Books & Literature

Book Review: The Thirst (Harry Hole 11), by Jo Nesbo

Detective Harry Hole is happily lecturing at Police College when he is called back to duty on a case involving a vampirist who is truly out for blood…

It’s been a four year wait between Jo Nesbo’s Harry Hole novels – during which he’s released several others – so, The Thirst marks a welcome return of old friends facing new enemies.

The novel picks up four years after the previous one, Police, which finds Harry happily lecturing at Police College, married and enjoying family life…well, almost. In his dreams, Harry is haunted by the ever-illusive one that got away while in the real world, a new terror stalks the streets in the form of a vampirist – and he is truly out for blood.

When the case becomes a political hot potato, Harry is called back – but he will only return under his own terms, with his own hand-picked team. With this proviso accepted, we see the return of many of the familiar faces, along with the old issues, the personal vices and the hidden histories that we know so well.

It is a twisting, turning maze, which amplifies the dangers of online dating and the online world in general. It explores the media’s drive for a hot story and a closely guarded secret to be revealed, and the communal craving for instant answers, to assuage the public’s thirst to know all the details immediately.

As always, Harry finds himself torn between personal and professional convictions, with his wife afflicted by a mysterious illness, his son’s past held over his head to keep him in line and his demons rearing their ugly heads, as he tries to find the identity of the killer.

The title of the book is a multi-faceted nod to not only the crimes, but the motivations of the characters – the thirst for blood, the thirst for knowledge, the thirst for alcohol which plagues the reformed alcoholic, combined with Harry’s thirst for justice and a suitable outcome.

The Thirst – the 11th Harry Hole novel – is, as are the others, a satisfying read in the style we have come to expect from Nesbo. Let’s hope we’re not left in a (Harry) hole waiting for the next one.

Reviewed by Glen Christie

Rating out of 10:  9

Distributed by: Penguin Australia
Released: April 2017
RRP:  $49.99 hardcover; $32.99 trade paperback; $12.99 eBook

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