The Sleeping Doll: A Novel (Kathryn Dance, No 1)
by Jeffery Deaver
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Book Reviews of The Sleeping Doll: A Novel (Kathryn Dance, No 1)
Book Review: Plot twists are exciting, but most characters left me cold
Summary: 3 Stars
''The Sleeping Doll'' charts new territory for Jeffery Deaver by using the character Kathryn Dance as a protagonist in the novel. Set in Northern California, the story focuses on Dance using her skills of studying body language (kinesics) to track a serial killer/cult leader named Daniel Pell. The plot has some surprising twists that caught me off guard and made it worth reading.
On the downside I think the author tried too hard to veer away from the Lincoln Rhyme type of police investigations and use the study of body language to solve the case. The plot required an awful lot of characters to flesh everything out, and many of them were not terribly interesting people. The plot also slowed to a crawl in the middle and I caught myself counting how many pages were left more than once. Overall The Sleeping Doll is not a bad story, as it is rich in detail and has a well-developed plot. But I prefer the Lincoln Rhyme books over this one any day.
Book Review: Pretty Good Thriller
Summary: 3 Stars
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.
Book Review: Transitional
Summary: 4 Stars
Deaver has written another breath-taking work, this time about the "human lie detector," Kathryn Dance. Not only is the main character different, with only a phone call to Lincoln Rhyme and the East Coast, but also I think this novel shows Deaver practicing and improving his skills. His plots have always been superb (not to mention the mechanics of his writing, which may go unnoticed), but they had certain common strains: you knew that some character would not be who they appeared to be at face value, and so forth. When I read this, I felt Deaver is trying out new plot structures and styles; since he is breaking free of old habits, some of the writing lacks the surety of early books, but this is a sign that he is moving forward.
The best is yet to come. When he wrote The Vanished Man, I thought Deaver would never top that. Now I believe he can.
Book Review: Unreadable
Summary: 1 Stars
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.Book Review: Deaver's new heroine steals the show
Summary: 3 Stars
I was expecting another Lincoln Rhyme novel, but was a bit surprised that it seems like Jeffrey Deaver is starting a new series character. Kathryn Dance comes at crime differently than Lincoln. She looks at people's emotions and reads them the way Lincoln reads physical evidence. Kathryn was first introduced in "Cold Moon", which was a Lincoln Rhyme novel. Now she's on her own.
In "The Sleeping Doll", Kathryn is trying to catch a killer who escaped from prison. We are introduced to a whole new set of characters, but I didn't find any of them particularly interesting, other than Kathryn and Daniel Pell, the object of her pursuit.
The book is not as fast paced as some of Deaver's previous works have been, but it is interesting and enjoyable.