His escape comes at an inconvenient time for the Twin and his criminal associates - Sonny had just agreed to confess to a particularly depraved murder that has to stay under wraps. (If you thought a book called “The Son” would have a lazy Jesus theme, give yourself a pat on the back and enjoy the showdown in the church confessional.) When a cancerous inmate with a guilty conscience tells him the truth about his father’s death, Sonny insta-kicks his heroin habit and breaks out of prison. Sonny has an innocent, almost holy aura that leads fellow inmates to seek him out for spiritual healing and forgiveness.

His death and shame devastated his family, eventually driving his son to addiction and a career as Oslo’s go-to fall guy. That father died in disgrace when Sonny was 15, leaving a suicide note in which he confessed to being a mole for the criminal element of Oslo. An addict with no discernible purpose in life, he is content to cop to heinous crimes in exchange for a steady supply of heroin.Īs a reliable murder scapegoat, he is a central pawn in a complicated network of corrupt actors - police officers, lawyers, prison officials, one desperate pedophile priest - led and controlled by Oslo’s crime overlord, an elusive, terrifying man known as the Twin.īefore his heroin days, Sonny was a bright student and a promising wrestler, a model boy who worshiped his model policeman father. He is innocent, of course, though not of conspiring to keep the real killers out of prison. Sonny Lofthus has been in prison for the last dozen years, serving time for two murders he confessed to as a teenager.

The novel takes place in a dark, corrupt Oslo, and it centers on a protagonist out for bloody revenge. He brings a strong male punk rock swagger to his writing - “The Son,” his new stand-alone thriller, pulses with aggressive energy and splattering ultra-violence. He is also a literal rock star, with a music career predating his life as a literary phenom. He’s sold 23 million books worldwide, including 3 million in his native Norway, a country with a population of just over 5 million. With Stieg Larsson in the ground, Jo Nesbo is the reigning king of Scandinavian crime fiction.

The son nesbø novel