Rating 3* out of 5. It's a well-crafted crime novel and I can't put a finger on why I didn't like it. Certainly it did not portray my country of birth, Thailand, in the best of light, but it felt realistic. I think my main problem is with the main protagonist, Harry Hole. He is such an asshole! I didn't like him at the end of the series (except in the last book) and he's certainly not presenting a better figure here.

Harry Hole - he prefers the pronounciation "Holy" in English - had a succesful case in Sydney and is now sent to Bangkok to help solving the murder of the Norwegian ambassador. Harry's drinking problem has the better of him for a while, but finally he begins to emergy from the vapors and untangle real clues. The atmosphere and setting is really authentic, I truly felt as if I was in Bangkok again. I didn't find a single inaccurate detail to get annoyed over. I wish I could say the same about Harry.

It also seems as if I had read the main plot here before, as if Nesbø recirculates ideas, but to avoid spoilers I won't be more speficif here. I'll just say "Phantom" (book 7). I read book 6 to 10 before starting from the beginning.

It's not a terrible book, but I am not extatic over the fact that I've already got the next book on my mp3 player. I'd rather listen to something else, I just don't know what.