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THE JEALOUSY MAN

And other stories.

by Jo Nesbø ; translated by Robert Ferguson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 26, 2021

Humanity is at low ebb in this enjoyable, if uneven, collection—Nesbø’s first.

On leave from his Harry Hole novels, Nesbø delivers stories ranging from dystopian visions to time-honored tales of duplicity and revenge.

Few of Nesbø's characters pass the decency test. A man's kindliness toward a sobbing woman seated next to him on a flight to London masks dark intentions. An assassin with a day job in Milan as a psychologist is himself marked for death by a sadistic hit man of greater repute. In San Sebastián, an ardent proponent of the multiverse is suspected of killing one of his "other" selves. An Austrian researcher hiding out in Spanish Sahara devises a formula for immortality to save his ailing wife only to fight off corporate types who will do anything to take possession of it. The estranged son of a billionaire thinks twice about saving his father from a deadly snakebite in Botswana. Nesbø is at his best in the long, wonderfully atmospheric title story, which shows off his gift for pulling one story out of another. Summoned to the Greek island of Kalymnos to investigate the possible murder of a man by the man's twin brother, Athens detective Nikos Balli—who specializes in sniffing out jealousy as a motive—ends up detecting an old friend's ill intentions during a mountain-climbing outing. Nesbø is less successful with "Rat Island," a baggy pandemic tale in which marauding bikers tear down the last vestiges of civilization while rich people plan their futures from the safety of a skyscraper. This story and others seem hastily drawn, and the author has a tendency to be too clever for his own good—the twistiest twists can arrive with a soft thud. But he never runs out of ideas or characters driven by inner thoughts.

Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-32100-3

Page Count: 560

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021

MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | SUSPENSE | THRILLER | SHORT STORIES | SUSPENSE | CRIME & LEGAL THRILLER | GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE

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BOOK REVIEW

by Jo Nesbø ; translated by Neil Smith

by Jo Nesbø ; translated by Seán Kinsella

by Jo Nesbø ; translated by Robert Ferguson

WORST CASE SCENARIO

by T.J. Newman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

A chilling tale of disaster, bravery, and sacrifice.

One disaster triggers another in a cascade of perils.

A commercial pilot suffers a widow-maker heart attack at 35,000 feet over Minnesota with almost 300 passengers and crew aboard. The copilot is trapped in the lavatory. A flight attendant struggles hopelessly with the controls as the jet noses downward. There will be no miracles. The first two chapters of Newman's latest are the most frightening imaginable, with everything that could possibly go wrong going wrong. The plane clips a power line and shatters, with the largest piece hitting the Clover Hill nuclear power plant. The impact cracks a wall in a building containing water that cools spent fuel rods. If those rods overheat, radiation flowing into the adjacent Mississippi could turn the river basin into a dead zone all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. Primary electrical distribution is severed. Debris blocks roads. A flaming wing crushes a family’s car. The novel is aptly named but for the lack of a plural: This string of worst-case scenarios is expertly designed to scare the bejesus out of us. And yet it all seems plausible. Luckily, there are heroes, but the reader had best not get emotionally invested in all of them, as they pay a heavy price. Meanwhile, the pool is losing water that could cause a fuel rod fire and an “uncontrollable spread of invisible, toxic, cancer-causing particulates” that would be “in everything we touched, ate, drank, and breathed, for…for forever.” The accident may have massive global implications, and the clock is ticking. “Nuclear waste is toxic for millennia,” a scientist warns the U.S. president. So brace yourselves, readers. This one is frightening.

Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2024

ISBN: 9780316576796

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2024

SUSPENSE | SUSPENSE | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE

More by T.J. Newman

by T.J. Newman

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SEEN & HEARD

by Michael Crichton & James Patterson ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 3, 2024

Red-hot storytelling.

Two master storytellers create one explosive thriller.

Mauna Loa is going to blow within days—“the biggest damn eruption in a century”—and John “Mac” MacGregor of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory leads a team trying to fend off catastrophe. Can they vent the volcano? Divert the flow of blistering hot lava? The city of Hilo is but a few miles down the hill from the world’s largest active volcano and will likely be in the path of a 15-foot-high wall of molten menace racing toward them at 50 miles an hour. “You live here, you always worry about the big one,” Mac says, and this could be it. There’s much more, though. The U.S. Army swoops in, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff personally “drafts” Mac into the Army. Then Mac learns the frightening secret of the Army’s special interest in Mauna Loa, and suddenly the stakes fly far, far beyond Hilo. Perhaps they can save the world, but the odds don’t look good. Readers will sympathize with Mac, who teaches surfing to troubled teens and for whom “taking chances is part of his damned genetic code.” But no one takes chances like the aerial cowboy Jake Rogers and the photographer who hires him to fly over the smoldering, burbling, rock-spitting hellhole. Some of the action scenes will make readers’ eyes pop as the tension continues to build. As with any good thriller, there’s a body count, but not all thrillers have blackened corpses surfing lava flows. The story is the brainchild of the late Crichton, who did a great deal of research but died in 2008 before he could finish the novel. His widow handed the project to James Patterson, who weaves Crichton’s work into a seamless summer read.

Pub Date: June 3, 2024

ISBN: 9780316565073

Page Count: 432

Review Posted Online: June 20, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024

SUSPENSE | THRILLER | SUSPENSE

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by Michael Crichton & Daniel H. Wilson

by Michael Crichton

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Book Review | The Jealousy Man and Other Stories by Jo Nesbø

A collection of short stories from one of the masters of Nordic noir. Dark tales of vengeance, justice, and love gone wrong in societies where everyone would do anything to survive.

