Headhunters: ‘Keeps the twists and shocks coming hard and fast’ Metro

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Greve, of course, is not all he seems. He's a trained special forces operator with experience gathered around the world, as well as something close to the devil incarnate, a man with no morals and no capacity for empathy. As he goes mano a mano with Roger across Oslo and around the magnificent surrounding countryside, our sympathies gradually shift to his desperate but increasingly resourceful quarry, who attempts to stay alive by understanding his complex position. Edgar Allan Poe's story "A Descent Into the Maelström", you may recall, is set in Norway, and its narrator, caught in the giant whirlpool, saved himself by carefully observing his predicament and working out an escape route. It's a pretty good scam he has going -- but that and his whole world threaten to unravel when he is tempted by a really big score, an authentic Rubens. And Nesbø also proves himself a master manipulator, with some very nice twists, which allow him to bring the story to a surprisingly satisfying (if a bit too good to be true) conclusion.

Headhunters (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard): Jo Nesbo, Don Headhunters (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard): Jo Nesbo, Don

Roger does have a lucrative sideline: he organizes the theft and re-sale of fancy works of art -- taking advantage of his headhunting-position to learn about the valuable art candidates might have hanging in their homes.

Greve is a handsome, wealthy, charismatic son of a Dutch father and a Norwegian mother, apparently between jobs, having recently worked for a major military contractor. Roger seeks him out for Pathfinder, a conglomerate run from Oslo, and sees him as a target for theft as he secretly owns a valuable Rubens that apparently came into the family's hands by way of Nazi confiscation during the second world war. verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ A) masterclass in obfuscation and psychological parrying. (...) After recent events, no one can be in any doubt of Norway's dark side and Nesbo wisely juxtaposes Oslo's shiny veneer with its rotten elements. Equally, the parallels between artistic worth and corporate value are neatly levied." - Christian House, Independent on Sunday

Headhunters: ‘Keeps the twists and shocks coming hard and

And then there is his wife, Diana -- who is way out of his league but apparently truly loves him (even though she desperately wants kids and Roger pressured her into getting an abortion when she got pregnant). Headhunters is narrated by the thirty-five-year old headhunter -- matching executives and corporations -- Roger Brown, considered one of the best in the business. Smart dialogue, intricate plotting, brilliantly conceived characters, perfect pacing. This novel should put Nesbo at the top of any reader’s must-have list." - Margaret Cannon, The Globe and MailStill, one has to hand it to Nesbø: all the pieces -- and the various clues strewn through the story -- eventually fall into neat (if still often very unlikely) place. It probably plays better on the screen -- and it has been made into a movie, with an American re-make in the offing -- but it's an enjoyable B-thriller-read, too. During the opening credits, Roger's no-nonsense voiceover explains the five rules of art theft. He then proceeds with a poised wit to demonstrate his manipulative gifts by bending a client to his will while extracting the information he needs to steal a valuable lithograph of Edvard Munch's The Brooch. Roger is not particularly likable and his vicious world of international commerce is unattractive, though it glitters in a Mad Men way. He is more like Patricia Highsmith's psychopathic antihero Tom Ripley than Raffles, EW Hornung's gentleman thief. However, a malevolent fate comes up the Kattegat in the form of Clas Greve (leading Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) to pursue the complacent, hubristic antihero. The over-intricate overlap of conspiracies and the number of coincidences mean that this isn't a particularly believable thriller; still, the big puzzle picture (and how it works out) is satisfying -- and a lot of the action is fun.

Headhunters (2011) - IMDb Headhunters (2011) - IMDb

It doesn't help that Headhunters is translated into a no-person's language that shows evidence of academic (rather than life) experience on the translator's part. (...) Headhunters is the kind of book that gives trash a bad name. Not least because it's ponderous enough to portend itself as something more." - Peter Craven, The AgeThere are a lot of pieces -- indeed, near the end Nesbø has to resort to a lengthy scene in which the policeman who 'solves' the case explains exactly what (appears to have) happened, which explains a lot. Throw in the GPS technology he's familiar with from his previous job and he is a very well-equipped hunter.

Books - Jo Nesbo Books - Jo Nesbo

What starts out as an entertaining caper-thriller takes a sinister turn -- and then goes completely over the top. The cinema, as Karl Marx might have said, repeats itself, first as a Scandinavian thriller, then as a Hollywood remake. An American company acquired the rights to remake Morten Tyldum's Headhunters while it was still in production. They'll have trouble in making a movie half as good or half as authentic. The Rubens belongs to Clas Greve, and that's not all Greve has to offer: the former CEO of a GPS technology company that was recently bought out, he is the perfect candidate to head up Pathfinder, who are searching for a new man to run the company; if Roger can land this scalp he'll really have it made.Roger is devoted to his wife, too -- relatively faithful (with one brief slip), and willing to do anything to make her happy, including paying for a lifestyle -- fancy house, fancy art gallery for Diana to run -- that is way beyond his pay grade.