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'''''Headhunters''''' ([[Norwegian language|Norwegian]]: ''Hodejegerne'') is a [[crime novel]] by [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] writer [[Jo Nesbø]]. It was first published by [[Aschehoug]] in January 2008. The book follows Roger Brown, who works as a corporate recruiter. As a side hustle, he steals high-value art from prospective recruits.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Meadows |first=Susannah |date=2011-09-14 |title=Newly Released Books (Published 2011) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/15/books/new-novels-irma-voth-boxer-beetle-cabin-headhunters.html |access-date=2025-08-29 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en}}</ref> Brown learns that one recruiter has a painting by Peter Paul Rubens that he attempts to steal, and things go horribly wrong.
The book follows Roger Brown, who works as a corporate recruiter. As a side hustle, he steals high-value art from prospective recruits.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Meadows |first=Susannah |date=2011-09-14 |title=Newly Released Books (Published 2011) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/15/books/new-novels-irma-voth-boxer-beetle-cabin-headhunters.html |access-date=2025-08-29 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en}}</ref>
== Plot ==
The book is told in [[First-person narrative|first-person narration]] by Roger Brown.
The book is told in [[First-person narrative|first-person narration]] of Roy Opgard, a [[Dyslexia|dyslexic]] mechanic in the small town of Os. As a teenager, Roy cuts the brakes on his parents’ car, sending them over a precipice in retaliation for his father’s abuse of his younger brother, Carl. The town sheriff investigates, and in a panic, Carl pushes him over the same cliff. The brothers make the sheriff’s death look like a suicide.
As grown men, Roy and Carl set out to build a luxury hotel in Os. The new sheriff is the son of the previous sheriff, and he doggedly pursues the brothers, suspecting them of murder. While building the hotel, the brothers come into conflict with a local businessman, who hires a hitman to eliminate them. Roy turns the scheme around by making it appear as though the hitman killed the businessman, before sending the hitman and his car over the cliff.
Carl bludgeons his wife, Shannon, to death, believing she had an affair with an American businessman. Shannon, unbeknownst to Carl, was actually having an affair with Roy and was pregnant with his child. Nonetheless, a heartbroken Roy helps Carl stage her death as yet another crash at the same precipice.
== Reception ==
Writing for The Independent, Christian House described the novel as a "masterclass in obfuscation and psychological parrying".<ref>{{Cite news |last=House |first=Christian |date=2011-10-01 |title=Headhunters, By Jo Nesbo |url=https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/headhunters-by-jo-nesbo-2364180.html |work=[[The Independent]]}}</ref>
In a review for ''[[The New York Times|The New York Times,]]'' [[Charles McGrath (critic)|Charles McGrath]] described the plot as a complex puzzle in which a man "remorselessly puts his family above everything".<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=McGrath |first=Charles |date=2020-11-06 |title=Jo Nesbo’s New Book Stars an Antisocial Loner. It’s Not Harry Hole. (Published 2020) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/books/review/jo-nesbo-the-kingdom.html |access-date=2025-08-28 |language=en}}</ref> McGarth, however, reserved some criticism for the final act, writing: "The ending is sudden and startling and — to me, anyway — a bit of a psychological stretch." Writing for ''[[The Washington Post]]'', [[Richard Lipez]] praised Nesbø's ability to instill humanity in morally problematic characters.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Lipez |first=Richard |date=2020-11-09 |title=Review {{!}} Jo Nesbo’s ‘The Kingdom’ is a suspenseful bundle of Norwegian noir that’s almost impossible to put down |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/jo-nesbos-the-kingdom-is-a-suspenseful-bundle-of-norwegian-noir-thats-almost-impossible-to-put-down/2020/11/09/a86ed27a-22a0-11eb-952e-0c475972cfc0_story.html |access-date=2025-08-28 |work=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> He also described the novel as a page turner: "You're so curious about what the next episode will bring that even if you've stepped away from the book for a meal or a good night's sleep, you feel like one of those 19th-century readers who stormed the New York Harbor, awaiting the arrival of a new installment of a Dickens novel."
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