Book Review: The Bat was belatedly translated into English in 2012, and it quickly becomes clear why. This is the best poorly written book I've ever read. I'm told by those of the Norwegian persuasion that to know Harry Hole one must read the first two "lesser" books in the series. That's a tall order. I have to read two books to get to the good ones? Okay, one down. On the plus side our hero is flawed and interesting as a stranger in a strange land, mainly because Australia itself is always interesting. On the negative side is just about everything else. An awkward and implausible love story, an awkward and implausible murderer who most readers will identify quickly, and awkward and (somewhat) implausible characters who bump into each other as though wearing blindfolds (or is Nesbo saying that Norwegians have minimal interpersonal skills?). To his credit, Nesbo works hard to insert every literary requirement into The Bat. It's as though he read several books on how to write a novel, and carefully ticked the boxes for each one. Twice. The reader clearly sees Nesbo grinding away behind the scenes dutifully writing his novel. He's a worker. Seriously. Initially, I thought the problem might be the translation, and working through Norwegian in British English (are the Britishisms in the Norwegian?) may have been a challenge, but I can't blame the translator (Don Bartlett). This is just a first novel. Of its time. That said, I had no trouble reading The Bat and didn't hate it at all (Australians may have their own opinions -- the country that's a continent doesn't come off well here). Next up for me is book number two, Cockroaches: "Harry goes to Thailand." All I can say is the third book better be darn good. [2½★]
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