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.  Lars Kepler are at the top of their game in producing fast-paced novels with unpredictable twists and unforgettable, complex characters.

Fast paced and wickedly delicious. A must read for any thriller lover!

The synopsis alone drew me in right away. Undercover in a psychiatric ward? Yes please! This book is just flat out fantastic. With multiple perspectives, the authors bring you right into the middle of this fiendish operation. Thirteen years and going strong, somehow Jurek still manages to terrorize his victims and their families. Uff, my beating heart and my soft spot for a truly villainous antagonist.

While the hardcover looks like a monster, do not let the size intimidate you. These are all 2-3 page chapters and it reads FAST. These types of chapters are always a hit for me.. and ingenious. Ok - just a couple more pages... a couple more... a couple more... next thing you know I'm an hour late to my friend's birthday dinner. Oops! 😈

This storyline just sinks its teeth right into you, growls and dares you to try and get away. Addicting and consuming, you will NOT want to put this down. My favorite character? Saga. This woman. BAD ASS. Prodigy or not, going undercover to go face to face with a known serial killer takes a lot of ... well it just takes a lot OF!

This is the fourth book in the Joona Linna series. If you're like me and like to read series books in order, do NOT let this deter you.... it reads like a standalone and you won't feel lost in any way.

I could go on and on about this book but what I'll do instead is just tell you to buy it, borrow it, pick it up. Set aside a few hours and strap yourself in (safety first!). This is a ride you're going to want to be on.

I’m a huge fan of Lars Kepler and the Joona Linna series and The Sandman is a brilliant addition. It’s as dark as the pitch black night and as riveting as the smell of roast chicken at a fast.
One of The Sandman's victims, Mikael, has escaped and is found wandering on train tracks. He has been missing for 13 years, abducted with his sister, Felicia, and this is the first breakin the case that Linna and his team have had.
Jurek Walter, the serial killer in The Sandman, is at least as terrifying as anything you will find in a Stephen King book. He is one of those killers that even the police are afraid of and when he speaks, you can feel the prickles on the back of your neck as your skin starts to grow colder. All of this is achieved without the need for graphic descriptions of violence which in some ways makes it even creepier.
Walter is a serial killer from the Hannibal Lecter school; intelligent, cunning, resourceful and absolutely lethal. So when Joona Linna realises that Jurek holds the key to Felicia’s whereabouts he knows that the police will have to have a sound strategy in place if they are to outwit him in order to get the information they need.
Not without trepidation, Joona sends in Inspector Saga Bauer, posing as a violent mental health patient. But Saga is one of three violent patients in the psychiatric unit and yet the worst violence may not come from either of the inmates. Whether Saga can survive her ordeal without being exposed is just one of the challenges she will face as an undercover cop in this hideous place.
The Sandman is all I want from a great crime thriller. Heroic detectives putting their own safety at risk for the public good; a creepy and dangerous serial killer or two, a tight and intricately woven plot and writing that holds you spellbound until the light goes and the book is finished.
You can read this as a stand- alone; as it happens I have been reading these books out of order for a while, but it does not matter because each is a self-contained book in its own right.
I loved The Sandman – highly recommended.

Family members disappear, the remaining members are forced to carry on never knowing what happened to their loved ones. A young man appears on a railroad bridge who was declared dead after going missing 13 years prior. This was an excellent thriller about a serial killer who doesn't fit the conventional patterns of the majority of serial killers. The chapters were short and suspenseful ending with enough of a cliffhanger that you had to read just one more to see what happened. It's always hard writing a review about a great book without giving away too much so I'd better stop and just say read this book!

Thank you Netgalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for the eArc.
Joona Linna is back! We finally get a closer look at his past as he is gently trying to find out from where a young man, Mikael, found incoherent and near death on railway lines in the cold and snow, seems to have escaped The Sandman. He and his younger sister disappeared years ago, thought to have been taken by Jurik Walter, the chilling serial killer who scares me as much as Hannibal Lecter...
Joona enlists the help of Saga Bauer, the police wunderkind, who reluctantly agrees to go undercover into the psychiatric facility where Jurik is under heavy guard. He is impossible to interview, as he is able to get under the skin of anyone who attempts to interrogate him. He is feared by everyone, to the point that his doctor wears earplugs so as not to hear what Jurik will say to him. He has an uncanny ability to sway people; to their and their family's severe detriment. But there is very little time to find out where Mikael's sister is being held. Michael is seriously ill and his sister will be near death or dying. That thought keeps Saga from falling apart and determined to get information from Jurik.
Many parts of the book had me holding my breath and the chapters describing Saga's time in the psychiatric facility were at times difficult for me to read, it gave me the shivers. The creep factor almost made me stop reading! I'm glad I didn't wuss out, because the last quarter of the story is incredibly exciting and the ending quite satisfying. It looks like we'll be seeing more of Saga in the next book, which is great as far as I'm concerned; she's quite a woman! I can understand why this series is so popular.

This is an excellent thriller. Joona Linna is shattered when a case from the past comes back to haunt him. A young man is spotted walking along railroad tracks--13 years after he was kidnapped and presumed dead. Mikael and his sister were victims of kidnapper/serial killer Jurek Walter who was apprehended by Linna not long after the children were taken. Mikael insists his sister is still alive...somewhere. Linna realizes there must be an accomplice but who and how has this person eluded capture for so long? With time running out, Saga Bauer, a young police officer is sent undercover into the psychiatric hospital where Walter is being held.

The 4th book in the Police Inspector Joona Linna series by the excellent writers known as Lars Kepler.
Having read and enjoyed the previous three books in this series I had no hesitation in reading this one and I loved it.
Jurek Walter is Sweden's most prolific serial killer, now serving a life sentence in solitary confinement and even now is still considered extremely dangerous by psychiatric staff.
One of his victims Mikael knows him as “the sandman” and seven years ago, he was taken from his bed along with his sister. When Mikael is discovered on a railway line, close to death, the hunt begins for his sister. To get the answers to the mystery Detective Inspector Joona Linna will need to get closer than ever to the man who stripped him of a family; the man who wants Linna dead.
I would like to thank Net Galley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.