The Sleeping Doll: A Novel (Kathryn Dance Book 1)

Each book that Jeffery Deaver writes is unpredictable.. You can bet on it
He loses one star because his attempt,as in his other books, to alter the standard use of time fixing by the standard use of chapters, causes confusion to the reader Worth a try but I am not impressed

I am amazed by the reviews giving this high ratings. This book falls flat on nearly every level imaginable. The only interesting things and not enough to sustain were the protagonist's role as interrogator with tips on how to spot a liar, and some stuff about how cult leaders get and maintain control. Both of which seem shoehorned in from research manuals or white papers. As a police procedural the plot is mechanical and predictable, the dialog stiff, the efforts to get into the heads of both protagonist and antagonist are clumsy and trite. Doesn't rank a literature like Martin Cruz Smith or Richard Price can produce, doesn't rank as a good procedural like Elmore Leonard or Grisham, not as hard hitting as Elroy or Vachss or Harris ... far better stuff out there. I got through the first half before giving up.

Love Jeffrey Deaver! Love his Lincoln Ryme novels! This character is not as intriguing. Would have liked it better if author would have referred to her throughout the book as "Kathryn," instead of her last name "Dance." Seemed to depersonalize her. Plot just a tad unbelievable. Makes reader feel a bit cynical while reading. Could have been better. But I'll read anything Deaver writes. He seldom disappoints.

We were introduced to Kathryn Dance in Deaver's The Cold Moon - we saw a brilliant agent from California who helped Lincoln and Sachs with the Clockmaker - Here in Doll, she is on her own turf. And she has her hands full - A young man, Daniel Pell, a Charles Manson wannabee, escaped prison shortly after Kathryn interviewed him. We see her analytical interviewing skills - super body language that makes her a 'human lie detector'. Pell goes on a rampant killing spree, getting even with people who hurt him. Kathryn works with her California Bureau of Investigation buds to capture him and anticipate his next moves. It is a fascinating read. Kathryn Dance is a great character - she's vibrant, a great Mom, has great parents, two kids who love her, and she's a straight shooter. There is nothing on her agenda - she does what she loves and is an expert at. The interaction between Pell and Dance and other agents makes for a great book. It will keep you involved until the last sentence.
One hopes Deaver will continue Dance's story in future books. There looks to be a 'Kay Scarpetta/Benton Wesley' type of relationship/flirtation forming - It did not work for Patricia Cornwell. One hopes Deaver will not even go there for Dance. There are plenty of characters for her to interplay with, and not muddy the waters where she works.
Although Lincoln Rhyme is Deaver's mainstay, Kathryn Dance is a wonderful character, whether on her own or a collaboration with her New York friends.

I have enjoyed other Jeffrey Deaver novels. This one stinks though I finally finished it. There is no drive toward resolution. Instead we are treated to yak, yak, yak of peripheral characters. It seems that nearly the entire book could have be set in one living room with various characters dropping in and out. The 'kinesics' expert Dance has very little usable insight into suspects. This was a wasted Kindle selection, and I challenge Deaver to improve the quality of his stories.

Info. for book stated "Hardback". Both copies I received were paperback. I have still not received any further contact from seller as to my refund and when I can expect it for both the book and the shipping costs. Thank you...

The first book in a new series from author Jeffery Deaver featuring Kathryn Dancer as it's protagonist, "The Sleeping Doll", is another solid Deaver suspense thriller. Dancer, a widow works for the California Bureau of Investigations as a "kinesics" investigator/ expert. Kinesics is an interrogation technique that reads body language and gestures to gauge a suspect's truthfulness. Reading about kinesics and how it works is pretty fascinating stuff. Dancer is the top kinesics expert in the state. She was widowed when her husband, also in law enforcement was killed. Dancer has two children and had several careers before going to work for the "CBI". When Charles Manson wannabe Daniel Pell manages to escape in spectacular fashion, Dancer is charged with heading investigation towards getting Pell back into custody. Pell is one brilliant and extremely dangerous criminal. Most of the prison guards are just no match to Pell's sneaky and clever wits. Pell has been locked up for 8 years for the brutal murders of a family in 1999. The only family member not killed that fateful night was youngest daughter Theresa, 8 who was bundled into her bed asleep and Pell was unaware of her sleeping. Pell is a real bad guy who murders at will and creates his own "family" like Manson. Pell has a charismatic personality that easily tricks people (especially young girls) to follow his will. I did find it amazing that the "Svengali" like Pell has allies in the strangest, and most unexpected places. With a plot that chases Pell, who time and time again eludes the police at the last second, really does create some intense suspense as it builds quickly throughout book. At over 570 pages, reading this one seems like a rocket moving at top speed until right before page 500. Surprisingly the book crashes and burns in final 80-90 pages. I was thoroughly enjoying reading book until the bottom fell out of the story. It was entirely too long, and last section of book was boring. I was sure this one was going to be five stars out of five possible. But in conclusion I can only go to three stars out of five possible for, "The Sleeping Doll". Which was a shame because the main characters especially Kathryn dancer were top notch. The supporting characters for the most part really helped giving read a well rounded plot with some interesting people to meet throughout. I'll be curious how plot moves to it's conclusion when reading second Kathryn Dancer book in series. (Fingers crossed for a solid ending). Hopefully it will be a bounce back book for series. I do recommend this for all Deaver suspense thriller fans. I'm sure some will feel differently than I do. Please check it out.

