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    The Bat: The First Inspector Harry Hole Novel
    Unavailable
    The Bat: The First Inspector Harry Hole Novel
    Unavailable
    The Bat: The First Inspector Harry Hole Novel
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Bat: The First Inspector Harry Hole Novel

    Written by Jo Nesbo

    Narrated by John Lee

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Available in English at last! The first book in the remarkable, bestselling Harry Hole series from Jo Nesbo.
    Before Harry took on the neo-Nazi gangs of Oslo, before he met Rakel, before The Snowman tried to take everything he held dear, he went to Australia. Harry Hole is sent to Sydney to investigate the murder of Inger Holter, a young Norwegian girl who was working in a bar. Initially sidelined as an outsider, Harry becomes central to the Australian police investigation when they start to notice a number of unsolved rape and murder cases around the country. The victims were usually young blondes. Inger had a number of admirers, each with his own share of secrets, but there is no obvious suspect and the pattern of the other crimes seems impossible to crack. Then a circus performer is brutally murdered, followed by yet another young woman. Harry is in a race against time to stop a highly intelligent killer who is bent on total destruction.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJul 2, 2013
    ISBN9780804149570
    Unavailable
    The Bat: The First Inspector Harry Hole Novel
    Author

    Jo Nesbo

    A musician, songwriter, and economist, Jo Nesbø is also one of Europe’s most acclaimed crime writers, and is the winner of the Glass Key Award, northern Europe’s most prestigious crime-fiction prize, for his first novel featuring Police Detective Harry Hole. Nesbø lives in Oslo.

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    Reviews for The Bat

    3.5/5

    1,088 ratings98 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Good, fast-paced mystery with a typically imperfect lead character.
    • 3/5
      This is the first in the Harry Hole series. I enjoyed the detective part of the story, but some of the flashbacks to his personal life (previous relationship with Kristin) did not seem to add anything to the story. Maybe it will become more apparent in subsequent novels.

