Press

What the critics say

Like a Scandinavian police version of the Jason Bourne series... a compulsive page turner... Nesbo leads us into the murky back-streets of Oslo and a world of drug addiction and smuggling, gang warfare and corrupt officialdom – all of which social context is handled with real skill by the author.
- Independent on Sunday

Jo Nesbo writes tightly plotted, claustrophobic thrillers with plenty of snow and a brutal yet hopelessly romantic policeman hero with the wonderful name of Harry Hole... they're also exuberantly, ingeniously gruesome.
- Sunday Telegraph

Phantom is arguably a much better book than any previous instalments. Nesbo wrings out the tension, by turns painful and delicious, with consummate skill.
- Sunday Express

Nesbo’s extraordinary writing power still mesmerises
- The Times

Phantom will maintain Jo Nesbo’s unstoppable momentum
- The Independent

Nesbo is a powerful writer.
- Sunday Times

I've just finished the latest Jo Nesbo thriller Phantom; I love the series of Harry Hole thrillers.
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A gritty, pared-back thriller
- Esquire

The king of Nordic crime – and his haunted protagonist Harry Hole – returns with this tightly plotted thriller which pitches Hole deep into the murky underworld of Oslo’s heroin market
- Metro

A brilliant and incredibly fast-paced race through the streets of Oslo to uncover who is at the centre of a drugs ring... ex-alcoholic Hole is dealing with more demons than 24’s Jack Bauer ... Sceptics may argue that crime fiction is too sensationalist and that endings are tied up too neatly but Phantom proves them all wrong. Once you’ve read the conclusion you’ll agree that Nesbo’s writing is far from predictable.
- Stylist

Jo Nesbo is at the top of his game... The must-read thriller of 2012.
- Bella

Phantom leaves us reeling, with a storyline and ending that hurts us almost as much as it hurts the protagonists... The twists and turns show Nesbo at his complicated, yet utterly accessible best, and Hole at his undeniably brilliant but self-destructive worst
- The List

A pacy punchy read from one of the best in the business
- Sport

The latest novel about Harry Hole, Phantom, is possibly the best in the series.
- Dagens Næringsliv (Norway)

Jo Nesbo is a master of his craft. His latest novel, Phantom, is world-class crime writing. Phantom is a crime novel that pleases on every level.
- Dagbladet (Norway)

With a steady hand, Jo Nesbo deftly ties together the different narratives, steering the novel towards its goal with great precision...The fact that Harry Hole is a character in constant development makes the book even more interesting... Great, sombre summer reading.
- VG (Norway)

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo is relentless. His terrifying transformation of a childhood icon permeated my sleep. I started Redbreast but it was too much. I gave it to my guitarist Lenny Kaye and he was hooked. Now my band is reading Nesbo but I am too petrified to crack open the Phantom....
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Scandinavian crime continued to be impossible to avoid in 2012, and the literary works of Jo Nesbø have helped cement the genre in our minds
- The List