Having read numerous of Jeffery Deavers previous works, I was disappointed with this first in the Kathryn Dance series. I really think--that as he approaches 70 years of age--Deaver is losing the plot (ouch).

My concerns were aroused right from the opening chapters; the plot predictability, the hastily-drawn characters; the crude attempt to use Charles Manson in order to paint a quick picture of Daniel Pell (very amateurish); and the entire escape scenario. Can we really believe that a convicted mass killer who narrowly escaped the death sentence is sitting in a local prison cell with an open (but at least barred) window overlooking a public car park? And who--inexplicably and impossibly--has an undetected knife hidden in his clothing? No pat-downs prior to transporting from the high-security jail? No metal detectors at either end of his transportation? Only one specialised guard plus one local hick cop? And the trained prison guard is overpowered by a prisoner wearing shackles? I laughed out loud!

Another irritant was the all-too-obvious fault of defining every character by their ethnicity: Caucasian, African-American; Latino etc. And everybody had some sort of physical characteristics (or not) that needing defining. Tall, short, dark-eyed, long haired etc. All a bit too obvious, and more the marks of a neonatal author. Tsk, tsk Mr Deaver.

As for the plot-line? It's all been done before: Insane mass murderer escapes despite all the odds, with the (dumb) cops playing catchup as he repeatedly makes fools of them. And I must admit I had to struggle to finish this overly-long story. This was a 448-page book that should've realistically been 348 pages.

The Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver

Solitude Creek was captivating and engaging. This book was slower and more detailed but the plot was very complex with plenty of surprises. Deaver has Kathryn Dance, the kinesics (body language) expert at the CBI (California Bureau of Investigation as his main characters again. A Charles Manson want-to-be escapes jail and terrorizes the community. It is up to Dance and her colleagues to bring his reign of terror to a crashing halt.

Deaver alludes to the sexual discrimination in law enforcement again in this book. He also is a master of mis-direction. He focuses your attention on his right hand while his left is moving characters in unlikely directions.

Once again, Dance's family provides the frame for her personality picture. Dance's home life seems to be her Achilles hell.(intended) Deaver seems to have a good understanding of the difficulties women in the work place face trying to balance professionalism with family.

The despicable Daniel Pell is a master of identifying the lost and lonely and providing them with a semblance of a demented family. Sadly there are far too many young people who still feel alienated and discarded so the premise of them being available victims is entirely too realistic.

As a counselor I saw the same lost kids and did my best to provide them with direction but their home lives were often so dysfunctional that those efforts were often futile.

This is an excellent plot with plenty of action and devious twists and turns.

I highly recommend it.

[...]

Kathryn Dance was a character that we were first introduced to in the last Jeffery Deaver book, The Cold Moon. That was one of Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme books, and the character of Dance was brought in to help Rhyme and company solve a case. Dance, it seems, is a private investigator from the West Coast, who is also a “Kinesics Expert”. What this means, essentially, is that she has the unique ability to read a person’s body language and Para verbal behavior, and tell whether or not a person is lying. Sort of a human polygraph machine. Her appearance in that story was welcome, as it helped keep the Rhyme series somewhat “fresh”, and since Deaver does an immense amount of research for his books, we learned a lot about the art of people lying.

It was great, then, when Deaver decide to promote Ms. Dance and make her the main protagonist for many of his future books. This one was the first, and it’s very good. The formula, though, really isn’t that much different from a Lincoln Rhyme adventure. We meet Kathryn Dance, learn things about her personal life (such as she is a widow and has two children), meet some of her colleagues (that we know will probably remain as supporting actors in future books), and learn an awful lot about kinesics.

For this story, she’s sent to question Daniel Pell – a man behind bars, to see if he can assist with knowledge of a current crime. Pell is dubbed the “Son of Manson” as his history and crimes resemble the infamous lunatic Charles Manson. Like Manson, Pell is pretty smart, so the interrogation, in a strange way, turns out to be a battle of wits. On a somewhat tangent point, Pell manages to escape during a prison transfer, so our main focus now is for Dance and her team to put their smarts to the test and find him.

Here is where the distinction between a Rhyme story and a Dance story can get a bit blurred. Whereas Rhyme would find every minute piece of evidence and micro analyze it help him solve the conundrum, Dance essentially does the same thing by talking to everyone involved, and deducing the “real” truth by her gifted abilities. So, had Deaver modified this story slightly, it could have easily passed for a Lincoln Rhyme book (he and partner Amelia Sachs actually make a cameo).

