Review by Booklist Review
In 2016 Minneapolis, homicide detective Bob Oz is at a turning point. His wife has kicked him out, he's drinking himself into the grave, and he's being sidelined at work. Meanwhile, a killer kicks off a spree of revenge for the murder of his family. His first target is a gun dealer known for no-questions-asked deals with local gangs. Bob snags the case by arriving first on the scene. Forensics confirm that the shooter is Tomás Gomez, but he isn't leaving MPD much of a trail. Bob's best bet is a receipt for preservation of Gomez's beloved cat at Mike Lunde's taxidermy shop. It's the one spot to which Gomez is likely to return. Nesbø has crafted a powerhouse here, a profoundly human exploration of loneliness and grief driven by a twisting procedural plot and grisly shocks. Readers of Nordic noir will find Nesbø's taut narrative and social commentary deeply infused with emotional depth. Highly recommended for newcomers seeking startling perspectives on justice, such as those found in Dennis Lehane's and Richard Price's works.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Nordic noir master Nesbø (Blood Ties) sets his sights on the American Midwest in this exquisitely plotted, darkly funny thriller that tackles gun control, police corruption, and psychological trauma in contemporary Minneapolis. The narrative toggles between two main plotlines. In one, disgraced police detective Bob Oz probes the attempted murder of a crooked gun dealer in 2016, an inquiry that develops into a serial killer investigation as more bodies pile up. In the other, crime novelist Holger Ruch pays a visit to Minneapolis in 2022, hoping to conduct research for his new book about a Midwestern policeman of Norwegian descent. Nesbø constructs poignant parallels between the members of his sprawling cast: for example, Oz's main suspect, Tomás Gomez, is a former hit man grappling with a family tragedy that mirrors the baggage of Mike Lunde, an overworked taxidermist who proves instrumental in providing Oz with clues. Meanwhile, interspersed among the main story threads are passages from the perspective of a killer who's simultaneously deranged and frighteningly logical. As the narratives converge and Nesbø reveals the precise nature of Ruch's connection to the case, readers will have no doubt they're in the hands of a brilliant storyteller. This soars. Agent: Niclas Salomonsson, Salomonsson Agency. (Feb.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
In 2016, down and out Minneapolis cop Bob Oz tracks an elusive sniper killer--a story Norwegian crime fiction writer Holger Rudi comes to Minnesota to research six years later. The gunman, Gomez--likely the onetime "killing machine" for a Mexican cartel who called himself Lobo--is out to avenge the shooting deaths of his family at a McDonald's by gang members. His ultimate aim is to take out the city's National Rifle Association--promoting Democratic mayor at the group's annual convention. Oz, who has Norwegian roots--his name is an Americanization of Aass--was kicked out by his wife following an unspeakable family tragedy. Since then, he has slept with so many women he can't keep them straight (his fellow cops call him One-Night Bob). After he beats up the husband of one of them when confronted, he's suspended from the force but continues pursuing Gomez with his arduously tested partner, Kay Myers. Among his potential witnesses is Lunde, a friendly taxidermist who educates Oz on his craft. Nesbø overworks taxidermy as a metaphor for repression (Lunde's customers are "frozen themselves, they're stuffed themselves, you know?") and creative writing (Rudi, who's mainly a framing device, sees himself as a taxidermist in "cloth[ing] a character"). The book's explicitly stated central theme is loneliness, from which both Oz and Gomez openly suffer. But for all its darkness, the novel is a pleasure to read with its engaging, easy-twisting plot, its cerebral touches, and characters like Liza, a bartender whose teasing scenes with Oz are highlights. Nesbø is clearly having a good time immersing himself in American culture, politics, and policing, revealing "Minnesota nice" as "a friendly, polite surface obscuring a conflict-averse and passive-aggressive undercurrent." Oslo was never like this. Another standout standalone from the author of the Harry Hole series. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
