The Hypnotist - Joona Linna, Bk 1 Author:Lars Kepler, Ann Long (Translator) Tumba, Sweden. A triple homicide, all of the victims from the same family, captivates Detective Inspector Joona Linna, who demands to investigate the grisly murders -- against the wishes of the national police. The killer is at large, and it appears that the elder sister of the family escaped the carnage; it seems only a matter of time until she... more », too, is murdered.
But where can Linna begin? The only surviving witness is an intended victim -- the boy whose mother, father, and little sister were killed before his eyes. Whoever committed the crimes intended for this boy to die: he has suffered more than one hundred knife wounds and lapsed into a state of shock. He's in no condition to be questioned.
Desperate for information, Linna sees one mode of recourse: hypnotism. He enlists Dr. Erik Maria Bark to mesmerize the boy, hoping to discover the killer through his eyes. It's the sort of work that Bark had sworn he would never do again--ethically dubious and psychically scarring. When he breaks his promise and hypnotizes the victim, a long and terrifying chain of events begins to unfurl. « less
This new novel has been getting lots of "buzz" and for once, it's deserved. It keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout with fast pacing, an assortment of suspects, lots of plot twists and blind alleys, and a cast of truly disturbed (and disturbing) characters. Definitely a writer (actually a pair of writers working under a pseudonym) worth watching.
I enjoyed this book a lot. The plot was full of twists and the characters fully fleshed. I made extra time to read this book-always for me a guage of how good it was.
I did not care for this at all. It felt like there were two completely unrelated plots here which they tried to blend into one, but it just didn't work. Basically, the first plot completely disappears half way through the book only to suddenly pop up and be quickly and weakly resolved in, like, two pages toward the end. The entire police force was completely incompetent, with the main superstar detective not much better. And it wasn't like the police force was written to be weak so the brilliant amateurs look that much better in comparison. No. Because those people just happened to be slightly more lucky about information falling into their laps than the police were. Then there were the weird threats of sexual violence to the female characters by random people in passing.
This was a interesting story with lots of red herrings and plots that didn't fit into they story, it was a bit confusing at times when you would get a flash back without warning.
I was disappointed in not having the Ek family history and what the heck was going on there and how did it relate to the story other than the kid got mad he was hypnotized and took it out on Eriks family, just like the other one did-don't want to spoil it here.
I am glad I read the second book first since I liked it a lot better.
The premise of the story is a good one. Bodies of a family are found butchered. There are no survivors except for the teenaged son who is lying at death's door. Under hypnosis, the son confesses to the crime. This is where things get bit disjointed for me.
I found it confusing with the back and forth from present to past. Lots and lots of characters, which I think the author managed very nicely. I did not like the main characters. Detective Linna is a bit arrogant ...always demanding people to tell him he was right. Dr. Bark (the hypnotist) was portrayed as a very good father .. but a really lousy husband. And his wife was a woman who could forgive, but never forgot. She was constantly throwing his 'faults' in his face. Their son, Benjamin, also a teenager constantly called his parents liars and referred to living in a house of lies.
Throw in Dr. Bark's patients.. the ones who have been severely abused one way or another and you have a ton of back stories to remember.
I found the book a little disjointed .. not sure whether it was the actual writing or something may have been lost in the translation. Not the best book I've ever read, but not the worst, either. I will probably try another book of his just to make sure this one wasn't an anomoly.
I was told by someone who recommended this book to not rush through it .... now I can see why. I gave it 3 stars.
Bruce - reviewed The Hypnotist (Joona Linna, Bk 1) on
I gave this book almost 200 pages but I couldn't finish it. While the plot was interesting and the book contained a couple of exciting twists, the story meandered too long at too slow a pace and the writing was a big distraction for me. Lars Kepler is the pen name for a Swiss writing team so I don't know if it is the writing style or the translation that is at fault. Here is an example:
"Kennet suddenly turns up the volume of the police radio. A call has gone out. Someone answers, demanding information. In the brief exchange, Simone picks up something about a woman hearing screams from a neighboring apartment. A car is dispatched. In the background, someone laughs and launches into a long explanation about why his brother still lives at home and has his sandwiches made for him every morning. Kennet turns down the volume again."
The entire novel is written in this elementary, choppy style. It was too much for me. Even when I started to get pulled into the story, the writing was like a bucket of cold water over my head.
This almost feels as though it were written to be made into a movie. A tremendous amount of action and some sex thrown in for effect. It moves right along and since the chapters are very short, you can stop anywhere to finish a chore or whatever. This can be a pretty disconcerting read at first, since the point of view is first person present but with different characters take the lead. That can lead to some initial confusion at the beginning until the reader becomes used to the writing. It was a very enjoyable book and I do recommend it.
