When a young man is found sleeping beside a dismembered body he is arrested for murder. In the course of the investigation, it is proved that he didn't do it, but that he could have vital clues to who did. Joona Linna and the team are tasked with tracking down this killer before more bodies are found. Not an easy task. The only forensic evidence is a blonde hair found at the scene. Hugo, the young man first arrested, is the son of author Bernard Sands. He and his girlfriend want to help the investigation as much as possible. They allow Hugo to be hypnotised at the sleep clinic to see if his memories can be recovered. An interesting and page turning thriller which I absolutely loved.

I did not realize how dark and gory and very much horror like this story would be. Set in the very fitting darkness and storms of Sweden with a killer that goes around with an axe and very much knows how to use it against those they deem worthy of being chopped into little bits. With the only surviving witness being a sleepwalker who wakes up in the middle of one of the crime scenes, it did leave me frantically reading through the story to see if it could be untangled before more people end up dead (sadly the killer is very prolific). Luckily Joona Linna is on the case, using DNA, hypnotists, and research into old cases, tracking down suspects with links to the crimes (sometimes with deadly consequences beyond the serial killer with the axe). The characters in this story are complicated like Joona with a ease in killing, or Hugo with his search for his mother and his troubling sleepwalking, or Agneta with her research into the case and working with Bernard to also get to the bottom of it before the killer decides to make sure the only witness can't reveal what he knows. There are weird dark bits like with Olga but I guess it added to the depth of the area where this is all happening. It was an interesting murder thriller, especially with the sleepwalker touch and I am now interested in what other cases Joona Linna has solved.

I am always drawn to the darkness of Scandi-noir, and Lars Kepler’s Joona Linna series delivers that darkness in full force. The Sleepwalker is brutal, chilling and impossible to look away from. It opens with an arresting and grotesque scene in a winter-closed campsite, setting the tone for a tense and unrelenting investigation. Seventeen-year-old Hugo Sand is found asleep beside a severed arm, covered in blood, with no memory of what happened. His rare sleepwalking condition adds another layer of uncertainty – is he a killer, a witness or something in between? As Joona Linna teams up with hypnotist Erik Maria Bark, the investigation spirals into a sleepless hunt for a serial killer who is far from finished. The combination of horror, psychological suspense and personal trauma makes this an intense read. Kepler’s pacing is razor sharp, the atmosphere is oppressive, and the twists keep the tension high right until the end. Read more at The Secret Book Review.

This chilling thriller explores the terrifying idea that someone can sleepwalk and commit murder but remember nothing.The chapters are short yet filled with tension where danger lurks around every corner. Parts are deeply sinster others brutally graphic this isn't a book for the faint hearted as it really gets under your skin. This Scandinavian noir really gives the reader what they want as long as you're ready to strap yourself in for the ride. Thanks to Netgalley and Bonnier Books UK for the Arc

Thank you NetGalley and Bonnier Books UK for this eCopy to review The Sleepwalker is everything I want in a Nordic thriller dark, disturbing, and utterly relentless. From the blood-soaked crime scene in a deserted Stockholm campsite to the psychological depths of trauma and memory, this novel gripped me from the first page and didn’t let go. It’s a story about sleep, secrets, and the terrifying things we’re capable of when we’re not even awake.