We’re also allowed inside the mind of creepy Daniel Pell. He’s able to obtain help from the outside by a gullible young woman who has fallen in love with him via correspondence, and we see how Pell utilizes his gift of controlling other human beings. Creepy, yes, and those who followed the Charles Manson story can probably learn how such individuals are able to obtain a large amount of zealous votaries.

Throw in several plot twists, several characters who aren’t what they seem, and you have the recipe for a great Jeffery Deaver book. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, even though I felt that I’ve read such a story many times before by the same author – even with a new protagonist.

Jeffery Deaver is one of America's top tier suspense novelists. He is the author of the popular Lincoln Rhymes series and the remarkable stand alone thriller, A Maiden's Grave. This is the first book in Deaver's Kathryn Dance series and it delivers most of the suspenseful elements readers of the author's earlier books have come to expect. The plot centers on the prison escape of a Charles Manson-life figure and the efforts of Kathryn Dance and the California Bureau of Investigation to recapture the elusive fugitive.

Along the way, Deaver paints a vivid and detailed portrait of an insane cult leader and his followers and in some ways, the villain in this novel is more interesting than the heroine. The book bogs down in the middle and becomes repetitious but the last part recaptures the novel's earlier momentum when Deaver launches a series of surprise twists and turns. it's a solid suspense novel and I would recommend it to fans of Jeffery Deaver or anyone who enjoys modern crime fiction.

Kathryn Dance is good at reading people. She worked as a jury consultant then moved into public service earning her living from the California Bureau of Investigation. She is primarily an interrogator, but has to step in and step up as lead investigator in the search for a dangerous man named Daniel Pell, who has escaped from prison. Dance is the expert in kinesics, using her skill to discern the truth when people lie. Pell is the expert in manipulation, using his skill to coerce people to bend to his will. He is dangerous and she needs to put him back behind bars.

The Sleeping Doll is CLASSIC Jeffery Deaver. Some of his more recent works have surely disappointed (avoid The Bodies Left Behind: A Novel), but he is back to true form with this one. This book is wonderfully reminiscent of Peter Kincaid in Deaver's The Devil's Teardrop where Kincaid's expert knowledge in forensic document examination is needed in the search for a man they call the Digger.

Jeffery Deaver teaches, fascinates and intrigues as he writes. The way he weaves the artful science of kinesics (reading body language) into this story is impressive. I have always touted the depth of Mr. Deaver's research as his biggest strength. "The devil is in the detail," as they say, and Deaver goes the extra mile for his readers.

What a great book.

Book Club Review
The Sleeping Doll
by Jeffery Deaver

Our book club's book for March (2012) was THE SLEEPING DOLL by Jeffery Deaver. We came to this book through a few discussions. First, we were feeling in the mood for a twisty thriller. Second, we'd had a good discussion about authors who have been phoning it in versus those who almost never disappoint. On our list of the "super reliable" were Laura Lippman, Lee Child, and Jeffery Deaver. Since we had read a Lippman book (WHAT THE DEAD KNOW) a number of years ago as well as a Lee Child book (NOTHING TO LOSE) fairly recently, we decided on Deaver. Many of us had read the Lincoln Rhyme books so we were interested in trying a different set of characters, and this one features kinesics expert Kathryn Dance of the CBI (California Bureau of Investigation). The setting is lovely, too - the Carmel, CA area.

As the book opens, a Charles Manson-like killer, convicted for heinous crimes committed by him and his "Family," is accused of also being the killer of an earlier unsolved murder. He's moved from one prison to another, and in a carefully orchestrated plot, escapes. Kathryn leads the manhunt with a specialist in cult mentality brought in from Washington, DC, and together they set about figuring out why the killer isn't fleeing the immediate area, who he's targeted as his next victim, what his ultimate goal is, and the identities of the people who are helping him.

As a group we quite enjoyed this book. We felt that reading a book by Deaver brings with it a certain set of expectations for lots of plot twists and turnabouts, and THE SLEEPING DOLL certainly doesn't disappoint in that regard. And, what we really impressed us, is the fact that while the twists do make you gasp, you can look back and see how well the author has set them up.

Another thing we like is the "adult" nature of the relationships. I don't mean that the relationships are sexual...I mean that Deaver's people generally behave as mature, respectful adults. For example, it would have been so easy for Deaver to make the "fixer" from DC in constant conflict with the local investigators. Instead, they band together because they understand the goal is to catch a killer, not feed their egos. Of course, there's the requisite media-savvy boss and a few other dirtbags, but they're all in good fun and add some conflict and interest while keeping us focused on the search for Daniel Pell.

Deaver's books tend to be on the longer side (more than 400 pages), but all of us finished this one and all gave it a thumbs up, though a few said they prefer the Lincoln Rhyme series. We liked Kathryn Dance, though, and many of us said we'd look for more in her series. So, as with so many Deaver books, we give this one a nice thumbs up. Enjoy!

