The Sleepwalker by Joseph Knox

It’s complicated

This is the third in the Aidan Waits series.

DS Aidan Waits is not a popular policeman. He has blotted his copybook in the worst way possible and is ostracised by his colleagues and hated by his bosses. He is on the way out and has been given a final task – to sit with a dying serial killer in order to extract information from him which will lead the police to the location of his final victim.

Events overtake Waits as he does his stint at the hospital and his charge is in turn murdered. However, with his dying breath he seems to tell Waits that he was not the perpetrator of the crimes for which he was convicted. Waits goes in search of the truth, much to the displeasure of everyone associated with him but he’s a man who won’t be swayed from his objective.

This review started with the phrase “it’s complicated” and it is. It’s a very complicated plot so the reader has to keep his wits about him. There’s subplot on subplot to get to grips with and the relationships between the characters are some of the most complex I have seen in this genre. That in itself leads on to it being complicated to assess. There were areas of the book which were gripping and where the pages seem to turn themselves – the denouement is an excellent example of this, particularly as all the threads are drawn together in a spectacular way. However, there were other episodes which seemed to drag and get bogged down. I’ll gladly forgive the author that though as I am always asking for light and shade and a change of pace so can hardly complain when I am presented with just that.

Despite the “hero” being yet another flawed character, which seems to be a popular theme these days, the series can be highly recommended.

mr zorg

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book for review

This is book three of a great series of books featuring DC Aidan Watts and set in Manchester. I would highly recommend starting with the first for background information. Nothing is quite what it seems in this book, lots of twists and surprises and excellent characterisation. The introduction of Naomi is interesting with perhaps the beginnings of a tiny bit of romance for Aidan. I have no hesitation in recommending this dark, gritty and compelling trio of books. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

#TheSleepwalker #NetGalley I have read the previous two books in this series and really enjoyed them and so I was excited to have the opportunity to read and review this one. I do think it helps to have read the previous books to understand more about Aidan's history. This is well written with plenty of action and is very dark and gritty. I have to be honest and say that I didn't quite enjoy it as much as the two previous books as I found the whole 'bent cop' scenario a little too much. I may be naïve and perhaps it really does go on but I found it hard to believe that there weren't any decent policeman particularly the more senior ones. I still am drawn to the fact it is set in my home town of Manchester - it really does help to actually imagine all the places. The ending was not clear cut and leaves the reading wondering whether there will be another in this series...…… 3.5 stars

An extremely violent and dark superb thriller. Detective Aiden Waites is possibly the most bent cop in fiction or is he? One never really finds out in this complex tale of a murder case long solved 12 years ago and the death of the seemingly guilty perpetrator by fire in a guarded hospital ward as he lay on his deathbed! The body count builds up to the climactic but ultimately intriguing ending! More please!

Aiden Waits isn't your normal run of the mill copper and neither is the story a run of the mill crime thriller. It grabs you from the beginning it's hard to put down and goes at a breakneck speed where there's hardly time to draw breath. The establishment's hierarchy doesn't like him and he has also made a dangerous enemy of someone which will lead to far-reaching consequences. A dark and compelling read.

I was so excited when I was sent a copy of The Sleepwalker by Joseph Knox, the third in his Aiden Waits series, and I shall tell you for why: because Knox has quickly catapulted himself right to the top of my favourite crime writers list, a spot I suspect he's going to hold onto for a while.

This guy, this guy who has only published these three books is a really really good writer, this is the kind of crime fiction you dream about reading, the kind you wish all of the books were like. It's dark and atmospheric and so well-thought out and beautifully constructed. This is book three in the series now so we know Aiden, we know he's a fucked up little anti-hero that we want to shake as much as we wish we could protect him and we know, we just know that some of his choices are going to be super questionable. It's not even a spoiler to say that they are. Aiden's line between right and wrong isn't blurry, it's been erased. I adore him.

So the premise is this: Aiden is still on the nightshift, he's still working with Sutty and there's still not much love lost. They're assigned to keep a watch on a dying serial killer in the hope he'll fess up to where a body is buried before he dies but somebody kills him before he gets the chance, Sutty is injured in the attack and Aiden is left to pick up the pieces. Throw in another officer who's more than a little bit shady, blackmailing him, a new partner who he might have feelings for, Zain bloody Carver (again) and some woman who keeps phoning him up asking him to come and help out with the mother who abused him when he was a child and you have this book, which might seem like it's a lot but which actually, because Knox is such a masterful writer, is actually just the perfect amount.

