Jo Nesbo

Born March 29, 1960; mother was a librarian; married (divorced); children: one daughter. Education: Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (Bergen, Norway), graduated. Avocational Interests: Rock climbing, ball games, watching movies. Addresses: Home: Oslo, Norway. Agent: Salomonsson Agency, Svartensgatan 4, 116 20 Stockholm, Sweden.

Writer and musician. DnB Markets, Oslo, Norway, stockbroker. Member of the bands De Tusen Hjem and Di Derre. Founder of Harry Hole Foundation to promote literacy. Concept creator for the Norwegian television series Occupied. Formerly worked as a taxi driver.

Riverton prize for best Norwegian crime novel, and Glass Key award for best Scandinavian crime novel, both 1997, both for Flaggermusmannen; Bookseller's Prize, 2000, and named Best Norwegian Crime Novel Ever Written, 2004, both for The Redbreast; William Nygaard Bursary award, 2002, for Nemesis; Special Commendation, Finnish Academy of Crime Writers, 2007, for The Devil's Star; Best Novel of the Year, Norwegian Booksellers' Prize, 2007, and Norwegian Book Club Prize, 2008, both for Snomannen; Norwegian Readers' Prize, 2008, for Headhunters; best crime novel, Danish Academy of Crime Writers, for The Leopard; Norwegian Critics Prize, 2010, for Doctor Proctor's Sensational Exhibition of Animals You Wish Didn't Exist; Great Caliber Award of Honour, 2010; Norwegian Peer Gynt Prize, 2013.

WRITINGS:

• (With Espen Sobye) Stemmer fra Balkan (nonfiction; title means "Figures in the Balkans"), Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 1999.
• Karusellmusikk: Noveller (short stories; title means "Merry-Go-Round Music"), Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 2001.
• (With Mari Kildahl, Per Petterson, and Helge Fisknes) Rom for alle: det gjelder a fa lov til a vaere menneske, den man er, Griegbok (Oslo, Norway), 2005.
• Det hvite hotellet (crime novel; title means "The White Hotel"), Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 2007.
• Headhunters, translated by Don Bartlett, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard (New York, NY), 2011.
• The Son, translated by Charlotte Barslund, Knopf (New York, NY), 2014.
• Blood on Snow, translated by Neil Smith, Knopf (New York, NY), 2015.
• Midnight Sun, Knopf (New York, NY), 2016.

"HARRY HOLE" CRIME NOVELS

• Flaggermusmannen, Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 1997, translation by Don Bartlett published as The Bat, Vintage Books (New York, NY), 2013.
• Kakerlakkene, Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 1998, translation by Don Bartlett published as Cockroaches, Vintage Books (New York, NY), 2014.
• Rodstrupe, Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 2000, translation published as The Redbreast, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2007.
• Sorgenfri, Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 2002, translation by Don Bartlett published as Nemesis, Harper (New York, NY), 2009.
• Marekors, Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 2003, translation by Don Bartlett published as The Devil's Star, Harvill Secker (London, England), 2005, Harper (New York, NY), 2010.
• Frelseren, Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 2005, translation by Don Bartlett published as The Redeemer, Vintage Books (New York, NY), 2009.
• Snomannen, Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 2007, translation by Don Bartlett published as The Snowman, Random House Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2010, Knopf (New York, NY), 2011.
• Panserhjerte, Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 2009, translation by Don Bartlett published as The Leopard, Harvill Secker (London, England), 2010, Knopf (New York, NY), 2011.
• Gjenferd, Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 2011, translation by Don Bartlett published as Phantom, Harvill Secker (London, England), 2012, Knopf (New York, NY), 2012.
• Politi, Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 2013, translation by Don Bartlett published as Police, Knopf (New York, NY), 2013.
• Tørst, Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 2018, translation by Neil Smith published as Thirst, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard (New York, NY), 2017.
• Knife, Knopf (New York, NY), 2019.