… ever since I have had nightmares that involve falling and drowning. Actually, on some night the dream seems like something warm and pleasant, a sleep in which everything painful ceases to exist. Who says you can’t dream of dying? ( The Jealousy Man )

The Jealousy Man and Other Stories is a collection divided into two parts: Jealousy and Power. I have not read all of the author’s previous work but I’m familiar with his successful series featuring the enigmatic investigator, Harry Hole. I expected the stories here to be in a similar vein but surprisingly only one features a detective character. The others are more focused on relationships and human nature. The storylines are complex and vicious, not shying away from the darkest sides of humanity. The characters are forced to make tough choices and face the consequences of those actions. Innocence people get caught up and pay the price. I really liked the dystopian and sci-fi elements in Part 2.

However, I found many of the stories repetitive because they are mostly about men being obsessed with women. Only two out of the eleven stories feature female protagonists. Some of the references are outdated; for example, the r-slur is used a few times. There’s a particularly horrific animal death. Even children are not spared in this collection and that can be hard to get through. But the stories are generally emotionally resonant and provide an insight into the characters’ motivation and decisions. There’s plenty of philosophical musings that can be a turnoff for some readers but for the most part, I did enjoy it.

Here are my favourite stories from the book – The Jealousy Man where a detective investigates a missing person case and stumbles into a complicated relationship between two brothers that reminds him of his past. The Line features a retail worker who has a solution for people cutting in line at her store. Rat Island is an apocalyptic nightmare where a man seeks justice in the aftermath of an attack and crosses paths with the woman responsible. In The Cicadas , a man and his best friend fall for the same woman, opening the door to a parallel dimension. In Black Knight, an assassin is targeted by an enemy who vows to destroy him in the most painful way possible.

The Jealousy Man is a complicated collection focusing on the question of morality and vengeance. If you’re looking for something dark that also makes you think, give this a try.

CW: rape, suicide, child abuse, animal death, mistreatment of a disabled person

About the author: Jo Nesbø

Translated by Robert Ferguson

Photo by Larm Rmah

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Mike Finn's Fiction

Book reviews and short stories, ‘the jealousy man – part 1: jealousy’ by jo nesbø – translated by robert ferguson – narrated by rich keeble, sean barrett, sara novak and dominic thorburn.

‘ The Jealousy Man ‘ (2021) is a collection of twelve Jo Nesbø short stories (although not that short – the collection comes out at 504 pages) that are split into two parts under the themes of Jealousy and Power . This review covers the first seven stories.

I enjoyed all but one of these stories, From the title, I’d assumed that ‘The Jealousy Man’ would kick off the collection but it doesn’t and, although it’s the longest story, it wasn’t the one I enjoyed most. I found that, in this collection, the shorter the story was, the more kick it had.

I found myself fascinated by the different ways in which Jo Nesbø used jealousy as a catalyst to display the people we become when we let it take control.

I liked that each story was character-driven and that the characters and the way their jealousy manifested were wonderfully diverse. I was impressed that, while keeping the stories character-driven, Jo Nesbø, gave each story an extra twist, a little surprise that meant I could never be entirely sure what was happening in a story until I read the final page.

I’ve made brief spoiler-free comments on each story below.

I’m not sure why this story was picked to kick off the collection. ‘The Jealousy Man’ would have been the obvious choice for setting the theme for Part 1. Still, ‘London’ quickly let me know that the stories in this anthology would be original and difficult to predict. The idea behind the story, which I won’t give away here, is clever and cold. The storytelling style, in which the narrator speaks as if he is telling the story to the other participant in it, established an emotional distance from the action. The narrative itself was an object lesson in misdirection. I was fairly sure that I was reading a ‘Strangers On A Plane’ trope twist but what I actually got was something quite different and much grimmer.

The Jealousy Man

This story starts with an Athens Detective being called to a small Greek Island to establish whether a man has killed his twin brother or whether the twin is just missing. What followed was an atmospheric but slightly ponderous story about jealousy, murder and the impact of both on the murderer. The puzzle the story revolves around was clever and the exposition was done in a way that maximised the tension. I liked the complications added by having identical twins as the alleged victim and alleged murderer. What made the story exceptional was that the real focus of the story was on the Detective. Flashbacks to his early life were intercut with the exposition of his investigation into the missing bother in a way that illumined the investigation and explained how the Detective had come to be known as ‘The Jealousy Man’. The ending was unexpected but felt to me as if it was moving in slow motion. The whole story felt a little ponderous to me.

This story of an immigrant to Norway reacting to the outburst of an entitled and obnoxious customer was perfectly done. Ive seldom seen so much controlled anger packed into so few pages. I believed in the main character completely. I had no idea where the story was going but I was keen to find out. By the end, I was smiling because the outcome was unexpected but felt right, despite its consequences.

This is the story of a refuse collector with anger management issues, doing his early morning refuse collecting round while recovering from a killer hangover and trying to fill in the blanks in his memory of the night before.

He and the man who works with him, a Latvian immigrant who was a psychologist in a previous life, are drawn with great clarity. The conversation between them as they collect the refuse brought them to life and gave an insight into how jealousy and anger operate when they push everything else aside.

The exposition of events is so skilfully done and the outcome so surprising that I wanted to applaud it like a magic trick or a perfect piece of engineering.

The Confession

This chilling story of cold-blooded murder is told as a monologue given by a suspect to a policeman investigating a fatal poisoning. As I’m sure I was supposed to, I took an immediate dislike to the suspect. I thought I had a handle on the story from the start, right up to the point where I realised I’d been completely blindsided – again – and that everything was worse than I’d imagined it to be. The tone reminded me of one of Roald Dahl’s ‘Tales Of The Unexpected’- menacing and dark beneath a polite, almost charming, surface.

