Macbeth

I will revise this review once I've fully finished the book. It was really hard for me to get going on this novel, for two reasons. First, the thing reads like a screenplay, like Nesbo wrote it while imagining how it'd look on film: lots of scene-setting and little dialog. Second, the translation has been done in British English. I'm not sure why this throws me off but it's like trying to read a Jack Reacher novel with the voice of James Bond in my head; it just doesn't fit. I'm guessing the majority of Nesbo's foreign readers (those who read it in English, anyway) are Americans; it just stands to reason, since we have such a large population. Also, Nesbo has referenced many American stories and characters in his Harry Hole novels; surely he's trying to appeal to an American audience?
Just my two cents.

I love Shakespeare’s tragedies and I enjoy Jo Nesbo’s fiction. I was excited to read this book. Unfortunately I just couldn’t get into it at all and actually didn’t even finish the book, a rarity for me.

Nesbo' s Macbeth lives in a kingdom, where "absolute power corrupts absolutely". I couldn't find a redeeming quality in any character. I felt as if Macbeth took me to Henry's Court, the height of the French Revolution or the massacre in Jerusalem or the Americas.
It was violent, unfiltered and without boundaries. I can't rate this book and I can't recommend because of the disturbing content.

I am an enthusiastic Nesbo fan. Having read all of his Harry Hole books, recent The Son and also Headhunters, I was ready to read... no scratch that, I was ready to savor this new book of his. Unfortunately the fairy tale ends here. I started the book. I tried to first love it. It didn't happen. So I tried to like. Failed miserably again. This time I settled to merely finish the book. Alas, I did it. But no positive feeling came after.

The story takes place in an undetermined gloomy city, in an undetermined time. Characters are not deep, not likable, not reasonable. They were fictitious without a sense of reality. Also the plot was not realistic.

The rise of the bad guy from a relatively likable policeman to corrupt police/politician almost happens overnight. Somehow all the town is in love with this new dude. He can do no wrong. He can make raids, kill people and explain all with a few sentences. That is until on of his old friends suspects of him...

Page after page, I was in agony reading this superfluous story by Nesbo.

As another fan of Jo Nesbo, I was truly disappointed in Macbeth. The other negative posts tend to reflect my view. I hadn't anticipated the direction of the novel, even with the Macbeth name. Hope there's another Harry Hole waiting in the wings.

Echoing other comments, this book is not similar to Nesbo's usual storylines. The writing style puts the reader in a dark place but that is the point. Joe Nesbo has experimented with something new for him......and his readers. Appreciate this book for what it is, a compelling story written with a crime nori feeling. When an author varies from what we "expect", it isn't bad, just different. I for one like to see an authors experiment rather then "jumping he shark" as so may do once fame has come their way. Great book, well written.

Ehhh! Interesting take on Shakespeare's McBeth crossed with a police procedural. Not a bad read, but frustrating in many ways. McBeth's murders don't stand up to modern day procedurals and Nesbo is not writing poetry...

Nesbo is one of crime fiction's finest writers, but this is a one of the most self-indulgent books I've read in a long time. The plot is so contrived to mimic Shakespeare's Macbeth that it's almost laughable - if it wasn't so tedious. If Nesbo thinks he's being erudite, he's wrong; he's insulting his readers trying to be clever. Truthfully, he should apologize to his readers and issue a refund to those of us who bought this book. If you must read this, wait till it hits the remainder tables - which shouldn't be long.

Ehhh! Interesting take on Shakespeare's McBeth crossed with a police procedural. Not a bad read, but frustrating in many ways. McBeth's murders don't stand up to modern day procedurals and Nesbo is not writing poetry...

Nesbo is one of crime fiction's finest writers, but this is a one of the most self-indulgent books I've read in a long time. The plot is so contrived to mimic Shakespeare's Macbeth that it's almost laughable - if it wasn't so tedious. If Nesbo thinks he's being erudite, he's wrong; he's insulting his readers trying to be clever. Truthfully, he should apologize to his readers and issue a refund to those of us who bought this book. If you must read this, wait till it hits the remainder tables - which shouldn't be long.

