The Kingdom by Jo Nesbo

 

The Opgard brothers grow up in rural Norway on the family farm their father calls The Kingdom.  Roy is the older brother, Carl the youngest.  Their father is hard and brutal, constantly pushing the boys.  Roy does what he can to protect Carl.  Carl is more like their mother, good-looking and full of charm.  Roy is slower, the victim of dyslexia which is misdiagnosed as mental issues.  Roy gets a job with their uncle in his garage; Carl shines at school.  But there are dark secrets up on the mountain that is the farm.  At night, the father abuses Carl with Roy in the bunk above, unable to help and listening to his brother's cries.   It leaves Roy determined to do whatever it takes to save Carl.

When the brothers grow up Roy stays on the farm, working at the service station which the garage has become.  Carl got out at seventeen, moving to the United States on a college scholarship.  Now he has come home, driving a shiny Cadillac and bringing a beautiful wife with him.  Carl is successful and has come home to build his vision; a luxury hotel on the farmland.  He has the gift of gab and soon the entire village has bought into the scheme.  But things go badly and soon there are tensions on the job site and with those the Opgard brothers grew up around.  There are secrets on the mountain and unexplained deaths.  There are rumors that the brothers have had something to do with the deaths.  But now, Roy has fallen in love with Carl's wife and there is an added layer of betrayal between the two brothers.  

Jo Nesbo is known for his Harry Hole series, a detective series with a brooding hero.  This novel is a standalone and it is also bleak and suspenseful.  Roy is a man torn by conflicting loyalties and secrets that he must keep in order to protect his younger brother.  The reader will emphasize with Roy even as he descends further and further into actions that are unforgivable.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.