Jeffery Deaver always makes sure to create multiple layers of suspense and does it very well. The weather alone in 'Praying for Sleep' is a very effective layer. A clear, bright unseasonably warm November evening is threatening to turn into the storm of the century and you see, feel, and smell it coming. The humid silence before the storm becomes increasingly dark and creates a vivid backdrop for the impending. As the water levels creep higher and begin sloshing over the lake dam on a property adjacent to Lis Atcheson's, a series of events in other various New England locations occur. It's freaking ominous! Man, all the lady wants to do is save her roses from the flood!Deaver has a good method for filling in details evenly over four or five subplots as the story progresses. Yeah, filling in details for four or five subplots takes time which can feel like slow going at parts of the story. But I prefer an author to err on the side of too much significant detail than one to cut out information assuming I'm not interested, so it's mostly ok by me. You know how some subplots are less interesting and you can't wait to get back to the characters you really care about? That just seems to happen, but I'll say that Deaver fleshed out all the subs well enough to keep them meaningful, suspenseful, and necessary. Most notably, I enjoyed every scene at the Atcheson house and felt the paranoid schizophrenic Hrubek was a very well developed character.Writing a review lets you relive the story. I'm finding that I am effortlessly getting right back into the feel/mood of the story that I finished reading three weeks ago. That's a good sign. A very good sign.
I shall preface all reviews for Deaver books as follows: they are generally mysteries/crime thrillers usually containing fairly dark subject matter, and if that doesn't sit well with you, I'd avoid them.Of the books Deaver has written that aren't part of a series (i.e., not featuring Lincoln Rhyme, Kathryn Dance, et al.), this is my favorite. The books only covers a few hours' worth of events, excluding backstory, and picks up speed quickly. A very large, very insane man has escaped from an asylum and is on his way to a woman who testified against him in a murder trial. Though reasonably concerned for her safety, she elects to stay home long enough to prepare her house against flooding from an approaching storm. He's over forty miles away, on foot, how much danger could there be? Deaver is at his very best here, building the suspense to a stunning conclusion. The man can write twists that make M. Night Shyamalan's movies seem outright dull, and this book is no exception.
What do You think about Praying For Sleep (2001)?
Having not been that happy with Jeffery Deaver very much lately, I was pleased with this story. It's one of his earlier books (I think) and it seems that it was one of his better books. A paranoid schizophrenic escapes from the mental hospital on the night of an expected colosal storm. The police are too busy in the town to look for a man that the institution claims is no harm to anyone. However, bodies continually pop up and it seems that he is headed to enact revenge on Lis - the woman who's testimony at a murder trial has put him away.
—Melissa
Mid 3. This novel like all of his other works, frames Deaver's ability to seamlessly sustain the suspense. Yet, there are elements of the story which lend the dangerous criminal, Michael Hrubeck, superhuman traits of endurance along the lines of Holywood villains whose resilience stretches belief to extreme. The story centres on the escape from a supposedly secure facility for the criminally insane by Michael Hrubeck, a schizophrenic murderer with a child-like understanding of the world around him. Determined to track down and wreak vengeance on the psychologist whose testimony helped convict him, Michael gradually closes on his intended victim, while she also struggles to defend her late mother's property against the ravages of a coming storm. Thoroughly entertaining, if one can forgive the cliche of the 'Halloween' style villain.
—Steve
Ein Schizophrener, wegen Mordes verhaftet und in einer Klinik eingesperrt, entflieht aus der Anstalt. Er hat ein klares Ziel vor Augen: er muß unbedingt zu der Frau gelangen, die in seinem Prozeß gegen ihn ausgesagt hat, um ein furchtbares Unrecht zu rächen.Nicht nur einer, sondern gleich drei Verfolger heften sich in der stürmischen Nacht außer der Polizei an seine Fersen - mit durchaus unterschiedlichen Motiven: sein Psychiater, der nicht glauben kann, daß seine Therapie der langsamen Resozialisierung nicht funktioniert haben soll, ein ehemaliger Polizist, der die ausgelobte Belohnung dringend braucht, und der Mann der Zeugin, der den kranken Riesen unbedingt kriegen will, bevor dieser seine Frau erreicht.Der Flüchtling mag psychisch krank sein, aber das bedeutet nicht, daß er dumm wäre. Und so macht er seinen Verfolgern das Leben schwer. Schließlich kommt er beim Haus seiner Zielperson an - und dann kommt plötzlich alles ganz anders als erwartet.Jeffery Deaver schreibt spannend und versteht es, den Leser von der Geschichte fesseln zu lassen. Und die Wendung am Schluß war zumindest für mich ein echter Paukenschlag. Prädikat: sehr empfehlenswert.
—Dokusha
