Midnight Sun (Nesbo) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Nesbo's prose is generally fast and functional, but it would be a stretch to call it good. Land is "stony and flat as a pancake"; Lea's laughter is "a well. No, a slowly flowing river."... Yet even without good prose or a thrilling plot, Midnight Sun manages to be a fun read, with a likable protagonist and a brisk, page-turning pace. Nesbo is a talented storyteller and his narrative intuition is on full display, even without the usual guns and guts.
Steph Cha - Los Angeles Times


When you are ineluctably and unarguably tse reigning king of Scandinavian crime fiction—as the charismatic Jo Nesbo is...can you afford to rest on your laurels? In Nesbo's case, the answer is probably yes.... But even a cursory examination of...Midnight Sun, shows that this is simply not the case. [T]his latest entry...may be slim, but [its] aim is focused: to deliver... kinetic excitement... from a writer who has honed the skills of his craft.
Barry Forshaw - Independent (UK)


[An] uncharacteristically genial, almost optimistic stand-alone novel.... The obligatory scenes of violence are fewer than in the Harry Hole novels. There are...a few surprises as to who are the good guys and the bad—and what their motives turn out to be. A plot twist at the end is jarring and unconvincing, although it comes so late as to hardly matter. Terse and unsentimental, this tale is a many-leveled parable of the human condition, intensified by the stark uncompromising setting of man against nature in one of the world’s most inhospitable locales.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


(Starred review.) [An] excellent standalone from Edgar-finalist Nesbo.... Immaculately plotted and perfectly paced, the book is also darkly funny and deadly serious. Scandinavian gloom notwithstanding, it has a neatly satisfying and surprisingly moving ending.
Publishers Weekly


Nesbo delivers a tale of hope and redemption in this brief story of a man who blunders into a life of crime and then tries to extricate himself with a minimum of damage to those around him. Although this is unlike the author's gritty "Harry H ole" stories, it is wholeheartedly recommended for...[its] strong character development. —Deb West, Gannon Univ. Lib., Erie, PA
Library Journal


The world's worst hit man goes aground in a little Norwegian town far above the Arctic Circle in this sharp, spare, postcard-sized tale.... Wasting not a word, Nesbo paints an indelible portrait of a criminal loser who...[is] faced with the supreme threat to his existence.
Kirkus Reviews