Odd just about describes this story. It’s an author’s fantasy about becoming sought after by walking away from the media circus. I found it amusing but over-long and the ending left me with a ‘ Really ? You took me through all that just to get here ?’ reaction.

The Earring

The earring in this story is a little like Desdemona’s handkerchief but the taxi driver who finds it in the backseat of his cab and recognises it as his wife’s, needs no Iago to stoke his jealousy. There was a nice analogy here about holding on to things that you value the way a child holds on to the string of a balloon. What the taxi driver wants is to keep his wife. How he deals with the incriminating earring and the jealousy it arouses will determine if he gets what he wants or loses everything. I loved the way that the taxidriver’s fundamentally twisted thinking is made to seem normal and his actions almost inevitable (even though they caught me by surprise).

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A Little Book Problem

Tackling my TBR, one book at a time

Book Review: The Jealousy Man by Jo Nesbo; Translated by Robert Ferguson

Murder. Assassination. Revenge. Discover the first short story collection from the King of Scandi Crime. Meet a detective on the trail of a man suspected of murdering his twin; a hired assassin facing his greatest adversary; and two passengers meeting by chance on a plane, spelling romance or something far more sinister. In his first ever collection of short stories, this master of crime delivers a gripping, edge-of-your seat read that you won’t be able to put down.

The first short story collection by Jo Nesbo and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this collection really blew me away with the range and depths of the ideas the author explores in these stories. He really mines the darkest and most base instincts of human kind here, and delves into some very dystopian ideas that are all the more disturbing for not being entirely incredible.

Normally I race through a book of short stories quite quickly, because they are consumed in easily digestible chunks – like grazing on snacks rather than consuming a three course meal. This book didn’t unfold that way for me. Firstly, many of the stories are not short, a couple are more like short novellas. Secondly, every one of them is dense and complex, in characterisation, theme and development so, for me, it was just impossible to race through them quickly. Each of them needed slow and careful reading to unpack and appreciate all the nuance contained within. This is a book which has to be read in a considered and thoughtful fashion. A pause after the end of each was necessary to fully absorb what the author have revealed in the story, and I even broke off halfway through and read something a little lighter to break up the experience because of the effect the book was having on me.

Because I found this book quite bleak in general in the issues it explores and the conclusions that are drawn in the stories. These are not tales of uplifting experiences and positive affirmations of human nature. They are all dark, even fatalistic, in tone and paint quite a negative view of humanity. They feel quite appropriate for the way things are developing at the moment, maybe even prophetic, so if you are looking for a book to cheer you up when the current news gets too heavy, this isn’t it. It is, however, brilliantly written, thought-provoking and a masterclass in how to write a complete and satisfying short story. I am more impressed than ever by Nesbo’s writing, and his fans will love it.

The Jealousy Man  is available in all formats here.

About the Author

Jo Nesbo is one of the world’s bestselling crime writers, with The Leopard, Phantom, Police, The Son and his latest Harry Hole novel, The Thirst, all topping the Sunday Times bestseller charts. He’s an international number one bestseller and his books are published in 50 languages, selling over 33 million copies around the world.

Before becoming a crime writer, Nesbo played football for Norway’s premier league team Molde, but his dream of playing professionally for Spurs was dashed when he tore ligaments in his knee at the age of eighteen. After three years military service he attended business school and formed the band Di derre (‘Them There’). They topped the charts in Norway, but Nesbo continued working as a financial analyst, crunching numbers during the day and gigging at night. When commissioned by a publisher to write a memoir about life on the road with his band, he instead came up with the plot for his first Harry Hole crime novel, The Bat.

Connect with Jo:

Website:  https://jonesbo.com

Facebook: Jo Nesbo

Instagram: @jonesbo_author

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Submitting a book for review, write the editor, you are here:, the jealousy man and other stories.

• About the Book

A veritable crime lover’s delight from a true master of mystery and suspense. Experience the #1 New York Times bestselling author as never before in this dark and thrilling short story collection that takes us on a journey of twisted minds and vengeful hearts.

Jo Nesbø is known the world over as a consummate mystery/thriller writer. Famed for his deft characterization, hair-raising suspense and shocking twists, Nesbø’s dexterity with the dark corners of the human heart is on full display in these inventive and enthralling stories.

A detective with a nose for jealousy is on the trail of a man suspected of murdering his twin; a bereaved father must decide whether vengeance has a place in the new world order after a pandemic brings about the collapse of society; a garbage man fresh off a bender tries to piece together what happened the night before; a hired assassin matches wits against his greatest adversary in a dangerous game for survival; and an instantly electric connection between passengers on a flight to London may spell romance, or something more sinister.

With Nesbø's characteristic gift for outstanding atmosphere and gut-wrenching revelations, THE JEALOUSY MAN confirms that he is at the peak of his abilities.

Audiobook available; read by Nicholas Guy Smith, Christian Coulson, Mark Deakins, Simon Vance, Euan Morton, Alex McKenna, Edoardo Ballerini, Anthony Mark Barrow and Lara Sawalha

The Jealousy Man and Other Stories written by Jo Nesbø , translated by Robert Ferguson

• Publication Date: September 27, 2022
• Genres: Fiction , Mystery , Short Stories , Suspense , Thriller
• Paperback: 624 pages
• Publisher: Vintage Crime / Black Lizard
• ISBN-10: 059331557X
• ISBN-13: 9780593315576

Harry Hole Thrillers

The Jealousy Man

A page-turning collection of dark and twisted crime stories

Murder. Assassination. Revenge.

Discover the first short story collection from the King of Scandi Crime.

Meet a detective on the trail of a man suspected of murdering his twin; a hired assassin facing his greatest adversary; and two passengers meeting by chance on a plane, spelling romance or something far more sinister.

