Book Review: The Sandman by Lars Kepler

It is a long time since I have visited the Scandinavian Noir books by Lars Kepler so I excited to have the opportunity to read an ARC for their latest thriller featuring Joona Linna. Thank you for Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Sandman

Author: Lars Kepler

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Release date:  6th March 2018

Blurb

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

The action starts on the first page and the thrill does not stop until you reach the end. It took me a while to adapt to the use of present tense but along with the short chapters, I found it added to the urgency of the plot as the detectives race against the clock to find Mikael’s sister. The tension increases further with the dark, twisted world of the psychiatric ward Saga finds herself in. The villain of The Sandman is creepy, terrifying and taps into the fear I had of the Sandman legend I was told about as a child. It made me want to hide under the duvet more than once. Lars Kepler are at the top of their game in producing fast-paced novels with unpredictable twists and unforgettable, complex characters.

Would I recommend?

Oh yes but keep the lights on after dark!

Happy reading!