The Scandinavian crime fictions (or the Nordic noir) are
particularly mesmerizing and addictive, probably because of the way it provides
a commentary on the society that plays a huge role in shaping the individuals. There’s
kernel of psychological and social truths waiting to be discovered in these
cat-and-mouse games between persistent detectives and the fiendish criminals. The
relatively smaller population in the Scandinavian countries plus the lower
crime rate, and its homogeneous culture, now challenged by non-white immigrants,
also plays a significant role in bringing immense focus upon the crime of
killing. Among the growing list of Scandinavian crime fiction authors, Norwegian novelist Jo Nesbo is wildly famous. Nesbo, Norway’s important cultural export
has created the indefatigable detective character Harry Hole, who has appeared
so far in 11 of Nesbo’s successful novels.
I didn’t start reading the Harry Hole series in order. I
began with the most popular novel in the series – The Snowman. It chillingly
chronicles the hunt for an extremely brutal serial-killer (the silly movie
adaptation was however a critical and commercial failure). Hooked by the
character and setting, I returned to Harry Hole's world with The Redbreast, third in the series. This
novel was translated to English in 2006 (by Don Bartlett), and the first two
books – The Bat and Cockroaches – were available in English only by 2012 and
2013 respectively. In fact, Redbreast is the perfect place to start the series (if
you are very serious about following Harry Hole character), since I didn’t find
the first two novels that great, compared to Nesbo’s clever, suspenseful
plotting in the later novels. Of course, all the books in the series could
be read as stand-alone novels since each book deals with different investigation
(gist of personal developments in Harry’s life is neatly provided, although Redbreast,
Nemesis, and The Devil’s Star—3,4 and 5
in the series -- are best read as trilogies since its narrative threads are
more densely interlinked).
The Redbreast begins in November 1999 with Harry Hole slowly
recovering from a heavy drinking problem and depression. He is one of the many
detectives in charge of security arrangements for President Bill Clinton’s
visit to Norway (for the Oslo Middle-East Peace Conference). A last-minute
mistake related to security detail duty puts Harry in a delicate situation. But
surprisingly, thanks to the higher-ups’ political games, Harry is promoted and
bequeathed with the title ‘Inspector’ and parceled to glossy corridors of Norwegian Security Service (POT). Nevertheless,
the high-salaried desk-job only makes Harry more surly and restless, which he
constantly expresses in his phone conversations with former crime squad partner
and friend Ellen Gjelten. Soon, a report about a smuggled, very expensive
German-made Marklin rifle's entry into Norway (a favorite of assassins around the world)
feeds the curiosity of unsatiated detective within him.
As Harry Hole tries to track down the buyer and possibly
stop the forthcoming malevolent crimes, the narrative keeps shifting to story of group of
pro-Nazi Norwegian soldiers who had fought on the Eastern Front for the
Axis Forces in World War II (almost 15,000 Norwegians volunteered to serve
on the Eastern Front even though a great number of them joined the fascist forces
out of hunger and impoverishment). This World War II narrative gains importance
when we learn that the man possessing the Marklin rifle is a cancer-ridden old
war veteran, who is persistent enough to finish his last deadly
mission. The identity of the old man is kept mysterious, which brings a
spine-chilling suspense quotient to Harry’s dogged investigation. Moreover, the
inspector’s search for an obscure arms dealer nicknamed ‘Prince’, who has sold
the Marklin to the old man, leads to some serious repercussions. On a lighter
note, Harry does fall in love (he previously has had trouble in maintaining
romantic relationships) with the ravishing and smart Rakel Fauke, a single mother
also working in POT. But their tentative relationship is threatened by the
Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs Bernt Brandhaug, whose power gives him the
free rein to be a sexual predator.
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| Jo Nesbo |
Biblical references are found in abundance in the novel, starting from
Nesbo’s recurring reference to the story of King David. What elevates Redbreast
compared to Nesbo’s first two Harry Hole novels is the manner with which he
skillfully weaves the multiple plot-lines, and keeping us playing the guessing
game till the final chapters.Even though, like in many crime fictions, the end
twists don’t add up to be ground-breaking (in retrospect it’s full of logical
loop-holes), the suspense elements effortlessly coerced my mind to sacrifice
few hours of sleep in order to get to the bottom of the mystery (though my
mind kept sending me premonitory images of unfocused and tired day at work). Once
again the array of psychological and social information the novelist throws
out, pertaining to the Scandinavian nations, is dense and conjures multiple-layers
to seemingly simple criminal activities. Furthermore, The Redbreast brims with historical specificity
that’s still relevant in Norwegian political arena, especially considering the
rise of right-wing populist politics in recent times.
On thematic front, Nesbo tackles the corrupted nature of
power, which wreaks havoc in the characters’ lives, from the days of
devastating trench warfare to the suave modern political maneuvers. The
Redbreast has some of the problems that ail Nesbo’s other works too: graphic depiction
of violence (sometimes sexual in nature) directed towards women. Although the
author’s overall tone condemns the perverted sexual tendencies of the
possessive men, by taking the subjective perspective of perpetrator, the unfolding
twisted violence sort of becomes a bleak entertainment (Nesbo’s The Snowman
and The Leopard contains several brutal situations involving women in peril,
and some of it are widely condemned in crime fiction literary circles). Altogether,
Jo Nesbo’s The Redbreast is a flawed yet tersely crafted tale of revenge, treachery
and political intrigue.
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