In his first ever collection of short stories, this master of crime delivers a gripping, edge-of-your seat read that you won’t be able to put down.

**Shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association Dagger Awards 2022**

The 12 tales in this impressive collection from bestseller Nesbo blend taut suspense with sharply limned characters

Publishers Weekly *Starred Review*

Richly atmospheric tales

Choice Magazine

A veritable crime lover’s delight from a true master of mystery and suspense

Book Reporter

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The Jealousy Man: From the Sunday Times No.1 bestselling author of the Harry Hole series Hardcover – 30 Sept. 2021

**THE NO.1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER** TWELEVE DARK GRIPPING TWISTS FROM THE KING OF SCANDI CRIME Meet a detective on the trail of a man suspected of murdering his twin; a hired assassin facing his greatest adversary; and two passengers meeting by chance on a plane, spelling romance or something far more sinister. In this thrilling new collection the master of crime delivers a gripping, edge-of-your seat read that you won't be able to put down. **Shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Dagger Awards 2022** *JO NESBO HAS SOLD OVER 55 MILLION BOOKS WORLDWIDE* *Watch out for KILLING MOON , the new Jo Nesbo book, out now* PRAISE FOR JO NESBO: 'A storyteller with few equals' Daily Express 'Deliciously dark' Heat 'Nightmare-inducing and terrific' The Times READERS LOVE JO NESBO: ***** 'Intriguing, mysterious, full of suspense' Netgalley reader ***** 'To say I couldn't put it down is an understatement...' Netgalley reader ***** 'A great read with plenty of twists and surprises' Netgalley read

• Print length 528 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Harvill Secker
• Publication date 30 Sept. 2021
• Dimensions 16.2 x 4.5 x 24 cm
• ISBN-10 1787303128
• ISBN-13 978-1787303126
• See all details

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Product description

The 12 tales in this impressive collection from bestseller Nesbø blend taut suspense with sharply limned characters. /.../ Frederick Forsyth fans will be enthralled.

A veritable crime lover's delight from a true master of mystery and suspense. Experience the #1 New York Times bestselling author as never before in this dark and thrilling short story collection that takes us on a journey of twisted minds and vengeful hearts. Jo Nesbø is known the world over as a consummate mystery/thriller writer. Famed for his deft characterization, hair-raising suspense and shocking twists, Nesbø's dexterity with the dark corners of the human heart is on full display in these inventive and enthralling stories. /.../ With Nesbø's characteristic gift for outstanding atmosphere and gut-wrenching revelations, The Jealousy Man confirms that he is at the peak of his abilities.

Nesbø delivers stories ranging from dystopian visions to time-honored tales of duplicity and revenge. /.../ Nesbø is at his best in the long, wonderfully atmospheric title story, which shows off his gift for pulling one story out of another.

About the Author

Product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvill Secker (30 Sept. 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 528 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1787303128
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1787303126
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 16.2 x 4.5 x 24 cm
• 1,407 in Crime, Thriller & Mystery Short Stories
• 8,663 in Short Stories (Books)
• 9,389 in Police Procedurals (Books)

About the author

Jo Nesbo is one of the world’s bestselling crime writers, with The Leopard, Phantom, Police, The Son and his latest Harry Hole novel, The Thirst, all topping the Sunday Times bestseller charts. He's an international number one bestseller and his books are published in 50 languages, selling over 33 million copies around the world.

Before becoming a crime writer, Nesbo played football for Norway’s premier league team Molde, but his dream of playing professionally for Spurs was dashed when he tore ligaments in his knee at the age of eighteen. After three years military service he attended business school and formed the band Di derre ('Them There'). They topped the charts in Norway, but Nesbo continued working as a financial analyst, crunching numbers during the day and gigging at night. When commissioned by a publisher to write a memoir about life on the road with his band, he instead came up with the plot for his first Harry Hole crime novel, The Bat.

Sign up to the Jo Nesbo newsletter for all the latest news: jonesbo.com/newsletter

Customer reviews

• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 5 star 38% 28% 20% 8% 6% 38%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 4 star 38% 28% 20% 8% 6% 28%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 3 star 38% 28% 20% 8% 6% 20%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 38% 28% 20% 8% 6% 8%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 38% 28% 20% 8% 6% 6%

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings, help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyses reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Customers say

Customers find the stories well worth reading, humorous, and fantastical. They also describe the writing style as clever and interesting. Readers describe the complexity as dark, vicious, thoughtful, and surprising. They say the content is great and very short reads.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the book entertaining, brilliant, and brilliantly written. They also say the tales are very good, different, and humorous.

" Good read " Read more

"...read all of these books and found each and every one of them a first class read , in structure, style and plot...." Read more

"...The second half, on power, is less impressive , apart from the last story. But hey, this is Jo Nesbo and his books are always worth the effort." Read more

"...Couldn't put it down. Brilliant ." Read more

Customers find the content great, easy to read, and captivating. They also appreciate the unimaginable situations and imaginative solutions.

" Short stories , some ok, I was expecting a bit more from Jo Nesbo to be honest." Read more

"...as a prolific reader, I'm certain that this is the best compilation of short stories I've ever had the pleasure to read...." Read more

" Multiple stories all easy reading ." Read more

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Customers find the writing style clever, thoughtful, and surprising. They also describe the stories as mini masterpieces.

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Maryse's Book Blog

Following my heart, one book at a time...

Book Review – Solstice by Lisa Sorbe

August 25, 2024 By Maryse Leave a Comment

Okay so I did something crazy yesterday and started and finished a book in ONE day!!!! HOLY MOLY I have not done that in YEARS!! It usually takes me a few days now (and even a week) to read a book since I have a million things to do, and blog posts (and book lists!!) to make, and distractions and mind wanderings etc etc.

