Review of “Headhunters” by Jo Nesbo

Note: Jim and I co-wrote this review, and each gave it different ratings.

Jo Nesbo has written a standalone crime novel, eminently suited for a movie directed and produced by the Coen Brothers. It doesn’t really take off, however, until after the somewhat boring initial set-up section. (But once it takes off, it really flies!)

Roger Brown, age 35, is a corporate headhunter who is considered to be the best in his field. He is obsessed with his height, or lack thereof, at 5’5”, and so always insists that a good candidate must first of all be a tall one. He then subjects each prospect to the FBI’s nine-step interrogation techniques developed by Inbau, Reid and Buckley. [This comes from an actual manual on interrogation, Criminal Interrogation and Confessions, published in 1986.] Thereby he figures out weaknesses, buttons to push, Achilles heels, and one other important thing: if the candidate owns any valuable works of art. For Roger also has a side business, which is art theft. His beautiful wife Diana requires quite a bit of money to keep her happy, and he has worked out a good way to take care of the problem.

Roger’s ambition to get the pièce de résistance of stolen art turns into a Fargo-in-Oslo type debacle, with plenty of black humor and plot twists. Roger even becomes a bit more likable (but only in comparison to the other characters) and Nesbo winds it all up with his usual bookend-style twist.

The book was made into a movie released in Norway in 2011, and was nominated for multiple awards, including four Amanda Awards and a BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Jill’s favorite quote:

“I grabbed a carton of grapefruit juice and was about to put it to my mouth. But changed my mind and fetched a glass from the overhead cabinet. You don’t need to let all your standards decline just because you have become a murderer.”

Jill’s Evaluation and Rating: I didn’t actually like this book much, because I didn’t like the characters, I’m not into black humor, and I don’t like Coen-Brothers-type plots. But I have to admit that once the book entered the “Fargo-in-Oslo” mode, the pacing was terrific, and some of the antics were – well, I can understand how this could have become, as it has, a blockbuster movie in Norway. Nevertheless, as intensely as I like the Harry Hole series by Nesbo, I could have given this standalone book a pass. But I recommended it highly to Jim, because he is a fanatic Coen Brothers fan, so I felt pretty sure he would have fun with this book.

Rating: 3/5

Jim’s Evaluation and Rating: I wish I could say more about the plot without spoiling it, but it is very entertaining, and is full of surprises and twists. The narrative is just a little slow in the beginning as we are learning Brown’s headhunting secrets, but once it gets going, it is outrageously funny in parts, and hard to put down. I loved it!

Rating: 4/5

Combined Rating Average: 3.5/5

Published in the U.S. by Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc., 2011 (published in Norway in 2008)