The Leopard

A Harry Hole Novel

By: Jo Nesbø, Don Bartlett - translator

Narrated by: Robin Sachs

Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Two young women are found murdered in Oslo, both drowned in their own blood. Media coverage quickly reaches fever pitch: Could this be the work of a serial killer?

The crime scenes offer no coherent clues, the police investigation is stalled, and the one man who might be able to help doesn't want to be found. Traumatized by his last case, Inspector Harry Hole has lost himself in the squalor of Hong Kong's opium dens. Yet when he is compelled, at last, to return to Norway - his father is dying - Harry's buried instincts begin to take over. After a female MP is discovered brutally murdered, nothing can keep him from the investigation.

There is little to go on: a piece of rope, a scrap of wool, a bit of gravel, an unexpected connection between the victims. And Harry will soon come to understand that he is dealing with a psychopath for whom insanity is a vital retreat, someone who will put him to the test in both his professional and personal lives as never before.

Ruthlessly intelligent and suspenseful, The Leopard is Jo Nesbo's most electrifying novel yet - absolutely gripping from first to last.

©2011 Jo Nesbo (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Intense . . . Nesbø moves the action easily from Hong Kong to Norway, with side trips to the Democratic Republic of Congo, without ever losing the plot’s sense of urgency.” ( Publishers Weekly, starred)

“Nesbø knows exactly what he’s doing [in] this gripping, intricately plotted tale . . . Like all intelligent crime fiction, this book is not only about multiple murders by heinous means. It is also about legacies, most specifically about the good and evil, love and hate, passed from one generation to the next. This vivid, violent novel promises to speak on many levels to many readers.” ( Library Journal)

“Outstanding . . . Probably the best big crime novel you could lay your hands on this year.” ( BBC Radio 4)

not the best Harry hole book..

struggled to finish because it's very long and the story takes so many twists and turns and there are far too many characters. excellent translation though.

Couldn't stop listening!

What other book might you compare The Leopard to and why?

The obvious comparison would be with

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

Have not heard this reader before, but he is one of the best I've listened to, right up there with George Guidall.

Any additional comments?

This author is a terrific storyteller and kept me on the edge of my seat, so much so that I kept listening when I should have been doing other things! Glad to find out that this is one of a series. Will certainly be downloading another Harry Hole novel right away.

The Leopard -Jo Nesbo

I have just listened to this book for the second time. I have seen a lot of reviews that say it's too depressing. But Harry Hole is always in a depression, so I thought it was interesting to see how he handled the events in " The Snowman" , the book prior to this one. Of all the Harry Hole novels, I believe this is my favorite.

Harry is always at his best when he has a good ,difficult case to work. And that is what ultimately saves him. The narrator is Robin Sachs. I love him as the narrator of these books. I really enjoyed this book because it relates how all his fellow detectives respect and trust him to do what he does, despite his many problems.

Not for the squeamish

It seems like the Snowman is the most popular entry in the Harry Hole mysteries. This has been my favorite so far. I saw some twists coming but by no means all. The gory details of the murders are pretty gruesome though. Other than that an excellent, dark gritty mystery novel.

Great!

I loved the Snowman so I purchased this book right away. What an amazing writer, and you certainly get your money's worth on the length of his books.

Great listen from star to finish.

The narration was great. I was hooked within the first few minutes of starting the book.

Another great read

After being introduced to "The Bat" I went on a Jo Nesbo quest and read the rest of the Harry Hole books on Audible. "The Leopard" is the sequel to the "Snowman". I enjoyed the depth of the story, the intricacies of the plot and the powerful characters. Even the bad guys are "good". These two books are very similar although they stand alone. I must admit that I was concerned after reading Sean Barrett's "The Bat" I thought I would be disappointed with Robin Sachs, but I wasn't.
However, I have three negative points about "The Leopard": (a) Nesbo doesn't tie all the loose ends and I can only assume another sequel is forthcoming. (b) Another commentator pointed this out - one has to be very careful listening to the story because the Norwegian names are strange to the North American ear and you can get distracted. (c) I pointed out earlier that I enjoyed the humor in "The Bat". There are a couple of funny lines in "the Leopard" but the essential humor in the face of human atrocity is missing.
In the end though well worth the money.

