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Summary & Study Guide The Bat: The First Inspector Harry Hole Novel by Jo Nesbo
This study guide includes the following sections: Plot Summary, Chapter Summaries & Analysis, Characters, Objects/Places, Themes, Style, Quotes, and Topics for Discussion.
51 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 11, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
July 15, 2017
I can always tell how bad a book is by how long it takes me to read it! This book was awful. I seriously wonder if it had been the first book translated into English would the series be so popular. My bet is it would not! At first I thought it was a young adult mystery because the sentence structure was so basic and simple. Nope, it was poorly written, equally poorly translated and lacked an editor to ensure that the translation made sense in English. All lacking in the book.
There was a bit of redemption in the fact that the history, although simplistically told, enlightened many on Australia -- their history, culture and ideology.
I would never had read this book if it was not a book club choice. It would have been pitched by page 25.
There was a bit of redemption in the fact that the history, although simplistically told, enlightened many on Australia -- their history, culture and ideology.
I would never had read this book if it was not a book club choice. It would have been pitched by page 25.
July 15, 2021
Having read books 2,4 and 5 of the Harry Hole series it was good to read the first. Given to me by a mate from Scotland on a swift visit to us in Wales.
Absolute cracker of a read. The storyline was clever. The prose brilliant:
‘Here I am sitting in a bar, Harry thought, listening to a transvestite lecturing on Australian politics. He felt at home, a bit like Harrison Ford in the bar scene in Star Wars.’
This book explained Harry’s alcoholism, which makes Rebus look like an amateur. The Australian characters and Aboriginal stories from the Dreaming are well done.
Luckily I have amassed more Jo Nesbo’s to read👍
Ps I read some of the Goodread reviews giving this a low rating. I can only think they were reading a different book😉
Absolute cracker of a read. The storyline was clever. The prose brilliant:
‘Here I am sitting in a bar, Harry thought, listening to a transvestite lecturing on Australian politics. He felt at home, a bit like Harrison Ford in the bar scene in Star Wars.’
This book explained Harry’s alcoholism, which makes Rebus look like an amateur. The Australian characters and Aboriginal stories from the Dreaming are well done.
Luckily I have amassed more Jo Nesbo’s to read👍
Ps I read some of the Goodread reviews giving this a low rating. I can only think they were reading a different book😉
June 16, 2015
So, this book is not Jo Nesbo's best, but it's the first in the Harry Hole series, so I feel it's a must-read. Had trouble getting into it at first but the book lends so much to understanding Harry and how he transforms through the years. I'm still bummed I've read the series out of order (thanks US publishers!). Still worth the read. Love Jo Nesbo's books!
July 12, 2019
A couple of years ago, the local bookstore I go to was pushing the Jo Nesbo books prominently, I had heard good things about them. I eventually decided to give the Harry Hole series a try and started with the first novel. Not knowing anything about the other books, which I hear are head and shoulders above this one, it read as rather a padded mystery with dipped into cliché.
The mystery itself is pretty standard fare, a woman is killed, and slowly we discover she was the latest victim of a serial killer. The book throws red herrings at us, and has the lead character Utterly Convinced someone is the killer, only to be proven wrong. Toward the end of the book, the character says he is afraid to voice his suspicions because he is worried he would be thought of as the boy who cried wolf, and in my mind, I said it was far too late for that.
This is also a novel that falls into a lot of the common holes of a hardboiled detective, but the lead character seems to be able to act without consequences for himself, which is frustrating. He is shown to us as being great as a detective, but gets it wrong every step of the way. The mystery itself is well-constructed, despite a number of sequences where the author would shove clues in our face. There is also a fair amount of padding in the middle of the book where I grew impatient with the author wandering off into rabbit trails instead of moving the story forward.
Some of the flaws in the book could simply be a translation issue, but there are sections where the plotting is just poorly thought out, and dive deep in cliché when the story would have been served better by avoiding them. I have heard later books in the series are much better, so maybe I should have started with one of those.
