Jo Nesbø, author of the internationally bestselling Harry Hole series, returns with a stand-alone story set in the US but still connected to his Norwegian roots. The action in WOLF HOUR jumps between 2016 and 2022, and the setting is currently one of the most talked-about parts of the country: Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In 2022, Norwegian true crime writer Holger Rudi travels there to scout out information for his next book. It will be based on the notorious sniper the Wolf, who terrorized the area six years ago. Rudi hires a taxi driver to shuttle him around to specific parts of Minneapolis, which has a large Norwegian culture and history, and particularly the area that used to house the high-rise projects known as Dinkytown, where the sniper attacks started.

In the 2016 timeline, we meet Tomas Gomez, a troubled man whose past we will learn much more about later. He may have been the sniper who fired from the sixth floor of the Dinkytown tenement to take down Dante, a known gun dealer.

"WOLF HOUR will surprise and unsettle readers as Jo Nesbø once again regales us with his literary prowess."

An equally troubled man on the other side of the legal spectrum arrives at the scene but does not initially intervene as it is not a homicide. However, Detective Bob Oz has a keen sense of figuring things out quickly and rapidly closing the cases he works. He visits Tomas’ apartment and senses an odd kinship with him as it seems to be filled with the same feeling of emptiness as his own apartment.

Oz will become obsessed with this case as the body count from sniper attacks rises. The connection he makes will shake him to the core once he realizes who and what may be behind these killings. Oz finds a business card for a taxidermist in Tomas’ apartment and visits the shop. The owner shares what he knows, including that Tomas has a gang tattoo, X-11. One of their rival gangs is the Black Wolves, and Dante is a member.

Oz has a violent streak, and his physical manhandling of a perceived suspect at the police station ends up getting him temporarily suspended. However, he does not abandon the case that begins with Tomas and will continue to lead him down rabbit holes and dark parts of the city. It also will bring to light the similarities between the individual he is hunting down and himself. His exhaustive pursuit reveals a name, Lobo, which is Spanish for "wolf."

Lobo has been a notorious ghost by police standards with sniper killings going back decades and suddenly appearing and reappearing to strike again. Little does Oz know that his quest to take down the Wolf may cost him more than his job as his own soul is on the line. In 2022, Rudi also goes down some of the same rabbit holes as Oz did, and he will find more than he ever expected as he researches this dangerous story.

There aren't many writers on the planet capable of combining the grit of crime noir with the thrills of following a police investigation that is also anchored in the cultural and historical settings of the territory in which it is grounded. WOLF HOUR will surprise and unsettle readers as Jo Nesbø once again regales us with his literary prowess.