It is so good when you go into reading a book or watching a movie without expecting much. Firstly, because you cannot be disappointed, but also because you might be pleasantly surprised; it can really go either way. Or both.
I heard abour Mr. Jo Nesbo as being a very popular thriller/crime storyteller, but I’ve never had the opportunity to read any of his books. Until now. Thank you to a beautiful Amazon deal, I recently bought his short stories collection book, The Jealousy Man. To be honest, I was mainly interested in the title short story, because I wanted to read it before watching the Amazon Prime adaptation. However, I was intending to read the rest of the book afterwards, but The Jealousy Man was so boring to me that I had to stop there. I actually barely finished it (and let’s not forget it’s a short story…). 
Back in 2021, Jo Nesbo was releasing a short story collection titled The Jealousy Man. I am still wondering what made him chose the title, because given his popularity, there must’ve been a short story better than this one in there.. at least that’s what I would expect/hope. And if you’re interested (or a fan of this author), the hardcover book is currently on sale on my Vinted shop and it’s in perfect condition (I’ve literally only read the short story that I’m covering in this review).
Amazon Prime released the movie adaptation, titled Killer Heat, at the end of September. Directed by Philippe Lacôte, and written by Roberto Bentivegna and Matt Charman, the movie stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, and Richard Madden. Killer Heat took the main idea of the short story and mixed it somehow that the two main plots are borrowing from each other, but I definitely liked it more than I liked the short story. Even in the movie, the twin thing was a bit of a stretch for me (I mean, come on, it can’t be that easy to pretent you are your twin brother.. right?), but I liked the acting, the overall vibe, and the fact that the story was based in Crete (which we’ve visited last September). It’s a decent popcorn-sofa-lazy afternoon crime movie, but with an annoying ending. You can’t have everything, you know? 😀
Killer Heat follows private investigator Nick Bali (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), an American expat in Greece, hired to look into the supposed accidental death of Leo Vardakis (Richard Madden) on the island of Crete. The victim’s sister-in-law (Shailene Woodley) doesn’t believe the official police report. But what exactly happened to Leo, and why? Despite the sun-drenched beauty of its exotic Mediterranean locale, Nick finds darkness at every turn: where the rich and powerful Vardakis family rule like gods, where jealousies run deep, and anyone could be a suspect.
Although I would not recommend the short story, I would go ahead and say that the movie is fairly enjoyable (if you don’t count the ending). And when it comes to Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley, Killer Heat was not their first rodeo together. They were amazing in Snowden, back in 2016, a movie that I personally loved. There is an easiness between them, you can tell they enjoy working together which is what makes Killer Heat a good time for the audience.
You raise your guard to protect your face and you leave your heart exposed. And vice versa.
And now, for the fun part 🙂 *spoiler alert*
Starting with the fact that the main storyline was created using big parts of the main character’s past (as it is in the book) which makes everything look different from the very start, here are some other changes that I’ve noted:
- the family of the victim is very rich, but in the book you don’t even meet the family
- the movie is based in Crete, but in the book the action doesn’t happen in Crete, although we are still in Greece
- Penelope is not a character in the book, but she is one of the main characters in the movie
- after Nick Bali arrives in Crete, he is picked up by Penelope who takes him to the monarchy where she rented a room for him, but this is not at all in the book
- Bali has a child in the series, but in the book his story is totally different and he does not have a child
- both brothers climbed free solo, but in the book Nick Bali and his friends are actually the ones who do that
- in the series, Nick Bali is not interested in the climbing activity, but in the book he is very much so
Trailer:
Killer Heat is streaming now on Prime Video.