This book is tense and fast-paced and snappy but also still gorgeous in the atmosphere is builds and the way it unfolds. It's twisty and turny and it makes you clench your fists as you think 'oh, god, please no' and then sends you spinning in another direction, and once again it sucker punches you right in the feels as you watch Aiden's life unravel around him as he tries to do this version of the right thing.

It's set in Manchester again, which is an added bonus for me because - and I say this every time - I love the familiarity, I love being able to picture where the action is unfolding and whilst i'm sure I'd love these books if the were set in Timbuctoo, I certainly love them more because they're set on my doorstep.

And the ending.

I'd love to say this was a fitting end to the trilogy but that would be a lie because I just want more. I don't want this series ever to end. I think because whilst you'll find this book in the crime fiction section, it, like Sirens and The Smiling Man is so much more than that - it's a look at human nature, and it's a fantastic character study

This book is best read after the previous two. Aidan Waits has a LOT of backstory - mostly quite sordid in nature - and there are also quite a few, shall I call them, loose ends, and scores still to settle, from his previous shenanigans which would all be better understood with ALL the background.
For the past few weeks Aiden has been on babysitting duties. Sitting next to a bed on an abandoned hospital ward watching and waiting for Martin Wick, a convicted mass murderer, to die, hoping that his final words would give up the information the police need to completely close the case; the whereabouts of his final victim whose body was missing from the scene. But then Wick is attacked, the office guarding him dead and Aidan's partner fighting for his life, as Aidan comes upon the scene he is privy to Wick's final words which send him on a very dark and quite dangerous spiral in his desperate need to find out the whole truth. With his partner unavoidably detained - in a coma - he is partnered with DC Naomi Black. But is she really on his side...?
Oh my days - this book took me pretty much to hell and back with action and adventure, peril and pitfall along the way. I can't say too much more about the plot as it is so convoluted and interconnected that to do so would probably inject spoilers into the mix. Suffice to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the ride that it took me on and it left me wholly satisfied at its conclusion. Totally spent, but sated nonetheless.
It's gritty, it's brutal and, in places, downright nasty. But if you've read the previous two books you'll know what you're in for. Knox takes his readers to some very dark and dismal places in his narrative and puts Aidan into some really bad holes, some of his own making granted, others he just digs himself in deeper. But he still has his own personal integrity - it's just his execution of which often forces him to cross lines. A LOT!
All in all, a great addition to the series and, with how it ended, I really wonder (and fear) for what the author has planned for next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This book is as noir-est Aidan Waits book so far! The best of the lot!

Following Aidan trying to make sense of all the mess around him, while also trying to save his own ass, was a pleasure to read. This book is dirty, gruesome, gritty, bloody, painfully real, and feels like salt in the wound, but oh so good to read!

Our protagonist, DS Aidan Waits is a pain in everyone's ass and everyone is a pain in his ass as well. As Aidan, unwillingly, tries to solve the premeditated attack and death of the mass murderer who is already on his way to hell, he faces a lot more than he can handle. Throughout the book, there was a constant threat of an impending doom hanging on Aidan's head, which made me wonder how is he going to make out of this one. Somehow, every time Aidan comes closer to a solution, he ends up into a messier mess than the ones he's already in. Not good for him, but good for us readers. I don't want to say much, fearing I might spoil the book for you. You have to read it and experience it for yourself.

With this book, the author produces his best work so far. The writing has become more free flowing than the previous books in this series. The characters have become more real, have more meat in them. The city of Manchester still plays a significant role and is a character itself, setting the mood for the book. Also, this book felt more human and made me think that, maybe, there's still hope for Aidan.

There is something about a Joseph Knox which compels me to keep reading till I reach the last page. And it's a feeling I'd love to experience again.

The detective with a troubled past is a cliched trope in crime fiction, but pasts are rarely as troubled, and unlawful, as that of Aiden Waits. I am new to this series of books from Joseph Knox but I was able to get involved in the action and backstory with absolutely no issues, thanks to the skill of the author.

