The Sleeping Doll was my first Jeffery Deaver read, and I was not disappointed. I'm on a mission now to read all of Deaver's work. This book has so many twists and turns, several, "OH MY GOSH!" moments. I really enjoyed being surprised and shocked by many events which took place, but I also appreciated the fact with all of the twists and turns, they all made sense, fit together, and were well done. Since this was my first Jeffery Deaver, I didn't really know what to expect. Two of my best Goodreads friends, Janie and Chris, are the ones who turned me on to Deaver after expressing my interest in trying out the mystery/thriller/suspense genre. After finishing The Sleeping Doll, I'm so glad they did. Deaver's writing flows so well, and has the perfect amount of description so you can see what is going on in your head, but it doesn't bog down the story. You have feelings for and thoughts about the characters, and are shockingly surprised sometimes people don't turn out to be who you thought they were. I love when an author can surprise me, and Deaver has so many surprises written in this novel. I really like Kathryn Dance, the main character, and whom the series is named after and follows. She is strong, brilliant, and is written like a real woman in her position would be presumed to be. She is real, and even though the story follows a prison escapee convicted of murder, we do get to see what Kathryn's life is like outside of her law enforcement career. Deaver makes her have her own life as a single mother, and her own struggles. Kathryn's expertise in kinesics was fascinating. I loved how she could read people and they didn't even have to say a word. I actually learned a bit about reading people, and the things I learned weren't written to be educational and boring. They were written in a fascinating way. The main story in this first volume in the Kathryn Dance series, was really interesting. Daniel Pell was interesting as a villain, and the things he did were believable and evil. The manipulation, the lies, the deceit, the evil, and the sum of the whole package of Daniel Pell and the events involved in The Sleeping Doll read like something you might actually see on the news. The mystery surrounding this "Sleeping Doll" was compelling, and what we learn about who she is and her story, was at times interesting and even shocking. The events she reveals were such a surprise to me, I kept saying, "Oh my gosh! No way!" I didn't see ANY of what she revealed coming my way. I loved Deaver did this to me. Overall, for an almost 600 page book, The Sleeping Doll doesn't read like a 600 page novel. It's fast-paced, and even the "down-time" parts were interesting because they revealed things about Kathryn and her life, so I was never left bored. A very solid, four-star, fantastic novel, especially for my first Jeffery Deaver!
Deaves Sleeping Doll impressed me by how the minds of characters unfold. “A plus B to X..” became one of most impatient quotes to read. The unfolding of events is unexpected in all ways. When it seems you got the lead and you've found something out. There’s another missing link that brings you into a different direction. You had to keep every piece of evidence in mind to figure out the minds of the characters. This story is about how life is just not about one’s selfish goals. How others are willing to use you to their advantage. How one to get revenge or seek success will learn every detail of your life and bring all the points together to reach that the person seeks. How this affects the life of who were involve or victimized by this incredible people.I didn't agree with the writing style at all. It was hard to keep reading. Since it did bore me with some detail and the tone was serious and gloomy, really hard to keep wanting to read. Especially with some of the characters I didn't really understand what they were referring to and all the abbreviations for some information was hard to follow or believe at some points. tThe characters where intensive work. I like the main characters they’re what basically kept me reading the book. The mind of the criminal Daniel Pell that was running away to form his own family and Kathryn Dance that kept a sharp instinct and could see and follow his steps and everyone around him was unexpected at the things she discovered. As the setting it felt sometimes like i was they're like i was the one chasing Daniel Pell at the same time as if I was Daniel Pell running away trying to not get caught. It was an interesting perspective and how all this characters are involved. This something I found new and I haven’t really read anything like it. So far it has left me with a new found curiosity for the police department.I would definitely recommend its hard to read and keep up. Once you do start to understand you can’t complained. Get sucked into it and start to wait for the next set of information that is incredibly shocking and unexpected.
What do You think about The Sleeping Doll (2007)?
Where to start...I recall, when I first read this book, thinking it was utter genius - it kept me engaged and it was a proper page turner. Then I re-read it (I can't remember if it was just in 2012 or previous and again then) and I remember being disappointed. I hoped this time would be better and it... kinda was I guess.The beginning of this book is pretty awesome, Pell is intriguing and I quite like Dance at that point. The escape is impressively planned and keeps you guessing. I also enjoy the earlier parts with Jennie - seeing her be manipulated by Pell is interesting.However it is near the middle of this book that I lose interest and I never really regain it. The twists and turns that come in the later part come more out of the blue than from well placed clues. For example I recalled that (view spoiler)[ Pell doesn't actually kill Jennie and one of the original family was helping Pell (hide spoiler)]
—Carina
Chosen from my Goodreads recommendations list, this book had the elements of a interesting story but dragged on and on. At least 3 times did I expect (and want) the book to end and it continued to add (I don't want to say twists) but additional parts that I really couldn't get excited about. If you enjoy reads that tries to tie up every loose end possible you would like this book. Oh wait! No you wouldn't because it adds an additional 4th bit at the very end that leaves things open. This book was a bit too much of everything.
—Jodi
It’s a Jeffery Deaver thriller, only this time the pet crime-solving method is kinesics (magical lie-detecting by body language) rather than forensics. A spin-off series from the Lincoln Rime series, which I started because hi, disabled detective. Oh, Jeff, look at you! You wrote a whole book, and you didn’t explain every last detail! There were a few things that you, actually, like, hinted at. Hinted very loudly, but hey, you’re working on it. Oooh, and the shallow waters of your “my detective also has a personal life” plotline are a lot less annoying when your detective isn’t disabled and you don’t manage to drown yourself in an inch and a half of deep water about his OMG disabled issues. Well, okay. A little less annoying.Still, I don’t want to smack you repeatedly with my very pointy shoe right now, so good job!
—Lightreads