But yesterday was a lazy Saturday, and  since it was “ husband and wife reading day ” (yep! my husband enjoys reading too and we decided to spend a quiet day reading), and I started this one (I’ve read one by her before and it rocked my world!!!!) and so I couldn’t wait to read her latest. And obviously… I could NOT put it down.

HOLY MOLY!! I absolutely LOVE this author like crazy and will find yet another to read by her ASAP. Not today though ’cause I’ve got some big weekly book lists to prepare, but ASAP.

Okay so what’s it about?

Now right off the bat, I almost put this book down when the first chapter started from a detective’s perspective. Ugh… not a police procedural. For now, in my reading life (past and present) I’ve just never been much of a detective/police/mystery “solve the crime” lover. I want to be in the bad guy’s head or in the victim’s head… everything leading UP TO (if there’s an “up to”) crime. Mind you I’ve read and loved quite a few mysteries that had the whole crime solving part, but, it’s just not what I crave.

So, yeah, if you feel the same way, don’t worry about the first chapter, because ALL the chapters following, are directly from the POV of the two main female characters (YAY US!!) – but mostly from “bad girl” Alexis’s POV (or… is it just that it’s her POV that I highlighted the most?) 😉  😀

So again, what’s it about?

A HOT MESS of <—all my favorite things. All the messy good stuff (in BOOKS!! Only and always in books!!!) Like… A love triangle (or quadrangle? LOL!!), deep friendship, psycho obsession, secrets, cheating, a hot and brooding biker gang leader, and… jealousy .

When I first laid eyes on Paige, I wanted to slap her. There was just something about her, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on, that made me want to cause her pain. That much I knew. I just didn’t know why. Didn’t know why my hands would curl into fists, my fingernails biting into the fleshy meat of my palms whenever we crossed paths in the foster house we shared. It was like there was something something coiled inside of me, a phantom serpent that awakened the moment we met, and it rose and swayed in my very core, hissing and spitting with a rage I’d never felt before.

So, good girl “Paige” and bad girl “Alexis” became inseparable best friends and have been since being young teens together in a foster home. Having lived traumas together growing up, they vow to take care of one another, and move in together as soon as they hit adulthood, even working together at the same restaurant.

Paige is engaged to a handsome doctor (Jace), and her life is pretty much set, while he plans on pulling her out of “Solstice” (the sleepy lakeside town where the rich are super rich and the poor are really poor).

I don’t know much about Jace, aside for the doctor thing. But I do know that he grew up here. Attended Solstice High, graduating a few years before me and Paige, and then enrolled in some swanky private college one town over. That’s where the two officially met, actually—the school where he got in on his parents’ dime and Paige got in on a full-ride academic scholarship. Because of course she did. Anyway, from what I’ve gathered, Jace hates this town almost as much as Paige does. As for me, this town is inevitable. I was born here, I was abandoned here, and if Fate has anything to say about it, I’ll die here.

And Alexis has her sights set on motorcycle club Prez, Blake Soren.

Blake f**king Soren. I love what this man does to me. And that’s why, for now, I’m content to be his dirty little secret.

Ahhhh the ultimate bad boy. Calm, cool, collected, respected, and emotionally… DARK AS NIGHT. Ooooomph, that character alone had me riveted (and I so wanted SO MUCH MORE of him). We could turn this into an entire series because of him. Just sayin’ 😉

…it’s more like the undeniable fact that Blake and I are inevitable. We’re one and the same, too broken and twisted for anyone else to ever understand. I’ve seen dark before, all shades of it, but never one that matched my own. F**k the norm, buck the norm. Blake and I are not the norm. He needs me, even if he won’t admit it yet. He needs me so he can—really and truly— be who he is .

And while both are beautiful. Alexis is a hot mess. She’s suffering from core wounds of abandonment that she continuously lives out over and over again with the men she chooses and the her own self-disrespect. And with that, she is extremely jealous of “perfect Paige” (rosy and sweet, and everything coming naturally to her, everything always working out just right)

…she doesn’t understand, will never understand, and will never have to understand. And that very fact pisses me off. Paige will never have to use her body to get her places in life, because she has brains, personality…and that goddamn air about her that just makes people want to do things for her. Paige is to the world like nectar is to bees. Desired .

while Alexis has to work, manipulate, and degrade herself for everything she wants.

Yet, she doesn’t see what Paige sees in her. A fighter that has “no f*cks to give”, and is true to herself, through and through.

But Paige doesn’t see Alexis behind the scenes… but we sure do. Oooooomph !!!!!

Paige is in the shower, the swoosh of water a white noise that masks our deceit. She’s singing Disney tunes, like she does every morning, her voice as sweet and pure as the f**king princess whose song she’s warbling. This ridiculous serenade flames my own desire, spurs me on, and suddenly I’m the villain, the wicked witch, wooing her fiancé with my wicked tongue. Power.

Paige has her own personality issues that she’s working through, and together, via their POVs, so much good, and sooooo much bad, is revealed.

I tip-toe through my days, treading the accepted path, the one society agrees is the safest, and grabbing as many layers of protection as I can along the way. College degrees—check. Stable fiancé—check. Appropriate weight, perfectly coifed hair, clear skin and shiny eyes and rosy cheeks—check, check, check. Polished on the outside, corroded on the inside. Not that it matters. People rarely look past the outer shell. Keep up the façade and they’ll never know how damaged you are. It’s how I’ve gotten by all these years.

