The Hypnotist

The Hypnotist
Lars Kepler

HE WILL TRAP YOU IN A WORLD OF TERRORThe groundbreaking first novel in the bestselling Joona Linna thriller series. Perfect for fans of Jo Nesbo.A TRAUMATISED WITNESSKarolinska Hospital, Stockholm. Detective Inspector Joona Linna is faced with a boy who witnessed the gruesome murder of his family. He’s suffered more than one hundred knife wounds and is comatose with shock.A DISGRACED DETECTIVELinna’s running out of time. The police do not want him on the case. The killer’s on the run and there are seemingly no clues. Desperate for information, Linna enlists specialist Dr Erik Maria Bark, a hypnotist who vowed never to practise again.A DEVASTATING CASEAs the hypnosis begins, a long and terrifying chain of events unfurls with reverberations far beyond Linna’s case.

THE

HYPNOTIST

LARS KEPLER

Translated from the Swedish by Ann Long

Copyright

Published by Blue Door an imprint of

HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London, SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by Blue Door 2011

Copyright © Lars Kepler 2009

English translation © Ann Long 2010

Originally published in 2009 by Albert Bonniers Förlag, Sweden, as Hypnotisören

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2012

Lars Kepler asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

Source ISBN: 9780007359127

Ebook Edition © August 2013 ISBN: 9780007412457

Version: 2018-06-14

International praise for The Hypnotist:

‘Ferocious, visceral storytelling that wraps you in a cloak of darkness. It’s stunning’

Daily Mail

‘One of the best – if not the best – Scandinavian crime thrillers I’ve read’

Sam Baker, Red

‘A creepy and compulsive crime thriller’

Mo Hayder

‘Intelligent, original and chilling’

Simon Beckett

‘Mesmerizing … a bad dream that takes hold and won't let go’

Wall Street Journal

‘Crammed with memorable characters and well-crafted subplots’

The Sunday Times

‘Grips you round the throat until the final twist’

Woman & Home

‘A serious, disturbing, highly readable novel that is finally a meditation on evil’

Washington Post

‘A rollercoaster ride of a thriller full of striking twists’

Mail on Sunday

‘Riddled with irresistible, nail-biting suspense, this first-class Scandinavian thriller is one of the best I’ve ever read’

Australian Women’s Weekly

‘Lars Kepler enthralls readers with The Hypnotist, just like Stieg Larsson did with the Millennium series’

Norrköpings Tidningar, Sweden

‘A breathtaking thriller, which uncovers the many unpleasant sides of the human psyche. He opens the door to a human abyss’

Borås Tidning, Sweden