“The Snowman,” by Jo Nesbø

Holy cow!  What a book! 

If you're a fan of thrillers, click away from this page right now and go to Amazon and buy The Snowman, a novel by the Norwegian author Jo Nesbø.  If you live near a real bookstore, run over there right now and try to buy it.  Start it tonight.  Go!  Don't dilly-dally here. Do it.

Nesbø puts everybody else to shame.  Stieg Larsson? A pretender. Henning Mankell? A sham.  Nesbø?  The real McCoy.  Let's also give credit here to the translation by Don Bartlett.  This book zips along in wonderful, taut prose, thanks in part to Bartlett's work.  As Michael Connelly, America's best-selling writer of thrillers has said, "Jo Nesbø is my new favorite thriller writer." Ditto.

Here's Amazon's synopsis by Miriam Landis:

"On the first day of snow, a child wakes up to find his mother has disappeared during the night. Outside, a snowman has appeared out of nowhere, the calling card of one of the most terrifying serial killers in recent fiction. A letter from the perpetrator draws Detective Hole further and further into the case, and together with his new partner, Katrine Bratt, he hunts the Snowman through twists and turns that become increasingly personal and may drive Hole to the brink of insanity. Brilliantly crafted, this credible and dark page-turner fully fleshes out the characters, especially Hole, a hardened detective with sharp instincts and real heart. What is the link between the victims? Is the Snowman a suspicious doctor, a notorious playboy, or one of Hole's peers on the force? The police keep thinking they've caught the criminal, but Hole's astute observations may steer him around the red herrings and right into the hands of the cold-as-ice killer."

This is the best thriller I've read in a long time. Nesbø is amazing.  See this terrific article by Wendy Lesser at Slate about Nesbø's work and that of other authors of dark Scandinavian mystery/thrillers. (Thanks to LG for this.)

You're still sitting there, reader?  GO!  Buy it!  ★★★★★ (and more!)