As a relatively new fan of mystery novels that are mainly "mind-candy" (my term), I picked up Roadside Crosses at half-price a few weeks ago to take on a weekend trip, having finally made my way through most all of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone novels (I just started those this summer), and most of the Puzzle Lady books. I found that book enjoyable, and searched for more books featuring CBI agent Kathryn Dance. I found The Sleeping Doll on audiobook at my local library, and have enjoyed listening to this book on my long commute over the past couple of weeks. This is a much longer book than Roadside Crosses, but no less enjoyable. The character development, especially of the villan, Daniel Pell, and the members of his Family, gave a great deal of insight into the characters' actions (with an exception I found near the end). I have to agree with several of the other reviewers that I found myself thinking "what now?!" more than once toward the end of the book, when the plot twists became more and more unbelievable.

Granted, the characters are a bit formulaic, as are most of them in mystery/crime novels or TV. Nonetheless, I enjoy the Deaver books I've read. If you are a fan of Grafton or Evanovich, or Criminal Minds, give Deaver's Kathryn Dance books a shot. The Sleeping Doll and Roadside Crosses aren't quite as light-hearted as Grafton or Evanovich, but every bit as entertaining.

THE SLEEPING DOLL, by Jeffrey Deaver, is the first book to feature Kathryn Dance. Dance, a kinesics (body language) expert with the California Bureau of Investigation is put in charge of the manhunt when the murderous Daniel "Son of Manson" Pell escapes from prison. Eight years ago, Pell murdered the founder of a large computer company and his family. He left one victim alive, a young girl who later became known as the "Sleeping Doll." Pell was dubbed the "Son of Manson" because he had a group of three women lving with him at a cult-like compound.

Pell is a master of control, and some of the best parts of the book are when Deaver follows Pell and his actions in drawing another young woman named Jennie Martson into his web. Pell and Jennie are constantly one step ahead of the police. Dance, however, is not going to give in. She enlists the help of Pell's three former girlfriends and tries to figure out why Pell is still in the area. Unlike many books of this nature, the cops aren't clueless. Dance and pals make many key discoveries and just miss Pell several times.

The Good: Deaver excels at characterization. Dance is a widow with two kids weary of her dating again. Pell is a controlling, manipulative killer. The team working with Dance are all well thought out and good characters. The plot is full of twists and turns, and while it might be a bit long, it is never boring.

The Not So Good: The sleeping doll plays only a small part in the book. One of the twists at the end comes out of left field and took away from the impact of the rest of the novel.

While I've never been able to get too enthused about Deaver's Rhyme and Sachs novels, I really enjoyed his other books like Garden of Beasts and The Bodies Left Behind. The Sleeping Doll is no exception. I can't wait for the next book featuring Dance, Roadside Crosses, which comes out in a week or two.

The Sleeping Doll is the first of Jeffrey Deaver's Kathryn Dance series. Special Agent Kathryn Dance, a brilliant interrogator and kinesics expert with the California Bureau of Investigation, made a brief appearance in the Lincoln Rhyme novel The Cold Moon. When Kathryn interrogates convicted murderer and cult leader, Daniel Pell, about a newly-discovered crime, she hopes to also learn more about the mass murder for which he was jailed. That case involved the murder of a wealthy family, leaving behind a survivor: the Sleeping Doll of the title. When Pell escapes after the interrogation, Dance finds herself in charge of the ensuing manhunt. What follows is a fast-paced tale with plenty of twists: feints and betrayals abound. Along the way, Dance deals with a clever and charismatic cult leader, his followers and ex-followers, a tenacious author is search of a story, a brave teenager, a less-than-supportive boss, shifts in her own family's dynamics, a possible love-interest and an FBI expert. Also featured are plastic surgery, disguise, car chases, near misses, gunfights, car-jacking, explosions, murder, theft and a surfeit of liars: this novel has it all. The kinesics angle is interesting without being overdone. Lincoln Rhyme even makes a token appearance. I'd forgotten what a good read a Jeffrey Deaver novel can be: lots of "I didn't see that coming" moments. I'm looking forward to reading the next Kathryn Dance, Roadside Crosses.

Jeffery Deaver writes a very good crime novel. That trend continues in his latest book titled The Sleeping Doll. This isn't so much a "who-dunnit", as you learn right off who is responsible for the killings. It's more a "what-are-they-going-to-do-now" story with some nasty plot twists at the end...

Daniel Pell escapes from prison where he is serving a sentence for a Manson-style killing. He does so by getting transferred to a lower-security facility for an interview related to the killing, and then using an accomplice to set up a diversion that allows him to flee. Special Agent Kathryn Dance is put in charge of the manhunt, as she was the one who requested the interview that got him out of the max-security prison in the first place. Dance is an expert in reading people during interrogations, but Pell is just as good as she is. She has to match wits with Pell to figure out where he's going and where they might find him before he kills again. She gathers up members of his "Family" who were with him at the time of the killings, so as to try and deduce his reasons for not leaving the area. It all starts to come together when Dance is able to get an interview with the "sleeping doll", the only person who survived Pell's original mass killing. But she always seems to be about five minutes behind Pell when it comes to capturing him, and that delay might end up meaning the deaths of her family and friends...

