Book Review: The Sleeping Doll

Reviewed By: Lynn Harnett

The Sleeping Doll     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Jeffery Wilds Deaver
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Woman Main Character   Government Agency   Thriller
Series: Kathryn Dance # 1
Simon & Schuster, June 2007, 448 pgs.

The master of misdirection, Deaver ratchets up the suspense with clever moves and counter moves between the canny cop and the charismatic killer, raising the stakes as he keeps the pages turning.

California Bureau of Investigation interrogation expert Kathryn Dance, a brilliant interpreter of body language, or kinesics, feels something “off” in her questioning of Daniel “Son of Manson” Pell. A manipulative cult leader, he was convicted in the slaying of a wealthy businessman’s family. New evidence has implicated him in another old murder and Pell has been transferred from his maximum- security cell to the courthouse lock-up for Kathryn’s session.

Seconds before Pell sets his plot in motion, Kathryn realizes it’s a set-up. She sounds the alarm but it’s too late. Pell escapes, a guard lies dead and a young cop is badly wounded.

And so it goes for the duration of this pulse-pounding chase. Kathryn (seen in the Lincoln Rhyme novel “The Cold Moon”) holds her own, interpreting psychological manipulation as deftly as Rhyme does evidence (Rhyme does make a cameo appearance).

The kinesics – the psychological profiling – is deftly done, clever, and believable, as are Pell’s diabolical manipulations. The secondary characters – including Pell’s “family” of vulnerable runaways and the “Sleeping Doll” – the child who slept through the massacre of her family – are well done and the pace never lets up.

The first in a series planned to alternate with the Lincoln Rhyme series, this should leave Deaver fans well satisfied.

Lynn Harnett

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Lynn Harnett