Hypnotisören - "The Hypnotist" By Lars Kepler

I've been reading books in Swedish lately, and in order to "keep up" with my friends and family back home I researched the most sold Swedish books in 2010 and Hypnotisören by  Lars Kepler** came in as #3.  I downloaded it as an eBook in Swedish, but the English version will be released in Canada on July 5th under the name "The Hypnotist".   Take a peek inside a chapter:   http://browseinside.harpercollins.com.au/index.aspx?isbn13=9780007359103

The story begins with a triple murder.  A man is found brutally murdered in the change-room of a local sporting complex.  Shortly thereafter his wife and daughter are discovered butchered in the family home.  Their teenage son is found severely injured with over 100 knife wounds and barely alive.  He is rushed to emergency where he floats in and out of consciousness.  Detective Joona Linna discovers that there is one more family member alive; a sister and he needs to find her before the killer does.  
Doctor Eric Maria Bark is called upon to hypnotize the boy in the hope of getting a description of the killer.  However, Eric Bark had sworn never to practice hypnosis again.   When Erik breaks his promise and hypnotizes the boy...a chain of events begin to unfold leading you into another story, and another story, which eventually leads to the kidnapping of Eric Barks son, and Eric having to revisit his past.

I really enjoyed this book and stayed up way best my bedtime for a few nights to finish the book.  I like books that are unpredictable, where I have a feeling about "who did it", but I'm not quite sure.  The only criticism I have about "Hypnotisören" is that some of the plots seem unresolved, specifically the "bullying kids and the Pokemon".  

I would love to read the book in English as well, to see if I feel differently about the book.  I preferred the Stieg Larsson http://www.stieglarsson.com/ books in Swedish, but I thought Henning Mankell's, one of the words best selling authors, books were better in English.  Perhaps it has to do with the translation.

The movie rights to the title has been sold and with the right cast and director, it should make for an interesting and thrilling story.

**Lars Kepler is actually a pseudonym, and when the book was first published in Sweden, the hunt begun to figure out who had written this book.   A married couple in their early 40's, Alexander and Alexandra Coelho, eventually went public.  A sequel to this book "Paganinikontraktet" was published in July 2010 and  has received great reviews.   Some believe the sequel is an even better book. 

I'd give this book a 4 STAR out of 5.