When a drug bust turns into a bloodbath, it's up to Inspector MacBeth and his team to clean up the mess. He's also an ex-drug addict with a troubled past.

This is quite a brutal and blood soaked remake of Shakespeare's play. If you have read the original book then you already know that there is a lot of blood shed. This book has been given a modern take to it, turning it into a dark and brutal story of cops versus criminals. This book has more blood shed in it. It's all here in this novel; the foggy moors, Lady MacBeth washing her hands over and o read until they bleed, the three witches of prophecy to the deaths which escalate until you think there will be no one left.

This book stays true to the classic. Jo Nesbo has done a great job with this classic. It has a dark and gritty storyline. It must have been daunting rewriting this classic. Jo Nesbo seems to have done it effortlessly. I loved this book even though it seemed a bit slow to start with.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House UK, Vintage Publishing and the author Jo Nesbo for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A novel written with Nesbo's trademark precise use of language - a really successful, retelling.of Shakespeare's original.

It's been a long time since I read or saw a performance of Macbeth, one of my favourite plays, but it seems to me as though Jo Nesbo's retelling of Shakespeare's Macbeth sticks well to Shakespeare's version (which itself wasn't original!) - it has the same themes and plot lines.

I loved the opening of Nesbo's version describing the rain falling on an industrial town, the second largest after Capitol. The setting is rather vague - it is somewhere in the 1970s in a fictional Scotland in a lawless town full of drug addicts, where there is a titanic struggle for control between the police force, corrupt politicians, motorbike gangs and  drug dealers.

All the characters are here, including Duncan, the new police Chief Commissioner after Kenneth was killed, Malcolm his deputy, Banquo, Macbeth's friend and his son, Fleance, Inspector Duff (Shakespeare's Macduff, Thane of Fife), head of the Narcotics Unit, Caithness, the three witches, Lennox and so on. And watch out for Nesbo's version of Great Birnam Wood - I don't want to give any spoilers here!

It's a tragedy, like Shakespeare's, a tale of political ambition and the destructive power it wields, a tale of love and guilt, and of enormous greed of all kinds. Inspector Macbeth, an ex-drug addict is the head of the SWAT team, ruled by his passions, violent and paranoid. He is manipulated by Hecate, Shakespeare's chief witch, here one of the drug lords, a man with a friendly smile and cold eyes, called by some the Invisible Hand; his 'brew' has made him one of the town's richest men. Macbeth is corrupted by his renewed dependency on brew and fuelled by his passion for his wife, Lady, a tall, beautiful woman with flame-red hair who whispers seductively to Macbeth that he has to kill Duncan. And there's a mole in their midst.

This is a dark, gritty and violent tale that had me completely enthralled and I loved it. It is the first book by Jo Nesbo that I've read - but it won't be the last.

This is the third book I have read in the Hogarth Shakespeare series. I enjoyed Jo Nesbo's retelling of Macbeth as a modern day crime novel. I liked her writing style.

This's the first Jo Nesbo book I've ever read so I cannot compare it to other he wrote. I can say I find this an entertaining read even if I prefer to books that are not so gory.
The book is entertaining, well written and the plot mirrors the original Shakespeare tragedy. The characters are interesting and well developed.
Unfortunately sometimes it's a bit over the top, too gory and too dark, and it reminded me me of Tarantino or some B movie parody.
A good book that I recommend.
Many thanks to Random House UK, Vintage Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC

A good enough book of its genre set in a make believe Scottish city where a modern day Macbeth is played out. The Scandinavian noir style is a little threadbare and I couldn’t connect with the main characters.

The remit for this book was to produce a modern version of Shakespears' "Macbeth". The author certainly managed that. A totally absorbing, well written story.

I was intrigued by the idea of a reworking of Shakespeare’s Macbeth by Jo Nesbo, famous for his Scandi-Noir works. Like many of us, I suspect, it is a (really) long time since I read the original and some of the names and scenes were no longer familiar to me.

This reimaging retains the action in Scotland but set in the 70’s, but it almost felt that it was a future age, set in a dystopian landscape where society is fractured and the present, let alone the future is bleak.

Did you struggle with Shakespeare at school? Well I struggled with this at the beginning of the book. I could not get my head around it; deadly slow and confusing. One of the problems being that I kept trying to remember who the characters were and what they did in the original. Not to worry, soon I was immersed in this book and these characters and this action. Only occasionally did I think ‘Oh that is when… from the original’.

Favourite character – why Lady, of course.

Common belief is that Shakespeare was brilliant, no arguments from me on that. How clever though, to take a brilliant work, re-make it without duplicating it and producing another brilliant work. Words to describe this – a dark, brooding tale of greed, power and manipulation.