There were many plot twists but each seemed believable and I was happy to go along with them. My only issue is that I can’t imagine a cop with so many illegal activities in his past to still be on the force. I did guess the real identity of one of the characters thanks to the Checkhov’s Gun theory, but the action was so full on that when the reveal was made I had forgotten and my enjoyment wasn’t compromised.

The ending was tantalisingly ambiguous and it will be interesting to see if there will be another book in this series. I’ll be reading it if there is.

I’d recommend.

N.b. This review will be shared on all my social media channels with a combined reach of 6,000, and on Amazon and Goodreads. Many thanks for the opportunity to read and review.

A somewhat confusing but intriguing storyline involving Detective Aidan Waits who unfortunately comes an untimely end. Hopefully I will be able to catch up with previous novels.

DS Aiden Waits, a disgraced cop being hung out to dry by his superiors whilst trying to prove that a convicted mass murderer, now a victim himself, is actually innocent. His boss is waiting to kick him off the force whilst the to level gangster in town is waiting for him to leave the force; so that he doesn't have to kill a cop. Faced with a new partner he believes is spying on him, Aiden is walking a shaky tight rope in order to survive.

A good read.
As a series of rolling blackouts plunge the city into darkness, Detective Aidan Waits sits on an abandoned hospital ward, watching a mass murderer slowly die. Transferred from his usual night shift duties and onto protective custody, he has just one job...
To extract the location of Martin Wick’s final victim before the notorious mass murderer passes away.
I would definitely recommend this book to all thriller fans out there.
Everything of the book is good.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK for giving me an ebook.

The publisher invited me to read this title following a positive review of the last book in the series but I actually can't remember reading it so can say that this book works as a stand alone novel.
Waits is definitely an interesting character but is he a criminal? I'm not sure

I loved this book, I raced through it. I would definitely recommend it and will be reading more from this author!

Joseph Knox is a phenomenal writer, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every page in his Aidan Waits series. In this, the third installment, we’re treated to another dark, neon-streaked sort of fever dream. As a reader, you’ll be infuriated by Waits at turns, while rooting fiercely for him at others. A detective with the Manchester police, Waits has been relegated to working the overnight shift, a graveyard for coppers who are ineffective, corrupt, or, in Aidan’s case, both. His latest assignment is guarding a serial killer on his deathbed in the hospital. Of course, it all goes wrong and the serial is himself killed while under Aidan’s watch. From there we have betrayals, double crosses, burgeoning romances, tragic backstories, and all manner of complications on the way to resolution. The ending is a gut-punch. This is highly recommended.

I’m sad I read this book out of order. I truly like this authors writing. Very good mystery. I need to go back read the other ones and come back to this one and re read. Regardless of knowing the ending I would read it again.

Sometimes a story is exciting but it fails to really impress you.
I liked the story. It has a lot of interesting factors. A lot of the investigation is happening hidden from the reader and a lot of dirty games are played. A lot is happening in the book and I had trouble keeping up with it all.
I did not read the second book and I felt I missed a lot of character development due to that. I would not advice to read this as a standalone. And as I already had trouble getting a grip on Aidan in the first book it was not getting better in this one.
Still it is written very well a very dark atmosphere with a bit different tone than other crime novels out there.

This book is the third in a series, I do feel they can be read independently. I did not read the first two before receiving this ARC and I will go back and read them now.

I enjoyed the twists and the dark character that Detective Watts was. I will reread after I've completed the first two and see if my review needs adjustments.

Another outstanding title from Mr. Joseph Knox featuring Aidan Waits.
Highly recommended for all fans of the Aidan Waits series.
I received an advanced copy of this title via NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn’t wait to read the eagerly anticipated next instalment Following the dark and murky world of DC Aiden Waits and I most certainly was not disappointed!
This is third book in the series following on from Sirens and The smiling man.
Aiden is a disastrous police officer who attracts devastation where ever he goes. Each book grows in strength and the stories get darker which adds to the depth of the writing style.
If you havnt read the previous books I feel you would struggle to get the true impression of the main character and may not enjoy the book as much as those that have.
The ending will blow you away!
This book is a form 9/10 read for me 📚