Absolutely brilliant read!. I loved Sirens and The Smiling Man so was really looking forward to reading this, I was not disappointed it was fab. Can't wait for more from Joseph Knox.

I saw Joseph Knox's The Sleepwalker in my Goodreads feed, and saw that it was available to read and review on NetGalley. So naturally, I had to get myself a copy (because of my obvious and possibly unhealthy love for the mystery/thriller genre). Three days later, I'm done with the book and can't help but feel how similar the experience of reading it was to reading A Dark So Deadly by Stuart McBride (review here), which introduced readers to the Misfit Mob.

Here's why The Sleepwalker was even better than A Dark So Deadly.

Genre:
Thriller, Mystery

Length:
328 pages

Overall Rating:
8 out of 10

Plot:
7 out of 10

Characterization:
8 out of 10

Primary Element:
7 out of 10 for its mystery

Writing Style:
8 out of 10

Part of a Series: 
Yes, this is Book 3 of the Aidan Waits series. Book 1 - Sirens - has actually been on my list for a while. While I didn't want to give up on the chance to read The Sleepwalker, I definitely felt like I should've started from Book 1. If you're picking Joseph Knox as a new author to follow, start at the beginning - at Sirens.

Highlighted Takeaway:
Aidan Waits' sour persona. It may have rubbed the other characters wrong, but I absolutely loved the way he was.

What I Liked:
Joseph Knox builds an intricately woven plot on the foundation of great characterization. The Sleepwalker reads really well, moves fast, and is also wonderfully human in its characters' strengths and weaknesses.

What I Didn’t Like:
If I had to pick something, it would be the fact that the book wouldn't have been complete without reference to its prequels. But, that very reference is what has now left me knowing more than what I would've liked to know about those very prequels. So if you pick this book up as a standalone read, you will enjoy it. But if you want to read the whole series, start with Sirens instead for a more complete experience.

Who Should Read It:
Anyone who loves books set in the United Kingdom, especially if you like the works of Stuart MacBride. 

Who Should Avoid:
Anyone who does not like books where the main protagonists are a little too dark; where they're not anti-heroes, they're just confused individuals trying to make the best of a situation and survive until they can be bothered to. 

Read It For:
Aidan Waits' struggle against himself and the hand he's been dealt, as he tries to determine whether the effort is worth it at all.

A big thank you to NetGalley, Joseph Knox, and Transworld Publishers for an ARC of this book. The Sleepwalker comes out on 11 July 2019. Make sure to grab a copy if you love thrillers.

This is an absolutely superb book! Joseph Knox showed himself to be a terrific writer in the first two Aidan Waits novels, Sirens and The Smiling Man, but in The Sleepwalker he really excels himself. The writing itself is powerful, the portrait of Manchester is graphic, and his depiction of the main characters is vivid. Aidan Waits has had a very chequered past and struggles to cope with his demons but he is a brilliantly intuitive cop, and his relationship here with Naomi Black is fascinating. There are so many arresting revelations in the story that the reader is enthralled from the outset. It will be interesting to see hoe Knox's career develops from here.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK for the eARC.
Wow, wow, WOW, what an extraordinary, mind blowing read! It worked well as a standalone, but I wish I had heard of Joseph Knox before and read the first two books featuring his flawed DC Aidan Waits. That'll be remedied soon!
Aidan is on the nightshift sitting at the hospital bedside of Martin Wick, infamous mass killer, aka The Sleepwalker. Martin is dying of lung cancer and the police are hoping he will disclose the whereabouts of a still missing body.
Aidan is tortured by his past and panic attacks, which he tries to fight with alcohol and drugs. He's generally disliked by his fellow officers who treat him with disdain and disrespect. It made me feel sad; I found him extremely likeable and was rooting for him all the way.
The place is Manchester and it feels like a dark city, with bent police personnel who will literally step over dead bodies to advance their careers. Trying to do the right thing (whether in the right or wrong way), causes Aidan a lot of grief as well as endangering his life. It's a real rollercoaster of a read and the ending literally broke me out in a
sweat, terrific! Highly recommended!

