I really wanted to love this book. Macbeth is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, and having never read anything by Nesbo I was excited to see what all the fuss was about.
While an interesting take on the story, Nesbo's Macbeth sometimes feels wordy and too heavy. The subject matter is dark enough, the reader doesn't need ten pages of exposition on Macbeth's exact feelings on the matter.

I can't imagine anyone better to rewrite the dark tale of Macbeth. Nesbo does this with his typical style. The drugs, gambling, violence and power struggles all fit perfectly.

DNF. Maybe it was just a poor choice for me. I am not a huge Shakespeare fan and this book dragged. I see that most readers really enjoyed the book so I will assume it just wasn’t a good fit.

So....a Norwegian steeped in crime procedurals is tasked with doing his thing with the Scottish Play. Let me just say that his Macbeth is no Harry Hole. As a book on its on merits, it has some but not enough to merit anything close to must-read status. As a variation on a theme and a test of the author's creative prowess, well let's give Nesbo his due. It's a different title to the kilt, a kind of Shakespeare-noir. Maybe I'm a purist, but enough of this stuff, Macduff!

I jumped at the opportunity to request this book via Net Galley as I am a fan of Jo Nesbø. Macbeth did not disappoint at all, despite a bit of a slow start. And, I don't mean slow in what is going on in the story, slow in my reading as there is lots going on and lots of characters to remember!

This is part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series (http://hogarthshakespeare.com/) and Nesbø hits a home run with his adaptation of Macbeth. Throughout the book, as the characters unfold, I questioned whether power corrupts or does a corrupt person take advantage of power. All the characters are flawed, yet some rise above their flaws and find the inner strength to make the right decisions. Some of the characters pay for their crimes and some are never even discovered - which makes this book very realistic, in my opinion.

If you are a fan of Nesbø, Macbeth will not disappoint! I highly recommend this book!

I would like to thank Net Galley, Crown Publishing, and Hogarth for the ARC of this book.

There are few things that I more eagerly anticipate as a reader than the imminent arrival of the latest installment in the Hogarth Shakespeare series of books. These reimaginings of Shakespeare’s works by contemporary novelists have been among the most consistently innovative and engaging books of the past decade. My loves for both the Bard and for new fiction are sated simultaneously, thanks to Hogarth’s grand plan.

The latest offering – the seventh in the series – is “Macbeth” (Hogarth Shakespeare, $27), a take on the tragedy by Norwegian noir superstar Jo Nesbo and one more in a lengthy line of successes from the series.

(For the record, the previous six are as follows: “A Winter’s Tale” (“The Gap of Time” by Jeanette Winterson), “The Merchant of Venice” (“My Name is Shylock” by Howard Jacobson), “The Taming of the Shrew” (“Vinegar Girl” by Anne Tyler), “The Tempest” (“Hag-Seed” by Margaret Atwood), “Othello” (“New Boy” by Tracy Chevalier) and “King Lear” (“Dunbar” by Edward St. Aubyn).)

He moves the palace intrigue from an 11th-century Scottish castle to a police department in a crumbling industrial city in the 1970s; he also moves the bubbling rage, ceaseless paranoia and intricate machinations to the more modern setting. Far from undermining the foundational narratives of power and anger, that modernity serves only to enhance them.

Macbeth works for the police department in a run-down, rainy industrial town. He’s considered to be one of the best on the force, even though he doesn’t necessarily have the class advantages of some of his compatriots. His friend and rival (more rival than friend, really) is Duff, a fellow officer who has most of Macbeth’s policing talent and exponentially more ambition.

New police chief Duncan is trying desperately to clean up both the town and the department; the previous administration had some noteworthy incidents of corruption that the force would like people to forget.

The primary criminal target for Macbeth, Duff and the rest of the force – Banquo, Angus, Malcolm and so on – is the drug trade. Two entities control much of the drug trade, bringing substances both familiar and brand-new to the streets. There’s drug lord Hecate and the biker gang known as the Norse Riders – they are the dual enemies that Macbeth seeks to defeat.

But when things start to change, beginning with an administrative shake-up, Macbeth – with the encouragement of his lover, the Inverness Casino owner known only as Lady – begins to develop an itch for advancement. Macbeth is steered into using his vast array of skills and general empathetic disconnect however necessary to achieve his goals – the ends justify the means.

Shakespeare has endured for centuries not least because there’s a universality to his themes that can translate across a broad spectrum of settings. Setting Shakespeare in alternate times and spaces happens so often as to have become almost a cliché. So it should come as no surprise that “Macbeth” transitions easily.

