The Bat cover art

The Bat

A Harry Hole Thriller, Book 1

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The Bat

By: Jo Nesbø
Narrated by: Sean Barrett
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About this listen

The thrilling first book in the best-selling Harry Hole series, never before published in English.

Harry is out of his depth.

Detective Harry Hole is meant to keep out of trouble. A young Norwegian girl taking a gap year in Sydney has been murdered, and Harry has been sent to Australia to assist in any way he can.

He's not supposed to get too involved.

When the team unearths a string of unsolved murders and disappearances, nothing will stop Harry from finding out the truth. The hunt for a serial killer is on, but the murderer will talk only to Harry.

He might just be the next victim.

Appearing in English for the first time, The Bat is the legendary first novel from the worldwide phenomenon Jo Nesbo.

©2012 Jo Nesbo (P)2012 Random House Audiobooks Suspense Thriller & Suspense Crime Fiction Murder Thriller Exciting
All stars
Most relevant  
If you can get past the silly portrayal of all things Australian the story is entertaining.

Almost a winner

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i have never read this author before although i love the crime/thriller genre. Loved the well constructed plot and well researched story and main character. I will read/listen to more Nesbo

a discovery

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Stone the bloody crows! It’s the 1990s and Norwegian detective Inspector Harry Hole is sent to Sydney to assist with the investigation of the murder of a Norwegian national. Defying instructions, Harry takes an active role in the case, encountering drag queens, pimps and prostitutes, and some of the Indigenous community as he tracks down a serial killer. I have mixed feelings about this. Given that author Jo Nesbo is Norwegian, the story (understandably) felt like a fair dinkum tourist’s view of Australia with lots of facts about Australia, larger-than-life characters including a saltwater crocodile and a great white shark, and a series of long Dreamtime monologues - the only things missing were the redbacks! Despite the heavy-handed stereotypes, the plot and characters were interesting, especially Harry’s dysfunctional backstory. Nesbo admires Harry Bosch and the character similarities are intentional. Audio narrator Sean Barrett is a British actor but his Australian accents were excellent and his performance impressive. I didn’t expect his pronunciation of Australian place names to be bonza (they were fine), he’s narrating from Harry’s Norwegian POV.

High on stereotype but interesting all the same!

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I enjoyed that this book introduced Harry Hole, but the story was very slow and the plot a bit erratic. But I have enjoyed other Harry Hole books but had not experienced the first.

I am glad I was exposed to a different plot
First as I don’t think I would have read on if this
Was my first.

Introducing Harry Hole

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Good book Thank you Jo for writing this book & Thank you Sean Barret for reading to me much appreciated 💜💜💜💜

The Bat by Jo Nesbø

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Loved the storytelling - the author clearly did his homework before writing this book! Great audio book too - the reader has an amazing grasp of accents! I highly recommend this book!

This European author’s insightful grasp of Australian culture.

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I really enjoyed this audiobook. Although true, it often sounds South African instead of Australian, it didn’t bother me too much.

Enjoyable

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I could not get over that I kept hearing about Australia in a book written by a Norwegian. Nevertheless, it is a gripping, fast moving affair and the perfect introduction to Harry Hole. I will be reading more.

Strange hearing Australian

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Hard to say why I wasn't blown away by this one. I do enjoy Jo Nesbo books, but perhaps because this one was the first in the series, he was possibly still finding the groove. Or maybe it was just me.

Didn't grab me

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the readers accurate representation of australian characters, better than most narrators. I love this guy's voice. so easy to listen to.

Harry is one of my fav fictional characters

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