Dead Sleep

For my first book by Iles, this was a good choice. The first few chapters were good enough to make me want to keep going. From there, the plot thickens, but never gels....at least not to me. I'm not sure what Iles was trying to accomplish (other than to create a villain in the image of the wicked Hannibal), but it didn't work for me. The ending was too drawn out and gave the heroine almost superhuman skills, intelligence and strength to save herself. Besides, I quickly caught on to who the bad guy was.

I enjoyed this serial killer thriller with an artsy twist. It had all the requisite twists and turns, love interest, and tension, yet I expect more from this particular author. I prefer his novels which have all the requisite pleasures of plot and character, yet also engage in a moral dilemma as well, and that part was missing. Still, a good read!

I'd like to be able to claim that I figured out the mystery of this tense psychological thriller, but the best I could do was come near to wrapping my fingers around the elusive threads of twisted history, violent urges, and convoluted motives. Every time I thought I could tie them together, they got away from me.

Beautiful women in repose, painted by a skilled hand...dead or alive? When the number of kidnapping victims grows in New Orleans, the FBI sets up a task force to work with local authorities, but without bodies and forensic evidence, the trail is difficult to follow. Speculation isn't always an exact science, as the FBI profilers and consulting psychologist find out the hard way. The sister of one of the missing women becomes show more the catalyst for flushing out the killer, and her prickly alliance with the FBI pushes the hunt into overdrive.

The main character, Jordan Glass, twin to sister Jane, who disappeared on a morning run, remains very human throughout her ordeal, right down to her little weaknesses that, depending on circumstances, put her either in harm's way or just out of it. Those secrets she packs in her emotional baggage add a real depth to the motivational exploration she does on the potential suspects. But it's her natural intelligence and instinct for survival that are her biggest strengths.

The storyline is clever, complicated by so many potential suspects, and as the boxes on the suspect list are ticked off, it looks like the FBI is narrowing down its search for the likely culprit, just based on known facts, access, and timing. Going deeper, Jordan uses her experience as a war photojournalist to seek the truth of each, and in doing so, moves dangerously closer to the real killer. Along the way, she peels the layers away to reveal the human aspects of some very damaged souls.

As an artist, I thoroughly enjoyed the well-detailed portrayal of the art world, which rang true. But as someone with a strong interest in psychology, I found the profiling and personalities in the manhunt riveting. That Jordan could be so right and so wrong at the same time made for a very wild ride -- not an easy book to put down.

Mr. Isles has a skilled hand at weaving an engaging tale. His use of the present tense, save for the recall of past experiences, allows the reader to feel that sense of urgency and desperation as events spiral out of control. His descriptions of Southern life, right down to local habits, locations, and pronunciations, bring the rich ambience of New Orleans to life in words, the verbal equivalent of a painter's efforts on canvas.

By the last page, I felt like I had been through the emotional wringer, my head spinning from so many twists and turns. And yet, looking back, I can see the pieces all fell into place, like a 1000-piece puzzle. Each one of those might have been interesting on their own, but as a big picture of human behavior driven by raw impulses, desperate choices, and the desire to find goodness in life, it was enormously satisfying and richly rewarding. show less

Jordan Glass is a photojournalist who does a lot of travelling around the world. While she is Hong Kong, she visits an art gallery and finds herself face-to-face with what appears to be a painting of her. It is actually her twin sister, who has been missing for around eighteen months, presumed dead. The chilling aspect of the painting for Jordan is that the subject is supposed to be sleeping, but looks very much dead. I did find myself having to deal with a couple of small quibbles, such as the photojournalist outsmarting the entire FBI when it comes to investigation and psychoanalysis. However, they were minor compared to the entertainment provided by another imaginative story.

One of Greg's earlier books, he introduces two characters that will later play an important role in the Natchez Burning trilogy, Jordan Glass and Agent John Kaiser. Jordan is far from typical as is Kaiser, the traits of well thought out characters. A rather unique spin to a crime story, various possibilities for motive and suspects fly, as the 'crescendo' of momentum builds. As I've stated in previous reviews of this author, he's mastered momentum building and utilizes this skill within the context.

That said, the biggest difference between this book and others, is a tinge of predictability in the outcome, something I hadn't experienced in his other stories. Regardless, its well crafted, engaging and definitely worth reading if suspense show more and crime are the sort of stories you enjoy.

I'd rate the book 3.5 stars were the system to allow it. Enjoy! show less

This mystery opens the door for a journey into a world that I have no first-hand knowledge so it is difficult for me to imagine how I would react in the world of photojournalist and identical twin Jordan Glass. But the author either has first-hand knowledge of these subjects or has spent hours of research as he seemed to convey without a hiccup in the flow of the story what would be my impression of a person in the midst of this type of experience. The hardest parts to read were the descriptions of Jordan's feelings of abandonment in the loss of her father - the not knowing if he left their family unintentionally due to the circumstances of his job as a photojournalist or by deliberate choice to be in another place possibly with the show more creation of a new family. I can't imagine that loss let alone not knowing. To read Jordan's journey is compelling and riveting reading.

I'd be interested to read reviews by photojournalists or identical twins who have read this novel. show less

This is absolutely on my top 10 for 2001. It's just about the best thing I've read since Greg Illes' Mortal Fear. Jordan Glass, professional photographer, is wandering around an art museum in Hong Kong and happens on a special exhibit of paintings of women who looked dead. She and the other museum visitors were jolted as they saw that one of the models was the spitting image of herself. Only she knew it was of her identical twin sister who had been missing for more than a year. The story is complicated and fabulous.