REVIEW

Review - THE SON, Jo Nesbo

Reviewed By
Karen Chisholm

The second book I've read this year with a break out of jail plotline, which means nothing except in my mind. In THE SON, Sonny is a heroin addict, long term prisoner who escapes and goes on a retribution trail on behalf of his father. Simon Kefas is a police officer and husband haunted by his wife's infirmity. He's also the best friend of Sonny's father and the man most likely to see some connections in what seems like a series of unrelated murders.

There's no doubt whatsoever that readers are going to have to accept that a seemingly hopelessly addicted to heroin man, somebody who has been inside for 12 years, can somehow fathom a way to escape, enact that escape, and then deal with a much changed world on the outside whilst quite effectively hunting down and killing a range of people. On the one hand it makes sense as there's something supremely powerful about Sonny, and on the other hand there is possibly a dinging sort of a "what the" noise at the back of the head. There's also something about him that draws people to him - in jail he's a confessor for other prisoners. Out of jail there's something about him that even makes a hardened manager of a drug user safe haven trust him, fall for him. Change her life for him.

Certainly THE SON is testament to the authorship of Jo Nesbo. He writes great, strong, interesting and engaging characters. He puts them into strong and believable plots and then he stirs things up a lot. Whilst his main interest does appear to be the question of what a damaged human being can achieve (you'll probably recognise some of this if your a fan of his Harry Hole series), but he does that with a sympathetic touch. As always from Jo Nesbo, dark, introspective, thoughtful and fascinating.

BOOK DETAILS
BOOK INFORMATION
Author
ISBN
9780385351379
Year of Publication
BLURB

Sonny is a model prisoner.

He listens to the confessions of other inmates at Oslo jail, and absolves them of their sins. Some people even whisper that Sonny is serving time for someone else: that he doesn't just listen, he confesses to their crimes.

Inspector Simon Kefas is a dedicated police officer.

Simon has worked for the Oslo police force for years. He's just been assigned a new murder investigation and a new partner, all on the same day.

Both of them knew Sonny's father.

To Sonny he was the man he idolised, to Simon he was his best friend. Both were left devastated when his corruption was revealed.

But neither of them knew the truth.

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