It’s actually pretty remarkable how well Nesbo’s hard-boiled, bleak crime thriller style fits the story told by “Macbeth.” There’s a spare muscularity to his prose that suits the undergirding alpha-maleness of these characters while also putting power madness and moral erosion on full display. He really captures the toxic masculinity that permeates the play and translates it beautifully, exploring the complexity of the assorted relationship dynamics along the way.

Grounding “Macbeth,” which has its share of supernatural moments, completely in reality could have been tricky, but Nesbo clears that hurdle with aplomb. Witches become drugmakers, ghosts become hallucinations … and it all works, staying true to the spirit of the story while still allowing it to exist in a real world.

Actually, Nesbo’s great across the board in that respect. He fiddles with a few aspects of the play, but only to allow a cleaner fit for his own choices and his own themes. Even then, his ideas exist in service to those of Shakespeare, rather than in opposition.

Jo Nesbo might not be the first name that springs to mind for a project such as this, but it turned out to be an exquisite marriage. “Macbeth” is the noir take on the Scottish play that you’ve always wanted … even if you didn’t know it yet.

It has been quite some time since I read Shakespeare’s Macbeth; I think it must be at least a dozen years, as my wife laughs, telling me to double that…and then some. I don’t consider myself to be a Shakespeare expert, but I’ve read a handful of his plays and enjoyed most of them. Macbeth is by far my favorite.

Jo Nesbo has done a bang-up job of recreating the feeling that I had when I read Shakespeare’s play of the same name: the darkness, the cold-heartedness, the haunting regret. Nesbo has taken the original and brought it into the twenty-first century. For that part, I loved the book.

As I got further into the story, I struggled. I don’t know if it was timing, the story or what, but at about seventy percent I was ready for the story to be over. I was reading, not because I wanted to know what would happen (it’s based on a tragedy, we all know how they end), I was reading to get this story over with so that I could move on to my next book. Not really the way I want to finish a book.

In a strange sort of way, Macbeth got me thinking about Weird Al Yankovic’s song “Eat It.” I loved that song, but if it had been an original song and not a reworking of such a brilliant hit, would it have shone quite as strong? In the same way, if it weren’t for the feeling that this Macbeth brought back, would I have enjoyed it as much? That is the million dollar question.

I’m not one to back off of or get intimidated by a large book, but I found Macbeth to be a bit more of a commitment than a joy. I appreciate what Nesbo did in recreating a story I loved in my youth.

*4 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of the ebook for review.

Nesbo's Macbeth takes place in a gloomy Scottish town, ravaged by changes in industry in the 1970s. Macbeth is head of the SWAT team, in a police department that has been run by a corrupt cop for ages.

I think Shakespeare's themes lend themselves to re-imaginings more freely than most other classics and this setting was an excellent match for the overall gloom of Macbeth. The re-telling is fairly beat for beat with the play, but does explore the backstory of Duff, Lady, Banquo, and Macbeth - making their motivations and past scars and failings more clear to the reader. I had a few issues with the branding of the drugs sold by Hecate, "power" and "brew" - I personally can't take an addiction to "brew" seriously and "power" is a bit on the nose. Those are just small issues within an overall enjoyable read. This addition to the Hogarth Shakespeare series could be enjoyed by both fans of Shakespeare or fans of the hard-boiled detective genre.

So, I'm not exactly sure where to begin with this other thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read Nesbo's retelling of Shakespeare's Macbeth. I was really excited when I heard that Nesbo would be writing Macbeth. I thought a perfect fit. Sadly, I was disappointed in this novel. As a Nesbo fan and lover of Harry Hole and the Olav Johansen series this retelling really tanked for me and quickly. It took me over a week to get halfway through and at that point I decided to give it up.

I found it to be excruciatingly verbose. By the time I had gotten to the part where Lady tells Macbeth that he has to kill Duncan, I felt like the novel should be coming to a close, but alas I was only at 21% (eBook, Kindle) or chapter 6 and thought oh my gosh I still have 79% or or 36 more chapters or over 300 pages to go.

Well, I kept plugging along and have to say it didn't get much better and I really tapped out after Duncan was killed (Chapter 9). I think this could have been a 150 pages or more shorter. It seemed entirely to long for Duncan to killed in the first part and with no real lead up to the murder. The murder seemed to be hastily and sloppily done.

