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Nov 22, 2009

Andrea rated it:

The Redeemer is the fourth book in translation by Jo Nesbo and he captures our imagination with this book by bringing us readers into the storyline twelve years prior to the main plot. We start with the rape of a fourteen year old girl that takes place at a Salvation Army summer camp in Norway. Although we know there was a rape we are not given clues who committed this act or disclosure of the victim. In a second separate event we are also given the story of a young croatian boy caught up in his More...

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Jan 04, 2012

Susan rated it:

Not the worst, but far from the best of the current crop of Nordic noirs, THE REDEEMER follows a disturbing series of murders starting with that of a Salvation Army leader in Oslo. Cinematic crosscutting of scenes adds to the suspense, and the plot is sufficiently contorted but not extremely neat. Even when balancing compassion with alcoholism, Harry Hole still is not a very attractive protagonist. Perhaps I've been reading too many of these, because I feel like I've been compulsively stuffing More...

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Jan 22, 2012

Carole rated it:

This is the 4th in the Harry Hole series and begins with the rape of a 14 year old girl at a Salvation Army summer camp by an unknown assailant. We don’t find out their identities until nearly the end of the book but the far reaching consequences run throughout the book.
12 years later in 2003, Harry’s still battling his drinking and fighting the world including his department and superiors and rivals. Bjorne Moller, his chief protector and ex-boss is going on unofficial gardening leave unt More...

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Dec 28, 2011

Paul rated it:

The Redeemer is the latest thriller from the Norwegian Jo Nesbø and once again features his alcoholic maverick cop, Inspector Harry Hole. It begins with a rape at a Salvation Army summer school, then leaps forward twelve years and two seasons, to freezing cold Oslo at Christmas. The Salvation Army is doing good works among the lowlife junkies of the Norwegian capital. One of them has slipped through the safety net, and Harry Hole is investigating his apparent suicide when one of the Sally Army o More...

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Oct 13, 2011

Laura rated it:

This took a little longer to get into than the previous books, but was worthwhile overall. The body count here is pretty high, but a lot is revealed about Harry's relationships with his co-workers and I feel like he's becoming more of an 'adult'. The murder itself has quite a few good twists, though the team makes some of the same mistakes they did last time in solving it (taking one witness' description of another as believable, not realizing everyone's motives, etc). Until the end, I wasn't More...

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Sep 07, 2011

Jerome rated it:

I had been hearing about Jo Nesbo for a while, but it’s only recently that I managed to read two of his novels, The Redeemer, and The Leopard. The Leopard will be a separate post. This one is about The Redeemer. I don’t know what it is about
Scandinavian writers (Nesbo is Norwegian) but I find the atmosphere of their books quite gloomy. True, it does reflect certain aspects of Scandinavian culture, especially the long winters and the lack of light. It’s a well-known fact that the suicide ra More...

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Dec 29, 2010

Nancy rated it:

Very briefly: Harry Hole, Nesbo's awesome yet angst-ridden Norwegian detective, is back -- and this time he's investigating a cold-blooded murder of Salvation Army officer Robert Karlsen in Oslo. The man was killed at point-blank range and the killer left behind no evidence. The police are stymied -- but on his way home, the killer realizes that he's killed the wrong man and botched the hit he was paid to make -- and must stay until the job is completed correctly. Nesbo's done it again (he's un More...

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Oct 16, 2011

KarenC rated it:

A complicated story that Nesbø didn't make any easier by obscuring the clues. A more astute reader may have sussed them out, but I was left guessing more than once when Inspector Harry Hole located some piece of information that was not specifically described. The technique did keep my attention and the pages kept turning. Another technique that sometimes made the story a bit difficult to follow was the interweaving of 3 stories, not always in separate chapters, and with similar events occuring More...

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Jun 22, 2011

Marcel rated it:

Scandinavian thriller writers are a hype and it seems that there are as many Scandinavian thriller authors as there are Scandinavian people. Not sure what that says about the Scandinavian psyche or, because I love them all, what that says about my own psyche.

Jo Nesbo is no exception and The Redeemer (I read the Dutch version) is a must read for anyone who like Scandinavian thrilers. Contrary to many of his colleagues though, Nesbo has a lot of pace in his books and is less detailed in More...

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Aug 22, 2011

Erin rated it:

"It's chance and nuances that separate the hero from the villain." This is the fourth (in English) Harry Hole book, and for me, the most complex. For the first two-thirds of the book, I was feeling it was the weakest. In terms of plot, it is. The storyline was not nearly as engaging. However, as the book progressed, I realized it was the strongest thematically. I won't say too much so as not to spoil it for others, but all too often with popular culture (films and books), I find myself More...

