The Bat is the first Harry Hole novel and set the tone of this successful series.
This story takes place in Sydney where Harry has been assigned to help resolve a murder of a young Norwegian girl. He is paired up with a aboriginal detective whose local knowledge and numerous contacts prove invaluable in progressing the investigation.
Unfortunately as the deaths mount up Harry, who is on the wagon as a recovering alcoholic, spectacularly reverts to the bottle and seemingly is headed for rock bottom. But Nesbo provides Harry with a route out and ultimately his detective skills re-surface and win the day, but it's a close run thing.
Clearly influenced by writing this novel whilst living in Australia for a year, Nesbo intersperses his plot with both examples of aboriginal myths and vivid depictions of the LGBT Sydney scene. All in all this is a colourful and entertaining murder mystery that introduced Harry Hole as yet another " emotionally damaged " detective destined to be involved in many more investigations in the future.

Jo Nesbo is one of my all time favourite authors... I have read a few of the Harry Hole books randomly and not in order... but this is the first of the series and i had to read it .... how glad i did it introduces me to the Harry Hole in the early days and shows how he is developed... it was great meeting him for the first time in the first book.... a complex man but what a read..... this is where it all started and it never stopped for me but i am glad i have the beginning and now i feel i know Harry Hole alot better .... fantastic and five stars for me

This was my first Jo Nesbo thriller, in Germany he is a huge bestselling Scandinavian author and i can see why, he is a terrific writer who knows how to spin a garn. "The Bat" is the first novel of the Harry Hole series , a Norwegian detective with a complicated personal and professional history. Harry is sent to Australia to help investigate the murder of a Norwegian girl but to stay out of trouble. When the team discover a string of unresolved murders that might be connected to the recent one, it becomes clear they are investigating a serial killer. I had a great time with this thriller which makes a perfect holiday read.

Jo Nesbo is a good author and I was keen to read this book. From the introduction to the story I was hooked. The characters were so real and dealing with a country that I knew very little about. The positive way that the aboriginal nation was discussed was amazing.
A great crime novel based on Australian police procedures was enlightening.

Jo Nesbo has long been one of my favourite authors so I was pleased to receive an ARC of The Bat. It was a bit of an eye-opener to realise just how much his writing style has changed / evolved over the years. Harry Hole (or Holy as the Australian detectives will have it) is down under to help in the investigation into the murder of a young Norwegian girl and, against orders, becomes over-involved in the investigation.
I found it to be very much a story of two parts – the actual investigation, which moved along at a respectable pace with a few 'didn't-see-that-coming' moments and what turned out to be an inordinate amount of Aboriginal history. Some of this historical information fed into the plot but a lot of it didn't until, at the halfway point in the story, I began to skip read them. In doing so, I'm sure I missed some salient references to the investigation but they had become too intrusive for my liking.
Nevertheless, The Bat is a good yarn and less impatient readers than myself will enjoy it more than I did.

First read in October 2012 while on holiday in Turkey.
“With special thanks to the person who placed it in the hotel used book library that enabled me to read it while on holiday last week.
As a real follower of Scandinavian crime fiction I have collected Jo Nesbo's books; they remain unread on my bookshelves as I had waited for this first Harry Hole novel to be translated into English. It remains my goal to try to read character driven detective series in order so that the revelations build and my understanding is optimised.
A Norwegian detective in a true police procedural. Harry Hole much built up in the reviews of others and Nesbo's cannon of work highly praised perhaps leads to some disappointment in this first novel in this successful series. Ian Rankin admits Rebus grows over time and he isn't fully happy with the earlier novels. However this is where the character comes alive and we first learn about him and his back story is revealed so for that it is a priceless book to take with you into the latter stories.
Well I was surprised to find our fledgeling detective in Sydney, Australia. Hole (Holy) is the usual flawed character; recovering/back-sliding alcoholic, not universally liked or respected by his own Police Department transported like other before him to the land down-under.
We are presented with a human being at odds with himself but honest about his short-comings and still plagued by his errors, barely functioning as a cop; indeed should have been driven out of the force for misconduct.
Not really wanted by the local police force in Sydney but one detective befriends him and sees him as the key to snapping open the case.
An old fashioned detective story about method and hunches; although Harry seems to have all of the ideas and many are wrong and not thought through but in applying himself he does solve the crime at great personal loss. It whets the appetite for more but will the cockroaches ever be released in English?”

Some 10 years later I’ve re-read it. Disappointingly in the intervening time I have not read anymore Harry Hole books but maybe this will provide sufficient impetus - there are 12 in the series to read.
For too long in the U.K. we were denied the first two books hence my initial delay in committing to a series from the third instalment.
I found a deeper sense of creativity and craft second time around. With pace and energy that drives the story to a thrilling conclusion.
I enjoyed also the relationships within the story; that sense of value and common humanity.
Twice bitten I cannot turn my back on these stories much longer despite a growing TBR list.

Have seen many Jo Nesbo books on lots of sites but this was the first time I have read one, and felt being the first in the Harry Hole series it was a good place to start.
It turned out to be a very good enjoyable read,. Harry is not your usual everyday police character with his strong drinking habits, but the storyline turned into a fast paced page turner with many twists along the way. I will look forward to reading more Jo Nesbo.

A first time ready of Jo Nesbo, I wasn't sure what to expect but I thoroughly enjoyed this story and all it offered.