"DOCTOR PROCTOR'S FART POWDER" SERIES; FOR CHILDREN

• Doktor Proktors prompepulvet, Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 2007, translation by Tara Chance published as Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder, illustrated by Mike Lowery, Aladdin Paperbacks (New York, NY), 2010.
• Doktor Proktors tidsbadekar, Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 2008, translation by Tara Chance published as Bubble in the Bathtub, illustrated by Mike Lowery, Aladdin Paperbacks (New York, NY), 2010.
• Doktor Proktor og verdens undergang: Kanskje, Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 2010, translation by Tara Chance published as Who Cut the Cheese?, illustrated by Mike Lowery, Aladdin Paperbacks (New York, NY), 2012.
• Doktor Proktor of det store gullrö veriet, Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 2012, translation by Tara Chance published as The Magical Fruit, illustrated by Mike Lowery, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2013.
• Kan Doktor Proktor redde jula?, Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 2016, translation by Tara Chance published as Can Doctor Proctor Save Christmas?, illustrated by Mike Lowery, Simon & Schuster (London, England), 2017.

The Snowman has been optioned for a feature film, directed by Martin Scorsese; Headhunters was adapted for a Norwegian film, Hodejegerne, 2011; the television series I Am Victor is based on a book synopsis written by Nesbø.

Jo Nesbø is a popular Norwegian crime author as well as the lead singer and songwriter for the successful Norwegian rock band Di Derre. He has also worked as a stockbroker. The level of Nesbø's popularity can be measured by his Norwegian sales: in a country of five million, his books had sold, by 2013, 4.7 million copies. His crime novels and children's books have sold millions more around the globe, translated into more than forty languages. Part of the Nordic noir wave of crime fiction, the award-wining Nesbø has carved a special place for himself among other imports from Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, and his main protagonist, the alcoholic, dystopic cop Harry Hole, has become a standard bearer for Nesbø's fiction, with ten novels featuring the Oslo detective. Writing in Slate, Wendy Lesser noted of the author's success: "Jo Nesbø's excellent books are the latest addition to this Nordic roster, which begins with the grandparents of all Scandinavian mysteries--the marvelous ten-volume Martin Beck series written by Per Wahlöö and Maj Sjöwall in the 1960s and 1970s--and descends through the estimable Henning Mankell, with his endearing Kurt Wallander figure, to the somewhat debased but still enjoyable level of Stieg Larsson."

Nesbø grew up with two parents who both loved to read and tell stories. As a child, the author was known among his peers as a spellbinding storyteller, specializing in gruesome tales. He didn't begin trying to write seriously, though, until he was thirty-seven years old. It was while on a leave of absence from his stockbroker job that he completed his first manuscript for the novel Flaggermusmannen. Once he had submitted the manuscript, Nesbø quit his job even before he heard that his book had been accepted by the publisher. In an autobiographical essay posted on his home page, Nesbø stated: "My leave of absence was over when the manuscript was delivered. I turned up for work on the first day, switched on my computer and saw that I had almost everything: a flat, no more debts, an overpaid job and a great band. The only thing I didn't have was time." Nesbø further noted: "My father had died two years before, the same year he retired and was going to write the book he had been planning about his experiences during the Second World War. But time ran out for him. And I wasn't going to let the same happen to me. So, before the screen was fully up, I was standing in my boss's office explaining that I didn't have time to work for him anymore." Luckily, Nesbø's book was published shortly thereafter, and he soon began a prolific writing career, publishing more than ten books in as many years.

Nesbø's most popular works are crime fiction novels that feature protagonist Harry Hole. As the author explained on his website, the name "Hole" is pronounced with an "'o' like in 'pool' and 'e' like in 'ethnic.'" This troubled, alcoholic police officer appears in several of Nesbø's books, including those translated into English as The Redbreast, Nemesis, The Devil's Star, The Redeemer, The Snowman, and The Leopard. The author based his character on several real-life people, including himself and Olav Hole, a policeman in the village where his grandmother lived.

First published in Norwegian in 2000 as Rodstrupe, The Redbreast was published in English translation in 2007. The novel, featuring Hole, contains two plots, one taking place during World War II and one taking place in the present day. The former features Norwegian soldiers as they fight German troops in Russia. The latter follows an Oslo-based Nazi group that attacks a Vietnamese man. Though the accused members of the group are acquitted because of a legal error, Hole is keeping track of the group's activities. When a rare gun surfaces, along with a dead soldier whose throat has been cut, a mystery connected to the Nazi group and World War II begins to emerge.

Critics appreciated The Redbreast, noting that it is an exemplary work of crime fiction. For instance, a Kirkus Reviews critic stated that "both the hero and the villain are as compelling as the portrayal of Norwegians doing whatever it takes to survive the war." Though Booklist writer Bill Ott observed that "the linking of past to present through alternating story lines is a common technique in crime fiction," he found that "Nesbø uses [the technique] superbly here."