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Jul 16, 2011

Katherine rated it:

“ ‘I have problems with a religion which says that faith in itself is enough for a ticket to heaven. In other words, that the ideal is your ability to manipulate you own common sense to accept something you intellect rejects. It’s the same model of intellectual submission that dictatorships have used throughout time, the concept of a higher reasoning without any obligation to discharge the burden of proof’” (156).
“ ‘Be careful, Harry. Drinking makes you not only irritable but irritating. I More...

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Jan 22, 2012

Nora rated it:

It's a quirk of timing that I happened to read The Redeemer, which comes before The Snowman, after The Leopard, which comes after it, but I have to say that The Redeemer was something of a refreshing break after the most recent two Jo Nesbo books.

This is much more of a straightforward thriller, without as much of the gut-wrenching horrible stuff, than his most recent two books (the first, and only, really gruesome part took place after 200 pages), following different sets of characters More...

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Dec 05, 2008

Reinhold rated it:

Nesbøs bester Hole – bislang

Mit diesem Buch setzt sich Nesbø einen neuen Maßstab. Waren seine Romane bisher mal sehr gut, mal eher mäßig, so hat er sich nun eindeutig übertroffen und ein Meisterwerk vorgelegt.

In Oslo wird ein junger Mann erschossen. Sehr schnell bemerkt der Auftragsmörder, dass er den Falschen erwischt hat und bricht nicht zu seinem Rückflug auf. Schnell kommt Harry Hole dem Täter auf die Spur und ein Wettrennen beginnt.

Extrem spannend beschre More...

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Jun 25, 2011

Dave rated it:

This guy is one of the best writers page by page in crime fiction. His plotting is convoluted but always engaging and leads to so much mystery you keep wondering who dunnit. His sense of place -- Oslo -- is revetting. Despite Harry's alcoholism, it is a nice change to accompany a sleuth who is not over ruled by angst or depression. He may be handicapped by his demons but not so that that is the over bearing storyline.

Nesbø also has a moral compas -- so very non judgemental -- that I st More...

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Jan 26, 2012

Gemma rated it:

The Redeemer is the 4th book starring Harry Hole, the alcoholic/recovering alcholic (depending on his mood) Inspector. As usual Jo Nesbo has an imaginative plot that is well thought out, and full of twists and turns.

We start at Salvation Army Summer Camp where a 14 year old girl is raped. We don't find out by whom, but the repercussions of this event take us into the present day. The story then skips to a young Croatian boy caught up in war, and known as the Redeemer. The start More...

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Dec 22, 2011

John rated it:

My first Harry Hole novel and for whatever reason kept reminding me of Harry Bosch probably due to the Michael Connelly blurb on the cover as well as the first name. I dislike reading novels out of order but as I was travelling I had to pick up something new rather than from my massive TBR pile and therefore I felt I was probably missing out on some of the backstory and references to Harry's previous partners & cases.[return][return]The story itself is quite intricate and overall a pleasure but More...

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Jan 24, 2012

Lucia rated it:

Kniha Spasiteľ je rozdelená do štyroch častí, plus prológ a epilóg. Keď som čítala prvú časť, nemohla som sa zorientovať vo veľkom počte osôb a v preskakovaní medzi rozprávačmi, preto mi prišla táto časť trošku nudná z zdĺhavá.

V prvej časti knihy nám spisovateľ len predstaví hlavných "hrdinov a ich útrapy", k rozhodujúcej vražde sa dostane až na konci.No keď sa čitateľ prehryzie cez túto časť, čaká ho veľmi napínavá kniha plná zvratov a neočakávaných prekvapení.

Na More...

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May 08, 2011

Carlos rated it:

Harry Hole has again to look at the past to find out who is killing people in Oslo. Nesbo's obssesion with the past is what makes me think this is the best writer of the genre working today, way above of Connelly and others.
This is not his best book, but It is not, by far, a bad book, only that having read Nemesis (my favorite) and The Devil's Star the bar is real high.
So, I like to dwell into the psiquis of criminals, to know exactly what make them tick and no one like Hole to do ju More...

