This is the first Harry Hole book in the series but wasn't translated into English until much later.

Harry has been sent to Australia to investigate the rape murder of a Norwegian girl there.

He teams up with Andrew an aboriginal officer to investigate, not always through conventional means.

I enjoyed the twists in  the plot and,for me, it was an enjoyable book but fans of later Jo Nesbo books may not always agree.

The Bat is a book that I did enjoy, however as it is actually the first in the Harry Hole series, albeit published out of sequence in English so I'm not quite sure if it works as well reading it as a prequel. Writers don't always improve with later works, but I feel that Jo Nesbo does, I'm a big fan and have enjoyed most of his later works, more so than this one, but it is worth reading to understand more about Hole's background and his emotional scars.
This one is in unusual setting for Harry Hole fans, down under in Australia, with lots of stereotypes in the characterisations and Australian cultural heritage.

I don't like Harry Hole.
Here, I said it.
If I met him at a party I'dbe like "yep, bye boy". Unfortunately I was stuck with him for like a week.
Harry is possibly the worst policemen that has ever been written. I kid you not. He's dull, constantly moaning. He's shagging a potential witness, but we're supposed to be ok with it because *checks notes* he killed someone while drunk, but he didn't mean to, his colleague was blamed for it, but that's cool because he died so no harm no foul, amirite?
Everything about this book is dull and predictable. Nothing happens for like 90% of the time until someone gets eaten by a shark (but I dozed off by this point so I might have just dreamt this).

When someone tells you to start this series with book two, please listen to them.

I am very late to John Nesbo & didn’t realise until part way through that this was a recent translation of a 1997 book. I thoroughly enjoyed it & will be looking out for more Harry Hole books.

This is the first in the Inspector Harry Hole series and was translated into English in 2012. Although I’ve read a number of the later books I hadn’t read this so thought it would be interesting to see where it all started. It provides background to Harry’s earlier life and explains a lot about why he is how he is. However, it isn’t as polished as the later novels and, whilst it was an enjoyable read, I found it a bit slow going.

Briefly, Harry, a member of the Oslo crime squad, is sent to Sydney to observe a murder case. A Norwegian woman was raped and murdered. Harry becomes friends with Andrew, an aborigine officer with a troubled background, and together they start investigating, not all strictly officially, and soon realise that this murder is connected to a number of other unsolved crimes. The deeper they go the more convoluted the case becomes.

Nesbo is a very descriptive writer and I found that in this book it was rather too much description going on. There are also quite a lot of characters to get your head around, some of them are really dark. Harry as a character is interesting; he’s damaged, an alcoholic and seems to have little thought for his own, or others safety. I’m not sure I actually liked him much.

There is also a lot of talk around aboriginal culture and social treatment and whilst interesting it didn’t add anything to the story. The actual murder story itself was really well written and though out and the twists and turns and red herrings had me fooled. I’m glad I read the later novels first - they are brilliant. This, for me, was just average ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was excited to receive this book so I could go back to the beginning and enjoy Harry Hole the Norwegian detective sent to Australia to work on a murder case. It’s well written with plenty of twists and turns but I just failed to enjoy it, Perhaps I expected too much but it just wasn’t for me

Easy reading crime thriller.

The characters are interesting enough to make you keep reading-as it’s the first in a series I feel it’s a must read but not necessarily indicative of the quality of the rest of the books, Jo Nesbo has improved over time but book is still enjoyable.

Definitely not the best of Nesbo's Harry Hole book but this one filled in the gaps in Harry's past and goes someway to explaining the character. Set in Australia where Harry has been called to investigate the death of a young Norwegian girl, he is immediately befriended by an elderly Aborigine policeman. Harry has the. distinct feeling that this policeman is trying to tell him something and when the man turns up dead, presumably the victim of the serial killer that has been stalking young blond female victims, Harry must use all his guile to unravel the stories that he has been told.
Harry's flawed nature is a bit of a cliche, his bouts of heavy drinking and apparent blackouts make him susceptible and an easy target for those intent on evil. The book contains some (unintentional?) racism, but rang true most of the time.
For fans of police procedural and nordic noir.
With thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK, Vintage for an arc copy.

A good introduction to the Harry Hole series. I have wanted to read Jo Nesbo novels so this was a great introduction to start the rest of the series. A good detective drama.

