Prepare for The Hypnotist to cast its spell In the frigid clime of Tumba, Sweden, a gruesome triple homicide attracts the intere...
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Jan 19, 2012
Kemper
rated it: 
I wish someone would hypnotize me and erase the memory of reading this book.
OK, it isn’t that bad from a writing standpoint and basic premise, but it had a lot of buzz that I didn’t think it came close to living up to. Slapping that “The Next Stieg Larsson!”* label on any new Swedish thriller is probably automatic at this point, but it sets up a reader up for disappointment when there’s no character anywhere near as interesting as Lisbeth Salander around. Extra disappointing when More...
OK, it isn’t that bad from a writing standpoint and basic premise, but it had a lot of buzz that I didn’t think it came close to living up to. Slapping that “The Next Stieg Larsson!”* label on any new Swedish thriller is probably automatic at this point, but it sets up a reader up for disappointment when there’s no character anywhere near as interesting as Lisbeth Salander around. Extra disappointing when More...
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Nov 17, 2011
Melissa
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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6 comments
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(12 people liked it)
Jan 13, 2012
Pam
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2 comments
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(5 people liked it)
Sep 07, 2011
Eric
rated it:
I really liked this novel, and would have given it four stars if not for three things that irked me about the way it was written.
1) The authors (this was written by a married couple) use the present tense in narration (e.g. Joona walks into the room and sits down). At first, I thought there was a compelling reason for this, but after finishing the book, I can't come up with anything, except perhaps that it was poorly translated into English -- do Swedish authors normally write in pres More...
1) The authors (this was written by a married couple) use the present tense in narration (e.g. Joona walks into the room and sits down). At first, I thought there was a compelling reason for this, but after finishing the book, I can't come up with anything, except perhaps that it was poorly translated into English -- do Swedish authors normally write in pres More...
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(13 people liked it)
Dec 21, 2011
Joe
rated it: 
I suppose I should say this is a spoiler alert. Read on at your own risk. I continue to be amazed by people's reviews. Many ( most) always begin by giving a summation of the plot. This is stupid and totally unnecessary. People already know what the book is about. Personal Reviews should tell what the reader thought. This is an amazingly hyped book. I would suppose that every publishing company wants to discover the next Steig Larrsen. Obviously, Its not that easy. First you need to be able to w
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(6 people liked it)
Feb 18, 2012
Kelsey
rated it:
I had heard that if you liked the Millennium trilogy and were looking for another Swedish crime fiction writer to check out "The Hypnotist" by Lars Kepler, and so I did. I was forwarned by the obnoxious review on the back cover: "Soon there will be Stieg Larsson crime fiction people and Lars Kepler crime fiction people. I'm henceforth in the latter camp. The Hypnotist is every bit the equal of the Millennium Trilogy--riveting narrative momentum, fascinatingly grisly forensics,
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Feb 08, 2012
Terri
rated it:
Holy smokes, this turgid potboiler has more false starts, dead ends, and abrupt changes in direction than a monster maze puzzle. If stuffing an excessive number of pages with clunky, irrelevant, and implausible plot devices were a mark of quality, this would be a Cadillac. Sadly, I found it to be more of an Edsel – it just didn’t work for me. Apparently, comparisons have been made to Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – hmmm, I guess I was able to identify three: 1) the authors are Swedish; 2) the set
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Feb 07, 2012
Gordon
rated it:
The Hypnotist is best described as a depraved page-turner of a novel. In the same vein as "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" -- also written by a Swedish novelist -- the novel focuses heavily on psychotic killers with a fondness for torture and other gruesome forms of havoc and mayhem. It's very skillfully done, if by "skillful" you're thinking of story-telling of the kind that gets you hooked and keeps you reading until 2:00am. In my case, it may even have been 3:00am. The c
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Jan 09, 2012
Ângelo
rated it: 
Erik Maria Bark, personagem central do livro, é raptado do seu sono pela Dra. Daniella Richards, sob ordens do comissário de polícia Joona Lima, para comparecer de emergência no hospital karolisnka onde se encontra Josef Ek, um jovem de 15 anos, que sobreviveu a um massacre efectuado na sua própria casa.
Esta serie de telefonemas entre Erik, Joona, Daniella e Simone cria uma situação engraçada de mal-entendidos que levam Simone a iniciar nova uma suspeição de traição a si infligida pelo seu More...