      In this story, Harry, a Norwegian Detective is sent to Australia to assist in the investigation of a Norwegian Citizen who has been murdered there. He has been instructed to stay out of trouble and when he arrives is again reminded that he is there to observe. Well, Harry does more than observe. He insinuates himself into the case. He is working with an Aboriginal names Kensington and together they get in fights, drive all around Australia, stir up additional trouble, develop some intimate relationships and finally Harry is instrumental in solving the crime. I am going to try the next one to see how it is. This series gets high ratings so I am sure the books will get better.
    • 3/5
      Synopsis: Harry Hole is searching for the murderer of a Norwegian girl in Sydney, Australia. He gets very involved with another policeman and takes it so hard when the cop is murdered that he falls off the wagon. When he goes back to drinking he not only gets some booze induced insights, but he loses his girlfriend permanently.Review: I was with him until he went back to drinking; then a bunch of my empathy vanished. I did like the ending.
    • 3/5
      This had all the key ingredients I usually enjoy, but for some reason I stuggled to get into this book and it didn't maintain my interest. The plot was okay but nothing more than that. I don't know if it lost something in translation but did just not hook me. There seemed a lot of descriptive passages but I wanted more interplay and dialogue between the main characters. Don't let this put you off, just because it didn't work for me doesn't mean you won't enjoy it - many have! For me it just needed more flow to the story. As a result I am giving it three stars. It was the first book in the series so perhaps I need to try a later book in the series before giving up on Harry Hole altogether.
    • 4/5
      Harry is a unmarried, recovering alcoholic. He is sent to Australia when a former Norwegian children's show star is murdered. I wonder is the author knew blond Aborigines are not unusual? However I did learn a lot.
    • 4/5
      The Bat by Jo Nesbo; (4*)Our protagonist, detective Harry Hole, is a flawed alcoholic detective from Oslo, Norway. He has been sent to Australia to assist in finding the killer of a Norwegian citizen.As Harry and his Australian partner, with whom I fell in love, pursue their investigation they find twists and turn abound. Some of the secondary characters are pretty strange but that is one of the things I like best about Nesbo. His backstory players are even more fascinating than his protagonist, Harry. His clowns are the kind found in nightmares. Nesbo's writing is dark and his victims do not show up with single gunshot wounds, a simple knife to the gut nor dead from poisoning. There is cold and violent death in his Harry Hole series. On the the 2nd of this series.
    • 4/5
      A edge of your seat thriller. Kept me guessing right up until the end.
    • 4/5
      Excellent thriller with great character introduction for detective Harry Hole.
    • 4/5
      John Lee's excellent narration improves this novel, in which Harry Hole takes a long and winding route to track down a serial killer.
    • 3/5
      I've signed up to take a Harry Hole walking tour of Oslo, so I figured I should read some of the books first. Of course, this one takes place entirely in Australia. Harry Hole is in the country to follow up on the murder of a Norwegian woman. What follows is a lengthy journey through Australian aboriginal culture, the drug trade, Harry's alcoholism and past relationships, and sky diving. There were parts when I wasn't positive I was reading things in order, with flashbacks shoved in somewhat disjointedly. I don't have strong feelings about Harry or the story in general, but I do believe I need to read at least one more installment in the series before I form a solid opinion.
    • 3/5
      First in the series of Norwegian detective Harry Hole. Unfortunately it was in Australia. To many Aboriginal wanderings and the end was a little cliche. But some good writing in places. But willing to give Harry Hole another chance.
    • 3/5
      If this were a comic book, this would be called an origin story, because it sets up the background to Harry's alcoholism and his difficulty with relationships. Although only just translated it was the first in the series and somewhat oddly in set in Australia. Nesbo has done his research with lots on Aboriginal myths and the racial tension in Oz, but there is so much that I think it gets in the way of the storytelling, which is less compelling than that in the "Oslo Sequence."
      I am a fan now; but I am not sure whether I would have followed this one up had I started here. One reviewer commented that this was not as gruesome as some of the others, I beg to differ!
      It was only when I tried to enter this on Good Reads that I realised how many we in the UK have not got yet. I may need to do some more research before I commit myself beyond "The Phantom" which I will probably get to in the next couple of months.
    • 3/5
      Harry Hole is a pretty complex character. Easy reading.
    • 3/5
      First in a long series, and maybe the author's first. It was good enough to be worth following the series. Story was a bit disjointed and the lead character had more emotional baggage than usual in mystery series but getting through all of the preliminary stuff is part of getting started.
    • 2/5
      I started this series on the recommendation of a friend, but found it to be a combination of a short story's worth of mystery, a undergraduate course on Australian aboriginal culture, and an excess of drunken nostalgia on the part of the detective.
    • 3/5
      1st Harry Hole novel. Harry is invited to help the Australian Police, there has been a Norwegian girl murdered in Sydney. Harry teams up with an Aboriginal officer called Andrew Kensington. Andrew shows him around the place and introduces Harry to lots of local Characters, specially Brigitta who is a Swedish Barmaid. Harry and her quickly get together, Harry is a good officer and really works well with the local Cops. Andrew is found dead suspected suicide. Harry a recovering alcoholic does fall off the wagon, as he liked Andrew, things go a bit rocky with Brigitta too. They think there is a Serial killer on the loose called Evan White. He is a drug dealer but not a killer, the real killer who also kidnaps Brigitta and kills her, Harry was to late to save her, is an aboriginal Boxer called Toowoomba, who also killed Andrew. Toowoomba was hiding in the Sydney aquarium, Harry finds him shoots him then he is munched by a big Shark. Good introduction to Harry Hole and his history, bit silly in places though.
    • 5/5
      This was my brother's find and it's a great one. I've been aware of Nesbo for a long time and have no idea why I have never read any of this stuff. But this book 1 in this series is a delight. Great characters, good plot and more already ready for me in the same series. The perfect storm of reading.
    • 3/5
      This audiobook was narrated by John Lee, a phenomenal voice actor and narrator who had many different dialects and accents down perfectly. I just wish this series was more my style of novel. I was pretty bored throughout most the novel, and I'm unsure whether I will bother with the rest of the series. It was just.......bleh.
      3.5 stars, and recommended for lovers of Norwegian mystery novels.
    • 3/5
      Harry Hole is a screw up. Sent from Norway in disgrace, this down-on-his-luck detective finds himself in Australia to consult with local law enforcement on the murder of a Norwegian tourist. Harry must acclimate himself to this vastly different culture and keep his own demons at bay if he is to uncover who is strangling all the beautiful young blondes of Sydney.
    • 5/5
      Just jumped in to a little of this. Put aside to read something else. Will be back to it shortly.

