Summer. A boy, Gusto, is lying on the floor of an Oslo apartment. He is bleeding and will soon die. He is trying to make sense of what has happened. In order to place his life and death in some kind of context he begins to tell his story. Outside, the church bells chime.
     Autumn. Former police detective Harry Hole returns to Oslo after 3 years abroad. He seeks out his former boss at police headquarters to request permission to investigate a homicide. But the case is already closed; a young junkie, Gusto, was in all likelihood shot by a pal in a conflict over drugs. Harry is granted permission to visit the accused boy in prison. There, he meets himself and his own history. It's the start of a solitary investigation of the most impossible case in Harry Hole's life. And while Harry is searching, Gusto continues his story. A man walks the dark streets of nighttime Oslo. The streets are his and he has always been there. He is a phantom.

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"There's no doubt that Jo Nesbo is the master of his genre. Long-term fans will be shaken, shocked and stirred as events unfold on Oslo's dark streets. The final chapter is simply stunning. In short, Phantom is suspenseful, twisting and utterly fascinating."
—TVNZ (New Zealand)

"A first-class thriller...and the complex plot...contains several twists, some of which will make you gasp and at least one of which will make you cry.... Phantom is Nesbo's finest novel."
—London Evening Standard

"Riveting.... Nesbo leads the readers through the underground of Norway's drug trafficking and uses some unusual techniques to keep the plot flowing.... A compulsive read."
—Otago Daily Times

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JO NESBO is a musician, songwriter, economist and author. His first crime novel featuring Harry Hole was published in Norway in 1997 and was an instant hit, winning the Glass Key Award for Best Nordic Crime Novel (an accolade shared with Peter Høeg, Henning Mankell and Karin Fossum). Phantom is the seventh of Nesbo's novels to be translated into English. The author lives in Oslo, Norway.

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