The Bat

A Harry Hole Thriller, Book 1

By: Jo Nesbø

Narrated by: Sean Barrett

Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

The thrilling first book in the best-selling Harry Hole series, never before published in English.

Harry is out of his depth.

Detective Harry Hole is meant to keep out of trouble. A young Norwegian girl taking a gap year in Sydney has been murdered, and Harry has been sent to Australia to assist in any way he can.

He's not supposed to get too involved.

When the team unearths a string of unsolved murders and disappearances, nothing will stop Harry from finding out the truth. The hunt for a serial killer is on, but the murderer will talk only to Harry.

He might just be the next victim.

Appearing in English for the first time, The Bat is the legendary first novel from the worldwide phenomenon Jo Nesbo.

©2012 Jo Nesbo (P)2012 Random House Audiobooks

Good introduction to the Harry Hole Series

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Certainly would recommend this book as it provides you with an understanding of the character of Harry Hole and his various issues. I have read in paperback form volumes 7, 8 & 9 of this series but always wondered why Harry's character was so twisted and flawed. This first book answered many of those questions.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Harry Hole because he certainly has his flaws so it makes him more believable as a character in that he can make mistakes and still succeed in solving crimes

Have you listened to any of Sean Barrett’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Haven't listened to other performances

Obvious why his first novel was not widely publish

I found the story to ramble and was hard to understand. There are spots that show a future Harry Hole and his allure. This is a story for a long time Jo Nesbo fan to suck it up and be able too say you read his first one. The narration was poor.

A worthy first book in a fascinating series: WOW!

After reading Jo Nesbo's later novels, all translations from the Norwegian, I began my search for the first in the series--at the time available in English only from Audible. Now I'm torn between reading or listening to the rest of the Harry Hole series. A tough call because the narrator did an excellent job distinguishing the characters and giving proper inflection at the end of each chapter to encourage me to keep listening in spite of obligations, responsibilities, or distractions. Having read all of Steig Larrson's trilogy, and enjoyed them (although wondered what all the shouting was about). Jo Nesbo's work engages the reader without confusing them with unfamiliar names, places. His characters engage, his plots are carefully woven into a logical (inevitable and sometimes sad) conclusion...and when the excellent narrator speaks the last word, the listener rushes to purchase the next book in the series.

A good start

If you could sum up The Bat in three words, what would they be?

A good start.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Bat?

The telling of the old tribe stories.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

I read the later books first so was used to a different and more entertaining narrator.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When our hero fell off his sobriety.

Any additional comments?

I think the author has matured with his main character and his story telling.

A "Don't Miss"

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Nesbo is one of my favorites and The Bat does a lot to fill in Harry Hole's backstory. The performance is beyond excellent; every voice is appropriate to the character and distinctive. If you've missed this opening volume of the series, go get it, and if you're new to Nesbo, it's the place to start.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Harry Hole

Have you listened to any of Sean Barrett’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No , but I want to

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no, it was too complex. I needed a break.

A hopeful Harry

Norwegian police detective Harry Hole is youthful and hopeful. He's on the wagon after driving drunk with horrific consequences, and with this new assignment to assist the Australian police in discovering what happened to a Norwegian citizen, he's looking to redeem himself. For awhile, it works.

The narrator Sean Barrett handled each character's voice in a manner which lent itself to the listener's imagination making visualization easy. A novel of conversations as well as action, it relied heavily on a reader's familiarity with cultural tone, inflection and expression. Barrett effortlessly clears away any doubts about meaning and adds individual color to each character.

The book struck me as between a cozy and a noir mystery. The crimes and criminals are noir, but the cops have families and children and relationships and enjoy them. Even Harry has met a decent girl and fallen in love. If only the serial killer wasn't lurking about....

Essential Nesbø, bad news for Robin Sachs

It's bad news for narrator Robin Sachs because Nesbø makes clear in the first couple of pages that Harry's last name is not pronounced like the English "hole" the way Robin did it in several other Harry Hole books. What will Robin do if he's the narrator in a future Harry Hole book?

In "The Bat" the Aussies render Harry's name as "holy" which, Harry admits, is better than being called a hairy orifice. I think Thor Knai had it about right in "Nemesis" when he pronounced it "hOO-luh", at least if Google Translate's pronunciation feature is right.

Sean Barrett does a nice job, though he doesn't impart much tough-guy to Harry's character. On a scale of Hercule Poirot to Philip Marlowe, this rendition is somewhere in the middle. And Harry surely is a tough guy, wading into fights with bad Aussies in a bar. On examining his broken tooth, Harry asks the guy who broke it "Shouldn't the pulp be red?"

Narration aside, it's a great read. I'm really glad this book, the first in the Harry Hole series, got translated. You get a good bit of Harry's back story here, but none of it is necessary to enjoy the other books in the series. Each of Nesbø's Harry Hole novels pretty much stands alone, and you can read them in just about any order.

I didn't see the translator's name credited for this book, but whoever (Don Bartlett?) did it it is seamless. When I hear word-play or puns in a translated work, I always wonder how they were rendered in the original? Well, they're funny in English, so I suppose they were in Norwegian too, though maybe different.

I believe the second book in the series ("The Cockroach") has been or is being translated. Something to look forward to!

Where it all began.....

What made the experience of listening to The Bat the most enjoyable?

I've devoured all of Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole series so when "The Bat" finally became available I had to buy it. It filled in some holes in Harry's persona. I'm so used to Robin Sachs' narration, this one threw me. Robin Sachs' gives Harry a relaxed and melancholy demeanor and this narrator makes Harry more excitable. I prefer Robin Sachs' portrayal.

What did you like best about this story?

The later books in the series seem to have greater depth and more surprises. It is clear that Jo Nesbo has grown and evolved in his writing. The continual Aussie folklore really slowed this one down.

Any additional comments?

Sure wish Robin Sachs' would have narrated this....but maybe they wanted an Aussie accent to fit the novel's setting.

Great story

I will definitely be buying more of Jo Nesbo's book, I really liked this and loves the Australians accents and descriptions, spot on.

wow

This guy nailed it first time.Where did this come from!. Is Australia so isolated from modern
writers that we dont see them as they appear.Jo Nesbo is on my list to read from now on.
The story was great, the narration was excellent.why have we not seen him before this?.
I hope that we are going to hear more of writers from his neck of the woods and not have
only the old marketable writers that we are bombarded with year after year.