Esta serie de telefonemas entre Erik, Joona, Daniella e Simone cria uma situação engraçada de mal-entendidos que levam Simone a iniciar nova uma suspeição de traição a si infligida pelo seu More...
Jan 04, 2012
Rachel
rated it:
A school teacher, his wife, and his daughter are brutally murdered in Tumba, Sweden. His fifteen year old son survives the attack but is hospitalized and in a state of shock. Detective Joona Linna asks psychiatrist Dr. Erik Maria Bark to hypnotize the boy to gain information about the murderer. Bark swore off hypnotism ten years ago after his last hypnotic experience resulted in tragedy. He reluctantly gives in to Detective Linna, only to set off a terrible chain of events.
This book More...
This book More...
Dec 24, 2011
Ashland Mystery
rated it: 
"Methadone for readers suffering from Stieg Larsson withdrawal" says Laura Miller, Salon - oh so true!
The Hypnotist is a non-stop, gruesome and bloody Swedish labyrinth. The work opens with the savage murders of a school teacher and his family, only two children escaping the butchery. The Hypnotist is Erik Maria Bark, a psychiatrist who's been forbidden to practice his specialty after a patient acuses him of inappropriate behavior and malpractice. There's a evil assortment More...
The Hypnotist is a non-stop, gruesome and bloody Swedish labyrinth. The work opens with the savage murders of a school teacher and his family, only two children escaping the butchery. The Hypnotist is Erik Maria Bark, a psychiatrist who's been forbidden to practice his specialty after a patient acuses him of inappropriate behavior and malpractice. There's a evil assortment More...
Nov 25, 2011
Ian
rated it:
Always deeply suspicious of pairs of writers producing a book. How does that work? One person writes one chapeter, the other the next. Is it more granular than that.
This book had a good review in the mail and comes with heaps of praise from noone that you have ever heard of on the jacket.
Its not exactly standard crime fayre - although its starts off in that way - a series of very short 2-3 page chapters shows Josef Ek - 15 years old and the only member of a family at home More...
This book had a good review in the mail and comes with heaps of praise from noone that you have ever heard of on the jacket.
Its not exactly standard crime fayre - although its starts off in that way - a series of very short 2-3 page chapters shows Josef Ek - 15 years old and the only member of a family at home More...
Nov 16, 2011
CJ
rated it:
I loved the Stieg Larsson books. Enjoyed reading them, enjoyed the movies - all of it. When a friend of mine suggested that I read this one (listen really) I jumped at the chance. I was hoping to get another great Swedish mystery that kept me hanging to the very last page. What I'm left with is the same sort of feeling I get when I eat too many cookies. Slightly sick to my stomach and disbelief that I finished all of them.
I hated most of the characters in this book. The main one, Joo More...
I hated most of the characters in this book. The main one, Joo More...
Nov 11, 2011
Scout
rated it:
If you begin this Swedish mystery novel, be prepared to spend some time with it - 503 pages of small print, with no wasted space. This was a good reading experience for me, but since I had to read the novel over several sittings, I did have to look back at times to refresh my memory. I think it was edited well, though, and the writing flowed.
Complex characters and plot keep the reader interested. The omniscient point of view throughout most of the novel lets us see the action as More...
Complex characters and plot keep the reader interested. The omniscient point of view throughout most of the novel lets us see the action as More...
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Nov 02, 2011
Sario
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(4 people liked it)
Oct 30, 2011
Kendra
rated it:
This is a new thriller from Swedish authors that has sort of been promoted as the next Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Here's my take on that comparison: I actually got absorbed into this story much more quickly than I did Dragon Tattoo (which I almost stopped reading a half dozen times during the first 5o pages), and while I read this story more quickly than Dragon, I really think the writing in Dragon is superior. Which book did I have more fun reading? Probably this one, but which asked more int
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Sep 25, 2011
Sharon
rated it:
The Hypnotist was a good thriller, but in my opinion it did not live up to the hype that it received, and it was not quite worth the 503 page investment.
I did find myself intrigued and interested many times throughout the story, but there were also numerous instances where the story felt disjointed, and there were sections of the book where I couldn’t find a character that I actually wanted to read about. The authors start strong, with a solid protagonist- Detective Inspector Joona Linna More...