Things are brewing internally within both main characters…

Something flutters over Alexis’s features just then, a dark something, as if her bone structure is rearranging beneath her skin. It’s so obvious, and so shocking, that I jerk back, right back, my heels butting up against the door with a loud thud. But she wipes her expression before it takes hold, and I’m left questioning my imagination…

And while I LOVED the first 3/4 of the book and couldn’t put it down ’cause I HAD to know how it was going to end, I’m going to say the last quarter of the book felt rushed. I hate when that happens. Interesting things brought in throughout the earlier storyline, were resolved within a sentence or a quick paragraph in the end. It just had too much of that stomp to the finish-line chaotic energy (that initially fit the storyline but we needed that tightly woven feel).

And yes, maybe I’m unfairly comparing it to her amazing “ Beautiful Savage “. That ending had me gasping and thrilled ’cause it was so clever and apropos and true to the main character and story as a whole.

I guess that need to finally arrive at the end, came pouring out, and that amazing writing flow, that seasoned/controlled writing feel, kind of fell apart. Tying up loose ends… quickly. Roughly. Not cleverly (though it DID have that amazing potential). Nothing really got the depth that it needed in the end, and it had those over-the-top night time soap opera scenes, playing in my head (and crazy character dynamics became cliché ). Okay yes, I know, the whole story was over-the-top but … believable . Written just right. The book was only 304 pages long. I dunno. Maybe it could have used an extra 50 pages to tighten it up. Okay so that’s all I have to say about that.

4 STARS (okay maybe 4.5 stars – I’m leaning on that)<— Right off the bat, two books in and I LOVE this author. She’s got that villainess feel just right. Along the lines of my beloved Tarryn Fisher. And this one was almost 4.5 or even 5 stars because WOW this book had me riveted and feeling and anxious and on edge and I was SO here for it. But that ending took some of that luster off. Don’t get me wrong… I DID like that ending, however it deserved so much more.

P.S. Thank you to the author for this review copy. The book came out in March and I just got to it now, but WOW. I want more!!!

LIVE!!! BEST FRIENDS... OR ARE THEY? " The good die young. But sometimes the rotten do, too. "

There are two types of people in Solstice, Minnesota: the rich and the not-even-close. The rich become richer, and the not-so-rich become…something else.

"... Paige would die for Alexis.

Alexis knows where she stands. Knows she’ll never get the kind of breaks that have been given to Paige, even though they both come from the same rotten foster home. She’s had to do things to survive that no one will ever understand—especially her goody-two-shoes sister from another mister. Alexis may have been born ruined, but it was life that turned her wicked. She’s just playing the hand she was dealt, that’s all.

Alexis sometimes dreams of hurting Paige ..."

I LOVED IT!! COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN & HERE'S MY REVIEW .

➔➔➔  Looking for more of my must-read recommendations? Browse my 5 star and 4.5 star and 4 star reviews. 😀

➔➔➔ Love this author? Check out more of my Lisa Sorbe features and reviews on my blog!

I Walked Down the Aisle With the Man Who Panned My Book on Goodreads

When the best man at my friend’s wedding gave my novel a one-star review, I wasn’t sure I could forgive him. It was harder, ultimately, to forgive myself.

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Sooner or later, we all come across our critics. Maybe it happens via a stinging romantic rejection, or a meeting about our “disappointing performance” in the job we worked so hard to get. In my case, I came face-to-face—literally—with my biggest critic while walking down the aisle with him. He was the best man at my friend’s wedding; I was the maid of honor. And he’d given my debut novel a one-star review on Goodreads.

With my first book, I blithely took the plunge. Most of my readers were friends and family anyway, so I spent far too much time gorging myself on their Goodreads praise. As a rabid people-pleaser who hated the idea of anyone disliking me, it was intoxicating to believe that maybe, just maybe, I’d done the impossible and created a piece of art that was universally loved.

Until a one-star rating popped up. My stomach dropped. I reminded myself that it was bound to happen sooner or later. Then I immediately clicked on the account to see who had decided to tell the internet that my life’s work was trash. I knew that name, didn’t I? Yes, he was a friend of my close friend’s fiancé. And not just any friend, either. He was going to be the best man at their upcoming wedding. And his maid of honor counterpart? That would be me.

.css-5zkyzd:before{margin:0 auto 0.9375rem;width:34px;height:25px;content:'';display:block;background-repeat:no-repeat;}.loaded .css-5zkyzd:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/latest/elle/static/images/quote.fddce92.svg);} .css-curasl{margin:0rem;font-size:1.625rem;line-height:1.2;font-family:SaolDisplay,SaolDisplay-fallback,SaolDisplay-roboto,SaolDisplay-local,Georgia,Times,serif;margin-bottom:0.3125rem;font-weight:normal;}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-curasl{font-size:2.125rem;line-height:1.1;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-curasl{font-size:2.125rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-curasl{font-size:2.25rem;line-height:1.1;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-curasl{font-size:2.375rem;line-height:1.2;}}.css-curasl em,.css-curasl i{font-style:italic;font-family:inherit;}.css-curasl b,.css-curasl strong{font-family:inherit;font-weight:bold;}.css-curasl i,.css-curasl em{font-style:italic;} It was intoxicating to believe that maybe, just maybe, I’d done the impossible and created a piece of art that was universally loved.”

I was indignant—and worried. Maybe the book was bad, and my friends had been sugarcoating their responses. But I was also confused. Did this man not realize how uncomfortable this would make the wedding? As the big day approached, I spent a lot of time questioning how best to handle the situation. Should I reach out to him to clear the air? Ignore him completely? Demand that he tell me exactly why he hated the book so that I could tell him why he was wrong?

At first, I tried rising above. Perhaps he’d be so taken by my friendliness and charm that he’d rethink his opinion of the book, even go back and change his one-star to a five-star! As we lined up for the ceremony, I locked my face into a smile, making semi-awkward small talk. I figured he knew that I knew about the rating, but neither of us mentioned it. We simply made our way down the aisle, arm-in-arm, to watch the beautiful ceremony.

