Netflix is on a tear with crime thrillers lately. The Night Agent did numbers, but honestly, the streamer’s been quietly killing it with its international stuff - Spanish series In the Mud, German thriller Unfamiliar - and now a new entry that actually gets Jo Nesbø’s world right. The long-awaited TV take on Harry Hole just landed, shot up to #2 on Netflix’s Top 10 Most Watched, and it does what Michael Fassbender’s misfire couldn’t: make this character work on screen.
What to know (quick and clean)
- The series is called Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole and it’s based on book five in the series, The Devil's Star.
- Jo Nesbø himself adapted it for television. That’s your crucial behind-the-scenes detail right there.
- It’s set in Oslo, where Detective Harry Hole hunts a violent serial killer shocking the country.
- Harry’s also locked in with Detective Tom Waaler - his rival, and a guy he believes is corrupt.
- Think race-against-time thriller meets messy personal history; Harry’s fighting the case and his own past at the same time.
- It debuted strong, hitting #2 on Netflix’s Top 10 Most Watched list.
- Critics are into it: the first season is sitting at 93% from reviewers, who are praising the twisty mystery and the show’s unapologetically bleak, complicated take on Harry.
- Given the viewership and the reception, more Harry Hole books getting the TV treatment feels very likely.
- Also: yes, this basically wipes away the bad taste from the earlier movie attempt.
So, what’s the story this time?
We’re in the shadowy streets of Oslo with Harry Hole, who’s chasing a brutal serial killer while trying not to get dragged back into old habits. Meanwhile, his not-so-friendly rival Tom Waaler is working the same orbit, and Harry’s convinced the guy’s dirty. One is clawing toward justice, the other looks like he’s trying to outrun it, and the clock is not on anyone’s side.
Why this adaptation works
Here’s how director and executive producer Øystein Karlsen frames it:
"It is a great mix of a fast-paced whodunit and a genuine drama with real people and lives the viewer can relate to - and it has more twists and turns than I can remember having seen in any thriller series."
That tracks with the response. Reviewers are calling out the knotted, devil-in-the-details plotting and a Harry who actually feels like the guy from the page: brilliant, haunted, and not exactly a warm hug of a human being.
"A roundhouse-kick of a thrill ride that lives up to the promises baked into the thriller subgenre's name, Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole delivers virtually everywhere it should - which is nothing less than what a modern legend deserves."
The bigger picture
Starting with The Devil's Star is a choice, and a savvy one. It gives you a self-contained, high-stakes case, the simmering Waaler rivalry, and a version of Harry that isn’t sanded down for TV. With the show pulling big viewership and strong scores out of the gate, the path is wide open for more of Nesbø’s books to make the leap. And if you were burned by the last attempt to bring Harry to screen, this feels like a full-on course correction.
Bottom line: if you’ve got room for one more bleak Nordic manhunt, make it this one.