The Son

A Novel

By: Jo Nesbø

Narrated by: Gildart Jackson

Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

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

Glad I gave it a second chance

I bailed out on this book about two hours in, but came back later and started over, and I was glad I did. This was the first Nesbø novel I have read and I was interested enough is his dark, psychological plot that I want to read more of his work.

My favorite Nesbo

Where does The Son: A Novel rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I have listened to hundreds, but this is one of my favorites, and definitely my favorite of Jo Nesbo's books.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Definitely on the edge of my seat, every page beyond the first few. It took me a chapter or so to get hooked, but once hooked I couldn't stand to stop. A classic page-turner.

Which character – as performed by Gildart Jackson – was your favorite?

There are many great characters in this book, but the main character is magnetic and redemptive, as he is meant to be.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely.

Any additional comments?

The first thing I want to say is that many reviewers have given bad reviews to this narrator, and I have no idea why. This is a terrific narrator. Beautiful narration. There are very few narrators that I really love, but I LOVE this one. There are so many narrators out there who mispronounce words, are lazy with inflection, or just generally don't try all that hard. Gildart Jackson does a nearly perfect job with this book. Every word is carefully-enunciated and perfectly-pronounced. The different voices are well thought-out and fleshed-out, believable and full of meaning. He is intelligent, believable, concise, precise, and extremely literate. I really don't know what people think they are talking about.

As for the book, it's far and away my favorite of Nesbo's books. Is it formulaic? Yes. But masterfully-so, and perfectly-written, without a spare word or unedited passage. The pace is ideal and it is engaging on all sorts of emotional and moral levels. I am an optimist who loves dark Norwegian literature, so I guess I've found my ideal book. It is a perfect cliffhanger, written with sardonic humor, sensitivity, love, and an odd kind of hope. I love everything about this book. Don't miss it.

Harry Hole without Harry

If you expecting something really different with this book beyond the Harry Hole series you will be disappointed. If not, then you will love it. Set in Oslo, it is extremely similar to earlier books, but without the same characters. It is well written and excellently narrated so it makes for a great listen. It had a great surprise ending that was well set up ahead of time.

Loved the Book-Hated the Narrator

What did you like best about The Son: A Novel? What did you like least?

In true Nesbo style, there are enough twists and turns to keep you interested all the way through. However, this is a book best read on your Kindle as the narrator's voice drove me crazy. He has a very stilted reading style, stopping and starting on individual words, when you just want him to read in a normal voice. He also mixed up the voices of some of the characters so it was hard to tell who was saying what.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The Son doesn't think like the average person, so you could not predict what he would do next most of the time.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Gildart Jackson?

Robin Sachs-as in so many of the Harry Hole novels by Jo Nesbo.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes

Perfect Summer Fare

My love for Nordic detective novels continues unabated. Depressive/world weary detective, his plucky female protege, and a mysterious killer, all wrapped up in a revenge tale with lots of great twists and turns. If you don't pull too hard on any of the threads, it is thoroughly enjoyable.

very unpredictable

loved it! the characters were well described. the plot has many twists and turns. not predictable.

Intriguing

Jo Nesbo has become one of my favorite writers. “The Son” was an intriguing story which held my interest from beginning to end. Mr. Nesbo is extremely skilled at storytelling. I definitely can recommend this book.

Slow and long start.

I am a huge Nesbo fan and have recommended him to all my friends. The narrator has a good voice but I had trouble remembering the names so I remained confused. Maybe for me I should read Nesbo instead of listening to him.

Nesbo's Competition is . . . Nesbo

What did you love best about The Son: A Novel?

LOVED IT - unique story line - super interesting. I love the Harry Hole series, but Nesbo's stand alone novels are unbeatable!

What three words best describe Gildart Jackson’s voice?

The narration was a bit stilted in parts - but great in other parts - that was the only part of the audio I did not love.

Chilling

This is Jo Nesbo at his best. I loved it from the first page. When you think you know what is going to happen everything changes. This is a stand alone book that might have a follow up story. I liked Sonny and for a cold blooded killer to be liked takes tallent by the story teller.