I did find myself intrigued and interested many times throughout the story, but there were also numerous instances where the story felt disjointed, and there were sections of the book where I couldn’t find a character that I actually wanted to read about. The authors start strong, with a solid protagonist- Detective Inspector Joona Linna More...
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Sep 16, 2011
Roberta
rated it:
Le tre stelle sono dovute al fatto che raramente ne metto meno, un libro deve essere proprio una schifezza. L'ipnotista non è una schifezza totale, ma ci si avvicina parecchio.
Partiamo dal fatto che è un thriller, ma leggendolo la suspense, quel desiderio di sapere cosa succede che fanno di un libro un "page-turner", mancano del tutto, è già questo è grave. Il libro affronta molte tematiche drammatiche ma il pizzicore agli occhi c'è stato una volta sola, in una scena che tra l'a More...
Partiamo dal fatto che è un thriller, ma leggendolo la suspense, quel desiderio di sapere cosa succede che fanno di un libro un "page-turner", mancano del tutto, è già questo è grave. Il libro affronta molte tematiche drammatiche ma il pizzicore agli occhi c'è stato una volta sola, in una scena che tra l'a More...
Sep 11, 2011
Gerald
rated it:
I have to give the conclusion to the story a big pat on the back. This was unquestionably the most compelling, unable-to-put-it-down ending I’ve ever read. Spell-binding!
So why didn’t I like this book? There are too many reasons to detail, but here are a few that really bug me. One is the use of flashbacks. Just when something interesting to the plot is about to happen, we are detoured way back in time for flashbacks so lengthy that frankly, by the time there were over, I had al More...
So why didn’t I like this book? There are too many reasons to detail, but here are a few that really bug me. One is the use of flashbacks. Just when something interesting to the plot is about to happen, we are detoured way back in time for flashbacks so lengthy that frankly, by the time there were over, I had al More...
Aug 22, 2011
Creepy cover + creepy tale = good read. The Hypnotist is a debut novel for Lars Kepler (a husband and wife team from Sweden)
Three members of the Ek family have been brutally murdered. Their son Josef was miraculously found alive amongst the carnage. Inspector Joona Linna is brought in on the case. Dr. Erik Bark is one of the physicians at the hospital Josef brought to. Bark was a renowned hypnotist, using his skill to help patients uncover and heal from trauma. However he has sworn o More...
Three members of the Ek family have been brutally murdered. Their son Josef was miraculously found alive amongst the carnage. Inspector Joona Linna is brought in on the case. Dr. Erik Bark is one of the physicians at the hospital Josef brought to. Bark was a renowned hypnotist, using his skill to help patients uncover and heal from trauma. However he has sworn o More...
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Aug 09, 2011
Marleen
rated it:
I had seen many good to very good reviews for this book before I bought it, so my expectations were high. Maybe too high?
This thriller starts with the discovery of the brutal murder of a family. The father, mother and young daughter have all been horrifically killed in what must have been a frantic knife-attack. Their son, 15 year old Josef is the only survivor and only barely hanging on to life. There is an older sister as well, who was living away from the family home, and Detectiv More...
This thriller starts with the discovery of the brutal murder of a family. The father, mother and young daughter have all been horrifically killed in what must have been a frantic knife-attack. Their son, 15 year old Josef is the only survivor and only barely hanging on to life. There is an older sister as well, who was living away from the family home, and Detectiv More...
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(1 person liked it)
Aug 02, 2011
Christine
rated it:
With the success of the Stieg Larsson books, inevitably, comparisons are made to books by other Swedish writers. I had been hearing so much hype about this book I had to go from one book of “umlauted” names right into the next. Again, a very intriguing murder mystery but with a totally different tone. As the book opens we meet Detective Inspector Joona Lina, investigating a particularly nasty homicide of apparently an entire family. We soon discover that two children are alive, one sister wh
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(2 people liked it)
Jul 30, 2011
Hmmm hvad kan jeg sige om denne her bog???
Er ikke synderligt imponeret, er faktisk ret skuffet.
Kan ikke forstå hvorfor den er udråbt til at være den nye Stieg Larsson.
Der er godt nok nok med blod, død og vold i bogen, men hvor er det ganske irriterende at et forældrepar kan være så panisk irriterende og ikke tænker på egensikkerhed overhovedet for at redde deres søn (der har en blødersygdom) som er blevet bortført fordi faren Erik Maria Bark har brudt et løfte om ikke at hyptonisere mere.
