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

LOVE the author and the narrator

What did you love best about The Redbreast?

This is probably my fifth or sixth audiobook by Jo Nesbo and I love his style of writing and storyline.

What did you like best about this story?

I love the way that the story flashes back and forth from WWII era to the present. I also love the charactar Harry Hole - not only do you get a great story line, you get a charactar study of a fascinating, self-destructive hero.

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

His voice just brings you right into the story. As soon as I start to listen I am right there in the middle of whatever he is describing.

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

I think the title is appropriate.

Any additional comments?

I look forward to Jo Nesbo's new novel this month!

Fan of the story, but not of Harry!

After "The Bat," I thought I was unsure about this series. Now, I think I understand what it is. I completely enjoyed "Redbreast," but I'm still not won-over. Why? I think it's that I don't like Harry, himself. For new potential readers/listeners, Harry reminds me of Jesse Stone. I have to confess that I only know Jesse from the movies. Strangely, I liked that series of movies in a way that I can't really like Harry. Maybe it's the Tom Selleck effect, since they are similar characters. Some additional credit may go to the translator. I'm amazed at how well humorous elements translate. I would normally expect humor to be a highly cultural phenomena, but you would never know that the novel wasn't originally written in English.

I'm pretty sure I will get the next available installment, but I hope that Harry will become a less damaged character over time. I can only do so much of the damaged, whining, unreliable, drunk before I expect to see some improvement in character. I want characters that I can look up to, eventually. I tell you this so that you can judge for yourself. If you find a permanently damaged personality to be more "realistic," then Harry might be your guy.

Pay Attention, Listen Hard for Names, Fine Finish

This is not a book for the faint of heart. Nesbo's Harry Hole is Everyman, a flawed, guilt-ridden alcoholic who holds life precious, but sees it taken away from him in tragic circumstance. He's brilliant, though not quick. Nesbo's plot plods. Layer after layer of detail, that seems to make no sense until it all culminates in climax.

This is a book that I need to read/listen to a second time, and it is good enough to hold me through again. Robin Sachs has a voice like Isle of Islay whisky - dark, smokey and smooth as glass. My only difficulty with this book came with the unfamiliar Norwegian names. If I was reading it in print, I'm sure that difficulty would have been lessened, but I would have missed the whisky voice. I will see if it is available on WhisperSync. That would be an excellent coupling.

Terrible Reader

I started with the Snowman and went back to the beginning to get the whole Harry Hole story. The Bat and Cockroaaches were okay but the reader made it exciting. For this book, the story was much better, but the narrator was so dry and so difficult to focus on during my drives. I found myself rewinding minutes because I just couldn't stay focused. When he'd read a female's point of view, it was like a whisper and I had to crank the volume so loud that when it switched back to Harry's it'd be so loud. I also had to listen at 1.5x speed. I tried to slow it down to 1x speed to see if this guy could really read that slowly. I hope that there are no more books in this series read by this narrator.

Gaining momentum

The third in the series steps it up a notch and I was very tempted to give it a full 4 star rating except: 1) I recalled the start is slow and you don't know why there has to be so much detail for a story that seems unrelated; 2) being a friend of Hole's is not a good idea (don't want to spoil anything but the trend is getting predictable); 3) I kind of figured out the twist before the conclusion. Still, it is a very good book and I would not hesitate to recommend it.

Possibly better in print

I found this slow and quite confusing. A cast of thousands with foreign names made it hard to keep track, particularly in audio. May have been easier to follow in print. Also quite dark even for a crime novel (though not as dark as some). Wasn't quite what I was looking for but may suit others.

My favorite Hole novel yet

The complexity of historical fact, multiple characters and hidden identities really made this a great read. Nesbo is Mankell with a brutal edge.

it's Harry HOOLA!!

Thank goodness!! It was painful to hear such an rich character called such a ridiculous name.
Oh...sorry, you will find that out in the next book “Nemesis”. The reviewers for Nemesis object to the reader, Norwegian Thor Knai, but pay no attention. He is a fine, I am happy.
Thus only 4 stars for wonderful Robin Sachs, who should have ASKED.

"The Redbreast"...Hoola does not compare to Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander. Harry has a sweetness and humor (wait for the moving series of calls to a dead friend's answer machine) where Wallander tends to wallow in whiny self pity.

Nesbo compares best to Barbara Vine aka Ruth Rendell. All their characters come to life, their thoughts and deeds, sometime horrific, are made understandable, and you can’t wait to find out where they are leading you.

Slow and confusing to start....bouncing from WW2 to 1990/2000....then the characters burst into my consciousness and I had to restart as I grew to understand. Loved it.

Sprawling plot difficult to follow

Any additional comments?

Much easier to follow the story arcs/flashbacks/multiple Points of View in print version or if this were a film.

Great storytelling

A wonderfully told mystery. Disturbing, heartfelt and wise. Very well read. Don't pass this one by.