Now, I just might have to go and read the original.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

I must admit that i have always steered away from reading anything to do with Shakespeare, ever since my school days. When given the chance to read 'Macbeth' by Jo Nesbo, i did hesitate as to whether it is a book that i will enjoy or not. I am so glad that i did read this book, as i really did enjoy. It was a book that wasn't easy to get into at first, but it soon had me turning the pages. I have read several books by this author and have enjoyed all. Recommended.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review.

I loved this modern day version of Macbeth. Jo Nesbo has so cleverly transposed the characters, events, terrain and atmosphere from the original Shakespearean play to a more contemporary setting. Set in a bleak, rainy Fife, like the original, the hierarchy within the Shakespearean court of King Duncan has been brilliantly remodeled into the hierarchy within a corrupt Scottish Police Department. The same ambitions and jealousies influence the characters’ actions and loyalties. Lady Macbeth is transformed into Lady, the owner of a casino, while the iconic Shakespearean witches are recast as three weird sisters who, rather than concocting spells, cook up “brew” a potent drug, for Hecate, their drug lord, in this modernised tale. Readers familiar with the original Macbeth, as well as those new to the tale, will enjoy this exciting, action filled novel. Highly recommended. Thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Absolutely brilliant...…. I'm a huge Jo Nesbo fan anyway but I just loved this! I couldn't put it down. the storyline was so fast paced I wasn't sure what was going to happen next and there's not many books these days that get me like that as I'm usually pretty good at working out what's going to happen!

I will admit that I've not read Macbeth by Shakespeare so have no idea how close the story is to that but it didn't matter, it literally had me gripped.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book which I requested because it was by Jo Nesbo, of who’s writing I’ve been a long time fan, particularly his Harry Hole series. Perhaps I should have done a little research before my request, but the way in which Netgalley promotes it’s books in a big colourful email page doesn’t really allow for this unless one is already aware of the book. I now understand that this is part of the Hogarth Shakespeare Project where eminent authors put one of the Bard’s plays and the characters into a modern setting. Probably my loss but this just didn’t work for me. The book set off with a very bleak opening after which it developed into very much a book for the boys set in the 1970s in a bleak, desolate no hope town in the grip of drugs, unemployment and corrupt police.. Definitely not my sort of thing. I imagined that the novel would be a modern take on the Shakespearean drama. It was but a very nasty one. Yes Macbeth is a nasty tale too but at least it has fine language and eloquent speeches. If I’m not happy with a book I do at least try to read 10%. To give it some sort of a chance. I’m afraid that I only managed 5%. I felt that I just didn’t need this.

Jo Nesbo’s ‘Macbeth’ is part of Hogarth’s updated Shakespeare collection and makes a great addition to the series.

It got off to a bit of a slow start but once it did get going the action did not stop until the final page had been turned. It was recognisably Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and is as bloodthirsty as you would expect it to be. The writing style, however, is very much Jo Nesbo’s and worked incredibly well here.

In spite of the slow start I enjoyed this book immensely. A thrilling 4 star read that I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book.

Many many years ago I read MacBeth in school and found it an interesting story. I also like crime novels so this book by Jo Nesbo seemed perfect for me. Unfortunately, it was not. I may have liked it more if I hadn’t read the original play because now I kept trying to remember who all the characters were and what their function was in the plot. The setting was interesting, but not enough to capture my attention. I threw in the towel at 25% but I’m sure this book will appeal to many other readers.

Jo Nesbo
Macbeth

Random House UK Vintage Publishing made this great book by Jo Nesbo available to me, and I am happy to contribute my review. Macbeth, the great drama by William Shakespeare, is another modern version of a work by the famous English playwright published in the Hogarth Shakespeare series, which is meant to make those classics available to today’s (young and old) readers. I kind of remember that I read Macbeth at school, as many of us have. The original version, I mean. I, thus, truly enjoyed reading the drama again in an almost dystopian setting and in the words of one of the best known thriller writers of our time. Nesbo manages to transport the many heroes and heroines, the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, in Shakespeare’s play into a somber (post?-)modern world marked by corrupt politicians and police officers, drug dealers and gamblers. Macbeth is a tragic figure, indeed. And yet: Do I like him? Do I hate him? To what extent is he a symbol of human weakness and powerlessness – in his eternal fight for the power? Or does he strive for love, nothing but love? Macbeth by Jo Nesbo is full of extraordinary characters – Macbeth, Lady, Duff, Malcolm and many many more – and a true page-turner – although there is the occasional lack of logic, and maybe too many climaxes towards the end. Yet, you cannot but read on, eager to find out, whether the good will prevail – or the bad will keep the power (and riches) they grabbed by criminal action, conspiracy, and murder. Maybe, and here Nesbo sings in tune with Shakespeare, this is not about judging failing ethics or your clear black and white picture of the world. Maybe we are – the human nature is – rather characterized by lots of shades of grey. However, you don’t have to ponder philosophical questions and reflect upon dilemmas, while reading the novel. If you just want to be entertained – by Shakespeare aka Nesbo – this is a book you will enjoy. I have to admit that this is the first Jo Nesbo work I have read. It won’t be my last. And I look forward to reading more Hogarth Shakespeare publications, too.

