Detective Harry Hole, whose drug of choice is now opium rather than booze, is dragged back from Hong Kong to Oslo where cancer is devouring his father. His long-suffering boss at the Crime Squad, waging a turf war with Kripos, persuades Harry to mount a secret investigation into the murders of two women who were forced to eat a "Leopold's apple", a metal ball which shoots out 24 needles in all directions. The correct pronunciation of Harry's surname - "hurler" - becomes ever more apt.