      And. Finished. The long-awaited translation of the first Norwegian Detective Harry Hole novel. The background here could've always been guessed, but to read about Harry's early history and specifically his "damaged" state and his drinking is very interesting. Very.
      PS I purchased this Kindle edition from the British publisher from my French Amazon account. Not yet available in the US.
    • 3/5
      I decided to read this since I really liked one of Jo Nesbo’s previous books. Since this is book one I was surprised that it took place outside his normal area of being a police officer. It did allow for him to explain his backstory to people that were strangers to him. One of the things that made this a bit different was how many times Harry was wrong about who the killer was and how he kept thinking he had the right killer.

      An interesting audio to listen to since no one had an American accent in the book.
    • 3/5
      This is the first book in Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole series. These are Scandicrime books, and most of them take place in Norway. For some reason, when they translated these into English they started with book three in the series and proceeded from there. So even though I have already read books 3-6, I am just now able to go back and read about how it all began. And that's important with these books because they build on one another, so if you want to avoid major spoilers, it is best to read them in order. Book 2 is not yet available in English, but I have high hopes.So this is the one that started them all, and I confess I feel badly about only giving it 3 stars. Perhaps if I had read it before reading the others, I would have rated it higher. Nesbo's writing and his characters evolve in these books, so if you are starting with this one, please keep in mind that the writing and the stories get so much better. In this one we meet Harry Hole for the first time, and he is out of his element. He has been sent to Australia to help investigate the murder of a prominent Norwegian citizen. He is expected to take a back seat and is assigned to Andrew Kensington, the detective that Harry specifically requested to work with. Except that Harry didn't specifically request anyone. And if you know Harry, then you know that he would never willingly take a back seat. As the case heats up, Harry realizes that Kensington is trying to tell him something, putting clues directly before him, but is he leading Harry closer to the truth or directly away from it?This one is not nearly as dark as the rest of the books in the series, but it is definitely worth the read. One of the things I loved was that right at the beginning Kensington mispronounces Harry's name and because Harry thinks this is a better development than trying to explain the correct pronunciation, he embraces it and even refers to himself as Harry Holy. Priceless!"'Mr Holy, I presume!' he (Andrew Kensington) declared triumphantly. Harry Hole considered his options. He had decided to spend the first days in Australia correcting the pronunciation of his surname so that he wouldn't be confused with apertures or orifices. Mr. Holy, however, was infinitely preferable."
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this first book by Nesbo. The clever mix of Australian mythology with the plot gave the book an added dimension of eeriness and mystery, where folklore explains the darkness of certain human deeds. The author also carefully exploited the beauty of Sydney with the romantic scene in the Aquarium followed by the captivating final pursuit.The plot itself was simple. To be sure, I had fairly quickly guessed the end, but the back drop, Aboriginal tales and Harry's battle with his internal demons kept me engrossed until the end. Very enjoyable.
    • 1/5
      Das ist das erste Buch das ich von Nesboe gelesen habe, und ich bin enttaeuscht. In verschiedenen Medien wird der Autor ja sehr gelobt, das Buch hat Preise gewonnen, aber mich reisst es nicht mit. Die Beschreibung Australiens liest sich wie ein Schulbuch, mit mehr Info ueber (Ur)Einwohner als ich jemals wissen wollte, und alles sehr schulmeisterlich geschrieben. Das ganze schleppt sich dann auch ziemlich lange und traege dahin.Das groesste Problem - die Hauptpersonen sind mir ziemlich egal. Hole finde ich nicht besonders interessant, und was mit ihm passiert ist mir eigentlich egal, auch das erste Opfer, 'na-und' moechte man rufen ...Eventuell bin ich von Ken Bruen einfach zu sehr auf die Noir=-riminalschiene gesetzt worden, aber das Buch hat mein Interesse an Nesboe auf fast Null heruntergefahren. Da muss einige Zeit vergehen bevor ich den Autor noch mal ausprobiere.
    • 4/5
      I love all Jo Nesbo novels and especially the Harry Hole ones. This one didn't disappoint me!
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to reading more in the series. I found the final scene in the aquarium a bit strange in that I couldn't visualise the action for some reason. See what happens when I read the next one.
    • 3/5
      This is the first Jo Nesbo book I have read, and I am now intrigued to read more in the Harry Hole series. I enjoyed this crime novel, which focuses on the Norwegian cop, Hole, as he travels to Sydney to investigate a murder of a young woman.We get to know the background of Harry, which seems to be the purpose for this debut novel. He is definitely an intense character with some baggage that hasn't really been dealt with effectively. Gotta love it. Looking forward to more!