Although I do have a few of Jo Nesbo's books, I hadn't actually read any before so it was probably best that I started at the beginning and I was pleasantly surprised. Sometimes the heart of a story may be lost in translation however I didn't feel that at all with this book and look forward now to reading the rest in the series. Set in Australia, Jo aptly describes the plight of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia along with the European/White attitude and ignorance of them although conversely how this happens to Jo as well, being Norwegian but also classed as any Scandinavian person !! Detective Hole is his own worst enemy especially when his attempts to stay sober fail dramatically . Good story overall and especially if like me, you are new to Jo's writings.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy to review.

A young Norwegian girl has been murdered in Sydney, and Harry Hole has been sent to Australia to help solve the murder.
He has been told to stay out of trouble but the murderer only wants to talk to him!!

I was really disappointed with the story being disjointed, slow, far fetched and padded out with the history of Australia.

The characters appeared far fetched and lacked any depth.

The story line just did not add up and made the Australian police force appear inept needing a foreign police officer to take charge.

Not one I could recommend.

I’ve read quite a few of the Harry Hole series and so was looking forward to stepping back to the beginning with this first in the series. I’m not sure if it was the fact the story was set in Australia so not to me as interesting as the later ones in Scandinavia or maybe the book was simply of its time ( it was written in the 90’s but I was disappointed. I hope anyone thinking of getting into the Harry Hole series doesn’t start with this one and may be get put off. The later books are excellent.

The Bat is the first novel in Jo Nesbo’s highly successful Harry Hole crime thriller series. Here, Inspector Harry Hole of the Oslo Crime Squad is dispatched to Sidney to observe a murder case of a twenty three year of Norwegian woman. His instructions; offer assistance, but stay out of trouble. After befriending one of the lead detectives, Harry discovers that this is only the latest in a string of unsolved murders…

It feels unusual to be introduced to the main character in a series outside of their home setting – I would more typically have expected this opening novel to be set in Norway and one of the sequels to be moved out to Australia. I felt that the setting was well portrayed, but I’m not sure I know Harry Hole very well yet, having yet to see him operate on his ‘home turf’. I guess the rest of the series will make up for that.

This book was first published in 1997. Some of the writing around race and sexuality in particular, whilst neither racist nor homophobic, does feel somewhat of its time. That isn’t a criticism; it’s interesting to consider how these sections of the novel might have been approached in the 2020s. The book is a relatively demanding read in parts. There are quite a few characters and several of them do have a habit of sailing off into long monologues that tended to interrupt the flow of the novel for me.

If you’re looking for a new crime series to sink your teeth into and have yet to try Jo Nesbo, this is the place to start.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Vintage, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'd heard such great things about Jo Nesbø's "Harry Hole" series, that I jumped at the chance to read the book where it all started. I'm disappointed with myself that "The Bat" just didn't do anything for me. There's almost a coldness to the way the story is told that left me uncaring about any of the characters or the outcome of the story. BUT: it is a good story. Maybe I need to read more in this series, or maybe I should leave it alone... I'm sorry.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

I have been a fan of this authors work since the beginning. Scandi noir had been born and since then this genre has been my guilty pleasure. We are introduced to Harry Hole an unusual Norwegian detective who will do anything to catch the killer. Harry has been sent to Australia as a Norwegian female backpacker has been murdered and mutilated. A busy book, multi cultured and i love the tribal stories that are intertwined with this crime thriller. A bit slow in places but still a gripping read. A Scandi legend has been born!!!!!
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

With 'The Bat', Jo Nesbo introduced us to the compelling character of Harry Hole, and a Scandi-Noir legend was born.
The book is quite demanding on the reader in the innumerable twists and turns in the plot and in the huge range of characters we are introduced to, but nevertheless moves at a very fast pace.
Set in Australia, there is a real sense of place and the layers of culture in this land of extremes, with the ancient aboriginal traditions overlaid by the vibrant and cosmopolitan culture of Sydney. The tone is dark and tense as the murder Harry has left Norway to investigate becomes a prelude to the unravelling of a psychopath's journey.
Moving a detective from his normal environment to a new situation doesn't always work but this is an exception. Harry Hole in Australia creates a good detective story with the additional entertainment of Harry adjusting to a completely foreign location, not just geographically but in many other ways. Harry is introduced to a number of contrasting areas of Australia, both rural and urban. But, Nesbo’s winning formula is already in place; in the end, he solves the mystery and overcomes the problems. Enjoyable !

I requested this book on the back of so many great recommendations but I found myself feeling very confused as this can’t be the writer everyone raves about?

Maybe it’s become a little dated, but I found the language and pace to wooden and slow and jittery. And the stereotyping was very obvious.

I just found it all a bit flat and rather glum, maybe I built it up to something more in my head.

Not Impressed at all. I’ve heard the books do indeed improve so maybe I’ll try some later books in the series but this one is not for me