The Redbreast by Jo Nesbø|

[Almeta]

Dom and I are continuing the Harry Hole series. The Redbreast by Jo Nesbø is next up.

Anyone else ready to jump on board?

So how about May 15th?

[Dominique]

Good for me!

[Cherie]

I'm in. The book is quietly hanging out on my book shelf.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Me too!

[Casceil]

I will have to acquire a copy, but I should be able to manage it by May 15th.

[Cherie]

I just checked. My paperback copy is the red cover with the white bird. It is waiting on the corner of my desk now.

[Almeta]

Couple more days. Everyone ready?

[Cherie]

Ready!

[Casceil]

Ready!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Yes, sort of, not really. It's been pulled off my shelf in anticipation!!

[Almeta]

Rusalka wrote: "Yes, sort of, not really. It's been pulled off my shelf in anticipation!!"

lol Is it trembling?

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I'd say quivering ;)

[Almeta]

The Redbreast
Jo Nesbø

PART ONE Earth to Earth
Chapter 1 - 8
Harry is(view spoiler)[ sober! Do you think it will last? (hide spoiler)]

There appears to be three plots here:
Harry and Ellen in motorcade nov 1999 - (view spoiler)[Did Harry just shoot a "good guy"? (hide spoiler)]
Sverre Olsen and Johan Krohn Jr. and Herman Groth at trial Oct 1999 - (view spoiler)[What will Sverre be up to while out of jail? (hide spoiler)]
Old Chap Oct 1999 - (view spoiler)[ Is he (Daniel?) (hide spoiler)]

PART TWO Genesis
Chapters 9-22
What did Daniel do (view spoiler)[ with the spade when he went out toward the Russian. Did he really bury him? (hide spoiler)]

I assumed that Daniel (view spoiler)[ The Old Chap, was this Daniel in the trenches. But now he is dead, in the war. Has someone assumed his identity, or is this a different man altogether> (hide spoiler)]

Why would Daniel's (view spoiler)[ body be returned to camp? (hide spoiler)]

Not surprised that Harry (view spoiler)[went straight to beer after the shooting incident. (hide spoiler)]

I wonder if Harry would ever (view spoiler)[ have gotten a promotion on his own merit. His superiors seemed to recognize his talent, but he always manages to embarrass them at the same time! (hide spoiler)]

What's the "Old Man" up to? (view spoiler)[ with luxury apartments and specific rifles. Now it appears that Sverre Olsen is part of his story. (hide spoiler)]

PART THREE Uriah
Chapters 23 - 34 Avoiding (view spoiler)[ Dr. Brockhard's advances is becoming more and more dangerous. I don't think Helena is ever going to get away from his grip. Why would Brockhard keep pursuing her, he must be a very controlling person. I don't like him or his father! (hide spoiler)]

PART FOUR Purgatory
Chapter 35 - 51 Uriah, Daniel, Old Chap, (view spoiler)[I'm getting confused. Are any of these men one and the same person? Every war veteran I meet now, might be "Old Chap"! (hide spoiler)]

Sindre Fauke makes a pretty good (view spoiler)[point for a revenge motive. (hide spoiler)]

I should have known Ellen (view spoiler)[ was going to be hurt. Harry is never around for "the girl". Guilty drunkenness soon to follow. (hide spoiler)]

I wonder if Helena ever (view spoiler)[ got Uriah's metal canteen (hide spoiler)]

PART FIVE Seven Days
Chapter 52 - 58
I was right! (view spoiler)[Harry went straight for the bottle. His daily calls to her answering machine was really touching. (hide spoiler)]

PART SIX Bathsheba
Chapter 59 - 73
Brent Brandhaug and (view spoiler)[Dr. Brockhar seem like the same person! Guess there are creeps in every generation. (hide spoiler)]

Having a identity Crisis! (view spoiler)[Some people are acting like other people, but can't be same people because of passing of time. Some people might be other people...once or twice or maybe thrice, changing names a lot. Can't tell. I don't think that I'm supposed to know (clever Jo Nesbø), but I am trying hard to outwit the storyteller. (hide spoiler)]

Short chapters. Moves along quickly.

PART SEVEN Black Cloak
Chapter 74 - 84
Sooo, I thought (view spoiler)[Old Chap, whoever he is was the one gunning for Brandhaug at his house AND missed his opportunity as the man was entering his home. Did Old Chap stay overnight and get his target in the morning? Or is there another shooter?
My head hurts!☺☻☺ (hide spoiler)]



PART EIGHT Revelation
Chapter 85 - 93

PART NINE Judgment Day
Chapter 94 -
PART TEN The Resurrection

[Cherie]

I just finished Earth to Earth 1-8. It was hard to take it all in. All I can think of is - what just happened? (view spoiler)[ three things: the trial, the political biggies, and the security detail. Is Harry being set up, or the police? Who is dying? Who is Daniel? What's with the "seventy-five seconds" line? Did Harry shoot a Secret Service guy? (hide spoiler)]

Next Part Two Genesis

[Dominique]

L'm starting it today!

