
The Snowman
A Harry Hole Novel
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Narrated by:
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Robin Sachs
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By:
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Jo Nesbø
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Don Bartlett
About this listen
Internationally acclaimed crime writer Jo Nesbø’s antihero police investigator, Harry Hole, is back: in a bone-chilling thriller that will take Hole to the brink of insanity.
Oslo in November. The first snow of the season has fallen. A boy named Jonas wakes in the night to find his mother gone. Out his window, in the cold moonlight, he sees the snowman that inexplicably appeared in the yard earlier in the day. Around its neck is his mother’s pink scarf.
Hole suspects a link between a menacing letter he’s received and the disappearance of Jonas’s mother - and of perhaps a dozen other women, all of whom went missing on the day of a first snowfall. As his investigation deepens, something else emerges: he is becoming a pawn in an increasingly terrifying game whose rules are devised - and constantly revised - by the killer.
Fiercely suspenseful, its characters brilliantly realized, its atmosphere permeated with evil, The Snowman is the electrifying work of one of the best crime writers of our time.
©2011 Jo Nesbo (P)2011 Random House AudioCritic reviews
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ARE YOU CARRYING THE FIRE?
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It was interesting to view some suspects and the actual murderer from Harry's perspective and then have a pause in the investigation to get a back story from their viewpoint.
The ending for this yarn takes you on a roller coaster ride of suspense. Be prepared to be immersed into a top notch detective story.
Nesbo is the Cat and I am The Mouse
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I enjoyed the book's drama, and mystery - the overall desire to know "who dunnit" is a fun thing to experience in books. I had that real sense of needing to know who was doing these terrible crimes.
The only reason I did not give this book 4 stars (because there are few books I would give 5 stars to) was because the story breaks down a bit toward the end when Detective Harry Hole thinks he knows who the killer is, and it is absurd. It is so contrived for about 50 pages that I was skimming through pages, and fast forwarding through the listening to the book.
The end wraps up in a more believable way, but I had been thrown from being on pins and needles. Let's face it - those of us who like listening to mysteries/thrillers love being on pins and needles. It's a hard thing for a writer to keep us there in a convincing way.
I will certainly read/listen to more of Jo Nesbo's books. Overall, Nesbo is a very good, tight author who has good plot!
Very good listen for parts of story
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What did you love best about The Snowman?
The interweaving of flashback scenes with present day to ratchet up the tension and keep the reader guessing.Any additional comments?
4.5 stars. A labyrinthine plot (in the best way), a gifted but flawed investigator (with humanity and depth), an assortment of supporting players with distinct personalities and drives, a richly textured history for the main players, and a feeling of dread as each new victim goes missing combine to make this a really excellent mystery-thriller. I picked this up after being very disappointed in the first book of the series (disappointed enough that I did not finish it), so I am glad I read a few reviews and saw that this book (the seventh in the series following Harry Hole) received glowing reviews. Clearly Nesbø hit his stride some time after the first book and this was well worth the time. I look forward to other books in the series and was also interested to learn that this book is being adapted into a film for release this year. I just hope that the film does the book justice and that viewers perhaps choose to pick up the book first. Recommended.Glad I gave this series a second chance
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Any additional comments?
At times I wanted to say,"jeez, lighten up." This book was relentlessly grim. Being grim is OK, I just thought it could have used more character development to make me care about the people a little more and draw me in more. I read another book by Nesbo and I had the same reaction. But I know a lot of people really like him, so maybe people like me, who go for Pride and Prejudice,etc., are not the natural audience here.Probably just not my taste
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Fun & Grusome
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Outstanding!
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Great voice for this book.
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A great series
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Some Parts, But Not Other Parts
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Excellent story!
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