Jo Nesbø
Macbeth

#1 New York Times bestselling author Jo Nesbø retells Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s darkest and most tragic plays.

Set in the 1970s in a run-down, rainy industrial town, Jo Nesbo’s Macbeth centers around a police force struggling to shed an incessant drug problem. Duncan, chief of police, is idealistic and visionary, a dream to the townspeople but a nightmare for criminals. The drug trade is ruled by two drug lords, one of whom — a master of manipulation named Hecate — has connections with the highest in power, and plans to use them to get his way.

Hecate’s plot hinges on steadily, insidiously manipulating Inspector Macbeth: the head of SWAT and a man already susceptible to violent and paranoid tendencies. What follows is an unputdownable story of love and guilt, political ambition, and greed for more, exploring the darkest corners of human nature, and the aspirations of the criminal mind.

“Inventive and deeply satisfying /.../ [Nesbo] offers a dark but ultimately hopeful Macbeth, one suited to our troubled times. /.../ Nesbo is the greatest contemporary writer of the thriller”

James Shapiro, The New York Times Book Review, US

“A clever reengineering of one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies”

Publishers Weekly, US

“Nesbø infuses the mythic elements of the tragedy with bold strokes of horrific, Don Winslow–like drug-war realism. The result displays in a strikingly original way both the timelessness of Shakespeare’s art and the suppleness of noir to range well beyond the strictures of formula.”

Booklist *Starred Review*, US

Jo Nesbø

Jo Nesbø
Stian Broch

Jo Nesbø (b. 1960) is a musician, songwriter, and economist, as well as one of the leading crime writers in the world. He is recognized for having widened the scope of the thriller with his unusual literary qualities and ambitions, his psychological insights and his in-depth knowledge of life in a modern, globalized world. His books have garnered countless international awards, sold more than 40 million copies, and been translated into 50 languages. In addition to the Harry Hole series he is the author of stand-alone novels Headhunters, The Son, Blood on Snow and Midnight Sun, as well as several children’s books in the Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder series.

Rights sold to

Albania, Onufri
Bosnia & Herzegovina, Buybook
Brazil, Record
Bulgaria, Emas
Canada, Penguin Random House
Catalonia, Proa
China, Penguin Group (Simplified Chinese)
Croatia, Fokus
Czech Republic, Prah
Denmark, Modtryk
Estonia, Varrak
Finland, Johnny Kniga
France, Gallimard
Germany, Random House
Greece, Metaixmio
Hungary, Kossuth Kiadó
Israel, Babel
Italy, Rizzoli Libri
Korea, Hyundae Munhak
Latvia, Zvaigzne ABC
Lithuania, Baltos Lankos
Macedonia, TRI
Netherlands, Uitgeverij Nijgh & Van Ditmar
Norway, Aschehoug
Poland, Dolnoslaskie
Portugal, Bertrand Editora
Romania, S.C. Humanitas
Russia, Eksmo
Serbia, Laguna
Slovakia, Prah
Slovenia, Didakta
Spain, Mondadori
Sweden, Wahlström & Widstrand
Taiwan, Solo Press (Complex Chinese)
Turkey, Dogan Egmont
Ukraine, Krajina Mriy
UK, Hogarth
US, Hogarth

Other titles

Knife
Tørst
Police
Phantom
The Leopard
The Snowman
The Redeemer
The Devil’s Star
Nemesis
The Redbreast
The Cockroaches
The Bat
Blood on Snow
Midnight Sun
The Son
Headhunters
A.Y.W.D.N.E (Animals You Wish Did Not Exist)
Can Doctor Proctor Save Christmas?
Doctor Proctor and the Great Gold Robbery
Doctor Proctor and the End of the World. Maybe
Doctor Proctor and the Time-Travel Bath Bomb
Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder

Foreign rights

Salomonsson Agency
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e: [email protected]
p: +46 8 22 32 11

Awards

Shortlisted for the Public Book Awards (Best Translated Novel) Greece, 2019
Shortlisted for the British Book Awards (Book of the Year, Crime & Thriller) UK, 2019
Shortlisted for the Swedish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award (Best Translated Crime Novel) Sweden, 2018
The Raymond Chandler Award (Lifetime Achievement), 2018
Honyaku Mystery Award Japan – Blod på snø, 2017
Shortlisted for LovelyBooks’ Der Leserpreis (Best Crime & Thriller of 2017) Germany – Tørst
Nordic Noir Thriller of the Year Award, Sweden, 2017
Shortlisted for the Book of the Year Award, Sweden, 2017
Shortlisted for The European Crime Fiction Star Award, Germany, 2016
The Riverton Honor Prize, Norway, 2016
The IcePick Award (Best Translated Crime Novel), Iceland, 2015
Boréales Honorary Award (for his entire literary work), France, 2017
Shortlisted for the Ark’s Book of the Year Award, Norway, 2015
Shortlisted for LovelyBooks’ Der Leserpreis (Best Crime & Thriller of 2015), Germany, 2017
Shortlisted for the Brage Prize (Best Crime Novel), Norway, 2017
St. Petersburg Reads Award (Best International Author of the Year), Russia, 2014
Shortlisted for The IcePick Award (Best Translated Crime Novel of the Year), Iceland, 2014
Martinus Readers’ Choice Award (Best Foreign Author of the Year), Slovakia, 2014
Martinus Readers’ Choice Award (Best Novel of the Year), Slovakia, 2014
The Peer Gynt Prize (for his international success and for putting Norway on the map of international literature), Norway, 2013
Shortlisted for the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards (The Bestseller Dagger), UK, 2012
Shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger (Best Translated Crime Novel of the Year), UK, 2012
Shortlisted for the Edgar Award (Best Novel of the Year), US, 2010
Shortlisted for the Macavity Awards (Best Mystery Novel), US, 2010
The Great Caliber Award of Honour (for his entire authorship), Poland, 2010
The Danish Academy of Crime Writers’ Award (Best Crime Novel of the Year), Denmark, 2009
Shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger, UK, 2009
The Norwegian Book Club Prize (Best Novel of the Year), Norway, 2008
Shortlisted for the Ark’s Children’s Book Award (Best Children’s Book), Norway, 2008
The Norwegian Booksellers’ Prize (Best Novel of the Year), Norway, 2007
The Norwegian Book Club Prize (Best Novel of the Year), Norway, 2007
Shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger, UK, 2007
The Finnish Academy of Crime Writers’ Special Commendation (Excellence in Foreign Crime Writing), Finland, 2007
Shortlisted for the Ark’s Children’s Book Award (Best Children’s Book), Norway, 2007
Best Norwegian Crime Novel Ever Written (Awarded by the Norwegian Book Clubs), Norway, 2004
William Nygaard Bursary, Norway, 2002
The Norwegian Booksellers’ Prize (Best Novel of the Year), Norway, 2000
The Glass Key (Best Nordic Crime Novel of the Year), The Nordic Countries, 1998
The Riverton Prize (Best Norwegian Crime Novel of the Year), Norway, 1997

Edited September 16, 2019 by Salomonsson Agency