Cover Image: The Jealousy Man and Other Stories

The Jealousy Man and Other Stories

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Member Reviews

Jo Nesbo proves once again that no matter the genre, he's a master storyteller. Thoroughly enjoyed the stories in this collection, especially the eponymous one.

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Great collection of stories. I may use one in my class, though it is rather dark. I loved getting short fiction from a wonderful author like Nesbo.

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Thank you to the publisher for my copy, all opinions are my own.

Jo Nesbo can do no wrong. This is just another incredible example of his unique talent, distinct storytelling and completely addictive stories.

I meandered through this one over a series of weeks, picking it up between other books and just lingering with it a little. I didn't want it to end, and I will definitely be adding this to my re-read pile. A perfectly structured book of stories that you can dabble in when the mood strikes.

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I recently began reading Jo Nesbo and I haven't completely made up my mind about his writing. I started with The Kingdom, which I enjoyed very much and moved on to his Harry Hole series. Again, I enjoyed the first two, The Bat and Cockroaches (if somewhat put off by the titles), but found the the third, The Redbreast, hard to follow. .Not sure whether I wanted to continue the series, I picked up the ARC for The Jealousy Man. The stories are well written, with lots of unexpected and thrilling twists and turns. At the end of the day, however, it was just not my cup of tea. The first half of the book is a collection of stories about jealousy, while the second half focuses on power. Without revealing any spoilers, let's just say that Nesbo takes a rather dim view of humanity and their motivations. It's not the crime, horror, or gore I find off-putting (although there's plenty of that). Rather it is that there is no redemption, no saving grace, and no optimism. I have been a longtime Stephen King fan precisely because when his characters wrestle with good and evil, we know that that King believes in their basic humanity. I don't feel like Nesbo does, which doesn't give me anyone to root for or identify with. So if you're feeling particularly curmudgeonly, go for it. Otherwise, take a pass.

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Longest Audiobook I've ever read: The Jealousy Man and Other Short Stories. 
Whew. This book is thicc. I listen to books on 1 speed, so this took me 20 hours to finish over the course of weeks. I'm glad it was broken into short stories. 
This book is written in two parts, centering around two themes: Jealousy and Power. I enjoyed the different narrators and settings of each story. The message may be similar in each story, but the plots are all completely different. There is probably a story for everyone in this book. 
My only issue was I found some of the stories to drag a little. The stories I liked the most were the shortest. I found them to be the most impactful and interesting. The longer stories lost a little bit of their potency for me. 
I'm not sure if I'd recommend audio or print copy for this book. I've discovered from this book that I don't like when narrators use a different "voice" for each character. I find that extremely irritating for some reason. 
I would recommend this book to you if you like the show Black Mirror. There are a few dystopian themes that battle everything from technology to disease. Each story had a big twist or reveal at the end that did genuinely surprise me. The elements of fear and mystery all examine the human psyche and mind. 
Overall, this was a solid book. I want to read more from Jo Nesbo in the future for sure.

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A collection of stories from the author the Harry Hole series. Like most story collections, I liked more than others. I didn't find that same vibe I get from the Harry Hole books in most stories, but that is ok.

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Nesbo is the quintessential Nordic author. The stories in this collection are dark and the mysteries are disturbing.

Everything you could want in an evening of short stories (or day if the book is too creepy for night)

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Short stories, to me, are the protein bars of the reading world. You can grab one, throw it in the microwave for a few seconds (or not), and wolf it down—keeping your blood sugar up and the hangries at bay—in a couple minutes, flat.

So, when life is too crazypants to devote (or even have) the time and concentration a novel requires, a collection of short stories is nice to have on hand; select one, then dive into it on your lunch hour, Uber ride, or when you crawl into bed but aren’t quiiiite sleepy enough to turn your brain off.

In other words, a short story isn’t my favorite thing to read… but sometimes, it's a good option. (And, in some cases--think Stephen King, or Edgar Allen Poe--the short story can be a brilliant art form, letting an amazing tale unfold in an almost-unbelievably short space.)

When I saw that Norwegian mystery/thriller writer Jo Nesbø had a new book of shorts out—around the busy holiday season, no less—it seemed like a cool thing for me to have on hand.
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The Jealousy Man is divided into two sections—entitled “Jealousy” and “Power”—each of which contains several stories of varying, abbreviated lengths. (Interesting to structure the book thusly, giving a hint as to the stories’ themes.)

Things started off quite well for me, with “London”, a tight little tale of two strangers on a plane (and quite possibly my fave out of the entire book). “The Jealousy Man”, which followed, was considerably longer, but had a really interesting premise—a detective who specialized in cases involving jealousy as a motive--and some neat twists.

Five more tales rounded out the “Jealousy” section… each holding my interest somewhat, but none really compelling me to rush through.

So, after (finally) finishing that first section--which had started so promisingly but wound up less-than-compellingly--it took me at least a week to even consider picking the book back up. <sigh> This didn’t bode well, I thought.

