The Redbreast

By: Jo Nesbø

Narrated by: Robin Sachs

Length: 16 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

1944: Daniel, a soldier, legendary among the Norwegians fighting the advance of Bolshevism on the Russian front, is killed. Two years later, a wounded soldier wakes up in a Vienna hospital. He becomes involved with a young nurse, the consequences of which will ripple forward to the turn of the next century.

1999: Harry Hole, alone again after having caused an embarrassment in the line of duty, has been promoted to inspector and is lumbered with surveillance duties. He is assigned the task of monitoring neo-Nazi activities; fairly mundane until a report of a rare and unusual gun being fired sparks his interest. Ellen Gjelten, his partner, makes a startling discovery. Then a former soldier is found with his throat cut. In a quest that takes him to South Africa and Vienna, Harry finds himself perpetually one step behind the killer. He will be both winner and loser by the novel’s nail-biting conclusion.

The Redbreast won the Glass Key prize for the best Nordic crime novel when it was first published, and was subsequently voted Norway’s best crime novel. The Devil’s Star, Nesbø’s first novel featuring Harry Hole to be translated into English, marked Nesbø as a writer to watch in the ever more fashionable world of Nordic crime.

©2007 Jo Nesbo (P)2011 Random House Audio

Great Change of Pace!

Just finished my first Nesbo book. Great performance and story. A different perspective of WWII with an unpredictable ending to the story. I'm ready now for another Nesbo book.

This Review Is For the Audible Version

I had read The Snowman first, and that is a fine place to start with the Harry Hole series, I guess, but it was cool to go back and read The Redbreast to get the story of Raquel and Harry's meeting and Harry's partnership with Ellen! This was a great book, and I enjoyed listening to it very much!

The pros:

Great set of interlocking narratives that keeps you guessing until the end. Lots of twists and turns, including one at the end when you think you've figured out something central but then things get turned on you again.

As I mentioned, lots of the backstory on Harry and Raquel, etc.

Just a fun and entertaining book.

If you're a fan of Nesbo's, you'll enjoy listening to this book.

The Cons:

As some other reviewers have indicated, there is a slightly awkward aspect to Robin Sach's narration, the fact that he seems to have one voice for Jews, one for Norwegians, etc. I didn't think that was so much the issue as the fact that he chose to narrate whole chapters in the voice of the character through whose perspective we're seeing the action for that chapter. In other words, it seems strange for him to narrate the whole chapter in his "Jewish" voice rather than just narrating the Jewish character's speech in that voice and using his regular narrator's voice for the rest of the narration. I got used to that eventually and it didn't bother me so much, but it was hard to get used to initially. Otherwise, he's a terrific narrator, and he definitely gave each character his or her own voice.

The only other con is really just part of the deal with an audible book, especially a crime fiction narrative. There are a lot of dates and a lot of switching back and forth in time between the 1940's and the 2000's, so it can be hard at times to keep up with where/when we are. But that is something you just have to be okay with given your listening rather than reading.

All in all, I really really enjoyed listening to this book, and I will definitely listen to other Nesbo books narrated by Sachs.

Rather grisly war story

The subject matter really isn’t a type I enjoy but gave it a try
I found it difficult to keep the characters straight -the language translation made it a challenge for me, as the names are foreign for the most part. It was also difficult to keep track of who was fighting with/for who
The narrator made it difficult to tell who was speaking as well
All in all, not very satisfying

Just a non-stop listen!

Like most folks, I started my Jo Nesbo journey with the Bat, read the Snowman book before the movie release, and was immediately drawn into the storytelling that was on display. I continued the books from there and decided to pick up the Redbreast. It does not disappoint. Being a history buff, the ties to WW2 Norway and the split loyalties was something I was unaware of. Nesbo does not shy away from the truths, and he does not judge. Instead, he educates and spins a marvelous yarn that is full of twists and surprises. Robin Sach's narration is flawless. I now have to play catch up to get to the Snowman, but I'm sure I will enjoy the ride. So will many other listeners.