There's a lot of explanation in the story about human reactions when communicating with others. If you've never thought about how someone can tell if another person is lying, then that aspect of the story is pretty fascinating. It seemed to be a bit overdone however, as nearly every encounter she has with anyone includes her thoughts on what the person is *really* thinking or saying. But that's more than made up for with the plot turns at the end. I thought I was at the end about five times, only to find yet another surprise in store. The best part is that they didn't seem forced or contrived. It was just a matter of "I didn't see *that* one coming"...

If you want a true "who killed who" story, this won't be to your liking. But if you're more interested into a battle of wits between a cop and a killer, then you'll end up getting sucked into this story in a big way...

First Line: The interrogation began like any other.

Special Agent Kathryn Dance, interrogator and kinesics expert with the California Bureau of Investigation, is given the opportunity to interrogate convicted killer Daniel "Son of Manson" Pell. Pell has become the prime suspect in a newly unearthed crime, and the Bureau needs all the information he can give them. All hell breaks loose at the prison where the interrogation is taking place, and Pell manages to escape. It's up to Dance to put all the clues together before the body count begins to rise.

Although this is a plot-driven thriller, there was enough information about Dance's character to keep me interested. She's a widow, has two children, and quite the routine to keep herself grounded and her family running smoothly.

The information Deaver gives about kinesics (body language) is very interesting and easy to apply to real life, although sometimes too much of the detail was repeated. It was fascinating to follow along with Dance and her rather unorthodox line of thinking ("A to B to X") to see if I could figure out Pell's next moves before he actually made them. I also appreciated the fact that the author didn't fall prey to a line of jeopardy that it would have been all too easy to insert into the plot.

As a thriller, this is definitely a cut above, and I have the next Kathryn Dance book, Roadside Crosses on my bookshelves.

In the past I have had very positive experiences with Deaver's books, both in the Rhyme series and in the short story collections. Therefore, I was really looking forward to this novel, featuring a new main character, Kathryn Dance, an investigator that's an expert in kinesics. Sadly, even though I cannot say the book is bad, the overall result was well below what I expected.

Dance gets involved in the case of a cold-blooded killer, Daniel Pell, who, shortly after the book starts, escapes from prison in an ingenious and bombastic way. After that, the plot basically consists in the chase after the killer. I think that Deaver did a very good job in the development of the character of Daniel Pell, since we can clearly picture his motivations and way of thinking. On the other hand, he clearly falls short when considering the same aspect relatively to Dance. I felt that the author spent way too much time telling us about how she spots tells in the people she is talking to, identifying lies, fears and doubts, than he spent providing us with details that would allow us to form a complete picture of the lead character.

At first, the description of the process involved in kinesics is really interesting, but Deaver goes to that place way too often and towards the end of the novel it feels like he is beating a dead horse. The pace of the novel is pretty uneven too, with a start at full-speed and hitting several bumps along the way, some of them more pronounced than others. It looks to me as if the author is planning to continue using this character in future novels, and my hope is that he will correct the existing issues and deliver the kind of works we are used to getting from him. In my case, I am willing to give Dance a second chance.

Met Kathryn in the Lincoln Rhyme books. Found this one plodding - way too much explanation/teaching about Dance's expertise. Almost laughed at the "gang that couldn't shoot straight" vehicle. Found thoughts from sociopath bad guy annoyingly overdone; I thought I had wandered into an old fashioned horror story. I'm much more comfortable with Rhyme and his coterie. This book was condescending and pedantic.

Jeffery Deaver's latest thriller may well be my favorite of his to date, supplanting THE DEVIL'S TEARDROP for that distinction. While it's possible that he has written better books, I have the feeling that when my friends ask for a reading recommendation, it will be THE SLEEPING DOLL that I transfer from my shaky fingers to theirs.

The novel marks the return of Kathryn Dance, first introduced in THE COLD MOON. She is a worthy protagonist, no question about it, but fans of Deaver's work read him not so much for his heroes (Lincoln Rhyme notwithstanding) as for his evildoers. What makes this newest work special is that the villain of the piece, Daniel Pell, has been dubbed the "Son of Manson" by the media. On the surface this is an apt comparison. As the book begins, Pell is serving a life sentence for the brutal murders of four family members, with only one, the Sleeping Doll, surviving.

Pell, a la Manson, had his own "family" consisting of three women and another man, along with a large collection of material regarding the cult leader. When he makes an ingenious escape attempt during an interrogation concerning another, unrelated murder, Dance is put in charge of re-capturing him.

