3,5 ⭐️
Σαφώς καλύτερο από το προηγούμενο βιβλίο της συγκεκριμένης σειράς, ωστόσο πιστεύω ότι τα ερασιτεχνικά στοιχεία της γραφής του ήταν -ακόμα- εμφανή. Ανούσιες και εκτεταμένες περιγραφές τοπίων/ χώρων, διάλογοι που ουσιαστικά δε λένε τίποτα/ δεν οδηγούν πουθενά, και αυτές οι σεξουαλικές σκηνές... (

Took a while to get into it and then really enjoyed it but then thought it lost its way towards the end. First book I've read in this series and probably won't read another

Scandinavian-noir sub-genre story set in Bangkok in which a Norwegian police detective investigates the peculiar death of the Norwegian ambassador.


SOI COWBOY, BANGKOK

My audio edition was about ten hours long. A dead tree copy would be about 385 pages. The original Norwegian copyright was 1998. Translation was performed in 2013.

Jo Nesbø is a Norwegian mystery novelist and musician amongst other things. He has more than 20-books published, in both several series and standalone. This was the second book in the author’s Harry Hole (last name pronounced Whole-Eee in Norwegian) series. Currently there are 12 books in the series. This was also the 4th or 5th book I’ve read by the author. The most recent being The Bat (Harry Hole, #1) (my review).

It’s not necessary, but recommended that the previous book in the series be read before this one. Otherwise, some of the, long-term, series plotlines with Hole will not be easily understood.

TL;DR Summary

In the story, Harry Hole, a somewhat damaged and alcoholic, Norwegian police detective from the Oslo Crime Squad is sent to hot and humid Bangkok, Thailand. He 'earned' this gig based on his foreign crime solving success in The Bat. There, he is to liaise with Bangkok Homicide over the murder of the Norwegian ambassador under dubious circumstances. Contrary to expectations and despite Norwegian diplomatic service perfidy, Hole uncovers a Norwegian pedophile ring and a very complexly,

Spoiler

civil

engineered sequence of murders. There is also a lot of Thai corruption. The story is well within the genre. Although it depends on too many obvious tropes and creating an (in)Authentic Bangkok (for Norwegians) for it to be remarkable. For example the: climate, infamous traffic, its sex industry, and the endemic official corruption of Bangkok are a major distraction. However, the author did fool me as toward the identity of the perp for about 60% of the story.

The Somewhat Longer Review

I'm a fan of Scandinavian noir. This was Norwegian noir in origin, and translated into English. Norwegian noir, like Icelandic noir and Finnish noir are the red headed step-children of Scandi-noir. After having helped myself to a smorgasbord of Scandi-noirs, I’m beginning to sense the difference. The books are infused with a bit of the national character. For example, Swedish and Danish noir is cosmopolitan. Norwegian noir is a bit dour. I’m told by a Swedish friend, “That’s like Norway.”

After reading The Bat, I had every intention of reading this book. So many books, so little time? Cockroaches slipped through the cracks of my TBR pile and wasn’t seen for about three (3) years. I was only just gifted the audiobook, by a new Harry Hole enthusiast. I listened to it, because I could multi-task with it. I liked it. I shiver to think that for every one ‘next’ book of a series in the TBR pile I read, there are ten more lurking in the shadows of the pile.

The story contained: sex, substance abuse and violence. The sex was not graphic. Not all sex was heteronormative. Note that pedophilia was a plotline. Substance abuse included alcohol, soft and hard-core drug usage. The effects and influence of alcohol abuse were a major plot element. (Hole’s an alcoholic.) Its description was more graphic than the drug usage. I thought the book would have benefited from the same attention to the opium smoking. Violence was physical, edged-weapons and firearms. Note that violence against women was a plot line. Physical violence and the resulting trauma were moderately graphic.

This book continues with the Norwegian author putting his detective protagonist from the Oslo Crime Squad in an exotic, foreign land. Looking though the summaries of the early books in the series, leads me to think Nesbø envisioned the series as Norwegian 'travel-noir'? He could then be paid to go to exotic places during the winter to expose Norwegians to locales without fjords, caribou, and cold weather. I note that after Nemesis (Harry Hole #4), the protagonist stays home in Norway.

The first half of the book is very good, with a lot of successful, misdirection. I particularly liked how one crime led to another. Where the story was weak was its dependence on the strange and also too obvious tropes. There was the foreign locale, which would be almost alien to most Norwegians. That a main supporting character was a: congenitally bald, American born, lesbian, Bangkok Detective Inspector was another example of things you wouldn't see everyday. As the author was wrapping this complex story up, it devolved into a long string of familiar tropes. That Nesbo thought he needed both Hole to provide The Summation, followed by a So Long, Suckers!and then finally another The Summation from the Perp shows you how complex he thought the story was.

This story was solid, better than the first book in the series, but still not gold. Hole’s devolution was well done. (It must happen in every book?) The perp was well hidden. I did think the use of common tropes was heavy-handed. I’d also categorize a large part of the story as Norwegian travel Pr0n. Nesbø may have took money from a Thai tourist organization to write this book promoting travel there? In summary, the book had some merit, but was a sophomore effort. I do know that as the series got long, the author has honed his craft.

The best Bangkok detective novel, I’ve read was [b:Bangkok 8|19095622|Bankoko 8|John Burdett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385972917l/19095622._SX50_.jpg|692291]. I recommend the first book in the series, and maybe the second. However as the series got long, it lost its allure.

Pretty interesting story set in Bangkok..

The 2nd Harry Hole series has been published in English out of sequence. "Cockroaches" is the 2nd in the series and build's Harry character even further.

Nesbø spent a lot of effort building up to the ending, but then it fell flat. That won't stop me from reading more. I enjoyed Harry, the suspense, and the story.

Better than the first one, but I'm still waiting for this series to get better as the reviewers say will happen.