Blood Ties

A Novel

By: Jo Nesbo, Robert Ferguson - translator

Narrated by: Euan Morton

From the modern master of Nordic suspense comes an explosive novel about a community in crisis and two brothers on the verge of losing everything they’ve worked so hard to achieve.


By all accounts, Carl and Roy Opgard are doing quite well for themselves. Or at least they’re doing as well as can be expected in a small town like Os. Carl manages the area’s swanky and successful spa and hotel, while Roy runs a nearby gas station and harbors grand plans to build it out into an entire amusement park, complete with a roller coaster. But when news breaks about a new highway to be built nearby, bypassing Os and leaving the town cutoff and isolated, it’s clear that something has to be done . . . even if the methods are bound to be dirty. Fortunately, Carl and Roy have experience with just that kind of work.

Meanwhile, the town sheriff has gotten his hands on new technology that will enable him to take a deeper look at a slate of unsolved murders from years past—including that of his own father. And just as the sheriff reopens his investigation, the death toll begins to climb. It’s like Roy says about his roller coaster: “Once it’s rolling, it’s too late to get off.”

Blood Ties is a tense, compulsively readable tour de force about loyalty, family ties, and love that is as destructive as it is powerful.

Critic reviews

*One of USA Today's "Books We Think You Should Read Next"*

“Nesbø has established himself as the king of Nordic noir.”
—NPR’s All Things Considered

“Jo Nesbø—aided immensely by Robert Ferguson’s penetrating translation—moves inexorably towards a finale that evokes classic tragedy.”
—The Anniston Star

“It’s so nice to see the classic crime noir framework applied to a Norwegian landscape, which makes the proceedings all the more foreign and chillier. There is nothing that Jo Nesbø cannot do.”
—Bookreporter.com

“Nesbø brilliantly plunges readers into the psyche of a charming killer, leavening the bloodshed with pop culture references and dashes of the lacerating humor that suffuses his Harry Hole series. The result is a chilling and darkly funny noir that will haunt readers long after the last page.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Beautifully written literary suspense. . . . Readers will feel this one long after the final words.”
—Booklist (starred review)

“Nesbø’s latest boasts a quirky comic edge. . . . A darkly entertaining thriller.”
—Kirkus Reviews

HooHum

slow moving story. characters nit very sympathetic. could not empathize with them or sutuations. Harry Hole stories much better

Great Characters! Great Story!!

I don’t usually enjoy first person narrations, but I slowly got sucked into the story. Then into the characters…then, of course, I had to hear the end!

As always, the development of characters , motivations, plot, & no pulling punches makes him one of the best authors.

I am such a big fan of Jo Nesbo that I will buy every one of his adult books for as long as he writes them! This is the first book that I have not given a five star rating to the story. For some reason I wasn’t rooting for the main characters as much as I normally do. It’s still a good story.

NesbØ needs to go back to his regular guy.

Narrator did a great job. Having said that, I was ready to return this after only a few hours. The only reason I kept going was that I really wanted to see how it ended. Ending was anticlimactic. Won't be so quick to jump on the next NesbØ novel.

Newborn wanted to write about his hometown.

The story did get better as it went along, but it is not as good a story as some of his others.