cover image Phantom

Phantom

Jo Nesb%C3%B8, trans. from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett. Knopf, $25.95 (384p) ISBN 978-0-307-96047-4

In Nesb%C3%B8%E2%80%99s deeply moving seventh Harry Hole novel to be published in the U.S. (after 2011%E2%80%99s The Leopard), Harry returns to Oslo from Hong Kong to help his estranged 18-year-old son, Oleg, who has fallen in with a group of drug users and is now accused of fatally shooting another teenager, Gusto Hanssen. Both Gusto and Oleg were pushing a new street drug in Oslo, a synthetic heroin known as violin, for a mysterious man known only as Dubai. Operating both under the radar and with the covert help of his remaining friends on the force, Harry delves into the world of drugs in Norway, from corner selling to an importation scheme that involves airline pilots. Harry uncovers a web of corruption that ensnares the very police force he abandoned three years earlier. This is Harry%E2%80%99s most personal case, and yet Nesb%C3%B8 never allows Harry%E2%80%99s paternal feelings for Oleg cloud his need for truth, however costly that pursuit may be. Agent: Salomonsson Agency. (Oct.)