The Sandman Audiobook By Lars Kepler cover art

The Sandman

A Novel

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The Sandman

By: Lars Kepler
Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
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About this listen

“With its tight, staccato chapters and cast of dangerous wraiths lurking everywhere, The Sandman is a nonstop fright.” (Janet Maslin, The New York Times)

The number-one 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 27-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.

©2015 Lars Kepler (P)2018 Random House Audio
Crime Thrillers Mystery Psychological Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Fiction Crime Scary Scandinavian Crime

Critic reviews

"The Sandman sends us off to dreamland with a nightmare that can make us happy." (The New York Times Book Review)

"If Jurek Walter reminds you of Hannibal Lecter, with his ability to impel people to act against their own impulse, you’ll be forgiven.... As with Jurek Walter’s powers of persuasion, I felt impelled by Lars Kepler to finish The Sandman. The characters got into my head and I couldn’t rest until the mystery was revealed." (Associated Press)

"Kepler - actually the husband-and-wife team of Alexandra and Alexander Ahndoril - is really good at this stuff. The chapters are short, the characters deftly drawn, and the action churns along." (The Washington Post)

Intricate Plot • Suspenseful Storytelling • Enjoyable Narration • Compelling Protagonist • Engaging Twists
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Does not suspend disbelief even a little bit. I do like the series but this one needed a good proof reader before going to press. It relies too heavily on deus ex machina and is overly contrived.

Exciting, predictable, and highly improbable

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Ok story. nothing original. could have been a lot better. Will not read this author again.

meh!

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I had read and enjoyed The Hypnotist so I looked for more from Kepler. The Sandman is even more compelling. The story is complicated and keeps you wondering how all the pieces fit together. One or plot decisions felt a bit unrealistic, but not enough to detract from the whole story. For mystery/thriller enthusiasts, I highly recommend it.

Couldn’t put it down

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Great book, keeps you guessing would recommend to others.
well definitely search for other books by this author

positive review

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This one starts out with great promise, but, as you get in to it Elgin’s to drag along. Maybe it was that there were so many characters, that there were too many sub-plots, or the best of it was lost in translation. I’m a big fan off Nordic Noir mysteries but this one was hard to get pasttth firew hours. I have listened and listened over and over o make sure I’ve not missed something but I just can’t seem to get past the first few hours. There were so many characters, all with confusing connections too the tale it was hard to keep. Up with things. To be fair, it may have gotten better the further the story developed, but, like I said, I couldn’t get past the first few hours and it began to become unenjoyable. It will be returned.

Long, drags, and a bit confusing at times

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I remember there was a time in history when I learned to write that these chapters were called paragraphs.

Chapters???

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A villain who stands up to Hannibal Lechtor taking place where the sun doesn’t shine at all.

Scary great story

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This book was engrossing and at times even exciting. The main reason that I give it a 4 is that it is looooong and moves slowly at times, even though I would not say it drags. The protagonist is smart, strong, and lethal as he faces off against a genius level serial killer. This is a VERY dark story, so definitely not for the faint of heart.

A solid 4 for me.

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Story is very good but it took me forever to get through this book just because I could stay engaged due to narration. It was just so not fun to listen to, unfortunately.

Narration is bad, story is good.

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I had to listen in spurts,as the tension was just too much. Looking for more after a brief respite. Maybe a comedy?

Hair Raising

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