Macbeth in Nordic Noir style - and it works! I've enjoyed the Hogarth Shakespeare series so far, and I think this is the best of the four that I've read.
Nesbo has done a really good job of moving the setting from medieval Scotland to modern Scandinavia (I think! That's what it felt like as I was reading anyway). The names of the towns in the original are the names of the casinos; the Queen of the witches, Hecate, is the main dealer and leader of organised crime in the town; Lady (Macbeth) is the owner of the most exclusive of those casinos.
Like Shakespeare's play, this book is grim, oppressive and ultra-violent. The body count is high, the murders committed without thought, or at least the only thought in Macbeth's head is that he will gain more power in the eradication of his 'enemies' and their families.
The description of the city portrays a poverty stricken, unemployment plagued, drug addicted, polluted northern town. These people seem to be accustomed to the corruption of their police and government officials, which is how the door opens to allow Macbeth to step through with Lady, his wife (who isn't his wife in this, but his girlfriend). Lady is the one who guides Macbeth's hand in everything he does, and then pays the ultimate price when guilt drives her mad.
I really do think that this is an excellent retelling. Five hundred pages went by in a flash for me, and I have to admit to a feeling of satisfaction as the story was wrapped up at the end.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book - and this is a totally unbiased review, people!

A typical Nesbo novel. Loads of action and lots of bodies! But perhaps even Nesbo shouldn't attempt another take on Shakespeare' s Macbeth as regrettably the linkage in both character names and action comes across as a little bit clunky and obvious! An enjoyable and gripping read nonetheless.

I really enjoyed Macbeth. I enjoy original takes or alternative version of well-known stories so I was eager to see what Nesbø did Shakespeare. My confession: I’ve never read the original Macbeth so have no idea how this book compares. I just found this an enjoyable, fast paced thriller. The book is set in the 1970’s. The characters are fantastic, flesh out and so real they almost walk off the page. Macbeth is a fantastic leading man. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about his gradual descent into paranoia and madness. This is very well written. Macbeth’s lover, Lady offers an interesting and sinister layer to it all. Macbeth is well worth a read.

If there was any doubt over Jo Nesbo's skill as an author (and I think that unlikely!) this book gives notice that he's up there with the best and capable of turning his writing skills to the unusual task of reimagining Shakespeare's Macbeth in a modern setting. The characters are well-drawn and the action skilfully described so that the reader almost feels like an invisible observer to the unfolding events. It probably won't be to everyone's taste and more than one reader is likely to furtively reach for a well-thumbed copy of the original to remind him/herself of the gory events and troubled psyches that are such a feature of the enduring tale. However, as a different take on timeless themes of friendship, rivalry, ruthlessness and greed it is a great read. Recommended.

OKay not my favourite story but one I enjoyed nevertheless. I just love the use of words, and imagery.

This is part of the Hogarth Shakespeare Series which challenges well know authors to reimagine some of Shakespeare's well known plays. No mean feat I would think but here, Jo Nesbo does a mighty fine job of things. He's taken the cast and plot and thrown them into the 70s where our eponymous hero is recasted as a police Inspector with a rather troubled past. Tasked with cleaning up after a drug bust degenerates into a bloodbath, we follow Shakespeare's original plot quite well as Macbeth, originally tipped for greater things, slowly starts to degenerate. Along with his wife who fronts a local casino, and has her own aspirations, we see how they soon start to reap what they sow.
If you are familiar with the original story you will find all the usual suspects contained within this re-telling and it is a credit to the author that he has managed to slip them all seamlessly into the new time in which the story has now been set. At times it's almost like the characters have been reborn perfectly, the dynamics and personalities translating really well into the 70s.
Admittedly, this was a book that I did initially struggle to read. Maybe it was a bit on the slow side at the beginning or maybe I was just trying to spot people and compare too much at the start that I didn't just embrace what I was reading. I'm not sure but, after a while, I really clicked with it all and the rest of the book whizzed along for me as I got more and more immersed in it.
What really impressed me was that Nesbo managed to put his own spin on certain things without really detracting from the original too much. Obviously, as with a cover version of a song, a reimagining of a story has to have something a little extra from the original and whilst I imagine that Shakespeare purists may not be too happy with something or other, I personally think that Nesbo's tweaks were very well executed and in keeping with the whole story as re-told.
I could bang on more about the characters and Nesbo's translation of them to how he sees them in his version of the story but I think that part of the joy of reading a familiar tale is seeing how the characters fit with your own personal preconceptions and the similarities and differences therein. Suffice to say that I was overjoyed with most and, even those I questioned I grew to accept. I did find myself almost punching the air at some of the really clever parallels that were made along the way.
I've always found Macbeth to be somewhat of an exercise in psychology especially regarding the gain and abuse of power and the corruption that inevitably ensues and here Nesbo adds his own elements to the overall with the inclusion of the things more prevalent to the time in which he has set the book. Yes, the destination is as you would expect but the journey to there does differ somewhat, definitely bloodier at times. Whether it is better than the original will probably split people but I personally think that he has taken all the best ingredients and added some of his own, making for a well balanced modern day witches brew.
Having never heard of the Hogarth Shakespeare Series before and having read a fair few of the bard's plays at school, with how this one played out for me, I am definitely going to check out the other books in this series.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

