Have a look at these pictures. At first the huge sun set on a black sky and silhouetting a rocky outcrop and cabin makes strong graphic impression. But then you notice the crazy haywire texturing around the edges of the sun, like solar flares, and it seems to hint at another layer of complexity both within the image and in the story itself. Even better, there’s a quote from Crime Fiction Lover’s review of Blood on Snow on the back.
This is the sequel to Blood on Snow, and once again Nesbo is writing about the Oslo underworld, sometime in the late 70s. In Blood on Snow, we had Olav being asked to kill his boss Daniel Hoffman’s wife and unable to do so because he falls in love with her. He turns to The Fisherman for help. That sinister, scaly and smelly Oslo crime lord is back in Midnight Sun, but this time the protagonist is a hitman called Jon.
Jon is on the run, hiding in the far north of Norway, where the midnight sun will drive you mad. He’s aided by a widow called Lea and her young son, Knut. They bring him supplies as he lies low in a cabin. But does anyone seriously think Jon will be able to evade The Fisherman’s friends for long? Maybe the insanity of endless daytime will save Jon, or maybe it’ll be his doom…
Like Blood on Snow, Midnight Sun has been optioned for the big screen by Warner Bros with Leonardo DiCaprio mooted as a potential star in one of the stories. Interestingly, royalties from both books are going to The Harry Hole Foundation, a charity set up by Jo Nesbo to fight illiteracy in developing countries. The audiobook version of Midnight Sun will be read by Kim Gordon of the band Sonic Youth.
Midnight Sun comes out 5 November at £6.99 for the hardback and £6.64 for Kindle. Watch for our review soon – you can buy the book here on Amazon.
