The Sleeping Doll

Library Journal Review An explosive prison escape in the opening pages sets a dynamic pace in Deaver's newest suspense thriller. Kathryn Dance, the kinesics expert from the California Bureau of Investigation first introduced in last year's The Cold Moon, an entry in the Lincoln Rhyme/Amelia Sachs series, leads the investigation in this psychological exploration of a cult leader's mentality. Years earlier, Daniel Pell masterminded the brutal Charles Manson-like murder of a wealthy Silicon Valley entrepreneur and his family. Now he's escaped, and his perceived evilness sends California into high-panic mode. With her knack for reading people's body language, Dance joins with her team to assemble an unconventional group of helpers in a Monterey-based pursuit so full of twists and turns that the reader will feel unsettled even after the last page. Pell's "family" of three former cult members and the only survivor of the original murder all help Dance outsmart Pell, a self-taught Pied Piper. Deaver is still fleshing out Dance and her partners, but we sense a series coming?if not another movie (two of Deaver's books have already been adapted to the screen). Recommended for all popular collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/07 and Prepub Mystery, LJ 2/1/07.]?Teresa L. Jacobsen, Solano Cty. Lib., Fairfield, CA Copyright ? Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.