When a drug bust turns into a bloodbath, it's up to Inspector MacBeth and his team to clean up the mess. He's also an ex-drug addict with a troubled past.

This is quite a brutal and blood soaked remake of Shakespeare's play. If you have read the original book then you already know that there is a lot of blood shed. This book has been given a modern take to it, turning it into a dark and brutal story of cops versus criminals. This book has more blood shed in it. It's all here in this novel; the foggy moors, Lady MacBeth washing her hands over and o read until they bleed, the three witches of prophecy to the deaths which escalate until you think there will be no one left.

This book stays true to the classic. Jo Nesbo has done a great job with this classic. It has a dark and gritty storyline. It must have been daunting rewriting this classic. Jo Nesbo seems to have done it effortlessly. I loved this book even though it seemed a bit slow to start with.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House UK, Vintage Publishing and the author Jo Nesbo for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A novel written with Nesbo's trademark precise use of language - a really successful, retelling.of Shakespeare's original.

It's been a long time since I read or saw a performance of Macbeth, one of my favourite plays, but it seems to me as though Jo Nesbo's retelling of Shakespeare's Macbeth sticks well to Shakespeare's version (which itself wasn't original!) - it has the same themes and plot lines.

I loved the opening of Nesbo's version describing the rain falling on an industrial town, the second largest after Capitol. The setting is rather vague - it is somewhere in the 1970s in a fictional Scotland in a lawless town full of drug addicts, where there is a titanic struggle for control between the police force, corrupt politicians, motorbike gangs and  drug dealers.

All the characters are here, including Duncan, the new police Chief Commissioner after Kenneth was killed, Malcolm his deputy, Banquo, Macbeth's friend and his son, Fleance, Inspector Duff (Shakespeare's Macduff, Thane of Fife), head of the Narcotics Unit, Caithness, the three witches, Lennox and so on. And watch out for Nesbo's version of Great Birnam Wood - I don't want to give any spoilers here!

It's a tragedy, like Shakespeare's, a tale of political ambition and the destructive power it wields, a tale of love and guilt, and of enormous greed of all kinds. Inspector Macbeth, an ex-drug addict is the head of the SWAT team, ruled by his passions, violent and paranoid. He is manipulated by Hecate, Shakespeare's chief witch, here one of the drug lords, a man with a friendly smile and cold eyes, called by some the Invisible Hand; his 'brew' has made him one of the town's richest men. Macbeth is corrupted by his renewed dependency on brew and fuelled by his passion for his wife, Lady, a tall, beautiful woman with flame-red hair who whispers seductively to Macbeth that he has to kill Duncan. And there's a mole in their midst.

This is a dark, gritty and violent tale that had me completely enthralled and I loved it. It is the first book by Jo Nesbo that I've read - but it won't be the last.

This is the third book I have read in the Hogarth Shakespeare series. I enjoyed Jo Nesbo's retelling of Macbeth as a modern day crime novel. I liked her writing style.

This's the first Jo Nesbo book I've ever read so I cannot compare it to other he wrote. I can say I find this an entertaining read even if I prefer to books that are not so gory.
The book is entertaining, well written and the plot mirrors the original Shakespeare tragedy. The characters are interesting and well developed.
Unfortunately sometimes it's a bit over the top, too gory and too dark, and it reminded me me of Tarantino or some B movie parody.
A good book that I recommend.
Many thanks to Random House UK, Vintage Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC

A good enough book of its genre set in a make believe Scottish city where a modern day Macbeth is played out. The Scandinavian noir style is a little threadbare and I couldn’t connect with the main characters.

The remit for this book was to produce a modern version of Shakespears' "Macbeth". The author certainly managed that. A totally absorbing, well written story.