The mystery itself is pretty standard fare, a woman is killed, and slowly we discover she was the latest victim of a serial killer. The book throws red herrings at us, and has the lead character Utterly Convinced someone is the killer, only to be proven wrong. Toward the end of the book, the character says he is afraid to voice his suspicions because he is worried he would be thought of as the boy who cried wolf, and in my mind, I said it was far too late for that.
This is also a novel that falls into a lot of the common holes of a hardboiled detective, but the lead character seems to be able to act without consequences for himself, which is frustrating. He is shown to us as being great as a detective, but gets it wrong every step of the way. The mystery itself is well-constructed, despite a number of sequences where the author would shove clues in our face. There is also a fair amount of padding in the middle of the book where I grew impatient with the author wandering off into rabbit trails instead of moving the story forward.
Some of the flaws in the book could simply be a translation issue, but there are sections where the plotting is just poorly thought out, and dive deep in cliché when the story would have been served better by avoiding them. I have heard later books in the series are much better, so maybe I should have started with one of those.
August 31, 2020
Hmmm. Having just read the Martin Beck series, I am spoiled by excellent writing skills. I have read that this book, the first in the Harry Hole series, is not the best. No, it isn't. However, I did have to finish reading so that I knew what happened to the characters.
Harry Hole (hoo-leh) is a Norwegian police officer in Australia to participate in the investigation of the murder of a Norwegian woman. The local police are not welcoming, and he is a little confused as to why he is there. Soon, it is apparent, he is a little confused most of the time because he is a raging alcoholic, with a penchant for getting emotionally involved with the first female he meets.
The story skips around and has a lot of plot avenues. OK, too many plot avenues. Harry still doesn't have his act together by the end of the book, but he has managed to think out the solution, which is pretty amazing because he is drunk.
I am going to read the next book in the series just because I have to see how he survives the situation he has created.
Harry Hole (hoo-leh) is a Norwegian police officer in Australia to participate in the investigation of the murder of a Norwegian woman. The local police are not welcoming, and he is a little confused as to why he is there. Soon, it is apparent, he is a little confused most of the time because he is a raging alcoholic, with a penchant for getting emotionally involved with the first female he meets.
The story skips around and has a lot of plot avenues. OK, too many plot avenues. Harry still doesn't have his act together by the end of the book, but he has managed to think out the solution, which is pretty amazing because he is drunk.
I am going to read the next book in the series just because I have to see how he survives the situation he has created.
November 3, 2018
For the first third of the book or so, I liked Harry, I felt the story was building andI was enjoying a bit of Australian lore and culture. Unfortunately, a plot hiccup in the second half of the book seemed pointless and disruptive. By the end, I finished it out of stubbornness and the office fan was my favorite character.
May 1, 2018
If this was the 1st novel by Jo Nesbo I had read I wouldn't have read another. Shocking
February 21, 2015
The first of the Harry Hole series. Not the best in the series, but I think it is important to read the series in order. I read the Snowman (5th in the series) first and there were some spoilers I would have liked to miss if read in order. The books keep getting better and better and the character of Harry Hole more and more complex. Best noir series I have ever read.
March 4, 2015
Great Harry Hole debut! I first read The redbreast and the following ones translated and published in Spain, but I got this one in English and wasn't disappointed at all. It was fabulous to check that Harry Hole was Harry Hole since the very beginning. Don't miss it!
March 9, 2016
Great suspenseful mystery. I fell for blonde, Norwegian Harry, and found myself rooting for him and agonizing over his missteps. I enjoyed the Australian setting and history. It was a bit slow at first, then 1/2 way through, things started to get crazy!!
