Brilliant, audaciously rogue police officer, Harry Hole from The Snowman and The Thirst, is back and in the throes of a new, unanticipated rage–once again hunting the murderer who has haunted his entire career.

Harry Hole is not in a good place. Rakel–the only woman he’s ever loved–has ended it with him, permanently. He’s been given a chance for a new start with the Oslo Police but it’s in the cold case office, when what he really wants is to be investigating cases he suspects have ties to Svein Finne, the serial rapist and murderer who Harry helped put behind bars. And now, Finne is free after a decade-plus in prison–free, and Harry is certain, unreformed and ready to take up where he left off. But things will get worse. When Harry wakes up the morning after a blackout, drunken night with blood that’s clearly not his own on his hands, it’s only the very beginning of what will be a waking nightmare the likes of which even he could never have imagined.

Series:

Harry Hole

Book 12

Book Type:

Thriller

Review: Knife

Harry Hole hunts a killer in his most personal, most brutal case yet in Jo Nesbo’s newest, KNIFE.

Harry is devastated after his wife, Rakel, kicks him out for good. He’s hitting the bottle hard, hoping to numb the reality of living without the love of his life. Katrine has also given him a second chance with the Oslo Police, but it’s looking through cold cases. What Harry really wants to do is find Svein Finne—the serial killer and rapist he put in prison a long time ago, and one who swore vengeance. Now, Finne is out of prison and Harry fears he’s back to his old ways.

To make matters worse, Harry awakes from a drunken blackout covered in blood, and soon after, his entire world upends.

KNIFE really explores the worst that could possibly happen to Harry. His downward spiral is viscerally felt as his worst nightmare comes to life.

Nesbo, as expected, is unflinching in his approach, making the narrative quite compelling. Harry’s descent is dark, tragic, tense and tortured. He’s really hit rock bottom as relationships and friendships begin to break down.  Even so, his mind is constantly at work, turning and shifting the puzzle pieces of the case around in that brilliant, instinctive way of his.

Nesbo will keep you guessing right up until the shocking reveal, and then he’ll leave you desperate to know what happens next.

KNIFE is truly a superb thriller. Tense in that way that makes you forget to breathe, terrifying in the places it pushes you to, poignant in the way our hero continues to fracture. Arguably the most powerful Harry Hole novel to date, and one of my favorite this year.

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