We'll admit our only previous encounters with Scandinavian noir had been the Dragon Tattoo books and films........ (and way back in the 70's, the Americanized film version of "The Laughing Policeman" with Walter Matthau and Bruce Dern...)......so we sledded into a copy of "The Snowman" and finished it a few weeks before the much reviled film came and went......
As for the movie, we can say nothing more until we reserve ourselves a no-cost DVD rental from our local library........(nothing gives you a more satisfying feeling than laying out zero dollars to watch some overblown, over-budgeted A-List film that the studio wanted you to pay 12 bucks to view in a theater......)
On to the book........further proof that there's great wisdom in those "Read The Book, Then See The Movie" silver stickers they slap on the paperback movie-tie-in editions.....
We definitely wouldn't want a screenwriter's job of somehow condensing and simplifying the dense plotting and serpentine twists and turns in "The Snowman".....
That's the pure pleasure you derive from any well written murder mystery, along with the author's ability to delve deeply into the innermost thoughts, quirks and flaws of the characters. Essentially, it's sitting back and watching the author assemble a jigsaw puzzle in front of you.....carefully positioning the pieces until they lock together into a complete picture.
Some screenwriters and filmmakers, tasked with adapting murder mysteries, can maneuver the material into an acceptable visual equivalent........and others get lost in the tangled forest of the book's plotting. It's not easy......they don't all come out as smoothly done as "Gone Girl"....
Nesbo's a champ at all of those skills.......and we surprisingly didn't mind that he takes his own sweet time unraveling his story, diverting our attention with the expected false leads and red herrings while he piles up the bodies.
Also done nicely......the spooky 'creep' factor to raise up those goosebumps......and when violence inevitably erupts, it's as gaudy and gory as anything in 'Silence Of The Lambs', with a hero vs. psycho showdown worthy of a Hitchcock finale.....
Speaking of our hero, Norwegian police Inspector Harry Hole, his blatant alcoholism is the only thing that bored the hell out of us.......sorry, but we came to this book after a long, long lifetime of reading countless adventures of detectives and private eyes with every known dysfunction under the sun.......booze, drugs, mental illness, blindness, partial or complete paralysis.....feel free to fill in your own favorite afflictions here. So pardon us if we yawned every time Harry succumbed to a couple of beers.....
Even if you never get around to the movie, the BQ says by all means chill out with "The Snowman" book. We intentionally didn't discuss any of the plot details here because that's the whole fun of picking up a book like this in the first place. And like any superb thriller maestro,
Nesbo will have you racing through the final pages. 4 blood-freezing stars (****)....let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.....
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