First published in Norwegian in 2002 as Sorgenfri and later translated into English as Nemesis, this follow-up "Harry Hole" novel opens as a bank is being robbed. The bank robber gets away with the robbery and a murder, having shot a bank teller in the head. In the meantime, Hole's girlfriend is out of town, and he sleeps with an old girlfriend, Anna, while his current lover is away. Hole does so while in an alcoholic blackout, and when he awakens at Anna's place he does not know where he is or what he has done. To make matters worse, Anna is found dead in the apartment. The death is ruled an apparent suicide, but Hole does not believe Anna killed herself. He grows even more suspicious when he begins receiving mysterious e-mails that will ultimately tie Anna's death to the bank robbery.

Reviewing Nemesis on the Euro Crime website, Fiona Walker noted that the story "is as thrilling and gripping as [Nesbø's] previous books would lead you to hope. Harry may be your stereotypical alcoholic cop, but he still manages to feel completely original and as engaging as this kind of protagonist is able to be." Walker also commented that the novel is "a brilliant thriller rife with violence and vengeance," adding: "You won't want it to end."

Initially published as Marekors in 2003, the 2005 English translation The Devil's Star is yet another acclaimed "Harry Hole" novel. The plot of this installment features Hole and his new partner Tom Waller. Hole despises Waller, and he suspects him of working on the side as a weapons smuggler. Despite their displeasure at working together, the two must solve a murder case involving a young woman whose finger has been cut off. The murder investigation takes an even stranger turn when the victim is found with a star-shaped diamond under her eyelid. More victims with star-shaped diamonds begin to appear, and Hole and Waller find they have a serial killer on their hands. Like his previous books, Nesbø's The Devil's Star was well received by critics. Euro Crime website contributor Karen Chisolm called the book "a deft and well written ... novel."

In The Redeemer, Harry Hole takes on a case involving a hired killer and a rapist. The city of Oslo "is brilliantly evoked with its horrible cargo of lost humanity," wrote Jane Jakeman in a review for the Independent Online. The intricate plot takes in child abuse, revenge, and extreme violence. It includes much psychiatric information on criminals and, in particular, on the subject of sexual abuse within rigidly religious settings. Jakeman found the book long, but stated: "If you want a big book which tells you a lot with fast-moving narrative, it will keep you occupied." Ben East, reviewing for the Observer Online, also found the book perhaps too long, but characterized it as "often great fun" nevertheless.

Hole battles a serial killer in The Snowman, in which the eponymous killer leaves behind a signature snowman outside houses of his victims. Here Hole teams up with a new member of his squad, Katrine Bratt, and soon they are looking for previous cases of missing persons that might be attributable to the Snowman. Hole, now having broken up with his girlfriend, Rakel, focuses all his energy on the case, tracking back to earlier anonymous letters he has received. Now he sees that the killer is actually taunting him. Meanwhile, his new partner, Katrine, has secrets of her own, and Hole senses something is not right with her. Then Rakel and her son, with whom Hole has maintained a close friendship, are thrust into the middle of the case.

"This is among the best entries in Nesbø's consistently superior series," wrote Booklist contributor Jessica Moyer, who went on to observe that this series installment is "a great place for new readers to meet Norway's maverick detective." Lesser, however, felt that this novel signals the fact that the author is "finally getting tired of Harry Hole." Lesser added: "I would guess he has begun to find Harry more of a burden than a pleasure, and is starting to wish he could get rid of this financially rewarding, deeply disturbing alter-ego." A Publishers Weekly reviewer had no such objections, noting that Nesbø "breathes new life into the serial killer subgenre ... never losing his laconic hero in the process." Higher praise came from Library Journal contributor David Clendinning, who declared: "This is simply the best detective novel this reviewer has read in years."

In the eighth installment in the "Harry Hole" series, The Leopard, Hole has taken himself off to Hong Kong to recuperate from the events of The Snowman. Off the wagon, he is throwing back scotch and doing opium by turns. But this self-destruction is temporarily halted when he receives news that his father is dying and that another serial killer is terrorizing Oslo. Back in Norway, Hole tries to come to terms with his relationship to his father, and finds himself caught in turf wars in the police department. He thinks he will not be drawn into police work again, but he is wrong. As Ott noted in Booklist: "Harry can't resist the lure of an impregnable puzzle, of course, and soon his obsessive self is on the rampage."

