If Blood Ties was written as a AITA Reddit post, I’d tell Roy Opgard that yeah, he’s TA, but he’s certainly not the biggest one. 

I love Nordic Noir (or Scandinavian Noir, if you prefer). It’s one of my favorite thriller subgenres. It trades in metaphor, filler material, and descriptive narrative for moral complexity, tight and efficient writing, and a pacing that is melancholic but implacable in its coming. I love how bleak these books are and how the penetrating cold reveals the social ills that plague a population that’s usually portrayed to be so happy with their lives. 

Blood Ties is technically the sequel to Nesbo’s book The Kingdom (which is available in paperback and ebook with the same translator), but I didn’t have to read it to understand this book at all. Blood Ties stands all on its own as a supremely engaging, compulsively readable thriller about one brother who’s been trying to make up for perceived failings from when he was young and another brother who just can’t stop taking. The characters in this book were complex and sad while also all being so pivotal to the plot. Not a single one was wasted. The plot had great twists and turns, but none that didn’t make sense and all were impeccably styled. 

Roy Opgard was a fantastic protagonist, morose and rather apathetic about whether life is worth keeping up with. Doesn’t like killing, but he’s good at it. Both hates and loves his little brother. Does what he thinks is right, even if it means he might have to give up what he was working towards. Roy learns to invest in his life, and that makes the last third of the book a shaking rope bridge of suspense.

I was provided a copy of this title by the author and publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Crime Thriller/Murder Thriller/Suspense Thriller/Thriller

Sometimes even killers have their honor to defend

Brothers Roy and Carl Opgard were born and raised in the small Norwegian town of Os, and it is there that they have created a business empire.  They have not hewn strictly to the straight and narrow in their climb to success...in fact, more than a few murders have been committed along the way. So when they are confronted by impediments to expansion they will take whatever steps they deem necessary to remove those obstacles,.bribes, threats, and yes, murder.  The brothers enjoy a unique relationship with one another, one of strong family loyalty that was drilled into them by their domineering father but also of jealousy.  Carl, the younger brother, is generally perceived to be the smarter, more charismatic of the pair, but it is Roy who has been Carl's protector since they were boys.  It would be unwise for anyone, most especially Carl, to underestimate Roy's own skills and dreams, as the two chart their course to ensure that Os, and with it the Opgard family fortunes, will reach new heights.
When a book begins with its narrator explaining how and why they became a stone cold killer, albeit one with a sense of morality that bubbles up from time to time, the reader can expect that they are in for quite a ride. Roy is not someone whose deeds are particularly admirable, but as the reader learns about what he has endured and overcome and the unkind twists of fate that have formed him it is hard not to sympathize with him to a degree.  Carl, by comparison, is an equally complex but far more ambitious (and less moral) sort.  The others who populate the town of Os are equally well-drawn, with their own code of ethics and motivations, their own secrets to hide and plans to execute.  This is the second in author Jo Nesbø's series based in the fictional town of Os (the first was The Kingdom); it can be read as a standalone, as much of what happened in the first book is sketched out in the beginning of Blood Ties.  That may have contributed to my finding the beginning of the book a bit slow and bogged down as the backstory is rolled out; those who have read The Kingdom and have no need of explanations may feel the same.  The suspense builds throughout, however, and with Nesbø's characteristic dark humor the reader comes to understand the hidden motives and underlying machinations at play between the two brothers, their business rivals and the women they pursue.  All disasters, muses Roy towards the end of the book, should have a prelude...but when they don't it is be up to the nature of the individual as to how they will fare.  A darkly comic thriller which explores the psychological nature of family loyalties, love and guilt, Blood Ties is a well-crafted and entertaining story written by one of the masters of Nordic Noir, which readers of authors like Jussi Adler-Olsen, Henning Mankell and Juan Gómez-Jurado should scoop up and add to their TBR list.  Many thanks to NetGalley and Alfred A. Knopf/Borzoi Books for allowing me access to this latest entry by this consistently excellent author.

Yes this is the second in a series. Yes should read the first one before this one. But, Nesbo does an incredible job of filling in any gaps that would cause confusion if you hadn't read the first book, so you aren't lost. What is missing is the reader's relationship with the main characters. If you only read this book, I feel you would not truly understand Roy and his motivations and why he is the way he is. Reading the first book makes the reader more sympathetic and understanding on the things Roy does and why he does them. It also builds the foundation for the relationships between characters that adds to the emotions running through the second book. That being said, the first book is 560 pages and might frighten someone off. Don't let it! The read is engrossing. But, enough of that sales pitch! This book can easily be read on its own. The theme of both books is family and the responsibilities and duties to your own. Set in a small town, the theme is viewed through various families and points of view, making this either a really deep thoughtful book (if you want it to be) or a surface level small town drama suspense kind of book. I love that the reader can decide based on their own current mental capacity. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for a copy of the book. This review is my own opinion.

No one does a Book of Murder quite like Nesbø!! Spoiler alert... Fratricide Included!! 

I did not have the good fortune to read Kongeriket, #1, but Nesbø filled in the backstory a reader would need. 

Murders aside, this is a FUN read! There is mystery. There is romance. There is bribery! 

I really did not want to like either of the Opgard brothers... however, one very much grew on me! And yes, I spent much of the novel rooting for Roy (despite his murdering tendencies!)

Thanks to Netgalley, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for this advanced digital copy of the book. It will be published February 11, 2025. 

I have self named myself Jo Nesbo’s biggest fan, but this sat on my TBR (I shamefully admit) since its release day back in September. I have read The Kingdom when it came out and then re-read it prior to this one. 
It makes sense to read it in order (for those who ask) even though the sequel can technically be read as a standalone. 

This is happening 8 years later. We still follow the two brothers and all their antics. 
Carl is just a big annoying child and I love how JN portrayed him as such with his growing beer belly etc. he’s not a likeable character. And next to him Roy, the older, grittier, rougher brother seems to be maturing like a good wine. He’s such an opposite to his douchebag brother. You can’t help but like him even though he is who he is 😅
Kurt is another one that I appreciate. He’s just relentless in his pursuit of justice. I really admire his conviction in finding truth and justice when it comes to his father. 

Also loved the dark and heavy atmosphere. A very typical Nordic noir. 


Anyway.. I liked it. Not loved it. But at this point in my life having read and owned every single book JN published, I’ll automatically buy and read whatever else he’s got up his sleeve. I hope for more HH though.