The received wisdom is that there are no serial killers in Sweden. When a number of fifteen year old girls go missing, much to his superior’s annoyance, Detective Sam Berger is convinced that there is a serial killer who is kidnapping, torturing and murdering these girls. However, Berger is not sharing his suspicions with his team that he knows the killer personally and what his motivation might be.

This is a fast paced thriller, taking place in a grim, wet landscape. There may be something in the Scandinavian climate which inspires these dark crime thrillers. This is the first in a new crime series based on two of the characters introduced in this book and it ends on a cliff hanger clearly to be continued in the next.

Sam Berger is looking for a 15 year old girl who has gone missing.

After a few weeks there are no clues, she has just disappeared, then a phone call leads Sam and his assistant Deer to an isolated farmhouse...........

This book is fast paced and keeps you interested at every turn, it was slightly confusing at first as there are quite a lot of characters to keep up with and a lot of action. It is the not normal slow paced Swedish Noir I have read before but would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who likes their stories hard paced.

At times I was literally holding my breath to see what happened next, read it and enjoy.

There is a cliffhanger at the end which was a little disappointing as I may not remember what has had happened by the time the next book comes out., but maybe that is just me!

Recommended.

Thank you to Random House UK and Netgalley for giving me the chance to read this book in return for an honest review.

When I started this book it really confused me. I expect Scandinavian fiction to be a slow burner with deep descriptions and weighty character development. However from page 1 we are literally thrown into the unrelenting action as Detective Sam Berger together with his trusty assistant Deer (Desire) smash rotten wooden planks and charges through the door of a ruined building, battering ram in hand, in search of another teenaged girl who has disappeared without trace.

At first I found the unrelenting pace not to my liking but as the story evolved and the complexities developed and ticked away, like the mechanics of well oiled Patek Philippe 2508, I began to settle into an enjoyable and clever thriller. In total 7 girls have disappeared and on searching through photographic evidence Berger notices that in a number of pictures, from separate crime scenes, a lady on a bicycle is always present. Her name is Nathalie Freden and if the detectives can successfully trace and connect her to William Larsson, the supposed killer then surely the case can reach a swift and needy conclusion....not so dear readers for in the hands of a very accomplished author nothing is what is seems. Very soon life for Sam Berger is turned upside down and the search is on for a sophisticated killer that stretches back many years where the skills of a murderer are honed and perfected in the seemingly innocent world of a school playground. What is the significance of a small mechanical cog left at each crime scene? and how is this connected with the theft of an expensive Patek Philippe watch from Detective Berger's prized collection?

The story is full of surprises and moved in directions that I did not expect, but equally really enjoyed, as the author presented a complex thriller in a very reader friendly format. Many thanks to the good people at netgalley who supplied me with an early gratis copy in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written.

Whilst searching for a missing girl, detective Sam Berger finds an abandoned crime scene. There is plenty of evidence that a gory event took place, but Sam is drawn to a small cog. Together with Molly Blom, Sam tries to hunt down a serial killer who seems to know them both, and piece together what the cogs mean.
I toyed with giving this book more stars, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Parts where great; these tended to be the tense, gory chapters with Sam and Molly in crime scenes, and even the torture scenes had me constantly turning pages. But the down time was so dull, I found it hard to stay interested. Because of this the story really dragged between the interesting parts, which unfortunately means I didn't care about the cliffhanger ending.
Whilst potentially promising, there are many more crime and thriller writers who do it so much better.

Thank you Net galley. An excellent police procedural. Dark, twisty, enthralling. Excellent mystery.

The aspen leaves are trembling.
And so will you .....

Wow! What a wild emotional rollercoaster ride this book turned out to be! Whilst some of the opening scenes were somewhat dark and confronting, I was settling in to read what I thought would be a fairly typical Scandinavian murder / mystery. And for a while, the story seemed to flow along a well-trodden path, as detectives Berger and Deer follow a lead to a derelict farmhouse where they hope to find a missing 15-year-old girl who they fear has fallen into the hands of a depraved predator. But they are too late. The house is empty and booby-trapped, with only a blood-splattered wall as evidence that the girl may have been held – and tortured – there. Worse still, Berger is convinced that the case is linked to the disappearances of two other teenage girls, who may have been taken by the same perpetrator. Can he make a connection between the cases and find them before it is too late?