This is a firecracker of an addition to the Manchester Noir series by Joseph Knox featuring DC Aidan Waits, the flawed and disgraced antihero shunted onto the nightshifts with his partner, DI Peter 'Sutty' Sutcliffe. Aidan has been assigned, along with Sutty, to protect the infamous terminally ill serial killer dubbed The Sleepwalker, Martin Wick, in hospital, and tasked with trying to ascertain the location of the body of one of his victims, Lizzie. Several attempts on Wick's life had been made in Strangeways prison, Wick's had tried to take back his confession, claiming he could not remember what happened on the night a mother and her children were killed in their home. Wick has maintained his silence regarding Lizzie Moore, but has asked to speak to Sutty. After becoming aware that someone has breached security, a photograph of Wick eating breakfast has made the front page of a newspaper, a worried Aidan returns with Sutty only for all hell to break loose, that leaves Wick dead, an armed police guard dead, and Sutty with serious burns in intensive care.

Disturbed by Wick's last words to him, Aidan finds himself boxed in, in hock to numerous dangerous figures that threaten his life, including the manipulative Superintendent Parr, a member of the armed police team, and a man from his past. Parr has him conducting a shadow investigation to the official one run by DCI James, partnered by DC Naomi Black, a woman AIdan is immediately suspicious of, resulting in a spiky and tense relationship between the two of them. Their investigation has them looking at the original police investigation run by DI Kevin Blake, now retired who had written a book on Martin Wick, Frank Moore, now a motivational speaker, with a new family, and chasing the suspect woman with a tattooed face seen at the hospital. The past raises its head with a social worker contacting Aidan about his mother as Aidan dithers about getting in touch with his sister, Anne, and someone is setting up Aidan with every intention of bringing him down.

Knox creates a very dark and unsettling world, with Manchester's criminal underbelly laid bare, where it is often difficult to distinguish between the police and the criminals. Zain Carver, a powerful and ruthless drug dealer, has grown ever more respected running the well known club, The Light Fantastic, a man who has not forgotten or forgiven Aidan. The novel opens with Tessa Klein, and this is connected up at the end in a spectacular fashion, with those in the police hierarchy engaged in bitter political shenanigans in their efforts to avoid blame. It is the character of Aidan, whose life is hanging on by a thread and run through with a never ending and all encompassing darkness who holds centre stage in this wonderful series. This is a terrific and hugely memorable series, and this is an astounding addition, that will appeal to those who gravitate towards the darkest of crime reads, although I do suggest starting from the beginning. Many thanks to Random House Transworld for an ARC.

Loved this book it was fast paced with loads of action and a story you wanted to read the end of it was a great story and I can’t wait for the next one from this author

A brilliant book with a well written and carefully crafted story line. I love dark, complex thrillers and this didn't disappoint at all. I'd not read any of Knox's books before but i'm going to go back and read the first two. It was amazing.

Wow where to start with this review. I haven’t read the first two books in the series but this was a thrilling gritty novel with Detective Aiden Waits who seems to have lots going on in his life. He has been relegated to night shifts barely hanging on to his job by a thread guarding a dying serial killer Martin Wicks. Wick’s asks to speak to Wait’s partner Detective Inspector Peter ‘Sully’ Sutcliffe they are hoping Wicks will reveal where his last victim is. But as Sully enters the room where Wick’s is being kept the police officer guarding Him is murdered and a firebomb is thrown into the room where Wicks and Sully are. Waits chases the person he believes to be the one who threw the firebomb into the room down the stairs and out of the hospital. From there it’s very fast paced not knowing who to trust and who not to trust. Aiden is given a new partner Detective Constable Naomi Black whilst Sully lies in an induced coma. But why is Black investigating Waits looking into his background?

This is a very dark gritty detective novel. Aidan is struggling with every aspect of his life. He gets a call from a social worker asking him about his mother who he hasn’t seen since he was 8. The social worker tells him they need to section her as she is a danger to herself. But Aiden is past caring. Martin Wicks claimed he didn’t commit the crimes he is in jail for could he be telling the truth!

Aiden is a recovering drug addict he was caught stealing drugs from police evidence. He relies on drink to keep him going and to stop the panic attacks. Was he the one who was supposed to have died with the serial killer. Another detective is blackmailing him and she could easily bring him down if he brings her down. This book has you gripped from the start it may have been better if I had read the first two novels first as there does seem to be some back story leading to where this book starts. But it was a good standalone read as well. I can’t wait to see which way Aiden turns next as it doesn’t see, like he has a lot of options left but we may be surprised yet.!

The Sleepwalker is a good thriller that has interesting characters. The storyline is great and the book is well written.

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story to it. It was a well written book. I liked the variety of characters in it. It is my first book read by this author. I hope to read more books by this author.