Blood on Snow by Jo Nesbø

A somewhat different sort of fiction from
Jo Nesbø, which carries his usual complex characters and subtly sudden twists of plot. Olav Johansen, the central character, isn't very good at a lot of things: he makes a lousy get-away driver, he's not good as a bank robber or as a pimp. But he is good at being a fixer: the guy who does the dirty jobs for the boss and kills on demand. Nothing personal, of course. Someone wants somebody else dead and Olav is the guy for the job. The book opens with Olav on an assignment, and moves on to his next job, which proves to be a bit sticky: to kill the boss's wife at the request of that same boss. Things get complex, in true Nesbø style, though because of the length of the story it doesn't evolve into Harry Hole detail. There's a great interpretation by Olav of Les Misérables, which probably would have surprised Hugo, and makes the reader wonder at the Olav's perceptions in general. But, it's a good read, though a quick one. I did notice this is referred to as "Blood on Snow #1"on GoodReads, which makes me wonder of Nesbø is going to give us a series of stories from the viewpoint of the criminal now.