Nemesis

By: Jo Nesbø

Narrated by: Thor Knai

Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

Captured on closed-circuit television: A man walks into an Oslo bank, puts a gun to a cashier’s head, and tells her to count to 25. When he doesn’t get his money fast enough, he pulls the trigger. The young woman dies—and two million Norwegian kroner disappear without a trace.

After a drunken evening with his former girlfriend, Anna Bethsen, Police Detective Harry Hole wakes up at home with a headache, no cell phone, and no memory of the past 12 hours. That same day, Anna is found shot dead in her bedroom, making Hole a prime suspect in an investigation led by his hated adversary, Tom Waaler.

Meanwhile, the bank robberies continue with unparalleled savagery, sending rogue detective Hole from the streets of Oslo to steaming Brazil in a race to close two cases and clear his name. But Waaler isn’t finished with his longtime nemesis quite yet.

©2002 Jo Nesbø (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Nesbo manages the unlikely feat of exploring the inner life of his lead character in the thorough and compelling manner one associates with, say, Ruth Rendell, while at the same time juggling multiple, interlocking plot strands as dexterously as David Hewson. No doubt about it: Nesbo belongs on every crime-fiction fan’s A-list." ( Booklist)

Glad I didn't heed the other reviewers.

Would you consider the audio edition of Nemesis to be better than the print version?

Beats me. Who reads printed books when there's Audible?

Which character ??? as performed by Thor Knai ??? was your favorite?

Harry Hole. Thor evokes a slightly different mental impression of Harry than does Robin Sachs, but it is nonetheless an excellent performance.

Any additional comments?

I almost passed this book by, based on other reviewers' comments about Thor Knai's performance. Then I listened to the sample. That sounded fine to me, so I took a chance and bought the book. Man, I am glad I did. Thor does a great job. I wonder if the critical readers had come to identify Robin Sachs as the voice of Harry Hole, and would have objected to ANY other narrator.


Speaking of different narrators, Robin Sachs pronounces Harry's last name as the word "hole" would be pronounced in English. Thor Knai pronounces it as "hoo-le", two syllables. I sure don't speak Norwegian, but - do they really have silent "e"s? I'm betting Thor's is the more correct rendering. The pronunciation feature of Google Translator supports this notion.


Great story as usual, on a par with Jo Nesb??'s other Harry Hole books.

Fabulous

Characters are unusual and interesting. The narrator was well matched to the book and made it come alive. Twists and turns were entertaining and unexpected. I listened to the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", found it very gripping and was looking another Scandinavian mystery. Nemesis did not disappoint and has become one of my favorites.

Very highly recommended.

Bad Narrator Great Writer and Story

Would you listen to Nemesis again? Why?

I would not listen again. I am hooked on Harry Hole. But this narrators id dreadful, He even gave Muller--Harry's boss--a fake southern accent. It was all I could do it get through the recording.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Nemesis?

The Christmas scene, a very brief moment of happiness in Hole's chaotic life was great,.

Great Nesbo Story - HORRIFIC narration.

If you've listened to any newer Nesbo books, do NOT go back and listen to this one. The storyline was pure and perfect Nesbo but the narrator was so bad, I could never tell who was talking to whom. This is a definte book to read, unless it is re-recorded with the current narrator of Nesbo's books. BUY the book, it is a great story although I deeply regret spending the money to listen to it.

What A Shame

How could the performance have been better?

It could have been much better with a different narrater. This nartrater can not hold a candle to the two previous narraters of Harry Houle novels. His reading was so distracting that I stopped listening about a quarter of the weay through. This is the first time a reading was so bad that I could not finish listenuing.

great book awful narration

Jo nesbo is a rock star. this book is just as good as his others in the Harry hole series. the unfortunate thing is this Thor fellow who'd be better off finding a different profession. seriously one of the worst narrations I've heard and driving around 2500 miles a week for work I've heard a lot of them. during intense moments Thor sounds like a teenager at an open Mic night reading his poetry. much of the time characters sound exactly the same during long conversations. especially Harry hole. Thor also gives Harry's Boss an all American accent and about 70% of the time it's an East Texas American accent. strange both because it's the only one and because the guy is supposed to be Norwegian. very pleased with the book itself and I have to recommend it just for the books sake. it's good enough to get one past the narration.

Good but not as gripping as redbreast

Story was OK though a few too many bits and pieces so didn't fit together as well as Redbreast. narrator was hard to listen too, especially his accents.

The writer is the best, but...

Harry Hole, the sad detective, is his usual self - a damaged genius. Jo Nesbo is as clever and literate as ever; in fact, he is so well-endowed with clever in this particular book I gave this four stars instead of five. This kind of plotting maze works better for me if it's satiric: it was TOO twisty for a mystery with a straightforward noir tone. This was a Penrose Triangle, or a Tardis (bigger on the inside). Wow. The trouble is I didn't enjoy the story, but I loved the plot. It shouldn't be like that, you know, so ---- four stars.

I hate it when I need to rant, because it's the kind of thing which isn't polite or nice, and a living being is involved - the voice actor or reader. Thor Knai is trying to earn a living, right? He's very likely a good person. His speaking tone is easy on the ear, too. But the delivery? Omg. That is where I want to thwack him upside the head. For such a complicated plot, this voice actor is a disaster. I had to get the physical book to pick up what I couldn't hear from the audible recording.

It was so difficult because Knai mumbles at the end of words while speaking quickly. It wasn't impossible to hear, just hard to process the 'what did he say' quickly while he was moving on to the next sentence. I got left behind in deciphering. His speaking presentation was overly casual and hip, trying so hard to be burnt out and cool, while speaking in a tumbling out quick street manner, hiding a nervousness, the way young white men do when acting street. So, the voice attitude was right for that kind of guy - but that's not what Hole is. Hole is burnt out, in the way of a war veteran who doesn't care anymore because he's discovered the wickedness of the man pulling the levers behind the curtain, hidden from normal people.

The problem with these nervous young fake street guys is they swallow their spoken words as if they are afraid they are mussing up the image they want to project by explaining out loud. It actually reflects an internal awareness of a lack of authenticity. Knai picked the wrong voice character to be. Not only was it not the right guy for Hole, it was hard to hear in presentation - too fast and indecipherable, the way of the immature male.

And Knai never pauses! When the story pauses or changes scene, especially within a chapter, it's better if the reader pauses a few extra beats - it's the only way a listener understands that the previous scene is over, and now another scene is commencing, perhaps with a new character or a flashback or a future event. This reader is not the only guy who speaks on an audible recording without pausing, but golly it made it hard when the plot is so convoluted in the first place!

Thor Knai has a great tone - but he was wrong for the character Hole and this book.

A decent follow up to the Redbreast

The real problem I had with this audible title was I have become spoiled by the narration of Robin Sachs and John Lee. This narrator does not compare. The story is saved by the unique twist of the gypsy enclave in Norway and throughout Europe being entangled into the drama. As usual, Harry Hole is drowning in his own self-destructive alcohol infused behavior, but we find ourselves drawn to the protagonist and rooting for his redemption. Since there is no such thing as a bad Nesbo novel, I am sure the listener will enjoy the experience despite the narration.

Bad diction at times caused info to be missed

I enjoyed twists and turns of the story by Jo Nesbo, but found Mr. Knai's performance lacking in places. Would've liked to have heard a bit of an accent to give it more authenticity. At times, he had characters sound like they were from the U.S. South - kind of off-putting. And at several places in the story, I missed key facts due to inaudible readings, Even played back these portions several times without success which got irritating.,