I'm giving this 2 stars instead of 1 because I did like the visual details Nesbo provided. Unfortunately, I DNF'd this book.

Jo Nesbo is one of my all time favorite authors. His Harry Hole series, along with The Headhunter, are among my most often recommended books. Macbeth is one of few Shakespearean plays that I have read, re-read and even acted in on stage. Therefore, you can imagine my dismay when I found myself not enjoying Nesbo's retelling of Macbeth. In fact, I was so angry with myself that I re-read it again after a month just to ensure that I wasn't in a bad state or that my illness was not affecting my humor. It was all to no avail. Sadly, this retelling for the Hogarth series, is too slow, too dark, too noir. There is action, yes, but it feels contrived. There is the noir for which Nesbo is famous, but it is just depressing, not dark and gritty. At the end of the book you are left feeling dirty and unsatisfied rather than feeling the need for self-reflection which is the point of Macbeth.
I give this two stars because I know Nesbo is capable of so much more. Others may rate it higher because it is, after all, Macbeth.

Moving Macbeth to a squalid city with corrupt cops is a good idea. Lots of guns and criminals to kill because, of course, there are a ton of people to kill in the original. And we can't skip a single death. Unfortunately even with all the killing there isn't much tension. People change their minds helter skelter and kill accordingly and then regret it and kill somebody else, or don't regret it and kill somebody else. Interesting, but not very compelling.

There is a town without a name. It's a grey town divided by train tracks. It's a town where there are no more jobs. There are no more trains. There is just an incessant rain that beats people down, that and the incessant drug trade, which is also divided in two. There is a motorcycle gang, Norse Riders, who run synthetic drugs from out of town. And then there is Hecate, whose team cooks up a homemade brew that is stronger and more addictive than anyone has ever seen before. 

When the head of the Narcotics Unit, Inspector Duff, gets a tip that the Norse Riders are bringing a truckload of drugs to town, he shows up with his team to stop them. But he wasn't the only one who was tipped off. Without Duff knowing, Macbeth and a couple members of his SWAT team also got the tip and are watching to see what happens. When the Riders show up with more men than Duff expected, it is only with Macbeth's help that he escapes alive. Where Duff is an old school policeman, slowly working his way up and keeping an eye on the politics of the day, Macbeth is a natural officer and leader. He doesn't care about politics. He just wants to do the right thing. And when this incident turns into a promotion for Macbeth over Duff, you know that there will be hell to pay. 

As these men, and the rest of the police force, battle against the drugs that are infiltrating their town, they will also find themselves fighting against corruption and political machinations, against jealousy and resentment, against the worst that humanity has to offer as well as the beast of addiction. It will take everything these men have to figure out right from wrong and to find their way to their ultimate destiny. 

Jo Nesbo, author of the popular Detective Harry Hole series (that the film Snowman was based on), has taken on Shakespeare's Macbeth in the latest in the Hogarth series where some of today's most brilliant novelists retell classic plays through their personal points of view. So master of crime noir Nesbo took Macbeth and reinvented the Scottish play as a drama of crime and politics in a dark, post-industrial town. 

I've always loved the play Macbeth, and I love this novel version too. It's dark and complicated with layers of complexity in the relationships, which means the layers of betrayal cut so deeply. This book isn't for everyone, because of the exquisite noir, the darkness and the blood, but the original play isn't exactly filled with puppies and rainbows either. I recommend this one, but realize that it is long, which makes the constant darkness of the story even more difficult to deal with. It's excellent, but it's a lot to process. Make sure you have the mental and emotional room for it, and then take an amazing, phenomenal, luminescent ride through the worst and best of humanity with master craftsman Jo Nesbo. 



Galleys for Macbeth were provided by Hogarth through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Ever since reading and enjoying Hag-seed, Margaret Atwood's splendid re-imagining of Shakespeare's Tempest, I've faithfully kept track of the other installments in Hogarth Publishing's ambitious Shakespeare project. The more recent efforts have been somewhat lacking, but I've still been eagerly awaiting Jo Nesbo's take on Macbeth. I enjoyed reading many of Nesbo's Harry Hole novels years ago, so I was excited to see the master of dark, Norwegian crime novels take on Shakespeare's darker work.

True to his bare-bones approach to writing his bestselling novels, Nesbo wisely stays close to the source with his retelling. His Macbeth is set in the middle of a 1970's drug war. Chief of Police Duncan battles notorious drug lord Hecate. Hecate plans to use SWAT officer Macbeth to see his own agenda advanced. Macbeth has always strayed into the gray area of the law and has no problem falling into a path of lawlessness.

