Title: The Sandman
Author: Lars Kepler
Series: Joona Linna, #4
Published: March 2018, Knopf Publishing
Format: Hardcover, 464 pages
Source: Publisher
Summary:
The #1 internationally best-selling thriller from the author of The Hypnotist tells the chilling story of a manipulative serial killer and the two brilliant police agents who must try to beat him at his own game.
Late one night, outside Stockholm, Mikael Kohler-Frost is found wandering. Thirteen years earlier, he went missing along with his younger sister. They were long thought to have been victims of Sweden’s most notorious
serial killer, Jurek Walter, now serving a life sentence in a maximum security psychiatric hospital. Now Mikael tells the police that his sister is still alive and being held by someone he knows only as the Sandman. Years ago, Detective Inspector Joona Linna made an excruciating personal sacrifice to ensure Jurek’s capture. He is keenly aware of what this killer is capable of, and now he is certain that Jurek has an accomplice. He knows that any chance of rescuing Mikael’s sister depends on getting Jurek to talk, and that the only agent capable of this is
Inspector Saga Bauer, a twenty-seven-year-old prodigy. She will have to go under deep cover in the psychiatric ward where Jurek is imprisoned, and she will have to find a way to get to the psychopath before it’s too
late–and before he gets inside her head.
My thoughts:
Lars Kepler is a new-to-me author but I can tell you this is definitely not going to be the last book I read from this husband/wife writing duo. And while this is the 4th book in their Joona Linna series, it is the first book being published in the states under this publisher and with a new translator. Plus it really does read like a stand-alone. I never felt like I was lost, though to be honest, I definitely plan on going back and starting from the beginning once the earlier books have been released – but I am waiting for them to be done by this publisher and translator – I want consistency!
This book, in a word…was AMAZING! I was completely and utterly stunned by how addicting this book was. Yes, it’s creepy, disturbing, haunting and chilling, but at the same time, once you start reading it, you just become consumed by it. And the short chapters just pull you in…I mean chapters that are a page or two, maybe three, how could you not just want to keep reading?
There are such vivid characters in this book – I’m talking really good, white hat type of guys and equally bad, deliciously evil, utterly disturbing type of guys. And those bad guys are the types that you can’t forget…no matter how hard you try. It’s the type that you need a good light-hearted, funny, happy-go lucky, sunshiny book afterwards to help erase just how bad they are type of bad guys. And yet I still loved every minute of this book – not so sure what that says about me, but oh well. That’s just a tribute to the writing and writers!
This is a chunkster of a book, coming in at 464 pages, but let me tell you, once you start it, you will not be able to do anything else. You will need to just set aside the time to just read it because I’m telling you, you will not be able to think of anything else. There is so much going on…and once you read that opening chapter…that prologue…you will be hooked. It’s one of the most chilling openings I’ve read in a long time. That hooked me right away. But it never really let’s up…it keeps you on edge all the way through.
This is such a dark and disturbing book, yet so addicting once you start reading it. It’s filled with fantastic characters and great twists and turns. I am definitely a fan of this writing duo and cannot wait to read more from them!!!
Books in this series:
- The Hypnotist
- The Nightmare
- The Fire Witness
- The Sandman