Just as Bill had likely intended. If you never read, or read but never understood Macbeth, then read this novelization of the story. It's not a quick or easy or enjoyable read, but it does tell a story and illuminate the characters. You'll recognize the characters... if you're over 60; you've met them through the years. They are the people who let the light in, shape the contrast. One cannot see the light but by contrast to the dark.

Well written as usual by Mr. Nesbo; an inventive, clever way to tell an old story in what we readers always like to think is a new world.

When I ordered MACBETH (HOGARTH SHAKESPEARE)—which is described in the marketing material as “a heart-pounding new thriller”—I thought (silly me!) that “Hogarth Shakespeare” was the name of a character in a mystery/thriller series. Instead, Hogarth Shakespeare is a publishing project, launched in October 2015, that “sees Shakespeare’s works retold by acclaimed and bestselling novelists of today”.

Thus, this novel by Jo Nesbo consists of a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”. The story is set in the 1970s in a nameless Nordic town where police and drug traffickers are locked in a life-and-death struggle for control of the unemployed, addicted populace. Nesbo does a terrific job of novel-writing. However, the reader needs to be familiar with Shakespeare’s play to make sense of the novel, and if the reader IS familiar with the play, then much of the suspense is lost. (One knows already what happens to Duncan, Banquo, Duff, Lady, etc., so the only reason to read the novel is to see how Nesbo handles the plot threads and specific details of their fates.)

Novels that use classic authors’ characters and/or plots just aren’t my cup of tea. I prefer mass market thrillers with little or no literary merit that are written solely to entertain. This novel is a literary exercise, and it’s well done, but it’s NOT the thriller that I was expecting.

Having taught many of Shakespeare's plays for years and faced the issue of explaining context to 20th/21st century students, I'm impressed with this re-positioning into contemporary terms. Would certainly be of value to senior-level.

Nesbo has lost his edge. Since the Harry Hole series, he has disappointed. This adaptation of Shakespeare's play is forced, unnecessarily contorted, truncated and has numerous non-sequiturs. The dark side of Nesbo remains, but it could be put to better use.

Nothing about this book is believable, neither the setting, the characters nor their actions. It should rate a solid zero stars. In addition, the majority of the characters are distinctly unlikeable. We can only hope that Nesbo doesn't write anything resembling this again. Now that I am aware of the Hogarth-Shakespeare publishing project I will make it a point not to read anything else produced in that effort.

I was surprised that my favorite author, Jo Nesbø, would get involved in the Hogarth Shakespeare series as I have found most of the books in this series to be superficial allegories. But this one is a pleasant surprise, especially for those who know the Macbeth story well and have enjoyed the Harry Hole books written by Nesbø. Virtually all of the main characters from Shakespeare’s classic are presented in this modern story of good and evil in a town that would be ruled by drug lords except for the efforts of Duncan, the chief of police and Macbeth, the head of the SWAT team. Macbeth has many similarities to Nesbø’s famous detective Harry Hole, and provides Nesbø with another avenue to explore good and evil from the perspective of damaged soles trying to do the right thing. This story is not as good as most of Nesbø’s other novels, but it comes close. For those of us who love Nesbø’s writing, this book will be an enjoyable read.

Jo Nesbø was the perfect pick for Hogarth's Shakespeare retelling of Macbeth.  Macbeth is a daunting play to take on, and my personal favorite of the Shakespearean tragedies, so the author chosen for such an ambitious feat had to be able to handle the darkness, depravity, and thirst for power so integral to the story. Nesbø certainly is no stranger to writing characters who are dark, sinister, and morally corrupt, and he was able to (almost) effortlessly transform Shakespeare's 17th-century play into a violent, cruel crime fiction novel set in 1970s Scotland amid corrupt police and warring drug gangs, which really was a perfect setting since even though Shakespeare might not have realized this back in 1606, but Macbeth really was a precursor to today's modern psychological suspense novels.

