Police by Jo Nesbø

Author: Jo Nesbø
Original title: Politi
Pages: 636
Edition Language: Russian
Series: Harry Hole #10
Format: Paperback
Genres: Thriller
Goodreads

Blurb:
      A killer is targeting police officers; specifically officers who were involved in the investigation of unsolved murders. The killer lures an officer to the scene of the previous crime and kills the cop in a way similar to the original murder. The investigators believe that if they can only figure out the killer's motive, maybe they can find this relentless killer, who has left them few, if any, other clues.

My thoughts:
      This is such a hard book to review because even the smallest detail about the content runs the risk of spoiling the way the story unfolds.
The book did not disappoint me, this is a classic Harry Hole story with all the gruesome killings and mysterious motive behind them.
        However after finishing it I had some points I am dissatisfied with.
        First of all, I do not like that Harry went from the bright side to the shadow one. I liked him as a law abiding policeman and how he was breaking some rules, but never to the point of no return. Now he is in some kind of gray area, where he is on the side of justness, but not on the side of the law justice.
        Secondly, Jo Nesbo keeps killing really nice and strong characters which also make the story rolling. Maybe it is because they have already stirred up more interest and attention than the main character. I do not know and it feels like a big loss to the book and the series.
       Thirdly, everything must be personal. I guess in the last couple of books every investigation, Harry took part was personal. Why it just cannot be investigation in what he voluntarily takes part as part of, say civil service? And this point is strongly connected to the second point covered above.
       Fourthly, some tropes of Jo Nesbo story development are getting tiresome. I guess it is important to use them to keep the reader on the edge, but when reading the 10th book you already recognize them straight away. I just wish I didn't have the feeling of being manipulated throughout the story most of the time.
        And finally, the ending. Such a disappointment! The book starts out great, but it becomes purposely confusing and misleading, to the point of utter annoyance. The idea is nice: the police officers are punished by the maniac for not solving crimes, but the final scene, the motives and urges of a killer were so down-to-earth and even naively primitive that it almost killed the whole book for me.
I did enjoyed the book and highly recommend it, but it was not the best book from the series.

Rating: 

    4/5