The Son
by Jo Nesbø  (Norway – translated)
2014 / 417 pages
narrated by Gildart Jackson 17h 28m
rating:  B / crime

I’ve upgraded the rating by a grade – on thinking about the book I really did enjoy the character development for its own sake.  Except for the real creeps, the characters were all sympathetic –  good guys but very flawed – and that was done well.   I never did manage to blend Sonny the prisoner (“addict -redeemer -martyr”)  with Sonny the avenger and Sonny the lover.  That was really too complex.   The others were fine,  nicely done even.

The basic premise, that Sonny Luftus took it so much to heart when he learned that his father, a prominent police detective,  was found guilty of corruption,  he (Sonny) turned to heroin.  And he stayed stoned by admitting to crimes he didn’t commit – the heroin provided by the corrupt police department in exchange for a plea of guilty or more information provided by Sonny.   This crime info is provided by other jailed criminals who regard him as a sort of father confessor and absolver of crimes.  There’s a dead crooked priest involved, too. >>>>MORE >>>>