All the characters are there: Duncan, chief of the police, Macbeth, head of SWAT, Banquo, part of SWAT and his loyal friend, Duff (MacDuff), head of Narcotics and ready to move up in the ranks, Lady, Macbeth's lover, owner of a high-class casino, and the driving force behind Macbeth's sudden ambitions, and Hecate, drug lord and local crime boss with an otherworldly air.  So the time and place have changed, yet the players and their roles not so much. If you've read Macbeth, you're pretty much going to know what will happen since you can't completely ever immerse yourself in the book because you know in the back of your mind that this is a retelling of Shakespeare. Still, that keeping you in the moment and not letting you forget that this is Macbeth isn't a bad thing, especially since Nesbø is so clever at making the story modern-day and having the characters fuse identity with their 17th-century counterpart that you felt almost like you were in two places at once. The result is extremely atmospheric, highly dramatic, and beyond clever while filled with the originals chaos, darkness, and tragic conflict of moral code. 

My only complaint was that the book, at over 500 pages, was unnecessarily too long. After a while, it felt like it was a struggle in some places to get through.  It's still a highly readable book and if you like Nesbø, you should definitely pick it up. If you like Macbeth, then it's even more worth reading. Nesbø's really managed to capture the spirit of Shakespeare here, which many retellings lack, and he's delved deep into all the motives that make Macbeth the man, well Macbeth...sex, money, family, but most of all ambition, power, and control.

Thank you to Hogarth Books for an early readers copy in exchange for my fair, unbiased, and honest review.

This is the last in the, what?, "first season" of the Hogarth Shakespeare, a series of re-imaginings of Shakespeare's plays in novels written by some of our best authors.

While all of them have been of interest, and all honourable attempts, as is true of any such endeavour, some are better than others.

The weakest (albeit, still well worth your time) is Tracy Chevallier's take on Othello; As one would have expected, the strongest and best has been saved for last

True, their is some irony in the fact that Shakespeare's shortest play is the series' longest novel and, also true, the idea of recasting the play as a modern-day crime story has been done before (oddly, both most ludicrously AND most interestingly as a "B" from, I think MGM,called Joe Macbeth with Paul Douglas) as well as a sci-fi version, an opera, and, of course Orson Welles' "Voodoo" version

But Jo Nesbro's 500 page treatment has one thing going for it that none of the others had; that being the writing of Jo Nesbro. That, combined with Don Bartlett's marvelous translation make this an unputdownable read jn and of itself and a worthy "cliffhanger" to make us all hope Hogartfh goes for "season two"

Wow, what an amazing book. Jo Nesbo is certainly a gifted storyteller. You can never tell where the story is going to take you, and that’s one of the exciting things about reading his books. ‘Macbeth’ is no exception, with quite a few surprises along the way. However, it’s not just the plot that I found entertaining, it was a great group of characters that made this book a fabulous read.
Inspector Macbeth lives in a town ruled by drugs and corruption, and the police have a constant battle on their hands. Not so for the police with their hands in the cookie jar, that are fully prepared to side with the criminal element, and there seems to be quite a few of them. Macbeth and his friend Inspector Duff really wanted to clean up the town and make it a safer place for everyone to live in. With the corrupt police commissioner gone, they may have a chance with Duncan being the new replacement. Easier said than done though, with two major drug players that had far too much control to be taken down anytime soon. A motorcycle gang called the Noose Riders were extremely dangerous, and they controlled part of the incoming drugs, along with ‘Hecate’ who controlled the rest. With Macbeth in charge of Swat, there doesn’t seem like much he can do, however with a girlfriend like ‘Lady’ he may just have a chance at making a difference. It just depends on how far he’s prepared to go. I’m so glad that I chose to read one of Jo Nesbo’s book back in 2012, and since then I’ve had so many hours of entertainment and enjoyment from each one of his books. ‘Macbeth’ is well worth a read. I loved it.

If you thought Shakespeare’s Macbeth was violent, then wait til you read Nesbø’s rendition! To better articulate my thoughts, I’ll give your my reasons for loving MACBETH!