I was intrigued by the idea of a reworking of Shakespeare’s Macbeth by Jo Nesbo, famous for his Scandi-Noir works. Like many of us, I suspect, it is a (really) long time since I read the original and some of the names and scenes were no longer familiar to me.

This reimaging retains the action in Scotland but set in the 70’s, but it almost felt that it was a future age, set in a dystopian landscape where society is fractured and the present, let alone the future is bleak.

Did you struggle with Shakespeare at school? Well I struggled with this at the beginning of the book. I could not get my head around it; deadly slow and confusing. One of the problems being that I kept trying to remember who the characters were and what they did in the original. Not to worry, soon I was immersed in this book and these characters and this action. Only occasionally did I think ‘Oh that is when… from the original’.

Favourite character – why Lady, of course.

Common belief is that Shakespeare was brilliant, no arguments from me on that. How clever though, to take a brilliant work, re-make it without duplicating it and producing another brilliant work. Words to describe this – a dark, brooding tale of greed, power and manipulation.

Now, I just might have to go and read the original.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

I must admit that i have always steered away from reading anything to do with Shakespeare, ever since my school days. When given the chance to read 'Macbeth' by Jo Nesbo, i did hesitate as to whether it is a book that i will enjoy or not. I am so glad that i did read this book, as i really did enjoy. It was a book that wasn't easy to get into at first, but it soon had me turning the pages. I have read several books by this author and have enjoyed all. Recommended.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review.

I loved this modern day version of Macbeth. Jo Nesbo has so cleverly transposed the characters, events, terrain and atmosphere from the original Shakespearean play to a more contemporary setting. Set in a bleak, rainy Fife, like the original, the hierarchy within the Shakespearean court of King Duncan has been brilliantly remodeled into the hierarchy within a corrupt Scottish Police Department. The same ambitions and jealousies influence the characters’ actions and loyalties. Lady Macbeth is transformed into Lady, the owner of a casino, while the iconic Shakespearean witches are recast as three weird sisters who, rather than concocting spells, cook up “brew” a potent drug, for Hecate, their drug lord, in this modernised tale. Readers familiar with the original Macbeth, as well as those new to the tale, will enjoy this exciting, action filled novel. Highly recommended. Thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Absolutely brilliant...…. I'm a huge Jo Nesbo fan anyway but I just loved this! I couldn't put it down. the storyline was so fast paced I wasn't sure what was going to happen next and there's not many books these days that get me like that as I'm usually pretty good at working out what's going to happen!

I will admit that I've not read Macbeth by Shakespeare so have no idea how close the story is to that but it didn't matter, it literally had me gripped.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book which I requested because it was by Jo Nesbo, of who’s writing I’ve been a long time fan, particularly his Harry Hole series. Perhaps I should have done a little research before my request, but the way in which Netgalley promotes it’s books in a big colourful email page doesn’t really allow for this unless one is already aware of the book. I now understand that this is part of the Hogarth Shakespeare Project where eminent authors put one of the Bard’s plays and the characters into a modern setting. Probably my loss but this just didn’t work for me. The book set off with a very bleak opening after which it developed into very much a book for the boys set in the 1970s in a bleak, desolate no hope town in the grip of drugs, unemployment and corrupt police.. Definitely not my sort of thing. I imagined that the novel would be a modern take on the Shakespearean drama. It was but a very nasty one. Yes Macbeth is a nasty tale too but at least it has fine language and eloquent speeches. If I’m not happy with a book I do at least try to read 10%. To give it some sort of a chance. I’m afraid that I only managed 5%. I felt that I just didn’t need this.

Jo Nesbo’s ‘Macbeth’ is part of Hogarth’s updated Shakespeare collection and makes a great addition to the series.

It got off to a bit of a slow start but once it did get going the action did not stop until the final page had been turned. It was recognisably Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and is as bloodthirsty as you would expect it to be. The writing style, however, is very much Jo Nesbo’s and worked incredibly well here.

In spite of the slow start I enjoyed this book immensely. A thrilling 4 star read that I highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book.

Many many years ago I read MacBeth in school and found it an interesting story. I also like crime novels so this book by Jo Nesbo seemed perfect for me. Unfortunately, it was not. I may have liked it more if I hadn’t read the original play because now I kept trying to remember who all the characters were and what their function was in the plot. The setting was interesting, but not enough to capture my attention. I threw in the towel at 25% but I’m sure this book will appeal to many other readers.