A Kirkus Reviews contributor commended this "spooky gothic," terming it a "taut, fast-paced thriller with wrenching twists and turns." The same reviewer dubbed Nesbø the "poet laureate of boreal psychopathy." Similarly, a Publishers Weekly writer found this an "intense outing," and an "outstanding follow-up to The Snowman."

Nesbø takes a break from his "Harry Hole" series with Headhunters, featuring an Oslo headhunter, Roger Brown, who is famous in the city for getting executives hired to high-paying positions. However, Roger has another side to him: he is also an art thief. His wife, Diana, runs an art gallery and has inflated ideas of their standard of living. In order to keep up with her demands, Roger steals paintings from the executives he interviews as a headhunter. Things get sticky for Roger, however, when one such executive, Clas Greve, claims to own a famous Rubens painting; he might be having an affair with Diana to boot. The subsequent heist goes horribly wrong, and soon Roger and Clas are at odds with one another on a body-littered chase across Norway.

Ott, writing in Booklist, called Headhunters a "twisty, plot-driven Hitchcockian thriller," further noting that it is "deliciously plotted." A Publishers Weekly contributor was also enthusiastic about this novel, terming it a "stellar stand-alone caper" that provides readers with a "delightful roller-coaster ride."

Nesbø stepped away from his crime series to write a children's book, translated into English as Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder. The story concerns Nilly, who moves to a new home and makes friends with his neighbor Lisa and another resident of the area, an inventor named Doctor Proctor. The eccentric Doctor Proctor shows Lisa and Nilly a powder he has created that can set off powerful explosions. The comic plot involves the theft of the powder, Nilly's wrongful imprisonment, and a snake that lives in the sewers of Oslo. The imaginative tale is told with dry wit.

"The title promises young readers a story with a bang, and it delivers," wrote Todd Morning in a review for Booklist. It is a "rib-tickling tale," according to a writer for Kirkus Reviews, and a Publishers Weekly writer described it as "sweet, silly, and often amusing."

Commenting on the challenges of writing many books about the same character, the author said on his website: "A series like this has both advantages and disadvantages for a storyteller. I can use a universe that both the reader and I know, but at the same time I have to keep the characters fresh and interesting, and the storyline that binds the books together has to be carefully planned."

Nesbø continues his children's series with Bubble in the Bathtub, in which Nilly and Lisa rescue Doctor Proctor in France. The book involves a time-traveling bathtub and a good dose of French history. School Library Journal contributor Mara Alpert felt this series addition is "darker and less icky than the first, though it still has plenty of goofy moments, a few farts, and a mostly happy ending." Similarly, a Kirkus Reviews writer felt that the "tale burbles comically along and everything comes out right ... in the ... end."

The doctor and his friends Nilly and Lisa are back in Who Cut the Cheese?, in which they save Norway from aliens. These particular aliens seem to have hypnotic powers and speak Swedish; worse, they plan to attack Legoland, and now Lisa and Nilly must use "Fartonaut Powder" to battle these invaders. A Kirkus Reviews contributor felt that the author "tucks enough silly antics, oddball adults and sly digs at his country's culture and foibles into his third Doctor Proctor epic to keep even non-Scandinavians amused."

Speaking with a contributor for the Wall Street Journal Online, Nesbø noted that the "Doctor Proctor" stories had originated out of nighttime story-telling with his daughter. "She claims it was her idea now," Nesbø remarked. "She wants royalties for the books. The true story is that she was always asking me to come up with stories. Sometimes she would give me some ingredients to put in the story. She would say, like, ok, a princess and a dinosaur and a potato, and I would have to use that to come up with the story."

In The Magical Fruit, Nilly, Lisa, and the doctor travel to London to stop the evil Maximus Rublov. The three uses Dr. Proctor's quirky inventions and potions against the corrupt rich man, who has stolen all of Norway's gold.

A writer in Kirkus Reviews described The Magical Fruit as "another lighter-than-air exploit from Norway's best-selling novelist."

The Bat is the first book in Nesbø's "Harry Hole" series. The book opens with Harry on his way to Sydney, Australia. He is there to assist local police with the investigation of the murder of a Norwegian woman named Inger Holter. Harry works with an Aboriginal officer named Andrew Kensington, and the two connect the murder to the work of a serial killer. Meanwhile, Harry has an affair with a Swedish expat named Birgitta Enquist.

