Phantom
""As always Nesbo has given us another superb novel to devour!" "
Synopsis:
Ex-policeman Harry Hole has returned to Oslo from Hong Kong after several years. He has built a life for himself in Hong Kong and is managing to exist free from alcohol. There is only one thing that will bring him back to Oslo and that is the connection he has with his ex-girlfriend Rachel and her son Oleg. A young addict is found murdered and the police have arrested his companion found at the scene. Harry needs to find out what has really happened.
Not convinced that they have found the true killer, Harry sets out to discover the truth. The police will not officially encourage his search. In fact they discourage him but Harry still has his contacts within and without the police service and he uses every last resort to establish the truth.
What he finds is that there are power struggles within the drug community, less than honest policeman and some very vicious criminals fighting for control. Apparently separate events are linked in a mysterious network in which Oleg is involved.
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Review:
Harry Hole has a touch of the James Bond about him as he is all seeing and seemingly indestructible. He survives impossible situations by knowing the probable actions of his enemies. He is a hero to Oleg and has added to the boy's troubled life when he disappears from Norway for several years. In the time since Harry left, Oleg has grown up and found himself some very seedy friends. Harry is more interesting than Bond, however, in that he has one passion in his life and is willing to sacrifice his own happiness for it. He knows himself and his weaknesses; that is his strength. This book is the stuff of which tragedy is made. There is grand passion, high drama and doomed characters. The tensions and twists in 'Phantom' are as good as the previous novels. The descriptions of extreme violence have been tempered in this book and it is the better for it. The drug scene in Oslo is vividly depicted and the images of the young dealers wearing their Arsenal shirts as they hang around the streets peddling their wares is very chilling, indeed. The ending is, in hindsight, the inevitable result of the build up of events but succeeds at the same time to be surprising and shocking. As always Nesbo has given us another superb novel to devour!