A COMPLEX STORYLINE. The blurb tells of an action-packed novel of gangs, drugs, and police corruption, but the novel goes so much deeper than that. We have players with multiple agendas, with vividly written backgrounds. Regarding the storyline, there’s a lot to it that readers will appreciate. There’s politics, corruption, an underground world, violent standoffs, emotional standoffs, and war-like setting where the prize is power and greed. The book is slow but this complements the needed development for the plot.

UNPREDICTABLE CHARACTERS. These characters surpass the normalcy of the “morally skewed” trope. Betrayal, betrayal, betrayal. Half of my time reading was spent wondering which character to trust. Everyone is drowning in corruption. BUT at the same time there’s a tender core to them that makes you sympathize. It makes you want to overlook their flaws. Compared to the Shakespearean Macbeth, Nesbø has filled in the vague backgrounds of the original characters bringing a darker life to the original play. This homage of a book was incredibly well written.

JO NESBO’S MACBETH CAN STAND ON ITS OWN. If you’ve read the original play and worry that this contemporary rendition will disappoint you, then let me tell you that there’s no merit to your doubts. Nesbø’s Macbeth still surprised me with its twisted plot until the very end. This is not a simple narration, instead Nesbø has applied his own style to the novel while remaining true to its gritty heart. His own interpretation of the original Macbeth was both ambitious and yet well executed.

In my biased opinion, I could not find anything wrong with this book. I absolutely loved everything about it and I believe Nesbø was the perfect person to tell Macbeth’s story.

I received an e-review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Crime writer Nesbo takes on the power hungry antihero by setting the story in a city much like many in America today plagued by the opioid crisis. Here it’s used to control members of the city, including high ranking officials all at the hand of the mysterious drug lord Hecate and his three witchy minions. Macbeth, the head of the SWAT division quickly rises through the ranks with a little murderous influence from his girlfriend Lady who runs the town casino and high end call girls. LIke all of these Hogarth adaptions it’s fun to see what the authors will come up, and Nesbo to me has written one of the most successful and downright page turning despite knowing how it’ll all turn out. The biggest suspension of disbelief comes from the initial tipping point of Lady convincing her lover he needs to kill his best friend Banquo. While in the grandeur of the play this all works terrifically, in the book it comes off a bit far fetched, however Nesbo does his best to justify the extremes by having his fateful couple become addicted to the drug that flows so easily through the city, making their behavior and growing paranoia a bit easier to swallow.

3.5 stars

The Hogarth Shakespeare project invites current writers to update Shakespeare’s plays, setting them in modern times with modern characters.

"Macbeth" by Jo Nesbø is a retelling of Shakespeare's play "Macbeth", which was set in the Middle Ages. The original story centers around a high-ranking Scottish military leader named Macbeth who - urged on by his ambitious wife Lady Macbeth - secretly murders the King so he can take the throne. Afterwards, the usurper becomes a murderous tyrant who orders the death of anyone who opposes him or threatens his power. I'll admit that - to refresh my memory before reading Nesbø's book - I watched the 2010 movie "Macbeth" starring Sir Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood.

*****

Nesbø's retelling of Macbeth, set in the early 1970's, substitutes the police department of a downtrodden European city for the Scottish royal court. In Nesbø's story, Macbeth is the head of a SWAT team who - persuaded by his girlfriend Lady - murders the police department's Chief Commissioner to take over his position. Macbeth then engineers the death of anyone who suspects him of murder or endangers his position.

Macbeth, in a magnificent feat of self-delusion, asserts that his ultimate goal is to clean up the city, wipe out corruption, and help the people - many of whom are addicted to a cocaine-like drug called 'Brew.' Unknown to Macbeth, however, his ascension to Chief Commissioner - as well as his ongoing ambitions - are being covertly manipulated by a major drug lord/drug manufacturer called Hecate.....who wants Macbeth in his pocket. In fact Macbeth himself soon becomes addicted to 'Brew'.....and later to an even stronger drug called 'Power.' (LOL)

Macbeth has no loyalty and no conscience. Early in the story Macbeth orders the death of Banquo, a father figure who took Macbeth in when he was a homeless teenage addict.....and cleaned him up. Later on, Macbeth sends his henchmen to wipe out Duff, a steadfast friend from childhood who saved Macbeth from a child predator in their orphanage.