Deaver's move in casting Pell as an apparent Charles Manson clone is a stroke of genius. The mere thought of Manson, even in his 70s, somehow making a teetering escape out of maximum security and hobbling around at large would be more than enough cause to have a sizable amount of the population from the Atlantic to the Pacific grabbing shotguns, pitchforks and torches until he was dead or returned to custody. The author captures this feeling perfectly, as Pell --- clever, smart and extremely dangerous --- avoids being caught time and again.

Meanwhile, the Sleeping Doll (so named because she slept through the attack on her family) does not appear until well over halfway through this fine work, yet she unexpectedly holds the key to much of what happens --- even as Pell seems to be on the verge of making his escape a permanent one.

Deaver must have Yogi Berra's motto "It ain't over till it's over" engraved above his writing desk. While there are two major endings (and at least one minor ending) to THE SLEEPING DOLL, he leaves one with the feeling that more may be coming. Combining his familiar touches with some brand new flourishes --- not to mention his scariest villain to date --- Deaver once again has produced a work that succeeds on all levels.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

The Sleeping Doll follows the efforts of police detective and "human lie detector' Kathryn dance to capture Daniel Pell, a mansonesque killer. Dance interview Pell in connection to another murder investigation that turns out to be part of a brilliant and fiery escape.

Pell was convicted of murdering a genius computer engineer and his family save the youngest daughter, who was asleep in her toy laden bed. Dance,with the assistance of a supporting cast, including her fellow officers,her police mentor,a true crime writer and a cult expert/potential romantic interest from the FBI, pursues the wily Pell through a series of near captures. she reunites the remaining members of Pell's "family" in an effort to get inside his head and finally interviews the survivor of the massacre, the Sleeping Doll of the title.

Although readable, this effort is not nearly as suspenseful as earlier Deaver efforts. the twists seem contrived and the final two unbelievable and unsatisfying. Moreover, the book is bogged down by all the characters. In addition to all the police characters, there are Dance's two kids, parents, friends, business partners, cult members, the writer's family and the sleeping doll's guardian. Dance is a likable and interesting character. however, her inability to use a gun grates and her judgment seems impaired. She blithely blabs all the details of the investigation to the former cult members,never considering that they are first, not the most stable to begin with and seemingly unconcerned of their possible involvement. she keeps the writer of dubious credentials in the loop lets her sex drive override her common sense. the pacing is off, the book is long and drags in some portions.

although not a terrible book, it is a disappointment coming from an author as talented as Jeffrey Deaver.

With his new book, THE SLEEPING DOLL, Jeffery Deaver proves, again, that no one does it better than he does. Instead of the East Coast, Deaver takes us to California in one of the best, if not the best, novel he's ever written. Katheryn Dance, CBI (California Bureau of Investigation) kinesics expert is Deaver's hottest new protagonist. Introduced to readers in COLD MOON, a Lincoln Rhyme novel, this novel is Dance, all the way, even with a cameo appearance of Amelia Sachs and Lincoln Rhyme, via phone.
The book starts out with her interrogating Daniel Pell, cult leader called, "Son of Manson", already charged with the murder of an entire family...minus one girl who was in bed sleeping. Theresa Croyton, daughter of multi-millionaire computer programmer William Croyton, is the only survivor of the brutal attack on the Croyton family. You wonder where a story might possibly go from within prison, but he answers that quickly during a savage escape from the county lockup, only minutes after his interview with Dance. She has figured things out, but not in time to alert the proper authorities and prevent his escape.
The rest of the book gives us wonderful inside views of Katheryn Dance and Daniel Pell, as they seemingly play a game of "who can outread who". Jeffery Deaver's trademark twists and turn are all there, but somehow these seem more crisp, more deadly. Each blind alley only seems to be the backdrop for the razor-sharp twist he has planted in the story. I think this new character releases Deaver from a self-imposed prison to tell the story the way he really wants to. With Lincoln Rhyme, yeah you have the great forensic investigative mind, but you're more drawn towards Amelia Sachs, because, right or wrong, she's out there doing something about it. Not putting Rhyme down. He's a fantastic character, but Deaver had so much more to share with his readers. Katheryn Dance allows him to do this. And it's also because of her, and her complex personality, that makes the twists and turns in the story seem so fresh and new, not like they were borrowed from a previous novel.
Jeffery Deaver is a master story-teller. I hope to in time rival his readership with my own story-telling skills. First, however, I'm finding I need to catch up to a master and a mentor who has learned not only to tell a great story, but how to write it down in such a way hat the story-telling doesn't fall apart. I shamelessly call him my friend. The real humbling thing is, I believe that's how he thinks of me as well. Much of who Deaver is goes into his main characters, although a lot went into Michael O'Neill, of the Sheriff's Department. There's a guarded closeness between Dance and O'Neill that you won't want to miss.
If you've never read Jeffery Deaver before, this is an excellent time to start, and an excellent book to begin with. Of all my reviews it receives one of the few 5 stars, because I preserve them for truly remarkable works, of which THE SLEEPING DOLL truly fits the bill.

