Publisher Description
“I read The Kingdom and couldn’t put it down ... Suspenseful ... Original ... This one is special in every way.” —Stephen King
Two brothers. One small town. A lifetime of dark secrets. A tense and atmospheric standalone thriller from best-selling author Jo Nesbø.
Roy has never left the quiet mountain town he grew up in, unlike his little brother Carl who couldn't wait to get out and escape his troubled past. Just like everyone else in town, Roy believed Carl was gone for good. But Carl has big plans for his hometown. And when he returns with a mysterious new wife and a business opportunity that seems too good to be true, simmering tensions begin to surface and unexplained deaths in the town's past come under new scrutiny. Soon powerful players set their sights on taking the brothers down by exposing their role in the town's sordid history.
But Roy and Carl are survivors, and no strangers to violence. Roy has always protected his younger brother. As the body count rises, though, Roy's loyalty to family is tested. And then Roy finds himself inextricably drawn to Carl's wife, Shannon, an attraction that will have devastating consequences. Roy's world is coming apart and soon there will be no turning back. He'll be forced to choose between his own flesh and blood and a future he had never dared to believe possible.
Customer Reviews
A Mess
Jo Nesbo is brilliant. Harry Hole is my favorite fictional detective, I've devoured all his novels. "The Son" was fantastic as well. But good God, "The Kingdom" is a slog.
Quick Summation...I have this idea...two men...their parents mysteriously die...how do I explain it. I know. I'll add two brothers. Brother one; good looking, smart, charming, cunning, ambitious, prodigal son. Brother two; plain-looking, slower witted, simple, no aspiration in life. Throw in a woman (described by Nesbo as a short, pale, mousy girl with a messed up eye and not much of a figure) to fight over, some child abuse, small town gossip/grudges, a couple murders and a million dollar real estate deal. Stir it all together and unfortunately in this case you end up a horrendous, slow-paced muck of a stew. In the end I didn't care what happened to any of the characters, I just wanted the plot points tied up to be done with it.
The audiobook performer did this book no favors as well. He does "okay" with dialog, but the narration portion is abysmal. I had to speed up the play to 1.5x just to get through the book. Guess I've been spoiled with Robyn Sachs (RIP) and John Lee, the superb Harry Hole performers.