"This is an absolute must for devotees of the riveting train wreck that is Harry Hole," asserted Ott in Booklist. A contributor to Publishers Weekly commented: "This debut effort shows Nesbø as an already confident genre craftsman." "It reads well and is a welcome addition to the series," commented a critic in Reviewer's Bookwatch.

In Phantom, Harry's son, Oleg, has been accused of killing Gusto Hanssen. Both are said to have been dealing violin, a form of synthetic heroin. Their boss is a man called Dubai. Harry is determined to find out the truth about Gusto's death, even if it means learning that his son is a murderer.

Booklist reviewer Ott called Phantom "superb on every level," while a contributor to Publishers Weekly described it as "deeply moving." "Where earlier novels provide a better introduction to Hole, this one best takes the full measure of the man," commented a Kirkus Reviews writer.

Harry is recovering from a gunshot wound inflicted by Oleg in Police, allowing other characters to be developed further. Among them are Bjorn Helm, Harry's friend, detective Katrine Bratt, forensics specialist Beate Lonn, and Mikael Bellman, the newly appointed police chief. They all come together to search for the person responsible for the executions of police officers in Oslo.

Ott remarked in Booklist: "The narrative is ingenious, but it grips us the way it does because, after nine novels, we've formed abiding relationships with these characters."

The Son is a stand-alone novel focused on Sonny Lofthus, the titular character and an inmate in a Norwegian prison. Sonny has been convicted of murdering two people, though he asserts he is innocent. Sonny began abusing drugs after his father's apparent suicide. However, in prison, a dying inmate admits that he was part of a conspiracy to murder Sonny's father and make it look like suicide. Sonny escapes from prison, determined to exact revenge on those responsible for his father's death.

Steph Cha, a contributor to the Los Angeles Times Online, commented: "The writing is plain and functional, with a low but noticeable incidence of terrible sentences. ... Ultimately, though, the prose doesn't matter too much as the story moves quickly from showdown to showdown, each one more violent and grandiose than the last. ... Nesbø delivers a revved-up, entertaining red harvest, another guaranteed hit from a forceful thriller machine." Ott, writing in Booklist, described The Son as "a terrific thriller but also a tragic, very moving story of intertwined characters swerving desperately to avoid the dead ends in their paths." A critic in Kirkus Reviews called it "one of Nesbø's best, deepest, and richest novels, event without Harry Hole." Library Journal reviewer Russell Michalak characterized it as "an exceptional, gritty, fast-paced stand-alone thriller." "Nesbø takes the reader on a chilling ride with many expected twists," suggested a contributor to Publishers Weekly.

In Blood on Snow, another stand-alone novel, an assassin named Olav is instructed to kill his boss's wife, Corina. As he begins tracking her movements, Olav discovers that she is in an abusive relationship with a lover. Olav decides he cannot kill Corina and instead offers to kill his boss on behalf of a rival drug dealer called the Fisherman.

Reviewing the book in the New York Times, Michiko Kakutani opined: "Instead of examining the dark side of a man on the right side of the law, Mr. Nesbø tries here to depict the tender side of a murderer wanted by the police. ... The result, alas, is an ungainly, mannered--and unbelievable--story that's saccharine where it's meant to be moving, contrived where it's supposed to be suspenseful." Other reviews were more favorable. Writing on the Paste website, Eric Swedlund suggested: "Blood on Snow is a quick, entertaining novel. It's not on par with the Hole books but it's not trying to be. It's a more-than-satisfying excursion to a slightly different corner of the criminal underworld, where death and love become tangled together in the cold, dark streets of Oslo." Daneet Steffens, writing on the Boston Globe website, remarked: "Fans of Harry Hole will easily recognize Nesbø's singular narrative voice, and these pages turn as rapidly as in his other novels. But Olav is ... his own character. His cool, calculated observations ... strike the perfect pitch for a person with a deep-felt appreciation for the world around him, one who may or may not have his world perfectly under control." "This is a fascinating character study, a clever ... mystery and a terrific example of a chameleon-like writer successfully stretching his already broad limits," commented Bruce Tierney in BookPage. A reviewer in Publishers Weekly opined: "Nesbø fans will enjoy this slender story, though newcomers may find it altogether too macabre." Library Journal critic Deb West asserted: "Olav is not Harry Hole, but readers will love him just the same."