This was my first book by Deaver. I picked up the hardcover edition at a bargain price. I have to say that I have some mixed emotions. Would I say it was great? No. Would I say it was bad? No. The storyline was good, a Charles Manson type killer escapes from prison & agent Katherine Dance must find him before more people die & he disappears forever. The basis of Dance is an interesting one, a human lie detector who can interrogate criminals & know by body language & speech if they are being truthful or not. When she's not working she is the mother of 2 children. I liked Dance with a few exceptions. This woman is hunting down a killer but there are many comments on the shoes she is wearing with big flowers on them. Apparantly she keeps spare sandals in her closet in her office too. When she interrogates people she slips on a pair of black glasses that shows she means business. These are just a few of the small details that started to annoy me & caused me to take her a little less seriously. She is a widow, yet she still has the same last name as her parents, did she not change her name when she was married? Why? This is never touched on. Aside from the main character, the character of the killer, Daniel Pell, is an intriguing one. 95% of the book was interesting enough to keep me reading but no real suspense. The end got a little better, some unexpected twists. I think the main reason I liked the book was because of the "bad guy", Daniel Pell. I'm giving it 4 stars because in the end, overall, I would have to say I enjoyed it. I'm not sure I enjoyed it enough to follow Katherine Dance through future books though. ( )

In this novel by Jeffery Deaver, we are brought into the world of Kathryn Dance, albeit a bit slowly. The novel starts off slow and seems to struggle throughout to stay on point and interesting. There are well-written portions, however overall this book could have benefited from some heavy editing - there are many dragging points and Kathryn belabors her life and her choices and it just does get pretty old. The romance angle seems pretty forced as well. Overall, a decent beach reader, but if you have a choice between this and anything by Harlan Coben - pick Coben. ( )

Kathyn Dance character is not as interesting as Lincoln Rhyme, but this book did have a lot of interesting twists, but in the end did not satisfy. ( )

Daniel Pell, a brutal yet astute murderer, aptly dubbed "The Son of Manson" by the media, has escaped a maximum-security prison. Much like the Manson cult in 1969, Pell terrorized an innocent family, killing them all - except for a young girl who became known as the Sleeping Doll and survived by blending in amongst her dolls. Now, with Pell once again at large, the traumatized girl is in imminent danger. And so is Special Agent Dance, who angered the shrewd serial killer by outsmarting him in an interview - thus leaving Pell utterly infuriated and vengeful. ( )

A good thriller but rather slow in the first two thirds. It started off fast-paced enough, with a dramatic prison break by a vicious murderer. But then it slows down to a snails pace with a lot of "human" stuff about family relationships. Only in the last third does it really pick up. At that point there are a few twists and turns. But nothing to justify comparisons with Harlan Coben.

I also disagree with the author about the level of evidence you need to convict a lawman of the unlawful killing an armed fugitive. However I won't go into details, lest I give something away. ( )