The Son is a stand-alone novel, a book that doesn’t feature Jo Nesbo’s famous Norwegian homicide detective, Harry Hole. This psychological thriller features two protagonists, Sonny Loftus and Simon Kefas.

Sonny is drug addict, has spent half his life behind bars in prison and is now serving time for crimes he didn’t commit. His decision to plead guilty leads to a rewarding time in prison, as much as any time spent in prison can be classed as rewarding! While in prison he spends his time absolving others of their sins but he suddenly escapes and the man on the hunt for the prisoner is Simon Kefas. Sonny’s father was a corrupt cop and just happens to be Simon’s ex-partner. All rather incestuous but that’s what makes these thrillers work! And boy does it work!

As with previous Nesbo characters these protagonists aren’t your typical heroes, they have issues, they have problems but they are incredibly deep characters with a great deal of substance. I love both of them but I did miss Harry Hole!

Another great read from Jo Nesbo, can this guy ever do anything wrong?