“Time wasn’t on his side.”

Tic-toc, the clock is ticking! Clocks and time feature largely in this extremely clever and breath-taking thriller, written by a master of the genre. It was about there that the novel took a completely unexpected turn, even though there had been tiny clues like a trail of breadcrumbs leading up to this point, which I had totally overlooked, too comfortable in my assumptions. Until the rug was pulled out from under my feet so completely that it felt like falling headlong into an abyss. WHAT THE...?!?!?! Suddenly the whole world I had created in my mind came tumbling down. Who could I trust? What was real and what was merely a figment of my own complacency? Could I take anything for granted in this novel?

I loved how a large percentage of the action played out in tense and lively dialogue, which served to draw me deeply into the story almost immediately and created a movie-like imagery which haunted me even when I was not actively reading. This is a fast-paced novel, with non-stop action and some confronting scenes that will follow you into your nightmares. I read that Dahl was once quoted as saying that he didn’t want to dwell on evil but wanted to understand its roots in the past. Which is exactly the route Berger takes when trying to track down this perpetrator, and may be one of the things that sets this novel apart from your average murder / mystery. Whilst it certainly gets the adrenaline pumping, it also contains some deep and terribly sad scenes that challenge your own ideals and beliefs like only an author with a solid understanding of the human psyche can pull off.

There was nothing to fault in this masterful novel, one of the best I have read in a long time. How is it possible that I have not come across this author before now? A must-read for any lover of the murder / mystery genre, and readers who enjoy Scandinavian fiction at its finest. Try to let go of all expectations and preconceptions – this is a writer who has made it his mission to avoid formulaic writing and prefers endings that leave the reader thinking after closing the book. Which it certainly did! And since the last paragraph – despite the final shot aimed straight at the reader’s heart – opens the door for a re-appearance of our detective duo in future novels, I will definitely be watching this space!

Watching You has previously been released in other languages, but unfortunately we will have to wait until July to find it on our shelves. Put it on your wishlist today!

Utterly addictive,with so many twists,and a gripping story what more could you possibly want.
Honestly read this book it's a fantastic page turner,would highly recommended this regardless of your personal preference of book,stunning.

Lots of twists and turns to keep you glued to the page and forever guessing. Great plot and characters, it would make a fantastic film!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House UK, Vintage Publishing for an advance copy of Watching You, a Swedish police procedural.

Detective Sam Berger is hunting for missing 15 year old schoolgirl, Ellen Savinger. In the 3 weeks since she has disappeared there have been precious few clues until a phone call identifies a house with Ellen in it. What they find is a house of horrors but no Ellen. Sam is convinced he is looking for a serial killer but his boss instructs him not to mention this theory to the team without proof. And then he thinks he's found proof - tiny cogs found at each scene.

Watching You is a tense, exciting read with plenty of action and twists. There is a new discovery in every chapter to keep the reader enthralled and wondering where it is all going. I gave up trying to guess and just went where the author directed.

I initially described it as a police procedural and in some ways it is as procedure is what limits Sam's investigation, but not being procedurally minded he soon disappears off the grid to continue his investigation with the help of a like minded security agent, Molly Blom. This gives the novel an added dimension, police procedural and "private investigation".

Molly and Sam have a good rapport. A shared past gives them insights others can't or won't see and they have different strengths which complement each other.

The novel, however, is not without faults. There is a conspiracy theory hanging over it which is not explained and as it ends in a cliffhanger I assume the reader is being set up for a sequel. I'm not a fan of this kind of ending as I will have forgotten much of this novel by the time the sequel is published in a year's time and I like the loose ends tied up, preferably with a big, bright ribbon, at the end of each book. I, initially, had difficulty with the writing style until I got used to it. It seems quite opaque at times and I had to re-read some passages to make sure I had understood what was being said. Whether this is a translation or stylistic issue I can't say.

Watching You has an intricate plot with some interesting twists and It is fast paced and exciting, therefore I have no hesitation in recommending it as a good read.