I haven’t had time to read a Jeffrey Deaver book in a while, so when I packed to head to Nags Head for a few days at Thanksgiving – I had to toss one of his latest books in the bag 
I really like Kathryn Dance – a new character for Deaver. She is a kinesics expert – that means that she studies body language and I’ve really enjoyed learning more about her art in the books about her. The last one was The Sleeping Doll, which was very good. I was pleased to see this story picks up right after the end of the last book. They had just solved a big case, one of the officer’s died and things in Kathryn’s personal life are very much the same. The death of the fellow officer is a big part of this story and Kathryn’s parents – particularly her mother – are a big part of this story.
Kathryn is very good at what she does – but she is very human. She worries that she’s misreading the signs, she worries about her kids and her parents, she misses her husband and so much more. I just really like her
In this book – Kathryn’s mother is arrested for a mercy killing, a high school student is thought to be killing people who posted comments about him on a blog and there are some unusual things happpening with the people Kathryn works with. I like all the underlying stories that Jeffrey Deaver always includes in his books. Many layers and many unexpected turns in all his stories.
I was determined to finish reading this last night and with about 100 pages left – someone was arrested. That had me wondering – that left about 25% of the book for those unexpected twists and turns that I love so much — and he did not disappoint me I lost track of the surprises that were included after that first arrest – but they all made sense and just added to the story.
A bit more background about the story – people start discovering “road side crosses” along the highway and they have that day’s date on them. Later that day, someone is found hurt and possibly dying. These attempted murders seem to all be related to a blog post about a car accident. A short time before the book starts, a couple of high school girls were killed in a car wreck and many people post comments about the person who it was reported, was driving the car when the girls died. He is an outcast – with no real friends, a rough family life, and a rich online fantasy life – but is he a murderer? When the FBI and Dance’s team start to close in on him, he disappears and more people who posted comments about him are hurt. The more Dance works on the case, the more she begins to doubt if he is guilty, but all the evidence points to him.
In addition, Kathryn’s mother is facing a trial for the mercy killing of the young officer who was hurt at the end of the last book. One of Kathryn’s superiors is causing her all kinds of problems and what about the geeky, but attractive professor who is helping them with their computer research? Many layers, many twists and a book that I think all Deaver fans will enjoy. My schedule made it hard to find time to finish this one, but it was worth the wait. High recommended.