[Almeta]

Cherie wrote: "I just finished Earth to Earth 1-8. It was hard to take it all in. All I can think of is - what just happened? ....What's with the (view spoiler)["seventy-five seconds" line?

I don't know, I've read it twice now. Is it just a quirk of the author...or is an important clue to something? (hide spoiler)]

[Cherie]

Part Two Genesis - Chapters 9-22 - goes fast, huh?

I finally had a chance to read your spoilers, Almeta. I had all of the same questions as you are indicating in your spoilers from message 13. I re-read parts of this section over and over and still do not get what happened to the guy with the shovel, nor to the dead guys and what happened. I think this is where we just get to go on with the story and see what happens.

Yes, we even had the same questions about Harry, but I did not comment on his being sober or not. After I read this section, I finally broke down and read the story summary. This is the 2nd buddy read that I sat down to read the book for and had no idea what the story line was supposed to be about. Normally, it does not bother me, but this book started off so different than the other two - don't you think? The Norwegian names kill me too. I cannot remember who they are. (view spoiler)[ I could not keep the guys in the trenches straight either. Were the Norweigans and Dutch allies and were they fighting against the Germans and the Russians? (hide spoiler)]

re - the Old Guy (view spoiler)[are they two old guys? and one is dead now? Interesting that the one had his throat sliced. Glunder?? Was that his name? Who is the one who wants the gun going to kill? Are we supposed to know? (hide spoiler)]

re - Harry's boss (view spoiler)[ was he thinking about taking another job because of the stuff going on with the politicians and Harry? (hide spoiler)]

Wow - you are really cranking along! I just cannot go that fast, but I am reading two books too, since I finished the 3rd.

[Cherie]

I only made it half way through the Uriah section tonight. (view spoiler)[ Wow, Daniel lived after he came back as a dead man twice? Is he the guy buying the special rifle?

16mm bullets? If they would seriously mess up an elk, imagine what they would do to a person? "like shooting canaries with a cannon". Loved it!

Seems like Harry's new boss was not quite prepared for him. Can't imagine that they thought he could sit in a corner and shuffle papers. (hide spoiler)]

[Cherie]

I finished the Uriah section last night and started Purgatory ho hum...
until Chapter 50. OK. I was seriously thinking to tell you I was going to quit reading this book. Not now! I'm on page 276. "Ellen"...back later!

[Casceil]

I seem to have given up on this book rather early. I read the first three chapters. I hated the jumping around in time thing (particularly starting with something dramatic, leaving it unfinished, and jumping back). The second chapter I spent the whole time trying to get the names straight. But what really did me in was Chapter 3, and it wasn't the book's fault. I had just found out a few days earlier that a good friend has Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and reading about the dying man was just too much. I think this just isn't the book for me, at least not right now. I hope those of you still reading enjoy it. It sounds like Cherie is hooked.

[Cherie]

I finally got a chance to read your spoiler from Uriah, Almeta. I thought the same thing about the Doctor and his father.

Purgatory (view spoiler)[ I knew it was going to happen to Ellen as soon as she answered Waaler's phone. I can't imagine her surviving. I just read the letter from Uriah to Helena. So, he did leave without her. Is the Doctor that Even Juul guy? What a name! Is Harry going to crash over Ellen or will that woman help him? (view spoiler)[

Starting Seven Days (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Cherie]

Sometimes it is worth abandoning a book, especially when real life is too much to bare, Casceil. Sorry about your friend.

I was really abour ready to jump ship on this. 250 pages is a lot of "setting the stage". I think the ice has broken now though!

[Cherie]

Re Part Five Seven Days (view spoiler)[ That was so sad! The bird is helping keep him from going down the Shute. Maybe it was hearing Ellen's voice on the phone and being able to talk to her. I don't know about Rakel. (Another strange name.). He is still working though. (hide spoiler)]

Starting Bathsheba

[Cherie]

I'm on Chapter 84 in Black Cloak.
(view spoiler)[ OMG, that Minister of Affairs guy was a piece of work!!!! I'm glad he's dead!
I just cannot keep these guys straight and figure out who is whom - the soldiers, I mean. There are more names than we got in the beginning. Is the stuff about the traitors and the prison sentences true?

I am afraid about what is going to happen when Harry finds out about Rakel. (hide spoiler)]

[Cherie]

Chapter 89 in Part 8 The Revelation (view spoiler)[Wow, I guessed it was Even Juul??? I do not understand though... What is Moller muttering? Bergen? Is that where he wants to go? Who else is the guy with the rifle going to kill? Who was in the picture that Harry recognized in Vienna? Oh, please tell me Rakel is not going to die! (hide spoiler)]

[Cherie]

I finished late last night. I was wrong about the killer. I might hate Joe Nesbo now. I'm still thinking about it.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I started this the other day and about 100pp in. I'm really enjoying it. I don't mind the time jumpy stuff (although have had to check dates once or twice) that others have had. I'm really interested in the multiple time lines and storylines. Off to read some spoilers now.

