Headhunters

tags: crime, mystery, thriller

⭐⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

Roger Brown has it all: clever and wealthy, he's at the very top of his game. And if his job as a headhunter ever gets dull, he has his sideline as an art thief to keep him busy. At a gallery opening, his wife introduces him to Clas Greve. Not only is Greve the perfect candidate for a position that Brown is recruiting for; he is also in possession of one of the most sought-after paintings in modern art history. Roger sees his chance to become rich beyond his wildest dreams, and starts planning his biggest theft ever. But soon, he runs into trouble - and it's not long before the hunter becomes the hunted...

I read this book in December 2012 after watching the movie based on this book. I never heard of Jo Nesbø before that. I really liked the movie and I had to read the book. I became a fan and I have read almost all of his books since, except the children's books. 

I'm rereading it after 13 years although I've seen the movie 3 times already and it is still on my Hoopla watch list where it streams in its original Norwegian language. Other streaming sites are English dubbed.

Roger Brown is an arrogant unlikable character, acts as though he is the most clever person in the world, and has expensive taste in everything but does not have the means to sustain his luxurious lifestyle and his wife's art gallery. He bought an expensive house and the art gallery for his wife and to pay for them, he steals expensive artworks, replaces them with copies, then fences them with the help of a weird character.

The writing is fast paced, humorous, and full of [sometimes gross  but funny] surprises and twists.  

Detective Hole

The wait is over! The teaser for Jo Nesbo’s Detective Hole - the first-ever series based on Nesbø’s bestselling novels - is here! Get ready to meet one of crime fiction’s most iconic detectives like never before. The series premieres worldwide on March 26.

Coming to Netflix on March 26. Actor playing Harry Hole looks accurate in height, although he has green eyes instead of blue. And he is American of Swedish descent. Aren't there Norwegian actors who will fit Harry's description and stats? I hope he will be better than the actor in The Snowman. I have read all 13 Harry Hole books and I expect an actor that will look like him. Is that too much to ask?  

The Jealousy Man and Other Stories

tags: Jo Nesbø, short stories, mystery, The Jealousy Man

⭐⭐⭐ 

From Amazon  

A detective with a nose for jealousy is on the trail of a man suspected of murdering his twin. [adapted into a movie, Killer Heat.]

A bereaved father must decide whether vengeance has a place in the new world order after a pandemic brings about the collapse of society.

A garbage man fresh off a bender tries to piece together what happened the night before.

A hired assassin matches wits against his greatest adversary in a dangerous game for survival.

An instantly electric connection between passengers on a flight to London may spell romance, or something more sinister. 

From Goodreads

Five stories set in the near future.

 

Welcome to Rat Island and a post-pandemic America, where the upper-class elite is waiting atop a skyscraper to be evacuated while the masses fight for survival down in the streets. 

In Shredder, a scientist researching eternal life has finally found a memory shredder that will help him forget everything, before it’s too late. 

Cicadas tells the story of two best friends on their way to the bull races in Pamplona when they fall in love with the same girl. 

The Antidote follows an estranged son with an agenda as he goes to visit his father at a snake farm in Africa. 

Lastly, in the epic and vicious Black Knight, we meet a psychologist who also happens to be an assassin contracted by big business.

All the stories have a common theme: jealousy. Some are very good but some are mediocre at best. The movie adaptation of The Jealousy Man has just 2 similarities to the story - the murder and the location. Everything else is skewed. The role played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a 60 years old Greek, still active police detective. He is not a lousy poser that the producer made him in the movie. Movie adaptations from books are always annoying.