Book Review: The Devil's Star by Joe Nesbo (48 in 2012? #18)

     In the world of mystery writing, the flawed hero has become a cliche.  Every big time detective or hard working P.I. has to have some major flaw or it just isn't a mystery novel.  In Devil's Star, Joe Nesbo takes that cliche and seems to push it to the limit.  His main character, Harry Hole, is as flawed and self-destructive as any human could possible be.  We've seen all the flaws before, alcohol, a case that hits to close to home, raging against authority, but Nesbo is able to make them all feel fresh by taking them to there rational conclusion, somewhere most writers are to scared to go.  Sure, anti-heroes get in trouble, they get suspended, they get yelled at by the Chief or their client, but Harry Hole is in such a bad state and has such a bad record that he gets fired.
     One of the brilliant things about this novel is its ability to not only throw you into a suspenseful murder mystery, but to make you actually ache for the characters.  When not following the hunt for the serial killer, we're seeing the tortured lives of the characters.  It's adds another level to the story telling, something that was present in Nesbo's Redbreast but sorely lacking in Nemesis.  Hole is as tortured a main character as I've ever seen, a man who can't get out of his own way, a man who finds himself in a place where he no longer wants to get out of his own way.  Nesbo pulls no punches in his depiction of Hole's fall and because of that we truly ache for some form of redemption, a redemption we're not sure we will get.
     Aside from his beautifully drawn characters, Nesbo does a solid job of writing a fresh serial killer story.  What gets forgotten is that the idea of a serial killer is pretty much an American creation.  The original serial killer may have been British, but ever since Jack the Ripper, the United States has had almost an exclusive hold on the market.  That being the case, it is much more novel then we Americans would think for there to be a serial killer running around Norway.  You would never guess this is a foreign concept with how tightly constructed Nesbo's story is.  He is able to keep the reader guessing without making the reveal seem like it came out of left field.
     The Devil's Star is a novel to be held up as an example of the great crime writing coming out of the Scandinavian countries.  It's able to lean on genre cliches while still feeling fresh and new.  It has a new approach to the old convention.  A must read for any crime and mystery novel fans.