Nesbo has a penchant for writing darkly persuaded characters with a depth and empathy that is second to none. I couldn't help but compare his Macbeth to Harry Hole. Fair or not, Nesbo's Macbeth never reached the fully drawn level that I've come to expect from him. Consequently, it was rather difficult to root for this protagonist. Still, Nesbo is a pro and managed to give his story a suspense that I've never felt in the play.

Despite a few gripes, I found myself enjoying this retelling and constantly reveling in the connections to the original work. Jo Nesbo has a signature authorial style that transcends his novels. Fortunately, this unique voice found itself front a center of this version of Shakespeare's classic. While I still think Atwood's retelling was more satisfying, Nesbo's Macbeth comes in a close second. We have a few years now until Hogarth releases their final announced novel in the collection. With a strong effort from Nesbo, I'm eagerly awaiting Gillian Flynn's take on Hamlet in 2021.

“Macbeth” by Jo Nesbó is, as one would expect, a modern rendition of Shakespeare’s classic play. I will not infuriate teachers of English Literature everywhere by comparing the two versions except to say that all the elements of the classic are found in Nesbó’s version, the people, the drama, the conflict, the tragedy. What is to be discovered is how all that tragedy is translated into modern Scandinavia.
The opening line sets the stage for the vivid descriptions in the rest of the book.
“The shiny raindrop fell from the sky, through the darkness, towards the shivering lights of the port below. Cold gusting north-westerlies drove the raindrop over the dried-up riverbed that divided the town lengthwise and the disused railway line that divided it diagonally.”
The city is in crisis; corruption abounds; crime is rampant, and the city’s inhabitants get rich with casinos, drugs and politics. Unemployment six times higher than average; the number of drug users ten times greater, and the risk of being robbed was six times higher here than in Capitol,
Extensive descriptive backgrounds make Nesbó’s characters real and relatable. We almost want a different ending for them all, but alas, we know the plot, and we know how it ends.
“It’s just one of those self-fulfilling things. You’ve always known, all your life, you’re doomed to lose in the end. That certainty is and always has been you, Macbeth.”
Macbeth is a man of few words, but then no one expects the head of SWAT to be a wordsmith. He is haunted by his deeds, and sees them everywhere.
“Macbeth saw the light for pedestrians had changed from a green man to red. A human body covered with blood from head to toe. Macbeth shuddered.”
Descriptions are without a match when we first meet “her.”
“Macbeth walked into the light by the entrance to the casino, from which a tall woman with flowing flame-red hair in a long red dress emerged and hugged him, as though a phantom had warned her that her beloved was on his way. Lady.”
I received a copy of “Macbeth” from Jo Nesbó, Crown Publishing, and NetGalley. It is certainly more gritty and bloody than the original, but even without the classic connection, it is a psychological thriller full of power-hungry madness. Every page is packed with action, conflict, guilt, betrayal, and loyalty.

I’ve never had much interest in reading Shakespeare after the forced reading in Highschool. The other side to this equation is I’ve definitely enjoyed every work by Jo Nesbo. Sounds like a cage match with the winner having his hand raised in victory. Mr Nesbo’s writing won the day. I don’t often give 5 star reviews. I reserve this for works that I want to talk about, read again, see the movie. Thatis what we have here

This is a reimagined MacBeth. Instead of the Shakespearean fight over a kingdom we have a police department. Duncan is Police commissioner , MacBeth is the SWAT commander. After successfully stopping a large drug sale/transfer MacBeth is placed as third in the chain of command. Three prostitutes give him a message from Hecate a drug lord. In Shakespeare these are the three witches and the Queen of the Witches respectively. Lady, MacBeth’s wife, puts a thought worm into MacBeth’s ear. He could be commisioner if he just eliminated Duncan. MacBeth at first recoils but not for long. He can already see the path to the Commissioners Office.

This is where everything gets interesting. Each of these characters has depth. The storyline unfolds as neatly as a butterfly emerging from it’s cocoon. It starts out not looking like much but when it fully opens it’s wings it is ready to fly. This is Jo Nesbo at his finest. Flawed, sometimes deeply, the characters are given life. The moral/amoral ambiguity is clear in many of the main players. These are flawed people who want to do good or bad people who can do good. The line is often blurred.

I can whole heartedly recommend Jo Nesbo’s MacBeth.