This issue of the pronunciation of "Hole" ...

... is getting a little silly, and distracting. Let's put it to rest.

1. In Norwegian the name "Hole" is pronounced "O" like in "pool" and "e" like in "ethnic".

I'm not making it up, this was Jo Nesbø's response to a direct question. The question is asked near the bottom of that page under "Frequently Asked Questions".

You can Google "Silent Letters in Norwegian" and learn that there are only four or five, and none of them is "e".

In Norwegian the name "Hole" is pronounced "OO-leh".

2. In English the word "Hole" is pronounced, well, like "hole", or "whole" if that helps.

People with foreign-language names often acquiesce to English-speaking people mispronouncing their name, especially if their name is the same as or similar to an English word or name. In America my friend Pettersson is the English "Peterson", in Sweden he is "Pedder-Shown". Even with common languages it gets muddled. In America my last name is like the North Carolina city of Durham, but in England it was like ... well, hard to write, but it sounded to me like "Dyeurrum". (To phone solicitors, however, it is always "Der Ham".)

Early on the producers at Audible.com decided to let Robin Sachs pronounce Harry's last name like the English "hole". Several books were produced and narrated by Robin Sachs using that pronunciation.

Robin Sachs is great. He is the voice of Harry Hole. But he does not pronounce Hole the same way a Norwegian would.

No problem, we're not Norwegian. And it never would have been a problem if the "The Bat" had not been translated and published. This is the first book written in the Harry Hole series, but the most recent in order of Audible.com production. In "The Bat" Harry has this exchange in an airport in Australia:

---

"The arrivals hall was crowded with travel reps and limousine drivers, holding up signs with names on, but not a Hole in sight. He was on the point of grabbing a taxi when a black man wearing light blue jeans and a Hawaiian shirt, and with an unusually broad nose and dark, curly hair ploughed a furrow between the signs and came striding toward him.

"'Mr Holy, I presume!' he declared triumphantly.

"Harry Hole considered his options. He had decided to spend the first days in Australia correcting the pronunciation of his surname so that he wouldn't be confused with apertures or orifices. Mr Holy however, was infinitely preferable."

---

Fine, this makes perfect sense in Norwegian, most of whom speak excellent English. Good enough to know what a hole is and how to pronounce "holy". So Mr. "OO-leh" is content to be called Mr. "Holy" as that is preferable to being called Mr. "Hole".

So I ask you, if Robin Sachs had narrated "The Bat", how would he have pronounced "Hole" subsequently? Like the English "hole"? Or, as Thor Knai (in "Nemesis") or Sean Barrett (in "The Bat") did, more or less as "OO-leh"?

None of that matters. Robin Sachs did not narrate "The Bat".

Thanks to his international fame, Jo Nesbø is undoubtedly aware by now that the difference in pronunciation is likely to cause a distraction and so is unlikely to write another passage like the one in "The Bat" that makes an issue of the pronunciation of "Hole". Robin Sachs can narrate every future Harry Hole novel and pronounce Hole as hole, and enjoy great success and popularity.

Unless Nesbø kills off Harry Hole ...

P.S. Jo Nesbø in the cited FAQ has a nice way of explaining the pronunciation of the ø (O with a backslash) in his last name. "... like the o in Peter Seller's pronunciation of 'bomb' in the Pink Panther movie." I'm not likely to forget that.

Jo Nesbo still on his game. Robin Sachs is superb

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

Epic crime novel.

What did you like best about this story?

Nesbo's insight into the workings of the criminal mind are accurate as any seasoned law enforcement officer can attest.

Which character – as performed by Robin Sachs – was your favorite?

Sachs had all the characters nailed. I thought it was a flawless performance.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Harry Hole's bleak landscape contains an intimate knowledge of death and dying.

Any additional comments?

I had some difficulty with the Norwegian character's names, but this is small price for the payoff by the end of journey.

Gr8 listen, held my attention

Great story and the translation was excellent. Will read more Nesbo. Could really visulize the characters.