Blood on Snow

A Novel

By: Neil Smith - Translator, Jo Nesbø

Narrated by: Patti Smith

From the internationally acclaimed author of the Harry Hole novels—a fast, tight, darkly lyrical stand-alone novel that has at its center the perfectly sympathetic antihero: an Oslo contract killer who draws us into an unexpected meditation on death and love.

This is the story of Olav: an extremely talented “fixer” for one of Oslo’s most powerful crime bosses. But Olav is also an unusually complicated fixer. He has a capacity for love that is as far-reaching as is his gift for murder. He is our straightforward, calm-in-the-face-of-crisis narrator with a storyteller’s hypnotic knack for fantasy. He has an “innate talent for subordination” but running through his veins is a “virus” born of the power over life and death. And while his latest job puts him at the pinnacle of his trade, it may be mutating into his greatest mistake....

©2015 Jo Nesbo (P)2015 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“[A] tangled tale with a fateful twist.” —The Boston Globe

“Nesbø’s much-heralded gifts are on display—using his talent for conjuring the chilly Munch-like atmospherics of Oslo in the winter and his eye for grisly, alarming details that slam home the horror of the evil that men do.” —The New York Times Book Review

“[An] incendiary cocktail of murder, revenge and a hitman with ... problems.” —The Independent (London)

Wanted to love Patti Smith

Unfortunately I found the narration disappointing. In particular, the pronunciation and monotone delivery bothered me. Great story though - seems Nesbo's characters have more depth lately without losing their sharp edges.

Patti Smith transforms a good novella into a great listening experience

A slight but good Nesbo book is transformed by the brilliant narration of poet and musician Patti Smith. It's a perfect marriage of narration and narrative. Cannot recommend it highly enough. Cherish it. I only wish Smith would narrate all of Nesbo's work.

I love everything Nesbø

I didn't think the narration was as bad as other reviewers felt
This story is both brutal and gentle in its own well thought way. Nesbø is a wonderful writer in my opinion and the only thing disappointing about this book is its shortness.
Although the books artwork makes you think Harry Høle, don't get your hopes up.

Smith's understatement brings out the macabre

This is a gruesome story. Playing it up would not have worked. Best hold back and let the words speak for themselves. Let the images stand on their own. Patti Smith was a very good choice IMHO.

Great short story...narrator fits the character

I enjoyed the story and thought the narrator fit the character perfectly. In reading the comments, I think people are being a little too harsh about the narrator and I think they are missing the genius of the performance.

The character is a working class philosopher, a detached observer, seeing the life around him, but not really part of it. He is always watching, always thinking, always categorizing and planning. The narrator fills this role perfectly by reading in a tone and pace that one might hear at a poetry reading, but with just enough of the words pronounced with a working class diction to convey that the character is self-taught (e.g. - "windah" in lieu of "window"). I thought the story itself was good and the reader's voice made it come alive.

Also...the story is less than four hours long, for crying out loud...how annoyed could someone be that they couldn't get through 3 plus hours?! I think the person chosen was perfect for this story and I hope the nasty reviews don't discourage her from recording more books!

Great story and wonderfully narrated.

Surprisingly moved by the story and performance. Didn't see it coming but swept me away.

Very disappointing.

I have read every Jo Nesbo book I've been able to find in English translation. This one was not up to the author's usual standards. The plot and characters are always dark, but unlike the author's other books, this one was very two-dimensional. It didn't help that the audiobook was read by a woman despite being written in first person point of view of a man. The guttural drawl used to try to make the voice more manly came off as bored and sleepy. Even the points of the plot that were supposed to be "charged" with violence came off like the recitation of a shopping list. When I switched from audio to the E-book, I still had the narrator's voice in my head. All-in-all, a very lackluster performance of a lackluster story. I hope the next one will be better.

What a drone.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend it to be read not to be listened.

How could the performance have been better?

If it would have been read by anyone else but Patti Smith. What a drone. I spent so much time getting past her voice I don't know what the connecting parts to the end of the story were.

Did Blood on Snow: A novel inspire you to do anything?

Consider buying it in print. The narration is a distraction from the story. I kept with the book because I felt the monotone narration might have something to do with the character.

1 star is too generous for this narration

Would you try another book from Jo Nesbo and Neil Smith - Translator and/or Patti Smith?

I've read or listened to all of Jo Nesbo's works so I'm obviously a big fan. But listening to this narration was painful. I just finished reading Percy Jackson to my grandchildren and I was better than Patti Smith. Can I give her 0 stars?

Would you be willing to try another one of Patti Smith’s performances?

Absolutely not.

Could you see Blood on Snow: A novel being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Not really.

Love!

Hated the narrator's voice but love jo Nesbo and the story. I've read all his books and have been pleasantly surprised by his stand alone a and Harry Hole series alike.