I want to thank Mr Nesbo, his Publisher Hogarth, and NetGalley for my copy in exchange for this honest review

After having had Nesbo's Harry Hole series on my shelves for ages and STILL not having read them, I thought reading a stand alone may be a better introduction to his work. Don't let the star rating fool you - this is a fantastic book... I just don't think I was quite the right reader for this. And this is why:

I'm not a big fan of Shakespeare. I realize that maybe that takes away from my cred as a reader, but hey, you like what you like right? Yes, I like some of the storylines but typically any retelling or the like of his work (unless in movie format) doesn't really pique my interest a lot. SO why was I so excited to read this? Because I've heard a zillion things about Nesbo so I wanted to check him out for myself AND because I found the drug lord/gambling/craziness interpretation appealing.

This read fairly slow for me. It took me quite a bit to get into it. At first, I thought it was just my mood at the time so I set it down and then picked it up again. It did get better the further I got in but it never really compelled me like other books have.

There's no doubt Nesbo is a talented writer. And while my memories of Macbeth from high school/college came back as I was reading this... I was fairly just ok throughout my entire read. Nesbo has amazing attention to detail and sets up the atmosphere in a beautiful way. I think most people will probably love this - especially if they have a love for Shakespeare.

Thoroughly enjoying the Hogarth Shakespeare series but seem to have hit a snag with this Macbeth title which is over 500 pages long. It sounds very intriguing but has moved much farther down the tbr pile due to its length.

It's Nesbo so you know it will be good. That said, I found myself not too interested at first but hung in there because, you know, its Nesbo. And it did get better.

I must confess I didn't read Shakespeare in school. Nor does it interest me now. But it doesn't matter if you know Shakespeare or not. It's just a good crime novel with the most delicious characters.

Another great Nesbo book. But then again, are there any other kind?

Thank you #NetGalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.

Macbeth by Jo Nesbø is a highly recommended retelling of Shakespeare's Macbeth for the Hogarth Shakespeare Series.

Nesbø sets his updated version in a hopeless, gloomy industrial town during the drug wars of the 1970s. He keeps many of the original names from the play, so a comparison is easy to make. Duncan is the new chief of police, idealistic and determined to clean up the town by taking on the city's drug lord Hecate. Inspector Macbeth is the head of the SWAT team who is regarded as a natural leader, but he also has problems with addiction and craves power. Add in the other characters, three sisters/witches, and Macbeth's scheming wife, Lady, and you have the stage set for corruption, guilt, ambition, violence, greed, and murder on all sides.

Assuming readers will know the plot of Shakespeare's Macbeth and have at least a little familiarity with the characters, it quickly becomes clear that Macbeth translates well to a crime novel and Nesbø is the perfect writer to tackle this play for the Hogarth series. It is more violent than the play, but that is to be expected with a Nesbø novel. He is an excellent writer and I felt he did a great tackling the rewriting while keeping some of the iconic scenes. Along with the adapting the plot of the original play to a novel, Nesbø adds the descriptive passages that his other novels are well known for, setting the scenes up in his own unique way. The novel does go on a bit longer than necessarily warranted and the opening is a bit slow, but as a whole this is a successful addition to the Hogarth Shakespeare Series.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Crown Archetype.
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I really really enjoyed this retelling of Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Jo Nesbo doesn't shy away from a writing style that has made him so popular with the Harry Hole series. His version of Macbeth is gritty, raw, and dark. He is able to weave an old tale and bring it new life - in a way that doesn't diminish the original play, but rather brings it a breath of fresh air.

Macbeth, a police officer who is corrupted by the promise of power, sets his sights on removing all obstacles in his way. Faced with characters who aim to bring down a corrupt friend and colleague - Nesbo brings the dark side of human nature to light.

My one issue with this book is that it started off slow and I was almost overwhelmed with all the characters. That said, once we really started to get into the plot, Nesbo's Macbeth and supporting characters all came to life. I could very well imagine a stage director reading this interpretation of the Scottish Play and producing it. The dark underworld of drugs, corruption and indiscretions come to light and fit perfectly with the original plot.

Do you need to have read, seen or studied Shakespeare's original play to enjoy this book? No.

Do you need to have read Jo Nesbo's other books prior to reading this one? No.

Is this book worth picking up and getting lost in the classic story of power, ambition, loyalty and intrigue? Absolutely. This story is worth any of the lags that might occur from time to time - because the overall effect is a strong crime novel.