ended I know there has to be a story to follow. Are any of the books he has written a sequel to The Red Breast? I am blind so it is difficult for me to read through the summaries of some of his other books.I would just like to know as I am hooked and would like to follow the story.

I just couldn't get through this book. After a few hours I have to give it up. I bought it because of the great reviews and am really disappointed. I really like thrillers but this seems to be a slow moving WW2 story with confusing Norwegian characters mired in philosophical debates about Fascism and the Nazis. Did I read the reviews wrong?? In any case if you buy it be prepared to listen to a ponderous war story, NOT a current day thriller. There are flashes of a current thriller but in my reading so far there are only brief flashes.

I was curious to see how things would end, but it was frustrating. I liked the last fourth of the book. As things became clear, I was surprised. The overall plotting was excellent. But I have complaints.

1. As I read, I kept thinking of “The Day of The Jackal” by Frederick Forsyth. In both stories we watch an assassin plan and make arrangements to kill someone. We also watch cops try to learn who the assassin is and stop him.

In Jackal, I was fascinated and admired many smart things done by the assassin and other bad guys. In one case I was rooting for one of the bad guys who wanted to see his daughter. THEN I was fascinated and admired the many smart things done by the good guys. I was “wowed” by both sides. I smiled frequently and was surprised frequently by neat things and smart things being done. I sympathized with the bad guys who were idealists - fighting for what they believed in. But I did want the good guys to win.

In Redbreast the first 3/4 of the book was frustrating and depressing. The emphasis was powerful bad guys doing horrible things, and getting away with it. The good guys were helpless and manipulated. One good cop is murdered right after she learned something and then did stupid things. Harry also does a couple of stupid things, not questioning what he should. I want to root for a good guy while I follow his progress. Rooting for Harry is like rooting for the turtle in the race with the hare. He’s slow and doing nothing special or interesting. Harry is also like a ball bouncing around on the water, accidentally learning things once in a while.

2. A major bad guy was not caught. At the end, Harry asks his boss for time to look into that. His boss says you have two months. Then the book is over. I was angry. It was unfinished. If catching this bad guy is the sequel, then I suppose it’s ok, but I can’t help how I felt when this book finished - negative. I’d prefer catching both bad guys now and do a sequel about something else.

3. I don’t like jumping around. There were two main stories. One from 1944 and one current day. The first third of the book jumps back and forth between the two stories - way too much. It would have been so much better if the author told the early story in a linear time line up until the guy and girl separate. Then the author could pick up the rest of that story later as he did. No spoilers would have happened. And I would have enjoyed the early story instead of being frustrated with interruptions.

4. Ending scenes in the middle of an action or conversation. Some experts tell authors to do this - to keep the reader interested. I consider it artificial manipulation to create “false suspense.” I don’t like it. I prefer classic story telling with a natural end for each scene.

5. I have no idea why the author doesn’t show the kills happening. We are in a scene watching the killer talk to his victim or other actions leading up to the kill. Then the scene stops. The next sentence is the next day with police at the crime scene. There are several kills like this.

6. I’m not sure how I feel about the tell-all at the end; the killer gives one long explanation about his motives and actions. It was ok in this case, but I wondered about it. Some authors use tell-alls because they are quick and easy. I think the best writing uncovers things in interesting ways during the book rather than a tell-all at the end.

CAUTION SPOILER:
7. Someone kills Brandhaug. I don’t know how the killer knew the despicable things Brandhaug did. The killer saw some letters, but those letters would not have told the whole story. I was disappointed. I wanted to see how the killer learned what Brandhaug did and watch the killer’s emotional reactions.
END SPOILER.

NARRATOR:
The narrator Robin Sachs was fine.

Genre: crime mystery thriller.
Ending: mysteries uncovered, one bad guy caught, another bad guy not caught.

I read Snowman first. Perhaps a mistake. The Redbreast was not quite as good (I thought Snowman was perfect.) However, without the comparison, this is an excellent mystery for those who like the dark and human detectives of the Scandinavian genre.

relationship explored between Germany and Norway in 1942 with effects to present day crimes. interesting.