But by the time the reception rolled around, politeness didn’t feel adequate. So I got petty. Both of us were due to deliver toasts to the crowded ballroom, and mine would be better ! This man might have hated my book, but I’d make it impossible for him to hate my speech. I tried to remind myself that the toast was about celebrating my friend and her husband, not about making their best man regret his life’s choices. Still, I couldn’t help feeling a surge of triumph when, at the end of my speech, the crowd rang with laughter and applause.

Finally, I got drunk. (This seemed, at the time, an appropriate response to Goodreads slander.) As the wedding guests grooved to a dance floor standard, with the encouragement of a couple other bridesmaids, I shimmied up to the best man and slurred-shouted, “So, what would you rate my toast ?” (I thought this was very clever.) I don’t think he heard me clearly amidst the guests’ Whitney Houston scream-singing, because he turned to me, confused. “What?” he yelled back. I wasn’t brave enough to repeat myself, so I danced away, Homer Simpson-ing back into the crowd.

We saw each other one final time, at the end of the night. He gave me a friendly wave and told me to reach out if I was ever passing through his city, as if totally unbothered by the feud between us. Or perhaps I’d invented the feud altogether.

Ultimately, my friend got the backstory from him: He’d bought the book as a show of support, and it hadn’t been his thing. He liked to keep track of his reading for himself, so he’d marked it with a one-star review without thinking about the fact that the review would appear publicly. As soon as he realized, he took it upon himself to delete the rating.

Even if he hadn’t, readers have a right to rate books however they wish. It’s part of the bargain that an author makes in exchange for getting their book published. Authors get to control so much when we’re in the writing process. We make up entire worlds where the characters do exactly what we want. We edit and futz with sentences until they shine. Then, if we’re lucky, we release our story into the real world, and suddenly it doesn’t belong to us anymore. It’s not for us anymore. And therefore we can’t expect to—nor should we desire to—control audience’s responses.

If I was going to keep writing, something that brought me so much joy and fulfillment, I had to forgive that best man. But more importantly, I had to forgive myself. I didn’t write a perfect book, and then, when someone forced me to face that fact, I overreacted by getting petty and annoyed. That was okay. That was human.

Acknowledging my own inadequacies ultimately allowed me to be more empathetic toward my characters, my readers, and myself. So my first novel hadn’t blown every single reader away. That meant there was room for me to grow. I would never write a perfect book, but I could use this man’s criticism to write a better one, pushing myself to dig deeper when I tried again—even while knowing that, still , some people wouldn’t love it.

Now, I’m grateful for that one-star rating. It was an early, impossible-to-ignore lesson that it’s not my job as an author to make every one of my readers happy, nor is it my job to monitor and police their responses—however natural the urge to defend myself might be. If there’s a person out there who’s managed to please everyone they’ve ever known—including their haters!—I’d like to meet them. To shake their hand, sure, and maybe study them for science. But also to tell them: If you’re willing to be hated a little, you might grow to love yourself more.

One-Star Romance by Laura Hankin

And it turns out that this man gave me so much more than a one-star review. He also gave me the idea for my latest novel, One-Star Romance , a romantic comedy about a maid of honor, the best man who gives her book a one-star review, and what happens when they’re forced back together each time their married best friends celebrate another life milestone. I took risks in the writing of this one, letting my characters make mistakes, trying to honestly capture that disorienting period in your twenties and thirties when, suddenly, everyone starts moving at different speeds and it’s easy to feel like you can’t keep up—that you’re doing something wrong. I knew the feeling well.

In real life, unlike in my book, the best man and I did not fall in love. Instead, I married someone who’s only ever rated my novels five stars. Occasionally, my husband goes on my Goodreads page and tells me snippets of nice things that people are saying. And sure, for One-Star Romance , I might have written down, “Someone apparently called it a masterpiece!!” on my Notes app, and maybe I look at that Note whenever I get anxious about publication. Because it turns out that, while risk-taking might get easier, it never gets easy .

Still, I’m so proud of this book. It’s better than my writing before; I’m better than I was before. I like to think that even my old best-man nemesis might begrudgingly rate this book more than one star. But since I no longer check my own Goodreads, I’ll never know.

Laura Hankin is the author of One-Star Romance , Happy & You Know It , A Special Place for Women , and The Daydreams . Her musical comedy has been featured in publications like The New York Times and The Washington Post , and she is developing projects for film and TV. She lives in Washington DC, where she once fell off a treadmill twice in one day.

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Michelle Obama’s Speech Turns Trump’s ‘Black Jobs’ Line Against Him

The former first lady enthralled a packed arena on Tuesday evening with one of the Democratic National Convention’s most emphatic takedowns of Donald J. Trump.

• Share full article

Michelle Obama Speaks on Second Night of Democratic Convention

The former first lady delivered a takedown of former president donald j. trump, asking, “who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those ‘black jobs’”.

For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black. I want to know. I want to know who’s going to tell him? Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those Black jobs?

By Katie Rogers

Reporting from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago

• Published Aug. 21, 2024 Updated Aug. 22, 2024

Michelle Obama, the former first lady and one of the most popular figures in the Democratic Party, delivered one of the Democratic National Convention’s most emphatic takedowns of former President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday night and turned one of his most controversial campaign lines against him: “Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs’?” she said.

Mrs. Obama, a reluctant campaigner, enthralled a packed arena in Chicago with a convention appearance that lent firepower to Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign. She offered support and praise for Ms. Harris, but focused much of her nearly 20-minute speech squarely on Mr. Trump, mocking his past comments, his background and his behavior, while mostly avoiding naming him.

