The Son is my foray into the highly praised work of Jo Nesbo, and I was unprepared for what turned out to be one of the finest, emotionally-moving, addictively impressive books I have read to date. Every aspect of this brilliant crime thriller is written with the acute finesse of an author who brings the characters to life and makes them relatable to every reader who picks up this book. This is a stellar story of crime, tragedy, drugs, brutal violence, retribution, and love with an extremely likable protagonist who will leave you shocked as he commits brutal acts of violence but you will cheer him on as he does so, because that is the magic of Jo Nesbo as he creates the proper circumstances for the validity of bloody vengeance.
The Son takes readers on a dark and emotional ride with Sonny as a young convict in prison in Oslo who is approached by the corrupt assistant prison governor time and time again to take blame for various crimes committed by rich and elite in return for a supply of drugs in prison. His struggle is one of personal connection to his father who had committed suicide with a confession that he had been a rotten apple in the police force. One of the prison inmates informs Sonny that his father was not a corrupt policeman and had not committed suicide, but rather he was murdered to protect his son and wife. This revelation sets Sonny, The Son, on the path to clear his head of the drugs and put in motion a set of ingenious steps to exact vengeance for those who had wronged him and others, somewhat of an avenger of those who had been preyed upon. The ingenuity of his plan stems for the seemingly random encounters and actions on Sonny’s part, only to make clear sense down the line leaving the reader to scream out WOW when his plan suddenly makes perfect sense.
The characters are written delicately and fleshed out with rich personalities so much so that they feel like real and flawed people. Each character in the mix has multiple layers of personality drawn to perfection through imperfections, backstories, and actions of the characters. Each character wittingly becomes an essential part of the story, working in tandem to develop Sonny’s likable personality through interactions with Sonny, reminiscent of the writing style of Don Winslow in his The Cartel series. Sonny is one of the most compelling characters I have read. Unlike most protagonists in similar stories who give off a violent and dark vibe, Sonny radiates an innocent and almost boyish friendliness and ease, which creates an exciting paradox when he commits brutal but arguably righteous acts of violence against the wicked.
I was not expecting this crime thriller to have much action, which is why I was surprised to read well-executed shootouts with necessary weaponry details to flow with the grounded vibe of the story. An avenging angel cannot shy away from using a pistol or an Uzi when occasion calls for it. It also helps that Sonny used to wrestle in his high school years, giving him some credence in hand to hand combat.
The heart of The Son is undoubtedly the superb writing and character development that gives an intriguing insight into the underworld of Oslo, showing benevolence in the most unexpected of places by the most unexpected of people. I admire Mr. Nesbo’s ability to create a relatable and exciting story with the finesse of highly believable characters and mystical intrigue, packed with twists until the very last twist on the very last page. An absolute must-read by all readers, unencumbered by the limitations of genres. Hats off to superb translation from Norwegian to English with little to no grammatical mistakes. I will definitely be reading more of Jo Nesbo!
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