David Brollier; author of THE 3RD COVENANT

This novel starts with the city hall escape of Daniel Pell during an interrogation session. Daniel is being jailed for the murders of all of the Croyton family except for a young daughter who, nestled in bed with her animals and dolls, resembled a sleeping doll. Katherine Dance, the last interrogator to speak with him, is hot on the trail. Her special talent, kinesics, or the study of body language, is her tool. There is nonstop action in this story as we follow the gifted, highly intelligent criminal as he, too, uses his kinesics talents.

This is a very interesting storyline, but sometimes the kinesics, although central to the story, seems to be just too much. Some of the near misses on the part of Daniel's capture, seem to be too convenient and too unrealistic. But, the book is still entertaining and it wraps up well.

In "Sleeping Doll", Daniel Pell, a Charles Manson wannabe, is in prison for the murder of the Kroyton family. Pell escapes with the help of Jenny Marston, a pathetic bad-boy groupie type. It becomes the task of (California Bureau of Investigation) Kathryn Dance and (FBI) Winston Kellogg to find him. Dance is a kinesics (body language) expert, and readers are treated to much fascinating detail on the subject. Dance and Kellogg make use of three women who formerly belonged to Pell's cult family, and a writer (Morton Nagel) who is writing a book about Pell's indirect victims, including Pell's "family" and Teresa Kroyton, who as a child (the "Sleeping Doll") survived the murder of her family.

At least up to the end of Chapter 56, "Sleeping Doll" is an exciting, fast-paced, cat-and-mouse game, with plausible twists, and interesting realistic characters. Kathryn Dance may be one of the most intriguing fictional detectives ever created. Bad guy Daniel Pell is very dangerous and clever--but believable.

Suggestion: Convince yourself that the novel ends a the end of Chapter 56, and just stop reading at that point. Pell is killed in Chapter 56, and there no important loose ends left untied. Up to that point, this is one of the best Deaver novels ever. The last major twist ruins the novel, and is the cause of the many negative reader reviews. Such hairballs have practically become a Deaver signature

Definition: "hairball" A gaff so patently ridiculous (so insulting to the readers' intelligence) that it defies belief that it got past the most cursory proof-reading, and you've got to wonder what the heck the author was smoking when he wrote it. Used in reference to the typical sensation experienced by readers--upon having ingested indigestible material, as for example, having eaten a potato-chip bag after finishing the chips. Often a cumulative effect.

Most Deaver hairballs are highly implausible twists. In one Deaver novel, the "third person omniscience narrator" lies to the reader. In "Sleeping Doll", the last major twist is such downer, so annoying, and Dance dumps such a snowstorm of evidence, that few readers will notice that the alleged key evidence is implausible--it simply does not make any sense. (There was no reason for Kellogg to order Pell to his knees, and Kellogg had no reason whatsoever to suspect that the computer file contained anything incriminating to himself). After that, the remaining portion of the book is just slush---worthless uninteresting filler. Hard cover copies (which might damage glassware, electronics, etc. hurled at) should be avoided. If you have a paperback, just rip out Chapters 57 to 60 before you begin reading. If you have the audio version, just toss Disc 13 in the garbage.

And what's with Deaver's women's shoe fetish?

Ms. Dance is a "human lie detector" who works for California's version of the FBI. So, when an unsolved murder involving a mass murderer behind bars hits her desk, she has Daniel Pell (the murderer) brought to a prison near her (why not go where he's already incarcerated, you ask? -- Don't!). This percipitates a fiendishly complicated escape plot that is executed perfectly and then the chase is on with Dance trying to understand what Pell is doing while he outsmarts her at every step. The bodies keep piling up as Dance is always almost catching Pell and more and more devilish twists come up.

For a mystery thriller there does not seem to be much mystery as we follow Pell through the book and know that he is the main subject. However, this is definitely a thriller and the pages keep turning and the book cannot be put down. Just when you think the plot is getting ready to be resolved, you learn of some new twist and turn - reading the other reviews here, I note that this is vintage Deaver.

I was completely taken in by the plotting and the twisting and certainly never expected the two major plot twists that came up at the end of the book. One was acceptable to me and had me rooting for Deaver for having come up with such a delightful thing, the other one I did not care for. I will not write what they are as they will ruin the book for others.

Of course, this kind of thriller requires you to suspend reality completely. I mean, what is the reason for Dance not to go interview Pell in the super-secure prison that holds him? Why bring him out to a different facility where he manages an escape? Even more baffling is exactly how smart and up to date Pell is. He frequently manages to pre-think the scrapes he will be in and have prepared for them well in advance. Also, even though he has been in prison for almost a decade, he manages to know exactly which locations to drive to that are completely deserted to perform various nefarious deeds. Dance is always a step behind until the very end of the book when the obligatory shoot out takes place.

So, a great summer or airplane read and I highly recommend it for that purpose.

In The Sleeping Doll, a convicted killer and leader of a cult, Daniel Pell has escaped prison. It is up to the novel's main protagonist, Kathryn Dance, an agent with the California Bureau of Investagation, to track him down. Kathryn is an expert in kinesics - an ability to read body lanuage and behaviour.