And for a speech delivered at a political convention, her remarks struck a remarkably personal tone as she spoke of the former president, who led a multiyear campaign to question the birthplace of her husband, former President Barack Obama.

“For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us,” she said, adding that “his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black.”

She zeroed in on his debate-night complaint about immigrants taking “Black jobs” by pointing out that the presidency of the United States has been one and might soon be again. She said that Americans like Ms. Harris understood “that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward,” a reference to Mr. Trump’s business troubles. She noted that most Americans do not grow up with “the affirmative action of generational wealth.” (Mr. Trump was born into a wealthy family in Queens.)

“If we see a mountain in front of us, we don’t expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top,” she said. Line by line, she received thunderous applause.

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Michelle Obama blasts Trump at DNC, references Trump's 'Black jobs' comment

Former First Lady  Michelle Obama  dug into former President Donald Trump during her speech on  the second day  of the  2024 Democratic National Convention .

She  called out  his racist attacks against both former President Barack Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris. Throughout Barack Obama's presidency, Trump repeatedly and publicly doubted Obama’s US citizenship and, recently, questioned Harris’   racial identity

“For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us,” Obama said. “See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black.”

“I want to know — I want to know — who’s going to tell him, who’s going to tell him, that the job he is currently seeking might just be one of those Black jobs?” she added, referring to Trump’s recent statements that immigrants are taking “Black jobs .” . 

“It’s his same old con. His same old con. Doubling down on ugly, misogynistic, racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make people’s lives better,” she said.

Obama also referred to policies promoted by the former president, like limiting abortion and banning books, calling them “small.”

“Going small is the opposite of what we teach our kids. Going small is petty. It’s unhealthy. And quite frankly, it’s unpresidential,” she said. “So, why would any of us accept this from anyone seeking our highest office?”

More: Fashion at the DNC: After speech, Michelle Obama's outfit has internet buzzing

Obama, Pritzker, other DNC speakers blast Trump too

Obama’s speech was just one of many that blasted the former president Tuesday. Her husband  ridiculed Trump  for his “childish nicknames,” “crazy conspiracy theories,” and “weird obsession with crowd sizes.” 

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker , a billionaire, said that Trump is only rich in “stupidity.” And Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth criticized what she called “Trump’s anti-woman crusade.”

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Who is speaking at the DNC Wednesday?

The four-day long convention continues today, with featured speakers including former President Bill Clinton, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will close out the evening in accepting the Democratic vice presidential nomination.

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The Jealousy Man and Other Stories Paperback – September 27, 2022

• Print length 624 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
• Publication date September 27, 2022
• Dimensions 5.15 x 1.07 x 8.07 inches
• ISBN-10 059331557X
• ISBN-13 978-0593315576
• See all details

Editorial Reviews

About the author, excerpt. © reprinted by permission. all rights reserved., product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage Crime/Black Lizard (September 27, 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 624 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 059331557X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593315576
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.6 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.15 x 1.07 x 8.07 inches
• #3,812 in International Mystery & Crime (Books)
• #10,261 in Murder Thrillers
• #32,855 in Suspense Thrillers

About the author

Jo Nesbo is one of the world’s bestselling crime writers, with The Leopard, Phantom, Police, The Son and his latest Harry Hole novel, The Thirst, all topping the Sunday Times bestseller charts. He's an international number one bestseller and his books are published in 50 languages, selling over 33 million copies around the world.

Before becoming a crime writer, Nesbo played football for Norway’s premier league team Molde, but his dream of playing professionally for Spurs was dashed when he tore ligaments in his knee at the age of eighteen. After three years military service he attended business school and formed the band Di derre ('Them There'). They topped the charts in Norway, but Nesbo continued working as a financial analyst, crunching numbers during the day and gigging at night. When commissioned by a publisher to write a memoir about life on the road with his band, he instead came up with the plot for his first Harry Hole crime novel, The Bat.

Sign up to the Jo Nesbo newsletter for all the latest news: jonesbo.com/newsletter

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Customers find the stories riveting, satisfying, and well done. They also love the chess story at the end.

"...I try to find every work of his because every work is enthralling . This collection of short stories just continues the legacy...." Read more

"...Too close to home right now, I guess. Loved the chess story at the end , and I don’t even play chess." Read more

"... All the stories were clever , but as with any collection,there are standouts...." Read more

"...It adds up to a satisfying reading experience with such a good variety. Good read!Library Loan" Read more

Customers find the plot clever, captivating, and entertaining. They also say it never fails to surprise.

"...His novels using Harry Hole are terrifying, impassioned , breathtaking. I try to find every work of his because every work is enthralling...." Read more

"...to purchase this collection, but each story exhibits the fascinating philosophical complexity of his full-length novels!..." Read more

"...Stories are original and varied without a miss among them. Clever, captivating and highly entertaining. Very much recommended...." Read more

"Some good and some not so good stories. All of them quite creative , for sure, and all of them very dark. But that’s Nesbo, after all...." Read more

Customers find the writing style well-written, thought-provoking, and thumping good reading.

"...Jealousy Man_ attention: a departure from his usual fare, but thumping good reading ." Read more

"...The writing is at once urgent and lyrical . Each story asks the reader to further commit to the time, place, and purpose of the protagonist." Read more

"Jo Nesbo is a fantastic author . I have read every one of his books and watched movies of his books" Read more

"A book has not held my attention for a while until now. Well written & thought provoking. A must read." Read more

Customers find the variety of books in the story collection interesting. They also say the themes hold their interest.

"I was amazed at the variety of topics and content in this selection of short stories. Nesbo didn’t let us down. His jealousy stories intrigued me...." Read more

"...It adds up to a satisfying reading experience with such a good variety . Good read!Library Loan" Read more

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Fatal Jealousy

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