The Bat

A Harry Hole Thriller, Book 1

Brought to you by Penguin.

*DETECTIVE HOLE IS SOON TO BE A MAJOR NETFLIX SERIES**

Discover the addictive first book in the bestselling Harry Hole series.

Harry is out of his depth.

Detective Harry Hole is meant to keep out of trouble. A young Norwegian girl taking a gap year in Sydney has been murdered, and Harry has been sent to Australia to assist in any way he can.

He's not supposed to get too involved.

When the team unearths a string of unsolved murders and disappearances, nothing will stop Harry from finding out the truth. The hunt for a serial killer is on, but the murderer will talk only to Harry.

He might be the next victim.

'A stunning opening to the series' Sunday Times

'Meaty, big and bloody, this is the rock and roll of detective fiction' Financial Times

'A searing read from a chilling thriller writer' Independent

© Jo Nesbo 2012 (P) Penguin Audio 2012

Reseñas de la Crítica

A fascinating book, filling in the gaps in Hole’s biography and telling the story of the murder case in Australia that cemented his reputation as a brilliant investigator... A stunning opening to the series

Meaty, big and bloody, this is the rock and roll of detective fiction

Nesbo is a terrific writer who knows how to build a story, taking you slowly to the top of a rollercoaster before sending you hurtling towards a solution that you never see coming

Harry Hole is fully formed as the difficult, vulnerable personality we have come to know. The evocation of Australia itself has the customary Nesbo expertise...most satisfyingly - we can now see the organic shape that Nesbo always intended his work to take

Whether a hardened Hole addict or a first-time imbiber, The Bat is sure to snare your interest with its tale of this booze-fuelled policeman

A searing read from a chilling thriller writer

Hole is a spiky character and this is the first novel to feature him. If you want to get to know this brilliant, flawed character, this is the best place to start (William Leith)

An ambitious, fun, exciting and original crime novel

The Bat is a truly captivating crime novel

The Bat is innovative and different, and the pace that Jo Nesbo creates in his debut novel makes you long for more crime novels featuring Harry Hole

Good Yarn but ...............

Some very odd Aboriginal Dreamtime Stories. Read "Goanna " for "Iguana" , there are no natural sources of rubber in Australia and crows are not native birds. So treat the Dreamtime stories as a bit lost in translation .

Excellent audiobook - well told and gripping story

What did you love best about The Bat?

Gripping story line and accurate portrayal of Australian life and characters

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

Up with the Harry Bosch series for great detective storytelling

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

Excellent narrator - captures Euopean and Australian accents very well

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Super introduction to a great detective series

Where does The Bat rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I was totally enthralled by this book, and I feel the narrator captured the hero, story, and mood to a tee. I reserve 5 stars for the list of very best books I've ever read; otherwise this would get a 5-star rating from me!

In Nesbo's series about Harry Hole, I found "The Bat" to be one of the strongest entries. Mind you, it's a consistently strong series, so any of the books is likely to satisfy the reader looking for a gripping story with a sympathetic (flawed) hero and lots of twists and turns. I will definitely keep a lookout for the narrator, too -- he did such a great job.

A very entertaining detective novel

What made the experience of listening to The Bat the most enjoyable?

A good old fashioned type detective novel. A seriously flawed protagonist and entertaining supporting characters.

Keep them coming

What made the experience of listening to The Bat the most enjoyable?

Great storytelling and perhaps the most complex protagonist since Sherlock himself. Nesbo's Hole, however you pronounce it, sees all even through the tragic alcohol haze he inevitably falls prey to. The plot is never predictable, the characters are never one dimensional and the writing is crisp and with the right balance of humour and gritty reality.

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

Obviously the rest of the Hole thrillers, without being as formulaic as most of the successful writers of the genre. But I like the comparison to Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko. Both protagonists persevere despite corruption, incompetence and fatal character flaws.

Which character – as performed by Sean Barrett – was your favorite?

It was hard at first to listen without the bass, sober voice of the perfectly matched Robin Sachs. He seems to bring a little more gravitas to the characterization. But Sean Barrett is on my top five narrator's list, and with his ability with accents, was able to bring out the personalities of the secondary players, particularly the Aborigines. So that after the first few chapters, it mattered not a wit.

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

The great white Harry ...down under.

Any additional comments?

What a pleasant surprise so soon after the release of The Phantom. I hope the plan is to bring all of Nesbo's work to audioland, there is no one better out there. Keep them coming, but make sure it is Sachs or Barrett doing the storytelling.