Perfect quick read
THIS is the perfect book to read if you need an introduction to Scandivanian crime writer Jo Nesbo.
He really knows how to spin a story and this one is perfect for our present load shedding dilemma, because you can almost finish the book in the usually two hours of darkness allotted regularly on the schedule in the suburbs.
Now I know how to pass the time.
is almost like a short-story thriller. Instead of what might have been 400 pages and counting, this stretches to a mere 198 and the print is large. It could probably have been covered in normal type in 150 pages.
But don’t feel deprived. It is intriguing to see what Nesbo does with his hero, a killer (probably serial, but not in the normal sense) who has a day job as a fixer. But he has rules. He won’t do banks because that leaves victims traumatised. He doesn’t touch prostitution or drugs.
The peculiar hero of the story also has dyslexia which is mindboggling because he is a keen reader. But how he accomplishes this is also part of his almost nonstop conversation with other characters or the reader. He spills the beans, tells you why he is doing what and how he has landed up exactly where he believes he should be.
It’s a tough one because he has been sent to kill his boss’s beautiful wife, but then loses heart, although that’s not really an obstacle either. All of this happens in fast action as you careen through the pages to discover where Nesbo is taking you.
He is a smart writer and not for a second do you as a reader feel cheated because of the format. If that’s what he needed to tell this tale – and curiously the introduction into a newBlood series – that’s fine and it’s interesting to see how he pulls it off.
One cannot but marvel at the way he leads you through all the twists and turns.
Even when you think you know where he’s going, he will wrap you around his little finger at least once or twice.
So, for Nesbo fans, check it out; and for those who don’t yet know this writer, perhaps this is a quick one to find out whether you want to read more. – Diane de Beer
Of importance are brain areas supporting mental imagery helping the child to ‘see’ the story beyond the pictures