Phantom

Starred review from August 27, 2012
In Nesbøâs deeply moving seventh Harry Hole novel to be published in the U.S. (after 2011âs 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 Harryâs most personal case, and yet Nesbø never allows Harryâs paternal feelings for Oleg cloud his need for truth, however costly that pursuit may be. Agent: Salomonsson Agency.