Get ready to hear three names a lot: Jo Nesbo, Harry Hole, and Stieg Larsson. Nesbo is a Norwegian crime novelist ridiculously popular in his homeland, Hole is his alcoholic detective protagonist, and Larsson, of course, is the late Scandinavian author whose Dragon Tattoo trilogy has the publishing world salivating over the thought of finding the "next Stieg Larsson." Might that be Nesbo? The Washington Post profiles him as he gets ready to start an American tour for his latest novel, The Snowman.
For the record, Nesbo isn't that thrilled with the Larsson comparison. "I don't really like it," he says. “The idea that Scandinavian crime writers have something in common is a myth." Also, his books began appearing years before Larsson's, making the idea of being the "next" Larsson a little annoying to him. Still, his previous books generated nowhere the interest the Snowman is now getting in the US. His covers currently get stickers that say, "Read this if you like Stieg Larsson." Someday, he jokes, the next hot Scandinavian writer will get stickers that say, "Read this if you like Jo Nesbo." (More Jo Nesbo stories.)