The Redeemer

The first chapter of Nesbø’s highly suspenseful sixth Harry Hole thriller introduces 17-year-old Robert Karlsen and his year older brother, Jon, who in 1991 are cadets at a Salvation Army retreat in the Norwegian countryside, where a 14-year-old girl is sexually assaulted. In the next chapter, 22 years later, detective Hole is winding up the investigation of a drug-related murder in Oslo. The main action begins when a Serbian hit man, Cristo Stankic, shoots Robert on a crowded city street, though his intended target was Jon—and that’s when the pace really picks up. As the title suggests, the search for redemption is on—redemption through violence. The deeply flawed Hole is his familiar self: difficult and disrespectful, brilliant and intuitive. At times the book feels padded with lengthy asides and banter, but the primary narrative, told in powerful prose, never fails to grip. Series fans should note that later entries have already appeared in the U.S., most recently Phantom (2012). Announced first printing of 150,000. (May)