Eclipse is the new novel of Jo Nesbø and is published today. It's about the 13th installment from the commissioner's series Harry hole who arrives here four years after Knife It will leave the most devoted readers with their hearts in their mouths. So go ahead that this review is not objective, like all the previous ones dedicated to the work of this Norwegian writer, especially the titles in which this character so unique, followed and loved of the contemporary black scene.
Thanks to Reservoir Books your courtesy in providing me with this reading in advance. And just as a little preview: there will be more Harry Hole yet.
Eclipse — Review
notice that It is not recommended that those who do not know the series or the character read it, or those that are still with previous titles. I usually advise that it be followed in order to have an overall vision of the evolution of all the characters and the plots. I also warn of some spoilage, although if you have read up to Knife It need not be.
what is eclipse about
At the end of Knife we had left Harry Hole in one of the worst moments of his life deciding where to go to put land in the middle after the tragic events he suffered. And now we find it leaning on the counter of a bar in Los Angeles. He has no money and is thinking about how to end it all at once.
But in those it appears Lucille, an old, veteran and also forgotten Hollywood actress, who gets to talk to him among other things to ask for help at that time. In the figure of him Harry will remember his mother, which he lost as a teenager to cancer. It is this reason that will push him to lend a hand and protect her from some criminals to whom he owes money.
Pale skin and a fine network of blue veins running through his nose, bloodshot eyes, and irises the color of faded jeans told that he had lived hard, drunk, and fallen deep. Perhaps she too had loved intensely.
At the same time, in Oslo, a girl has been found dead whom they had been looking for days after going to a party organized by Markus Roed, real estate tycoon with enough very dark fringes to hide. In addition, there is another young woman related to him who has also disappeared, so the millionaire is in the point of view from the police. They have also found a disturbing detail on the head of the first victim, indicating that the killer may kill again.
But Roed wants clear his name and accepts the suggestion of his lawyer johan crohn (who we already know from other novels) to find the best man who can investigate the case and free him from those suspicions. So locate Hole and they send a detective to hire him as private investigator. Harry initially refuses, but when a dangerous Mexican gang threatens to kill him and Lucille and holds her until they get the money they want, Harry agrees if Røed pays him the amount he needs.
Also at the same time Oslo police know they need Harry to solve the case, which seems to be the work of a serial killer in which he is a specialist. And between helping each other and facing again with all his past, the alcohol, his losses and the new encounters and hopes of him, you will only have ten days to find the murderer, whose method of killing is in the form of a highly infectious and terribly lethal parasite that can jeopardize the health of the population. The term also ends just on the day that there will be a lunar eclipse and another one of Harry's great friends and supporters is leaving.
Which is
A reunion with Harry Hole, perhaps one of the most desired and the one that readers have been waiting for the most in the entire series. And again what happens with this charismatic character is repeated: that, in reality, the plot does not matter, the secondary ones around and the murderer and that terrifying way to kill—if we thought we had already read everything in the previous books about terrifying methods of killing personnel, we were very wrong—or that heart attack ending, and also that it touches your heart even though you know it.
we are again with harry. It is that verb estar, almost physically or at least touching the pages of the book. we return to see him, we sat next to him at that bar and we shared his same desperation and at the same time his willingness to whatever fate dictates.
No money, no days, no future. It only remained to check if he had enough courage or cowardice to finish off.
That future is handled by its creator impeccable manner, as always, composing the plot in a structure on which, although Harry Hole always plans and dominates, the rest of the characters we already know from the previous novels also star with due importance.
maternity and paternity
Special mention must be made of the Harry's mother figure, reflected in the endearing character of Lucille, about whom we knew little and who becomes the primary reason of his recovery to want to come back to life.
But we must also highlight the other side, that of Harry's parentage. We had already seen him act, or try to act, like a father to Oleg Fauke, and also an adult policeman working in the north. But now we discover a Harry taking his first steps in properly biological paternity by meeting his son Gert, that it got with Katrine Bratt but for which she does not want him to feel responsible, although she will not prevent him from seeing or taking care of him either.
Those moments, which are also written with a touch of humor, provide us with a new perspective of Harry and they are the ones that in the end remain as a ray of hope so that we continue to see his vital recovery.
In my opinion, this is a concession to the readers, to our pleas to give him a little truce after so many misfortunes, although Nesbø himself told us out loud four years ago he would never listen to our suggestions or wishes. Maybe he loved himself too pity a little and has decided to leave that ending open and with that touch of a certain light in the shattered and dark life of his creature.
But you don't have to trust. Maybe Harry still has some sane left, because he's certainly the author's golden goose, but you can never know. And also of course for the next one we will continue to have the worst.
I'm ready for scrapping.
Points
prime, which is the nickname of murderer, One creepier of all novels A textbook psychopath that we meet in different episodes and scenes, each one more terrifying.
the ruthless criticism of the most sensationalist media When it comes to dealing with the information, it comes from two characters who are journalists, and who had also appeared before: Mona Daa, specialized in events in the newspaper VG, and Terry Vage, of the Dagbladet.
El reunion also with the characters that we like the most besides Harry as Katrine bratt o Alexandra Sturdza, both in love with him. Yes, I have missed the boss Gunnar Hagen, but it is compensated by the wonderful and amazing team that Harry surrounds himself with for his investigations:
The Aune team
So named after the name of the Harry's friend psychiatrist and who has also treated him several times, Stale Aune, who suffers from cancer and is in the hospital with a very poor prognosis. That is also another reason why Harry returns to Oslo.
With him and on his visits to see him, Harry also gathers his lifelong friend, Oystein Eikeland, who has left the taxi to dedicate himself to drug retail, and the former enemy policeman but now an ally Truls Bernsten, who continues half separated from the body and marking distances with his childhood friend and partner in more than one crime that is Michael Bellman, now Minister of Justice. They will all be essential for Harry to solve the case.
Ultimately
That we still have more Harry. that those are not missing house brand twists, nor the false leads and suspects. nor those overlapping scenes y climactic and parallel moments who turn around at the last second.
In short, essential again. Why Harry Hole never disappoints. By now it's so deep in the blood and the heart of those of us who follow him that it is already impossible for him to do so. So long live, and longer for your creator.