My interest in crime fiction evolved from a casual guilty pleasure to an outright passion thanks to
Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy. Unfortunately, there were only three books, so the quest began
for other Swedish titles. A few surfaced, but once my search expanded to other parts of Scandinavia,
the result was a huge score thanks to Jo Nesbo’s The Snowman. I owe my new-found addiction to Scandinavian
crime fiction to the late Larsson, but Nesbo’s writing is what’s making me look behind doors before going
to sleep at night.
The terror he creates in The Snowman is palpable. This Norwegian who-dun-it boasts intelligent characters, a
rapid page-turning plot and vivid, frightening descriptions of a serial killer’s handiwork. Yet Nesbo adeptly
incorporates humor and compassion.
Nesbo offers a disheveled, self-loathing anti-hero, Harry Hole, versus “The Snowman” in a slalom course of twists
and turns. The Snowman targets married women who’ve had affairs and borne the children of those relationships.
The murders always take place during the first snowfall of the season. This along with a snowman and no trace of
the actual crime are hallmarks of the murderer. The quest to find the killer is augmented with numerous characters,
none of whom are superfluous to the story – although a few may seem to be at times. Nesbo’s Harry Hole is flawed
in the way of Columbo, and a would-be misogynist in the tradition of Sherlock Holmes.
Nesbo has eight Harry Holes thrillers on bookshelves. The Snowman is fourth in the series.
400 pages
Knopf 2011
Four Bookmarks
In The Social Animal, David Brooks blends research with fiction to create an
aggregate life situation. The result is a mostly-engaging look at not just how
people live successful lives, but why. The problem is that the book is about 100 pages too long.
Of the 406 pages devoted to the scrutiny to the scrutiny of accomplishment, notes
account for 25. Brooks an op-ed writer for The New York Times, cites
everything from the classics to Wired magazine and everything –
believe me, everything – in between. Harold and Erica are Brooks’s guinea pigs
to which the social and scientific studies are applied. Consequently, the range
of topics includes education, romance, parenting, business, politics and
general lifestyle. In fact, the chapters are a chronological life story.
Starting with dating rituals, Brooks introduces the courtship of Harold’s parents (who
disappear after Harold’s adolescence). References to phemerones and
intellectual capability put a damper on any semblance of romance. Yet, as
Brooks notes, hidden beneath the scientific and cultural references is a
relationship waiting to emerge. Although the book starts with Harold’s parents,
the focus is on Harold then Erica as individuals, and, finally, them as a
couple.
Brooks’s approach to why people are motivated to succeed is intriguing. Because Harold and Erica are,
essentially fictional characters, the author is able to get inside their heads and
remain an objective bystander as he cites the studies and surveys explaining
their behavior. Thus, the most appealing aspect of the composite couple is that
there is something of everyone in these two characters.
Random House 2011
448 pages
3-1/2 Bookmarks
