WHO CUT THE CHEESE?

With help from friends, an eccentric inventor and his two young associates save both Norway and the world from Swedish-speaking alien chameleons with hypnotic powers.

Having clouded the minds of everyone who watched him compete in the NoroVision Choral Throwdown on television, a mysterious figure disguising himself as singing chiropractor Hallvard Tenorsen moves into the royal palace, sends the king into exile and declares war on Denmark (planning to open his campaign by bombing Legoland, the fiend) as a first step in chowing down on all humanity. What can the motley crew of non–TV watchers ranged against him, led by sensible young Lisa and her short but extravagantly imaginative classmate Nilly, do? Plenty, as it turns out, thanks to timely help from Nilly’s pet Peruvian sucking spider, the titular “Fartonaut Powder” (which induces consumers to odorlessly but explosively “cut the cheese with the strength and noise of a flock of three hundred thousand wildebeests and eighteen water buffaloes all farting in unison”), a giant sewer dwelling anaconda and other aids. Though a bit windy himself, Nesbø, author of numerous adult bestsellers, tucks enough silly antics, oddball adults and sly digs at his country’s culture and foibles into his third Doctor Proctor epic to keep even non-Scandinavians amused.

Hefty but lightweight, with occasional pokerfaced line drawings to reinforce the tongue-in-cheek tone.