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May 07, 2010

Bettie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Aug 18, 2011

Corny rated it:

the best of the five Harry Hole mysteries that I have read so far. Intricately plotted with the pieces neatly fitting together at the end, The Redeemer is a joy to read, although I still do not like the British Translation. Sometimes, the phrasing is stilted suggesting that the translator did not find the right English text to mirror the sense of the original Norwegian. Despite this small issue, I found Harry Hole to be a truly memorable character and I look forward to reading the Leopard next.
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Apr 22, 2011

Andrzej rated it:

Kryminały dzielą się w mojej głowie na dwie grupy. Pierwsze to opowieści z zagadką na głównym planie, kiedy krętą droga poszlak i odkryć dochodzi się do rozwiązania. Drugie kiedy zagadka pozostaje w tle, a historia toczy się głównie wokół postaci - najczęściej poranionych Skandynawów,tak się jakoś złożyło. I tu niestety ma miejsce opcja numer dwa, czyli książka, której równie blisko do kryinału i sensacji, jak pierwszemu lepszemu obyczajowi.

Nesbo nie jest niestety tak sprawny jak Lars More...

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Aug 07, 2011

Sarah rated it:

This is my 4th Jo Nesbo/Harry Hole mystery. My enjoyment of these books is directly proportional to Harry's drunken dysfunction, and as Harry only has one bender is the course of Redeemer, I liked it.

The story revolves around a group of soldiers of the Salvation Army in Oslo. When one of them is killed by a sniper, Harry is called in to investigate. We soon find out that the sniper killed the wrong person and is still at large. The rest of the book is a cat and mouse tale.
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Aug 18, 2011

Bazbal666 rated it:

Without a doubt the Best Nesbo yet. I almost bailed on him after The Redbreast which I thought was convoluted and sloppy but each subsequent book in the series has been better. Great main character and it's been fun to read them in sequence and see how Nesbo gets better at what he does with each one. This is the first one I've read where I never questioned his choices and although this is definitely not literature I'm looking forward to reading The Snowman. This one is probably more like 3 a More...

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Dec 06, 2010

Godzilla rated it:

Another "picked up on a whim" read, although with this one I had already read The Devil's Star, so knew some of what I was in for.

I didn't like the style of this one, it grated on me, although for other readers I'm sure it worked perfectly well. The story cuts between several protagonists over the same chapter, and it feels fractured and in consistent to me.

The lead character, Harry Hole, is a good invention, flawed yet perceptive, if a little creepy around wome More...

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Jul 06, 2011

Maria rated it:

Another great entry in the Harry Hole series. This one should have been released in the U.S., but it was only released in the UK. For people who are following the whole series: there are some key things that happen in The Redeemer to develop the longer story arc (which starts with the death of Harry's partner in The Redbreast). Hopefully, Nesbo's new publisher will acquire the US rights for this book and release it here. (I had to order my copy from a book dealer in the UK.)

The plo More...

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Oct 20, 2011

Jen rated it:

Harry investigates the murder of a Salvation Army member, which draws him into trying to locate a hired Croatian killer. The killer is hard to trace because of a rare condition, which allows his face to change characteristics, making him hard to recognise. This is a bit unlikely of course, but even so, this is a page turner, which also helps fill in some details from past novels, such as the fact that Bjarne Moller, who has retired to Bergen, was involved with a police group which included Tom W More...

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Jul 29, 2011

Felicity rated it:

I have finally caught up on all of the Harry Hole mysteries. I actually recommend reading them as I did, one after the other as it makes it easier to follow the plot lines that crisscross books in the series. I'm fairly certain that readers who have not read the previous Harry Hole mysteries will have no idea what's going on in the final ten pages of this book otherwise--it would all seem fairly cryptic (having said that, you can easily enjoy this book as a stand-alone mystery). The plot in t More...

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Jul 10, 2011

Amy rated it:

I think maybe I liked The Redeemer a bit more than the previous book, Devil's Star , but it's hard to say. (They're all so good!) I found the Salvation Army story line pretty fascinating; I'd never given the organization much thought before. I wonder if the US version is as similar to the Norwegian organization...

Additionally, I'm eternally hoping that Harry will put more effort into his personal life to save his relationship with Rakel and Oleg. And I really wanted an explanatio More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 11, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

Another solid installment in the Harry Hole series. This time Harry gets involved in an intriguing case where a killer for hire apparently kills the wrong brother and refuses to leave town until he rectifies his mistake. However, why someone would want to kill an up and coming commander in the Salvation Army organization is just one of the many questions surrounding the case. Harry works with his usual team to break the case but under a new commander, one who just might have it in for Harry. More...

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May 29, 2011

SallyJo rated it:

***SPOILER ALERT***

Jo, baby, stop picking off Harry's colleagues, please. Not cool.

Otherwise, another wild ride of multiple plots, twisted tales of murder and mayhem, and conflicted love interests for the brutally honest and alcoholic Harry Hole to resolve. All keeping you on the edge of your seat. The first several chapters are interestingly written in a manner that illustrates the separate yet inexorably intertwining lives, sliding from moment to moment in a slightly d More...

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