No evil is too base for Macbeth, who's ultimately responsible for the murders of numerous men, women, children.....and a baby. Though Macbeth's depravity is off the charts, he stoically claims that - in the long run - 'it's for the public good.'

All manner of things are seen in this book, including: ghost appearances; witches; spying; double dealing; gambling; drug snorting; a motorcycle gang; gatling gun massacres; sleepwalking; adultery; a demon; and more. There's a wide variety of action and intrigue....and even a bit of seduction and romance.

Overall, Nesbø's book (more or less) faithfully follows the trajectory of the original play, so - if you're familiar with that - you'll have an idea of what happens.

Jo Nesbø is the best-selling author of the 'Harry Hole' detective series - about a troubled, alcoholic Norwegian cop whose cases always involve gruesome murders. Thus, it's natural for Nesbø - who seems very familiar with the politics of law enforcement - to set his updated "Macbeth" in the environs of a police force.

Nesbø's tale is well-written, compelling, and held my attention throughout. That said, the book feels overlong - with so many murders and battles that they feel repetitive. Moreover, the continuous treachery and barbarity becomes hard to stomach (for me).

Nevertheless, I'd recommend Nesbø's "Macbeth" to readers who enjoy Shakespeare; the Hogarth series; and/or thrillers. It's well worth reading.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Jo Nesbø), and the publisher (Knopf Canada) for a copy of the book.

I was given the opportunity to read and electronic copy of Macbeth (Hogarth Shakespeare) via NetGalley. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

As I would rather read a book for review without any preconceived notions, I mainly choose novels based on my familiarity with the author or the advanced praise it has received. Jo Nesbo is an accomplished and skilled mystery thriller writer, but Macbeth does not hold a candle to the author's previous works. Nesbo is able to skillfully capture the character traits of William Shakespeare's famous players, though the plot leaves a little to be desired.

Set in the decade of the 1970's, Macbeth centers around the police force in a dilapidated town, overrun by drug issues. As Macbeth is manipulated by one of the drug lords, his paranoia and his increasingly erratic ways have the power to destroy the town and everyone within its periphery.

Jo Nesbo almost did his job too well, in the retelling of this Shakespeare classic. The problem with using established characters in a new setting is that readers who are already familiar will spend the entire book knowing what may eventually transpire. Because of the confines of the project, the end result is a book that is a poor representation of the author's talent. With the novel being entirely too long, Macbeth drags so much in the middle that I had to force myself to continue reading. For these reasons, I would not recommend Macbeth to other readers.

I just couldn't finish this book, which I obtained from my local library. I read about half of it before returning it. I have greatly enjoyed all of the Harry Hole (pronounced "holly") novels, but this new stand-alone novel really sucks. I understand that we need to engage in the "suspension of disbelief" when we read fiction, but this novel totally stretches that to the extreme and beyond. Everything about this novel is incredulous. The character development is sub-par, the plot itself is totally unbelievable. A seasoned detective forms an intimate alliance with a former whore turned proprietor of a casino in this run-down town in Norway. Because of his inexplicable love for her, she convinces him to murder his boss in order to take over the town and make it better again (kind of like Make America Great Again, but with even less credibility). After that, the plot thickens, as of course it must, but the ensuing events are totally unbelievable and boring. On top of that, the entire plot is pedestrian and completely, highly unlikely. This novel, by Jo Nesbo, is a total failure. Don't buy it, and don't even bother borrowing it from your library.

Jo Nesbo's work has been going downhill since Snowman, with the possible exception of Thirst. Macbeth is close to unreadable: hackneyed, forced attempt to fit Shakespeare's Macbeth into post-contemporary times; unbelievable and unidemensional characters, and an overall misplaced concept. It is one of the handful of books that I will not finish, as it is too much of a struggle to get through it .Nesbo needs to return to his Nordic roots, and to stop being a post-modernist pretender.