Wolf Hour by Jo Nesbo

Wolf Hour by is the latest novel by Jo Nesbo. Published in 2026, I picked it up nice and cheaply in Sainsbury’s recently. Jo Nesbo is one of my favourite authors, but I prefer his Harry Hole novels to his standalone novels. But this could be his best standalone novel to date, in my opinion.

Wolf Hour moves away from Nesbo’s native Norway to the streets of Minneapolis, although some of his characters do have Norwegian origin. When a small-time crook is shot in a notorious area of the city, it appears that a lone wolf sniper has fired the shot and disappeared. But then he strikes again and it starts to look like serial killer is at work in Minneapolis.

Bob Oz is the detective initially working on the case. He’s pretty confident he knows who the killer is. The killer has cleared out his apartment, but left just enough evidence behind. Oz just needs to find him. But he also needs to learn to behave himself…

Oz is taken off the case, but he can’t let it go. He has leads he’s unwilling to share with colleagues. Is he putting himself in danger?

Wolf Hour follows various characters, including Oz, the killer and Oz’s colleague in the homicide department, Kay Myers.

It took me a while to get into Wolf Hour. But then the twists started and I found myself hooked. There is a theme of male loneliness running through the book and a feeling that Oz and the killer have a lot in common. There is also a strong thread on gun ownership in the USA. Set in autumn 2016, there’s some subtle digs at Donald Trump, ahead of his first four years as president.

The setting in the USA makes the scale of Wolf Hour feel much bigger than the Harry Hole novels, and infinitely bigger than his smalltown series consisting of The Kingdom and Blood Ties. If you enjoy a police and guns type thriller, with lots of twists and turns, I would definitely recommend Wolf Hour.