When I finally convinced myself to tackle the second section—“Power”—my hopes went up again, though, because the lead story there—the dystopian “Rat Island”—had a very au courant feel, set in a world facing an epic pandemic. (It dragged on a bit in places, but overall, was a really interesting read. Yay!)

Unfortunately, that same story also turned out to be the high point of the second section; the remainder of the tales in “Power” were overlong, not engaging, and just not enjoyable. [Imagine a very-sad emoji face here, because that's how I felt.]
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Coming from an author whose full-length thrillers I’ve always really enjoyed, The Jealousy Man and Other Stories was, on the whole, a big disappointment for me. (So much so, in fact, that it took me a full month to even pick up a different book, after I’d finished it… something that NEVER happens to me.)

Are there short stories worth reading in The Jealousy Man? Yes, there are (and of course you, dear reader, may feel entirely differently to how I felt about them, anyway). For me, though, this collection was akin to unwrapping a protein bar… only to find out that two-thirds of it had gone bad.

~GlamKitty

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Nesbo delivers again. These short stories are just as great as his Harry Hole series. All are original and well written. Short or long, Nesbo is the best.

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I love to read short stories and anthologies, so when I heard Jo Nesbø is releasing a new collection of stories I had to read them!! Thank you Knopf for the e-arc and gifted book!

The Jealousy man and other stories is a brilliant collection of short stories that are twisted and have jealousy (obviously) and revenge as core themes! These stories are not written in his usual style, there is something different about them that is complex, but they keep their readers on the edge. I must ask you to keep an open mind and forget about Nesbø’s previous works before getting into this. [3.5⭐️]

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13 stories written by an author known for his mystery/ thrillers are guaranteed to be good. Each story features a crime, motive is either jealousy or power, can you solve the crimes before the end? Jo Nesbo flexes his writing skills to give us complete, engrossing thrillers in short story form. Seems he is an expert at this format too. I enjoyed everyone of the stories but as in real life, some more than others. If you love the Harry Hole series you will definitely love these.

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A favorite mystery/ thriller of mine-Norwegian-his Harry Hole character a favorite of mine. A new format for him-short stories/ novellas. Normally I don’t like the format, but all of these-of various lenghts-were engaging and interesting, as much for the philosophical meditations as for the plots.All good, for me the best which presciently predicts an epidemic and the moral consequences/ family dynamics in the subsequent chaos.
All in all, a pleasant surprise.

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These stories are really dark, which is exactly what you would expect from this author. I thought that most of them were great. You never know what you're going to get in a short story collection.

I definitely would not recommend reading this cover to cover. I read a story at a time, between other books. That worked well for me.

The story I liked the least is probably the longest, but most are bite sized chunks of brilliance.

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The Jealous Man review

Jo Nesbo, an Edgar Allen Poe award nominee, has written 12 suspense short stories with unexpected twists. Some of the stories are dystopian. They relate the horrors that befall folks when government authority breaks down and criminals take over. Other stories are very short. All will keep the reader in suspense until the very end.
I received this ARC from the publisher and Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

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Special thanks to Knopf Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my own opinion.

I love short story books, I think everyone who knows me knows that. Anthologies are so much better though because one writer can be tedious. I found this book had stories of jealousy and some were stories of power. I gave this book 2 stars because although I found the first story very good, I wasn't too keen on many others. I hate to give a bad review but in my good conscience this book was way too long and I found myself skipping stories . Not good for me.

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The Jealousy Man and Other Stories is a collection of short stories and short novellas by Jo Nesbo. The book is in two parts - Part One:Jealousy and Part Two:Power. The Jealousy Man is the best of the Part One stories. One where a policeman specializes in finding the possible jealous link in any potential murder case. Quite the twist in that one. I had two favorites in Part Two - Rat Island - where friends decide what is most important while the world is falling apart - justice or family. You'll be surprised at what wins out. Once again, there is a character named Brad who is not a nice guy. The Cicadas has an unexpected twist. It begins with two friends headed to Spain for the running of the Bulls. And ends with a long swim.

This is a great collection of stories from Nesbo. If you've never read his books before, this is a good place to start

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Twelve stories from a master. His stories are dark, twisted and completely absorbing. Highly recommended!

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Loved pretty much every one of the stories. The first one gets you off to a great start. The dystopian story was a bit unsettling but that makes a good story, when you feel it.

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The Jealousy Man and Other Stories is a collection of novellas with an underlying jealousy theme present written by Jo Nesbo. Some stories were solid, while others simply dragged. If you're on the lookout for more Jo Nesbo, look no further.

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Rating: 4 stars

Summary: A series of short crimes novellas from popular author Jo Nesbo.

Comments: Nesbo doesn’t miss a beat here. Entertaining page turners in series of short crime fiction. Recommended for his loyal fans..

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