Plus fa More...
Er ikke synderligt imponeret, er faktisk ret skuffet.
Kan ikke forstå hvorfor den er udråbt til at være den nye Stieg Larsson.
Der er godt nok nok med blod, død og vold i bogen, men hvor er det ganske irriterende at et forældrepar kan være så panisk irriterende og ikke tænker på egensikkerhed overhovedet for at redde deres søn (der har en blødersygdom) som er blevet bortført fordi faren Erik Maria Bark har brudt et løfte om ikke at hyptonisere mere.
Plus fa More...
Jul 27, 2011
Michele
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jul 26, 2011
Karen
rated it:
I can't say I didn't like this book. I just had some issues with it. I liked the story line. Very dark, but interesting - a definite thriller! But if there's one thing I can't stand, it's unresolved plot twists. So if anyone can help me with these, please feel free...
1. When Evelyn Ek is being consoled by a female police officer after hearing about her family's demise and disclosing some info about her disturbed and disturbing brother, she bites the officer in the neck and actua More...
1. When Evelyn Ek is being consoled by a female police officer after hearing about her family's demise and disclosing some info about her disturbed and disturbing brother, she bites the officer in the neck and actua More...
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Jul 24, 2011
Robin
rated it:
The book jacket says this novel ranks alongside The Silence of the Lambs and The Shining. Which it doesn't.
It starts with an absolute abattoir of murder with a whole family hacked to pieces. All of which is extremely unpleasant.
One member survives (inexplicably, as it turns out). Detective Joona Linna thinks this boy, Josef, can provide a link to the murderer, but he must act quickly before the boy's elder sister, who wasn't around during the horrorshow, can also become a vic More...
It starts with an absolute abattoir of murder with a whole family hacked to pieces. All of which is extremely unpleasant.
One member survives (inexplicably, as it turns out). Detective Joona Linna thinks this boy, Josef, can provide a link to the murderer, but he must act quickly before the boy's elder sister, who wasn't around during the horrorshow, can also become a vic More...
Jul 24, 2011
Carrie
rated it:
I've read that this book is the first of a series which is the only reason I give 3 stars instead of 2. The authors set up several characters with ongoing personal issues that if expanded on in later titles might be worth the effort. I suppose it is too much to ask any more for one book to set up a plot with interesting and fully developed characters, throw in a little action or suspense, and then tie it up nicely or even satisfyingly by the end. Everyone it seems now wants to cash in on a serie
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Jul 21, 2011
Joan
rated it:
What a mess this book is. I have read nothing but raves about it, but was really disappointed.
Sure it is written by a Scandinavian couple, but there is no sense of place.
Way too much going on for one book much of which is distracting. Seriously.
Overwrought dialogue and thin charactization.
At 503 pages it is quite a boat anchor and here is a sample of the lousy writing that makes it that long:
"Before he has time to reply, she leaves the room and More...
Sure it is written by a Scandinavian couple, but there is no sense of place.
Way too much going on for one book much of which is distracting. Seriously.
Overwrought dialogue and thin charactization.
At 503 pages it is quite a boat anchor and here is a sample of the lousy writing that makes it that long:
"Before he has time to reply, she leaves the room and More...
6 comments
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(4 people liked it)
Jul 18, 2011
Laurel
rated it:
Its authors are Swedish and the scenes are often gruesome, but aside from that I think we can dispense with comparisons to Sieg Larsson's international sensation. There's no Lisbeth Salander nor a Mikael Blomkvist. I enjoyed The Hypnotist; it held my interest, but I was often frustrated with the novel's two main characters, Detective Inspector Joona Linna and Dr. Erik Maria Bark. Joona Linna, much to his detriment and the physical well being of others, was bothered by something he "knew h
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Jul 12, 2011
Saxton B. Little
rated it:
The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler (pseudonym)is a good summer read if only for its cold setting.It's being billed as a natural for fans of The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo. Don't read it however, if you're looking for the next Lizbeth Salander. The Hypnotist is a Swedish thriller, translated and brought to our shores in keeping with our craving of more of this genre.
The Hypnotist starts out with enough brutal killing for any die hard fan of graphic, sadistic slayings. The scene is horribly More...
The Hypnotist starts out with enough brutal killing for any die hard fan of graphic, sadistic slayings. The scene is horribly More...
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