Book Review: Nemesis by Jo Nesbo

Nemesis by Jo Nesbø
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


All of Jo Nesbo's translated works have a giant sticker on the front saying, "The next Stieg Larsson." You obviously expect that the sticker is indicating that Jo Nesbo is a dead Swede, rather than a healthily alive Norwegian. You also obviously expect that reading one of Jo's books will bring you another boring, long winded, needlessly detailed, "thriller". Clearly the first 50 to 100 pages will spend more time describing flowers, boats and home renovations than actually introducing the characters and plot.


Thankfully this isn't the case. Nemesis was actually worth reading. At +700 pages it packs in a lot of plot, sub-plots, mystery and intrigue. This book reminded me of other crime novels by the likes of Michael Connelly and Ian Rankin. Although, at least Jo refrains from including a street map description of Oslo like Rankin does for Edinburgh.


The only complaint I have with this book is that it felt over-written. Nesbo and his translator have done a fantastically skilled job, but there are times when you feel a little lost with tangential prose.


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