Not Your Grandpa’s Macbeth! Jo Nesbø

MACBETH
by Jo Nesbø

Crown Publishing
Publication Date: April 3, 2018

From Goodreads:

He’s the best cop they’ve got.

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.

He’s rewarded for his success. Power. Money. Respect. They’re all within reach.

But a man like him won’t get to the top.

Plagued by hallucinations and paranoia, Macbeth starts to unravel. He’s convinced he won’t get what is rightfully his.

Unless he kills for it.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for providing me with a digital ARC of Macbeth!

I read Macbeth in High School. And while I remember being a fan of all the Shakespeare I had been exposed to, I didn’t remember much about the original play. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing, keeping me from being able to guess what was going to happen, or a neutral thing (I can’t see a reason for it being bad.) Either way, I enjoyed the hell out of this book from near-start to finish. 

When I say “near-start” I’m talking about the first 4 or 5 pages. In a very Shakespearian way, Nesbø info dumps for a few pages to give us the state of this world. It’s not the time of Kings and Lords, it’s the 1970s and our players are all law enforcement. Instead of seeking crowns and thrones, they seek to head departments and political power.

When we meet Nesbø’s version of Macbeth, he’s the leading officer on the SWAT team. But events quickly unfold that thrust him into power, and once he has a taste, no amount of power is enough. Especially with ‘Lady’ whispering in his ear. 

First, let’s talk about what author Jo Nesbø did well…

The action is intense. Shakespeare’s play didn’t have a lot of that. Talking and soliloquies, sure, but action? Not really. Nesbø’s scenes are action-packed and very tense. Gun fights, narrow escapes, rescues, ambushes…. WAAAA! It was all so awesome.

The characters are awesome. Sure, they weren’t all original characters, and some of them already had some of their characteristics from Grandpa Willy, but even so, Nesbo fleshed them out into deep, believable, flawed people. Each one made you want root for them, and hate them, and sympathize with them through it all. This chapter’s villain might be the next chapter’s hero, or victim, or both.

Tragedy. HOLY CRAP! I know Shakespeare was known for it, and let me tell you this: Nesbø’s tragedy game is on point! There were moments that made me want to cry, moments that made me angry enough to throw the book across the room, and moments that made me want to curl into a ball and contemplate life.

Now let’s talk about what could have been improved on this book… nothing.

Okay, okay. You got me. No book is perfect. The only thing that struck me as odd was how quickly some things happened. Political struggles end up with friends turning on friends, especially in the beginning. Some of these betrayals seem to happen like the flick of a switch. They’re best friends on this page, but when you turn the page they’ll be trying to kill each other. 

I got the impression that this only came about due to the influence of the original material. But really, it’s such a small thing and it’s gone before things really get moving along.

I recommend this book to everyone and anyone. Just as I predicted in my First Impression Friday, this book was 5 stars for me. Loved it. I’ve never read any other Shakespeare re-tellings OR Jo Nesbo novels. After this, I’ll be looking into BOTH!

Fun fact about this post: In order to properly type ‘Jo Nesbø’ I had to go find the ‘ø’ on Goodreads and copy/paste.