[Dominique]

L'm starting part 8

[Cherie]

I did not mind the time jumps. I had more trouble trying to figure out what was going on. I had no idea about the Norwegian part in WWII. I always thought that they were neutral, like the Swiss. Undoubtedly, I was wrong.

I have been thinking about the story and the language. I know this is translated. I like the way things sound, like car park, and jumper. I smile when they show up. The street names are facinating. The character's names are hard. I spend half of the time trying to figure out how to pronounce them.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Oh, it's a British translator. I didn't even notice!

It's same translator I had issues with for The Bat. But in this one and in Cockroaches it's fine as it's not my culture.

[Cherie]

Almeta wrote "Having a identity Crisis! (view spoiler)" (view spoiler)[The two Helena's really confused me. I still cannot figure out where the second one came from. (hide spoiler)]

[Cherie]

Almeta wrote: "Cherie wrote: "I just finished Earth to Earth 1-8. It was hard to take it all in. All I can think of is - what just happened? ....What's with the "seventy-five seconds" line?

I don't know, I've re..."

The time thing never was explained although it did show up again. I think it was just something about that creepy Brent guy.

[Cherie]

Rusalka wrote: "Oh, it's a British translator. I didn't even notice!

It's same translator I had issues with for The Bat. But in this one and in Cockroaches it's fine as it's not my..."

Now I want to know if the Norwegians call them jumpers or sweaters, hahaha. Is a car park a parking lot, or a drive way?

Amy once pointed out to me that "we park in our drive way, but we drive in a parking lot." She had been reading the road signs as we were driving along and she started spouting all of the oxy-moron things we say like this. She had me laughing so hard I almost drove off of the road.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Cherie wrote: " Is a car park a parking lot, or a drive way?."

What? It's a parking lot! A driveway is a driveway. Not to be confused with a parkway which is a highway.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

And they call them "genser" ;)

[Rusalka, Moderator]

So I had a great reading session tonight (before my boss interrupted me and made me come sit over with her at the Tara Moss event). I was so immersed, I jumped a foot in the air when I got tapped on the shoulder.

I'm in the middle of the Uriah section.

So history clear up. Norwegians were fighting with the Germans. They were both fighting against the Russians. The Russians I believe were backed by the allies, so the Aussies and Dutch were with them? It does all get a bit confusing, particularly with European countries which were independent, then occupied, then not, then again (sometimes by someone else).

Re: old Norwegian man (view spoiler)[ I have now had some confirmation he is Uriah. Which means he's not Daniel. He seems to be Gutland. Which makes a lot more sense. Although I was happy to run with whatever, it didn't strike me as a supernatural tale (hide spoiler)]

I'm really liking the far right thing at the moment. I mean Austria narrowly missed electing a far right president last week (wtf?!? I mean, it's not like they've had personal experience with that in the last 75 years or anything). Looking at the Aussie and US elections this year, I'm worried. We had a huge protest by the far right here last weekend. I think this book is dealing with issues, even though it's dealing with issues from 15 years ago in Norway, that are just as important. I mean Brevik shows how long this has been brewing in Norway, let alone in other countries.

Harry makes me laugh. He's always pushing buttons. And it amuses me greatly at the moment he's just doing that by doing his job well. And it's annoying everyone, as when he's engaged, he's better than everyone else.

[Cherie]

I agree, Rusalka. Harry pushes buttons even when he does not mean to.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I just read through Purgatory and Seven Days. (view spoiler)[ i thought we would have a female character that would last in Ellen, but wishful thinking. So sad. I really loved the answering machine messages. Harry using the answering machine almost how he used Ellen, working through issues and problems, but keeping her up to date. I get how sometimes you just need to hear the person's voice again. (hide spoiler)]

The old guys (view spoiler)[ I am still not sure which one is the Uriah character, but that doesn't bother me at all. All of them have a story and are plausible, and it will all fall into place. Even Juul seems to have a interesting back story with the war and Nazi's after what happened in the cafe. Interesting hearing about how Norway treated these soldiers after WWII as well (hide spoiler)]

Cherie, you make me laugh with your comments about names. You do remember it's a Norwegian book, right? :P

Just started Bathsheba (view spoiler)[ looks like Waaler is just about to sell out Olssen (not too hard), and that that gross head of the Foreign Ministry is sending Harry to do undercover with Neo Nazis. Nice group this lot (hide spoiler)]

[Dominique]

Are we reading the next one in July?

[Cherie]

I'm up for it!

[Dominique]

Anybody else is ok for July?

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I can't source the book at the moment, so I will be out for this one. Be watching what you guys think though!

[Sarah]

Dominique (Dom) wrote: "Anybody else is ok for July?"

You might need to wait a few days for replies as everyone is mid toppler and possibly not paying attention to other threads. I know not many people have suggested books for the July group reads yet. I had hoped to read the next one of ith you guys but i don't think I'd be ready for it in July. Maybe.

[Dominique]

Sarah wrote: "Dominique (Dom) wrote: "Anybody else is ok for July?"

You might need to wait a few days for replies as everyone is mid toppler and possibly not paying attention to other threads. I know not many p..."

Ok no problem, l'm ok if we readi it in August.