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

Jo Nesbo really improved after this first novel!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Being able to distinguish the characters.

What was most disappointing about Jo Nesbo’s story?

Firstly, there were too many "bird walks". We listened to aboriginal creation stories and alcoholic/drug hallucination sequences. The book also jumped back and forth in time which was difficult to follow in this audio version. The "bird walks" bogged down the story.

Not the Usual Nesbo

What disappointed you about The Bat?

I've listened to all of the other Nesbo books and had been curious about the first one since there have been so many references to the serial killer Harry caught in Australia. Nesbo must have gotten better as he wrote more books. This book was was filled with interesting Aboriginal legends but they didn't really apply to the story. The story wasn't believable. There were too many flashbacks to his previous relationship. The reader was ok, but not red hot. He doesn't do a very believable "drunk". All in all, I was sorry I bought this one and I love that Audible lets me return books I don't like.

Not my cup of tea....

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The story was too slow moving. Characters were boring. I gave up after 31/2 hours of the doldrums... Much longer if you count the rewinds...

Has The Bat turned you off from other books in this genre?

Yes

Would you be willing to try another one of Sean Barrett’s performances?

No he was to slow and monotone for me. he and the story kept putting me to sleep. i had to rewind constantly.

What character would you cut from The Bat?

Harry....

Any additional comments?

Very disappointed, I wanted so to like the series...

tedious

Any additional comments?

Plot tedious -- local lore inserted to justify location - not up to par for the author.

Unfortunately the Narrator cannot save this....

There has been such hype about Jo Nesbo that I thought I would give this a go... Sean Barrett did a good job with narration and trying to give depth to the characters but i found them superficial, weak and thoroughly frustrating. I persevered hoping that it would get better but when the predictable ending came I was relieved.
Not sure if it was the author - or if it was the character that bothered me - but I did not enjoy this at all..

A rather boring 'Down Under' story.

From the audio sample and all the raving 5 star reviews I thought I'd give this book a chance. It sounded like it might be an interesting crime/mystery novel but I just never got into it. There was never a part where I thought 'What is going to happen next!?'.

The characters just weren't that interesting either and the story was just too boring. It didn't feel like there was any direction to it. There was no build up to the events, no moment where you think 'I think I know what happened'.

If you're looking for a classic crime series, this book isn't it.

Not worth your time, could not finish book

Would you ever listen to anything by Jo Nesbo again?

Not again

Any additional comments?

Poor story line. Did not engage the reader. Could not finish before deleting

JUST REALEASED ON AUDIO IS NOT A NEW BOOK

This was a very disappointing Harry Hole story. The Australian accent was terrible performance and slang used - some I had not ever heard of before. Every day Australians do not talk like that. Most disappointing and so slow. I hate not being able to finish a book but this was the exception.

skip this one

I should have listened to the reviews. Skip this one and they say, the second one. The third one is where the author apparently gets his legs.
This book is dull and the plot is ludicrous. I skipped the last hour. Could not care less how it went.

No Steig Larsson

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Someone not familiar with Steig Larsson or Nelson demille to name two who spin a much better story with suspense.

What could Jo Nesbo have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Enrich the characters. Put more energy into the story.

What didn’t you like about Sean Barrett’s performance?

No energy. He just read the book. He did not become the characters

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

None that come to mind. I'd really like a refund because I purchased this book based on the high 4 + point system. I can't imagine this novel garnering such an impressive rating!

Any additional comments?

No