Nesbo returns to Os in this follow-up to The Kingdom, and as before this slow-burn thriller balances incredible atmosphere with a dark violence that is held barely beneath the skin. There is no need to have read the first novel, it is literally summarized in this book for the new readers, and yet this novel does serve as a type of emotional catharsis to those who have read the first.

Nesbo has great skill with characters and world-building. Every character in this story simultaneously feels like a small-town archetype and also incredibly robust, relatable, understood character. This balance or mixture of identities and personalities is a proven and winning formula, but nothing about these characters feels formulaic. It is easy to feel invested in these characters, the main character as well as many of the ancillary characters, because they feel easy and genuine, not forced or simply convenient for plot purposes. Similarly, you are really transported to this small town, and how it is a place of hopes and ambitions that may always be bigger than the thousand people that comprise its population. The setting and atmosphere go a long way in making all of the characters make sense, and really elevate the story. The writing, too, is compulsive and easily readable. It is straight forward prose, but playful and a little sneaky when it has to be. Nesbo does hide things from the reader but never anything too dramatic nor for a long time, the story is littered with little reveals that are usually set up just before, though we does manage to weave in some pay-offs across the duration of the story. Even though the prose is relatively direct he does play with metaphor a bit, not just in terms of word choice but also on a thematic level. Having a dyslexic main character that loves classical literature does give him some room to play, and Nesbo enjoys that room without ever feeling anything but comfortable, and maybe darkly contemplative, once in a while.

The plotting of this story did hold me back from loving it, a bit. A lot of the story is not much more than bureaucratic maneuvering, the characters trying to nudge the right dominoes in place. This is shot through with intermittent moments of violence and emotional/traumatic revelations, but it is still a lot of planning… Plus, there is a lot of repetition for those who have read The Kingdom. The backstory is presented in a different way, without the same emotional intimacy, but that robs returning readers of some of the emotional reveals. The second half of the book did pick up, as more obstacles started appearing, not everything going to plan, but it took a while to get there. Even appreciating the slow-burn nature of this small-town story, it does, ultimately, feel very small. Yes, there are some grander ideas the reader can take away, about what a good life looks like, how regret and family and trauma and ambition all mix together, and what roles a weary forgiveness and compassion might have as you try to secure the best possible future for yourself and your loved ones. But the stakes are always, actually, remarkably small. Yes, they may involve a whole town and more than a few dead bodies, but still, there is no attempt at conquering the world, here. This simultaneously works for me and also doesn’t. It works because it makes the story have a feeling of being grounded, of being realistic. We all have ourselves at the center of our universes, so what seem like explosively high stakes to one person may very well be trivial in any sort of bigger picture. This really does shape the vibe of the story in a useful way. Yet it also means that the structural ground work of the first half is just kind of slow to get through. The characters may have big dreams or may be petty and vindictive, but either way they are small, and seeing all the legwork for their schemes isn’t always super captivating. If the first half was a little tighter, and had a little more propulsive pacing, then this scope would be nothing but helpful to the experience; as it is, it is a little mixed.

Still, this is a fun thriller. The writing and characters and atmosphere alone are enough to keep you captivated. There aren’t any monumental surprises, but it also doesn’t feel cozy, flat, or phoned in. It does summarize the entire first book but never feels expository, so while stealing some emotional revelations from the returning reader it never feels boring, and it works well to let anyone pick up this novel and fall right into it, regardless of having read the first or not. If you appreciate the Scandinavian thriller vibe, the slow-simmer that only occasionally boils over while fighting off the dark and cold, where the tension is real but also somewhat limited in just how explosive it is, with consequences intimately affecting a handful of folks in a small town but not much else, there is a good amount of fun you will find in this story.

I want to thank the author, the publisher Knopf, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.