    • 4/5
      By now most readers of crime fiction know the somewhat odd release schedule of this series. But just in case....Jo Nesbo, author of the Harry Hole series, writes in Norwegian, hence the need for English translations. Which don't often get financed by publishers until the author has a favorable track record. Nesbo's third book, The Redbreast was the first to be translated into English and published in the UK and the US. The Bat is the first in the series, only recently translated, and first published in English between the release of books 9 and 10. Book #2, Cockroaches, is scheduled for release in the US Oct 15, 2013, and the newest Harry Hole, #10 The Police, will be out December 10, 2013. This is a series that relies heavily on events in previous books, so finally having The Bat available is a bit of a blessing and a curse. A blessing because there have been many references made to events in this book which have been confusing and are now clear, and a curse because eager fans like myself will read three Harry books in five months with very different time periods. For example, The Bat was written in the late 90's. Cell phone technology was still very new for most users and not all features we enjoy today were available then. So there is considerable description of how cell technology works and how a caller's location can be tracked by getting data from 2-3 towers, etc. Then another passage where a called party id's his caller, not by caller ID which apparently wasn't available then but rather through some amateurish analysis of background noise. Felt like a 1939 movie for a moment there."The Bat" takes place in Australia, where Harry has been sent to observe, or is he being punished, or is he expected to assist? Anyway, Harry behaves for the first 50% of the book except for one rather silly bar room brawl. But then we finally see the real Harry, the bad boy Harry, and the book begins to get interesting. There's a gorgeous redhead, and there's an old flame that Harry ruminates about, and a critical point in the ending where the two somehow get mixed up in Harry's mind and confuses him - and me. Enough that I had to go back and read the passage twice more. There is a good twist and there are two especially tense scenes describing a carnival beheading act. Also, the location for the climax was an interesting choice, and the ending was two thumbs up. So as usual, mostly strong positives from Nesbo. But there are a few so-so matters as well. I have no doubt that had I read this book first in the series, I would have rated it much higher than 4 stars (and I think 4 is generous). But after 7 Nesbo books which have steadily gotten better, I have high expectations, and this fell short. The writing is good, but that first half was just too slow. I thought the choice of bait in the climax was totally unrealistic as was the short shrift paid to a recently discovered victim. Finally, I have read negative comments about the translation of this book; I found it to be acceptable with very few distracting phrases and expressions.
    • 4/5
      Snagged this on the fly as I was leaving the library. Someone had just returned it, and I took it from the librarian's hands after she checked it back in. Luckily, there were no holds on it, so the first Harry Hole was mine, mine, mine!The English translations of Jo Nesbo's series of books, based around the flawed and human detective, Harry Hole, began with book three in the series. That's where I started, and where I became addicted to the characters and series. Now, thanks to Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Original, the first book in the series is available here in the US. The tone was somewhat lighter, though Harry is still damaged goods. He's off in Australia, where a Norwegian woman was brutally murdered, and Harry was sent to help out. Nesbo draws his characters thoroughly and vividly, at the same time interspersing bits of Australia and Scandinavia to readers "from off". One of the things I liked so much about this was the sort of filling in of blanks that pepper the later novels, and help the reader to understand what life circumstances made Harry Harry. There are references in later novels, but more is spelled out in this one. And though we'd long figured out the pronunciation of his last name, so that it didn't sound like an orifice or an opening in something, it was fun to read the Aussie interpretation of "Holy".
    • 2/5
      There are times when I really enjoy reading crime fiction, especially series with detectives you get to know and love. I've read several of Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole books and found them appealing. Hole is a less than perfect man and the Norwegian setting has never failed to draw me in. When I saw that The Bat, the first in the Harry Hole series, was available for review on Net Galley, I was happy to request a copy and looked forward to reading it. I must say, I was sadly disappointed. The plot was convoluted, and not interesting enough for me to try and figure out how the the detectives reached the conclusions they did. An even bigger disappointment was the setting - not Norway, but Australia. At no time in the book did I feel a sense of place, although the author included a bunch of stories from Aboriganal folklore that were metaphors for...something. I think. The only thing I'm walking away with from this novel is the correct pronunciation of Harry's name: Hoo-leh, not Hole.