Loved this book about Harry Hole who is a Norwegian detective sent to Australia to help with a investigation into a murder of Inger Holter, a young Norwegian girl. Full of twists and turns and great the Aboriginal Dreamtime stories with Harry, which I found absolutely fascinating.
Looking forward to more stories featuring Harry Hole.
Thoroughly good book would highly recommend.

Such a great start to a new series. Addictive from the first chapter to the end.
This story was published years ago, and it really shows why the author is so loved and why his novels are a must read ones.

I enjoyed The Bat and the police procedural plot-line was really interesting to see developing. More so, the multicultural crush was a great addition. The twists came at the right points at all times. The characters have grown throughout the book and I really enjoyed seeing Inspector Harry Hole in his element.

I’m looking forward to read more in this series as there are quite a few books out now.

🆓📖Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

I've read several other books by Jo Nesbo, so was keen to read this one - and it didn't disappoint! Nesbo has a gift for building tension alongside the story, and I was completely hooked from the start. Detective Harry Hole has enough flaws to make him believable, but also has a compassionate side which makes him more likeable than some fictional detectives. The supporting characters are well-painted, and I like the way Nesbo reveals their back-stories piece by piece. The more unpleasant scenes are not glossed over, but neither are they gratuitous. I hope to read more by this author.

Set in Sydney, Australia and written by Jo Nesbo - what’s not to love? The book has many twists and turns and manages to make Harry Hole, an unlikeable character, someone one you end up routing for. Great read and thoroughly recommend it

Having only read the Snowman before, I was intrigued to go back and read the first Harry Hole and had high expectations. The Bat met them, but totally not in the way I expected - I had no idea this iconic Norwegian series would start set in Australia! This was a complete surprise, and a welcome one as it juxtaposed the 2 cultures in an interesting way and presented the Australian culture (which I am familiar with) in a fresh, outsider's view. The use of Australian folklore and historical politics woven throughout was interesting and relevant, and the classic noir detective vibe Harry Hole creates through his spiralling into self-destruction felt contemporary in this setting. The pacing of the book was unusual - it felt like a fairly standard procedural until about halfway through the book, when it seems strangely like you are about to reach the resolution - and then it all explodes and becomes full of twists and turns. Harry's compelling persona and the real, heartfelt relationships he develops with other characters managed to carry the story (there is even a Casino Royale type love story to start off the series with!) I struggled slightly to keep all of the different characters in my head throughout this narrative, and the ending / villain capture was borderline ridiculous. That said, overall, an energetic, page-turning and gripping debut for this iconic series - glad I read it. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for the opportunity.

I have read several books in this series but for whatever reason in a slapdash order. I decided to read the very first Harry Hole book to read how it all began.

Harry Hole is in Sydney to investigate the murder of Inger Holter, a young Norwegian girl, who was working in a bar. At first Harry struggles to be accepted by the Australian police but manages to impose himself on them to become an important cog in the investigation. The police become aware of a number of unsolved rape and murder cases around the country with the victims in most cases being young blondes. Inger, the young Norwegian girl who was murdered, had a number of admirers, all of them had secrets but no obvious suspect. With further murders occurring. Harry is faced with a race against time to stop the killer who appears to be determined to cause total mayhem.

Maybe this novel wasn’t quite up to the same standard as the ones that followed but I enjoyed the journey of how it all started.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Random House UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a big fan of Jo Nesbo and I wasn't disappointed by this book.
Very well written. The plot and characters were engaging. Would reccomend.

A great start and first book in the bestselling Harry Hole series…. If I you are wanting a great escape this is exactly the book you will want to read. You will be so glad you did! The premise of this book sounded interesting from the very beginning.

Like most crime readers, I had heard of Jo Nesbo and the high reputation his books have. I had never read anything by him before, but this book has convinced me to read many more. Very high quality writing with a superb plot and interesting characters.

Having decided to start reading the Harry Hole books, I started with the first in the series The Bat. Set in Australia, Harry travels there to investigate the murder of a Norwegian girl. The plot of the book is good with some unique characters and the culprit of the murders was not at all obvious taking the reader on a journey as the investigation progressed. With all the twists and turns, elements of the book were good. Harry however it not a likeable character within this first book, is clearly flawed and makes quite a lot of misjudgements. For me it’s an average start to the series, it will be interesting to see how Harry Hole and the writing evolves through the next books.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Vintage for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Bat is the very first in Jo Nesbo’s Harry Hole’s series and set in Sydney, Australia. Harry Hole has been sent to the other side of the world to assist the investigation of a murdered Norwegian woman. He is paired up with an Australian First Nation police officer, Andrew Kingston.

The investigation unfolds and Andrew and Harry don’t exactly follow the rule book at times. Andrew and other First Nation characters share Aboriginal Dreamtime stories with Harry, which I found absolutely fascinating.

I really enjoyed the twists and turns and red herrings along the way. This was my first Harry Hole book and I will definitely continue reading them in order now.

Huge thanks to the publishers, Random House Vintage, and NetGalley for making this ARC available to me for a fair and honest review.

Some racing along, intense and insightful writing tells how famous a novelist Nesbo is to become. But sometimes in this novel the research into Aboriginal fable and the descriptions of Australia feel forced into the story rather than adding to it. Yet again, the many victims are female, violence abounds and the style can't be said to be pc. It's hard to feel empathy with Harry Hole; it's more sticking with a complex, intriguing character and risk taking detective.