The Kingdom

By: Jo Nesbo, Robert Ferguson - translator

Narrated by: Sean Barrett

Brought to you by Penguin

*A STUNNING NEW STANDALONE THRILLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE BESTSELLING HARRY HOLE SERIES*

In the far north of Norway a man lives a peaceful existence. However one day his younger brother, always the more successful and charming of the two, turns up to visit, accompanied by his new wife. It soon turns out that the little brother is not quite as angelic as he seems.

Set in a small town filled with secrets, this compellingly dark new thriller from the Sunday Times number one bestseller has a plot as explosive and multi-layered as any of the Harry Hole novels.

*JO NESBO HAS SOLD OVER 45 MILLION BOOKS WORLDWIDE*

© Jo Nesbo 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Critic reviews

I read THE KINGDOM and couldn't put it down...suspenseful...original...this one is special in every way.

Jo Nesbo remains the king of Scandicrime.

Superbly written and magnificently chilling

This being Nesbo there is plenty of deception, death and partial decapitation to come. No Harry Hole this time, but still a sombre delight. There are shades of a Nordic Ripley, or maybe Virginia Andrews on aquavit. Choose your poison

The Kingdom is a stunning novel from a storyteller with few equals (Jon Coates)

Brilliantly chilling (Deirdre O'Brien)

The pace is uncharacteristically gentle, which is well-handled by Nesbo. But it all ends up as enjoyably over the top as ever

This standalone promises to be another disturbing thriller as only Nesbø can write them.

The latest stand-alone from the chronicler of Inspector Harry Hole puts all the murky, violent twists on brotherly love that you'd expect from this leading exponent of Nordic noir...The illusions of a family and its close-knit town constructed and demolished on a truly epic scale.

With echoes of such classic noir authors as Dorothy B. Hughes, James M. Cain, and Jim Thompson...Nesbo brilliantly uses the insularity of Roy's world, both internally and externally, to accentuate the Shakespearean inevitability of the impending tragedy.

Absolutely riveting

So we’ll written and narrated. The story is deep, well thought out and absolutely riveting. So many twisted themes and emerging agendas. The author paints the scenes so well with his words, I feel like I could get around this Norwegian town without a map. Well done. This should be a mini-series.

I made it past chapter 56

Another reviewer said they didn't make it past chapter 56 and although I made it to the end I can understand why they bailed at that point.

I haven't read any other Jo Nesbo books, but this one was average. I liked all the norwegian specific stuff and I liked the narrator. Coincidentally I had just listened to the seven slough house novels so I was used to sean Barrett's voice, but he doesn't really match the age of the character.

The story was OK at the beginning but became increasingly convoluted, The plans were all a bit much

also warning contains references to child abuse.

Nesbo never disappoints

Nesbo, definitely the most important crime writer of our time. You won’t be able to put it down.

Not a real Nesbe

Being a fan of Jo Nesbe detectives I’m really disappointed. Soooo booooring, hardly made it up to an end. Not a Jo Nesbe style detective but a mediocre drama with no logic at all. Don’t lose your time on it. And also I didn’t like the reader as the main character is thirty something but the man sounds like he is above 80.

Poor...

Got to chapter 57, then lost the will to continue. Very disappointing for a Nesbo book.