The Son

Author: Jo Nesbø

After reading the “Girl with a Dragon Tattoo” series, I suddenly started noticing Swedish Crime Thrillers everywhere. For a country with less than 10 million people, Sweden has more than 40 major crime fiction writers (source wikipedia). Much has been written about the “Scandinavian Crime Wave”. Fortunately for the Swedes it is all fiction as Sweden has one of the lowest homicide rates in the world. 

“The Son” opens up with scenes of the perfect prison and some really depraved inmates. However, it quickly transforms into the classic crime thriller with murders popping on every other page. The violence and murders are gruesome and in typical Swedish noir, take place in bucolic and peaceful settings. Sonny Lofthus is the son whose father was a police officer and in whose footsteps Sonny was destined to follow. However, he was killed when Sonny was very young in some mysterious circumstances that made it look like a suicide. Sonny wakes up one day and his rampage occupies the latter half of the book. You will find it hard to stop turning the pages and reading about the inevitable revenge killings that ensue. There is an interesting twist in the end that will make you appreciate the complicated plot that Jo Nesbo is weaving for you.