Headhunters

The Book

This was the first of Jo Nesbo's thrillers that I have read. I know he has a huge following and I have read quite a few comments that this stand alone crime novel is not as good as his Harry Hole series. I read it with a ghoulish fascination, however.

Roger Brown is a headhunter for companies - finding them the best candidates for the top jobs. In his research and interviews he also gathers valuable information for his hobby - breaking into their houses and stealing any valuable art. What starts as a run of the mill art theft for Roger turns into a fight for survival as he has become the pawn in a bigger game.

The story and its twists, red herrings and reveals are precision plotting. Towards the end I was beginning to think this was all too much co-incidence, but further reveals show that nothing is left to chance.

Ecstasy

The Book

The book is made up of three short stories. The first two are reminiscent to me of Will Self, as they are grotesque and humourous with lots of bad language.
The first involves a cheating husband, who's wife is a famous romance novelist. It incorporates some of her writing into the text, which helps to break up the story and provide some alternative style. The romantic novel turns into a similar sordid tale of sheep shagging, however, once the writer discovers her husband's infidelity. It also features necrophilia at a hospital, which plays into a rather just deserts denoument.
The second involves the bitter retribution of a limbless couple over the drugs manufacturers and agents who caused their condition - in an eye for an eye, arms for arms type of way.
I am guessing, not having seen the film yet, that both these stories have been jettisoned, as they would have been totally unpresentable as cinema!