Noir All The Way - From a Norwegian Point of View

The Redbreast by Jo Nesbø, is a novel noir whose setting is Norway, and its protagonist a smoking, alcoholic, self-deprecating but confident detective. The characteristic elements of a novel noir include a central protagonist having self-destructive qualities, and put into a setting where the action involves a corrupt legal, political or other social system. The stories often lead to a state of no hope. In the end we are all losers because of our innate evil nature. Oh yes, and the guys are bastardly and the dames are just that dames, i.e., women of rank, station, or authority often seductive and canny. In any case the women are all alluring.

Noir fiction, at least in the American style, is known for its central character being a victim, a suspect, or a perpetrator. In American noir the part is often played by a private-eye detective. Think Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall and “The Big Sleep.”

. . . and so we have Jo Nesbø an author of noir stories, set in Norway, having as its protagonist Harry Hole, a Police Investigator and one that can be generally categorized as a man of junk status but boy can he detective. The series has ten books at the time of this writing, and it is universally agreed the first two just don’t cut the cake, but you will not be disappointed thereafter. According to others, The Redbreast is the first of the better Harry Hole novels.

The facts leading to the crimes in this novel have their origin in World War II Norway, where Norwegian solders in the service of the Third Reich participated in the siege of Leningrad. Norway was taken by Germany early in WWII but was allegedly treated more as an associated nation rather than a totally servitude nation. Nevertheless, those that fought for the Germans were not accepted upon the return of democratic Norway. The evil treatment of those that previously served the Nazis leads to a set of circumstances and crimes which encompass the tale being told.

It is a good read and a well thought out story but although recommended as a strong example of a novel noir, it just never knocked my socks off. That may be because the complex story, which plays out two distinct intrigues, are not easily discernable. Some chapters are episodes of WWII and the remainder are of two or three distinct police investigations in the 1999 and 2000 era. The WWII scenes are too difficult to follow as to what is happening (and perhaps that is because this is my first experience with Norwegian names).

The distinct plots were meant to be cryptic to keep the reader guessing in the 1999 sections as to which WWII Norwegian soldier survived and may be behind the murders and why are these people being murdered. The –difficult to sort through - complications between the two stories takes some of the punch out of the book.

Yet, as I said not a bad read and more important, as the latter books are great – as I understand from other reviews - one needs to read this book to really enjoy this series as some of its latter stories continue this plot, especially, the next two novels, Nemesis and The Devil’s Star, as well as setting the stage for the latter series readings. So although I am limiting my praise, it should be known I am already reading the next installments of Harry Hole.

Romantic Harry Hole book

Great love stories (yes, all of them), quite Hard to keep with lot of characters and timeline changes. But it is worth it. Multiple listening runs are recommended to get all the clues.

absolutely chilling

great mystery. well written, everything ties up nicely and the red herrings are well done. Robin Sachs is by far the best reader of the Nesbo books. Not for the squeamish, but thought this was top drawer of the Nesbo offerings on audible so far.

Layer upon Layer of Story.

A more masculine story switching from the modern neo-Nazi crime story to the WWII Norwegian soldiers in the trenches fighting on the German side. This is at the core a very Norwegian story of betrayal, traitors, & survival during the Nazi invasion of Norway. Layered upon the world scene of 1944 and 1999 and later are very personal stories. It is not chases down alleys nor car chases but it has exploding grenades & is thought provoking. I found it difficult to keep the multitude of characters straight but cared about tying all the story threads together. The writing made it worth the trouble.
The narrator was great, brought the story to life.

Out of order...

Harry Hole is great regardless of the order you read him in!! So glad I went back to the beginning!

Exciting and gripping Thriller

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

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

Who was your favorite character and why?

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

What does Robin Sachs bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

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.

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

A story of extreme love and harbored hatred

Any additional comments?

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.