This is my first Nesbo and I have to admit that I struggle with his writing and for all the absolute senseless violence that permeates this book, who reminded me a Tarantino's script more than a Shakespeare's tragedy. Moreover, as we know this is a rewriting of Macbeth, we are sure how is it going to end, which is anticlimatic for a thriller. I am not sure I would recommend it to somebody else.

Questo é il primo libro che leggo di Nesbo e ammetto che il suo modo di scrivere non l'ho apprezzato particolarmente, inoltre con tutta la violenza che grondava dalle pagine, ho avuto la sensazione di leggere un copione di Tarantino piú che una famosa tragedia di Shakespeare. Inoltre sapendo che era una rivisitazione di una tragedia famosa, sapevamo anche come andava a finire, che per un giallo non é mai una cosa buona, quindi non sono sicura che lo consiglierei a qualcun altro.

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

Thankyou to NetGalley, Random House UK, Vintage Publishing and Jo Nesbo for granting my wish and giving me an advanced readers copy of Macbeth in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
I have to admit that I did like it but I didn't love it. I am a fan of Jo Nesbo's books which is why I jumped at the chance to read Macbeth. I just feel that there was something missing.
Please, don't get me wrong. Macbeth is a good read. I just didn't think it was great compared to previous novels.

The Jo Nesbo’s Hogart Shakespeare’s version of Macbeth is brilliant, just brilliant!

This peculiar dystopic new version of the Scottish play is about a cop, who is happy with his life but the faiths and his life partner and politicians of the city will not let him be content, since they want him to be the tool in their big dreams, in their game.

In short, imagine the last movie version of Macbeth, and screen version of Jo Nesbo’s Snowman put together, and all of this happening in Gotham and Starling City and the characters are like Batman and Penguin and Joker and Arrow, and all the other superheroes from MARVEL and DC world.

In this wonderful new version, old classic is entwined with modern day malversation and evilness.

People often find Shakespeare inaccessible and mostly state it's the language. Once you know the story it's much easier to follow and these modern novelisations attempt to place the story in a context we can understand.
Macbeth in this version would like to be Chief of Police. His lady is called Lady. So far so. simple. Set in a near future police-state Scotland we can see clearly the various power struggles. Macbeth is an addict not just to his Lady but to a drug called brew.
The setting is good with plenty of detailed descriptions of the rather dour environment which the police 'reign' over. It's fitting that as a Shakespearean story it also has excellent imagery and clever re-envisioning of the original plot and characters. The local drug baron is known as Hecate who supplies the supremely addictive 'brew'. It all fits neatly and if you've seen or read Macbeth you know that terrible events will unfold.
I did find myself distracted by expectations of plot and niggling details but I enjoyed it and think it was a worthwhile exercise that reminds us that good stories are timeless.

Nesbo-esque re-working of Shakespeare’s classic

In June 2016, Hogarth Press published the first of their sponsored re-workings of Shakespeare’s classics – ‘The Gap of Time’ by Jeanette Winterson, based on ‘A Winter’s Tale’. Margaret Attwood then produced ‘Hag-Seed’ based on ‘The Tempest’. This is Jo Nesbo’s contribution to this project.

All the usual suspects are present, but with a difference! Macbeth is in charge of the SWAT team and has ideas above his station, egged on by his girlfriend, former hooker now running the local casino, Lady! Unfortunately, Macbeth is hooked on drugs and these are readily supplied by the evil Hecate and his cronies (the witches). In his drug-fuelled state and with Lady bolstering his ego, he embarks upon a bloodbath which is the staple diet of the plot of ‘Macbeth’.

I must confess that I had a hard time placing the action in Scotland. Indeed, with the book opening with a strike against the local biker gang The Norse Riders, it felt as though it was set in Norway.

This is Nesbo’s typical hard-hitting writing, not for the squeamish! But I am not sure that the concept truly works. Perhaps Shakespeare is just not re-writable.

Sméagol

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book