I found this book quite a fairly enjoyable read. The cast of characters is quite solid, with the manipulative Daniel Pell, making an interesting, formidable and creepy villian. The character of Kathryn Dance is quite well thought out, also.

I would not cast storyline as a page turner. It is action packed in some parts, slow in others. The story has the usual Jeffery Deaver twists, that you may not see coming if you have not read any of this author's novels before. If you have, they may not come as such of a suprise. Overall, not a bad read, but not as good as the Lincoln Rhyme novels.

Daniel Pell is known as "The Son of Manson" because of his magnetic personality and the group of followers he had gathered before his arrest for the murders of the Croyton family several years back - missing only the youngest daughter, because she was in bed and hidden among her toys and stuffed animals. Serving a life sentence in a very high security prison, Pell has now been fingered in a newly discovered murder and Kathryn Dance - with the California Bureau of Investigation - is both excited and frightened to have the chance to interview him.

So Pell is transported from the Capitola super-prison to the Monterey County Courthouse so that Dance can interview him - but things don't work out like she had planned; Pell escapes, leaving a trail of bodies behind him. Now she finds herself in charge of a manhunt, after one of the most cunning and vicious criminal minds she has ever faced. She turns to the past to try to figure out what Pell might do - she finds the three women who were part of his entourage, and also tracks down the surviving Croyton daughter. But can she unravel the twisting threads of the past in time to stop Pell?

Full of the plot twists that Deaver is so terribly fond of, "The Sleeping Doll" tends to move more slowly than many of his other books because this book is highly character-driven. The plot is about the characters, their interactions and their purposes. Some of the more hard-core adrenaline junkies might be put off by this, but I rather enjoyed it as a break from the more evidence and hard science-oriented books featuring Lincoln Rhyme - you know we all love him, but he can be rather trying at times and Kathryn Dance is like a breath of fresh air. I would like to see them teamed up again at some point (she appeared with him in The Cold Moon: A Lincoln Rhyme Novel (Lincoln Rhyme Novels)), because their opposite ways of dealing with investigations complemented one another nicely. I think that folks who are fans of Deaver will like this book, as well as those who enjoy a thriller with a more character-driven plot. Don't miss this one!

California Bureau of Investigation Agent Kathryn Dance leads the investigation into capturing deadly psychopathic prison escapee Daniel "Son of Manson" Pell. Kathryn concentrates on recapturing this cold blooded killer, who with his "family" of runaways murdered the Croytons and two of their children. The only survivor of the massacre is nine-year-old Theresa "the Sleeping Doll".

Pell may be insane, but he proves to be brilliant as he eludes his adversary leading her on a not so merry dance. The CBI Investigator knows she is closing in on her dangerous enemy, but seems always one step too late. Still as she uses her knowledge of kinesics (body language) to ascertain veracity of potential clues from those she interviews especially amidst the "family". She continues her hunt for this madman who she fears is bringing in a new flock into his fold for his next murderous spree.

Having been a support player in the Lincoln Rhyme led THE COLD MOON; Dance proves she can be the star attraction as her approach using kinesis clues will fascinate the audience. Pell is a good opponent as he and Dance tango in a cat and mouse caper. Fans will appreciate the heroine especially her refreshing and unique investigative methodology and the usual Jeffery Deaver twists and turns as he provides a new hero for his fans to cherish.

Harriet Klausner

Charles Manson remains a major villain in modern mythology. Unlike other legendary evils, however (such as Dracula), Manson remains almost unused in fiction. Perhaps it's because he's real and still alive. Maybe his acts begin to pale compared to more recent killers. Even with Jeffrey Deaver, Manson is not really a character, but he is the template for the nasty Daniel Pell, also known as the "Son of Manson".

As Deaver's novel The Sleeping Doll begins, Pell is serving a life sentence for the murder of a well-to-do family, though one member did survive, a child who was overlooked by Pell and his accomplice (and got the nickname that is the book title). Pell, however, has orchestrated an escape with the assistance of the pathetic Jennie Marston, one of those unbalanced women who falls for convicts (I suppose female convicts have their share of adorers too, but you don't hear as much about them).

Leading the chase to get Pell is Kathryn Dance, an agent of the California Bureau of Investigation, and most of the book is a cat-and-mouse game between the two. The brilliance of the book is the way Dance and Pell are almost mirror images of each other, both masters of understanding human behavior. For Pell, this gives him a charisma that gave him his own Manson-like family; for Dance, however, her skills are a way of anticipating the acts of criminals. For the great manipulator Pell, Dance is a real threat.

Deaver is adept at suspense and action in addition to the well-placed plot twist. The Sleeping Doll is typical Deaver fare, which is generally a good thing, but in this case is marred slightly by a twist or two too many. Overall, though, this is an entertaining and fast read which will please both fans of Deaver and thriller readers in general.

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.