The Son

A Novel

By: Jo Nesbø

Narrated by: Gildart Jackson

The author of the best-selling Harry Hole series now gives us an electrifying stand-alone novel set inside Oslo’s maze of especially venal, high-level corruption.

Sonny Lofthus is a strangely charismatic and complacent young man. Sonny’s been in prison for a dozen years, nearly half his life. The inmates who seek out his uncanny abilities to soothe leave his cell feeling absolved. They don’t know or care that Sonny has a serious heroin habit - or where or how he gets his uninterrupted supply of the drug. Or that he’s serving time for other peoples’ crimes.

Sonny took the first steps toward addiction when his father took his own life rather than face exposure as a corrupt cop. Now Sonny is the seemingly malleable center of a whole infrastructure of corruption: prison staff, police, lawyers, a desperate priest - all of them focused on keeping him high and in jail. And all of them under the thumb of the Twin, Oslo’s crime overlord. As long as Sonny gets his dope, he’s happy to play the criminal and the prison’s in-house savior.

But when he learns a stunning, long-hidden secret concerning his father, he makes a brilliantly executed escape from prison - and from the person he’d let himself become - and begins hunting down those responsible for the crimes against him.... The darkly looming question is: Who will get to him first - the criminals or the cops?

©2014 Jo Nesbø (P)2014 Random House Audio

Much more than I expected!

I am a Harry Hole fan, so I expected a good story. This was so much more.

Built on the same format--police, criminals, an evil plot--but unexpected twists and turns with every page. Then the story became more about the people than the plot. Nesbo doesn't write 3-dimensional characters; he takes them even further.

You will never guess the ending!

I'm glad I did not give up on Jo Nesbo!

Jo Nesbo is best known for his Harry Hole police thrillers. Hole is a cop in Norway who has a great mind for solving crimes. He also has an almost debilitating addiction to alcohol and lots of family issues. In my opinion Nesbo's ceaseless discussion of Hole's issues detracted from the excellent police thrillers.

The Son is a stand alone novel; ie., not part of the Harry Hole series. I do not want to get into the plot because it is inconsiderate of others, so I'll just say that Jo Nesbo has finally written a novel that I can recommend without reservation.

Narration is...adequate.

Nesbo Does It Again

I was sure I was going to miss Harry Hole as the main character, but Nesbo did a wonderful job of providing a fascinating story. There wasn't a single moment during this 17 hour audio book that I thought the story was stuck or too long. This was a very smart story with Nesbo's usual twists and turns at the end. It is on my list to revisit again when I am craving the excellent story-telling of Jo Nesbo. The narrator kept the story moving at the right speed and tone. I think Jackson did a fantastic narration.

My only warning is that you get lots of scary moments and cringe-worthy deaths, but that is what you get with every Nesbo story.

Perfect! I think I ejoy Nesbo's "one offs" better

his Harry Hole series. Nesbo is a tough edgey writer but he is also a truly lyrical romantic. The combination makes excellent novels that can be thoroughly enjoyred by either gender.

Amazing 👏

Amazing story. Amazing narrator. wish I could be a first time listener all over again lol

Good Book

Very entertaining. Good mystery. I would read it again.I recommend this book to any one.

A great book can be destroyed by the narrator

I am a great fan of Nesbo and his books. I loved the Harry hole series and have listened to all of them.
I was very excited to find another police drama from the same author.
Up to now I had not appreciated how the narration can kill a book.
I found the way the book is narrated with the different voices and slow, almost demented style to affect my will to listen to the words.
The voice for the women are particularly bad, but other the way the other voices are performed makes you. Wonder whether anyone edits these things
I would recommend doing what I am planning: buy a printed version of the book and AVOID Gidard Jackson in anything else he narrates

Fast paced and great characters

What about Gildart Jackson’s performance did you like?

I've listened to a few novels narrated by Gildart Jackson now and he never disappoints. He has an excellent range and reads with emotion, giving every character a life of its own.

Any additional comments?

A great story with wonderful, original characters. Fast paced with outstanding narration and an interesting peek into the underbelly of Norway.

A Break From The Harry Hole Series Is a Hit

Jo Nesbo has said there are advantages and disadvantages when writing about the same universe. The author and reader sharing a knowledge of the back-story might make things a little easier in some cases, but there is a significant challenge in keeping the characters fresh and interesting.

I am a big fan of the Harry Hole series and this book represented a 17 hour investment of my time in a different Nesbo universe - would it be up to the standard set in 12 Harry Hole books?

It was. I've always loved the insights Jo Nesbo gives us into his characters and their motivations. This book had more of the same. It was actually a little refreshing to be immersed in this authors style of writing and not revisiting the same old battles that Harry Hole contends with. We get introduced to different detectives with different flaws and a hero who is viewed by many as a villain.

While listening to this book there never was a moment where i looked at the time remaining and felt like there was work. It was more like - ten hours left ... I don't want this to end.

Being familiar with this authors style at the 16 hour mark I remember having an aha moment. The current was pushing me in one direction and this was fine, but having been tricked so many times before I actually anticipated a twist in the plot. This was one of the few times I've twigged to a Nesbo formula. That did not detract in any way from the book and there were still plenty of Nesbo zigs when I was ready to zag.

In short, this is an excellent book and this review has not imparted any of the story line. Sometimes that is the best way to start a book. So download this gem and start listening.

Revenge fantasy

This really is a fantasy, since so many points in the story are just unbelievable (I won't give it away). The writing, especially the dialogs, is very stilted, perhaps the fault of a weak translation. Yet, despite the manifest problems, there are enough twists in the plot to make it very listenable.