• Nemesis

  • By: Jo Nesbø
  • Narrated by: Thor Knai
  • Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (1,420 ratings)

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Nemesis  By  cover art

Nemesis

By: Jo Nesbø
Narrated by: Thor Knai
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Publisher's summary

Captured on closed-circuit television: A man walks into an Oslo bank, puts a gun to a cashier’s head, and tells her to count to 25. When he doesn’t get his money fast enough, he pulls the trigger. The young woman dies—and two million Norwegian kroner disappear without a trace.

After a drunken evening with his former girlfriend, Anna Bethsen, Police Detective Harry Hole wakes up at home with a headache, no cell phone, and no memory of the past 12 hours. That same day, Anna is found shot dead in her bedroom, making Hole a prime suspect in an investigation led by his hated adversary, Tom Waaler.

Meanwhile, the bank robberies continue with unparalleled savagery, sending rogue detective Hole from the streets of Oslo to steaming Brazil in a race to close two cases and clear his name. But Waaler isn’t finished with his longtime nemesis quite yet.

©2002 Jo Nesbø (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Nesbo manages the unlikely feat of exploring the inner life of his lead character in the thorough and compelling manner one associates with, say, Ruth Rendell, while at the same time juggling multiple, interlocking plot strands as dexterously as David Hewson. No doubt about it: Nesbo belongs on every crime-fiction fan’s A-list." ( Booklist)

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What listeners say about Nemesis

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

What a difference a narrator makes

Couldn't listen to the narrator after five minutes. And I've just listened to three other Nesbo books in the Harry Hole series in the last two weeks. It's the narrator...who is markedly less effective in reading this Norwegian novel translation than Robin Sachs. Perhaps he can read a western...dunno...but this book is way out of his skill set. So disappointing that Nesbo and Audible ought to bite the bullet and pay Robin Sachs to redo this version...I bought the book...I'm reading it on my Iphone Kindle app...

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65 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars

Great writer! WORST narrator in all of Audible!

Poor Jo Nesbo. He is truly a good thriller/mystery writer and I have listened to this book and The Snowman. The Snowman was read by the excellent Robin Sachs. This one was read by the single worst narrator I have ever heard. Horrific pacing, bizarre pronunciation and dialect that is all over the place - even Hispanic at times!!!! I am certain Knai is not a professional narrator. Do yourself a favor - get the book and read it in hardcopy. Then listen to the rest of Nesbo's books as read by Sachs.

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60 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Read the (fantastic) book instead

I am a newly avid fan of Jo Nesbo. Having read all of his books that are currently available in English, I've now begun listening to them via audio books. "Nemesis" is an excellent story, but the narrator choice was terribly misguided. This is particularly amplified if you have perviously listened to a Nesbo book narrated by Robin Sachs. Sachs is a perfect fit for the main character Harry Hole, a 40 year old crusty, alcoholic police detective. Thor Knai sounds like a college kid. Knai might be good for some other genre, but has none of the depth of character portraying Hole or the wide range in depicting the other characters,

Seeing as there are two versions of "The Devil's Star" (one narrated by Sach and another by Sean Barrett), I truly hope "Nemesis" will be re-recorded using Sachs.

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47 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Reader Ruined This Book, No Question!

Jo Nesbo through Robin Sachs is to be transported to the intriguing world of Harry Hole. I thoroughly enjoyed all the previous books until Thor (sic) Knai brought that crashing down. He simply is not even an average reader. I frankly missed much of the story via his mumblings and amateurish attempts at various voices. He clearly employed helium to produce a child's or a woman's voice. I missed so much of the story (while using high quality ear buds) that I can barely recount the plot.
Shame on whomever made this change! Bring back Robin Sachs and redo Nemesis. The Thor version is a crime!

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44 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • V
  • 09-29-11

Narration was terrible

I have to agree with most of the other reviews. Worst narration EVER! Loved the other three done by Robin Sachs. Hoping for more by him actually.

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24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

This audible book needs a do over.

It is taking me forever to get through this one. The narrator is horrible. Have Robin Sachs record the do over, I bet the rating will go up.

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Glad I didn't heed the other reviewers.

Would you consider the audio edition of Nemesis to be better than the print version?

Beats me. Who reads printed books when there's Audible?

Which character ??? as performed by Thor Knai ??? was your favorite?

Harry Hole. Thor evokes a slightly different mental impression of Harry than does Robin Sachs, but it is nonetheless an excellent performance.

Any additional comments?

I almost passed this book by, based on other reviewers' comments about Thor Knai's performance. Then I listened to the sample. That sounded fine to me, so I took a chance and bought the book. Man, I am glad I did. Thor does a great job. I wonder if the critical readers had come to identify Robin Sachs as the voice of Harry Hole, and would have objected to ANY other narrator.


Speaking of different narrators, Robin Sachs pronounces Harry's last name as the word "hole" would be pronounced in English. Thor Knai pronounces it as "hoo-le", two syllables. I sure don't speak Norwegian, but - do they really have silent "e"s? I'm betting Thor's is the more correct rendering. The pronunciation feature of Google Translator supports this notion.


Great story as usual, on a par with Jo Nesb??'s other Harry Hole books.

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

get a new narrator

I have listened to all the Jo Nesbo books and really like them. I think this was the weakest but am not sure as I was so distracted by the reader, Mr. Knai. His voice and intonation are totally distracting and took so much away from the experience, I'm not even sure what I think of the book. Robin Sachs is such a great narrator and adds to the experience of the other books.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Warning: terrible narrator

I read The Snowman (audio-fantastic narrator!!) and The Redbreast (on paper) and loved them both. Nesbo's plots are sophisticated, imaginative, well-developed, and suspenseful. Harry Hole is a well-developed character you like in spite of (or because of?) his flaws. I couldn't wait to start Nemesis, but the narration is horrific. I'm about halfway through, but may just buy the book and read it. Thor Knai is all over his map with his accents --all of them inconsistent and bad! Since when does Harry Hole's boss Bjarne Moller talk like a Texan? And why does his voice keep cracking? So, all this to say that Nemesis is probably as wonderful as the other books, but with this narrator you'll never know.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous

Characters are unusual and interesting. The narrator was well matched to the book and made it come alive. Twists and turns were entertaining and unexpected. I listened to the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", found it very gripping and was looking another Scandinavian mystery. Nemesis did not disappoint and has become one of my favorites.

Very highly recommended.

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10 people found this helpful