Title: The Sleeping Doll
By: Jeffery Deaver
Published: 2007
Call #: FIC Deaver
The first book in Jeffery Deaver’s Kathryn Dance series introduces an intriguing lead character and a suspenseful story that doesn’t let up. Dance is an expert in kinesics or interpreting body language and uses this still to help with interrogations. After interviewing Daniel Pell, a cult leader who is guilty of killing a family of four, Dance realizes something was off and is minutes too late to prevent Pell from escaping prison. Now Pell is on the loose, but he hasn’t left town and he definitely has someone helping him. While Dance uses her skills to lead the investigation with the help of a cult expert, they always seem to be one step behind Pell. Will they be able to catch Pell in time?
Deaver does an excellent job of drawing out the suspense in the novel. He writes from both Pell and Dance’s point of view, so the reader knows what both are up to, yet Deaver manages the switch at just the right moment to leave you thinking they finally caught him and then revealing it was something else all along. Pell is also a very smart and manipulative villain. Just as Dance is an expert in body language, Pell is equally good at reading people and saying the right thing to get them on his side. This was a great roller coaster ride of a book filled with twists and turns right up to the end.
Mary-Megan K.
Popular Materials Asst.