July 14, 2020
Norwegian police officer Harry Hole is sent to Sydney, Australia to serve as an attaché for the Australian police's investigation into the murder of a young female Norwegian girl residing in Australia, Inger Holter. Her boyfriend, Evans White, is initially approached as a suspect. Hole is assisted by Aboriginal colleague Andrew Kensington; together they find out that they are dealing with a serial killer who strangles blonde women. Hole befriends a red haired Swede named Birgitta.
The plot becomes very complex towards the end and the ending is a disappointment - I think it is Jo Nesbo's style to have such endings; in the next book I read, "The Devil's Star"; too I found the same complicated and hurried ending
The plot becomes very complex towards the end and the ending is a disappointment - I think it is Jo Nesbo's style to have such endings; in the next book I read, "The Devil's Star"; too I found the same complicated and hurried ending
March 21, 2023
Wierdly, most of this book is set in Sydney and that's where I started reading it. I enjoyed it in places but in others where the author rambles off into overlong stories concerning Aboriginal culture, it kind of lost me a bit.
There are a couple of good twists in it but the reader is faced with text that has been poorly translated from the original language into English and sadly, it shows.
An earlier reviewer complained it was UK English not US so he didnt understand some of the colloquial phrases.... Good grief USA, its not all about you. Everywhere has its own style of language and phrasing and Australia is no different.
Meanwhile, I am unsure if Harry Hole II will be any better, we'll see I guess!!
There are a couple of good twists in it but the reader is faced with text that has been poorly translated from the original language into English and sadly, it shows.
An earlier reviewer complained it was UK English not US so he didnt understand some of the colloquial phrases.... Good grief USA, its not all about you. Everywhere has its own style of language and phrasing and Australia is no different.
Meanwhile, I am unsure if Harry Hole II will be any better, we'll see I guess!!
January 3, 2018
This was the only edition of the book I could find, but I read the novel not the study guide. It wasn't terrible, but the first 2/3 were hard to get through. The end was quick and exciting though. I'll pick up later entries in the series to see how Harry's life has progressed.
October 7, 2021
Now this was a good book until the last few chapters when he started going into his convoluted pros. So I gave it three stars for being half good. Please don't take my opinion as I do have a habit of zoning out on books when I have to focus on too many plots or characters.
July 21, 2022
I have read other Harry Hole books and to be truthful, I liked them better than this book. I found Bat hard to follow at times and I got annoyed with all the drinking Harry did. It took way too many pages for him to pull it together and mover forward in the case.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 30, 2017
3.5 really.
November 21, 2017
I think this is Jo Nesbø ‘s best book. I wanten to read it because its his first one, but unfortunately wasn’t as good as I suspected.
January 6, 2018
Too contrived, but worth reading if you're going to continue through the Harry Hole series.
August 24, 2018
Great promise, dull finish.
But at least it was a page-turner.
But at least it was a page-turner.
December 15, 2018
Couldn’t finish it. Only got to page 80. Too boring
January 5, 2019
not the brightest bulb is Harry, gets involved with girl and does not do right by her. Don't read anymore on this series
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 22, 2019
A good first read. Learned a lot about Australia, having never been. I’ll read another for sure
September 22, 2019
I read the book, not the summary & Study guide. Fast read. good writing.
October 2, 2019
1st in Norwegian Inspector Harry Hole series. Set in Australia and filled with twists and turns. Good read.
November 8, 2019
Not his best. Too long. Too much extra.
Suprised I wasn't able to find this actual novel on Goodreads. That's what I read - not the study guide.
Suprised I wasn't able to find this actual novel on Goodreads. That's what I read - not the study guide.
January 19, 2020
Actually read the audiobook not this study guide. The book itself is not listed on Goodreads. I couldn’t add it necause I do not have the actual book and the information needed to add it.
February 16, 2020
My first reading of this author. I liked Harry Hole & the story. I'll be reading more.
August 8, 2020
Predictable.
September 25, 2021
Finally found it in English. Harry started out unscarred and tenacious. Makes the later man easier to understand.
January 14, 2022
Hard boiled thriller leading down a dark hole
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews