I've read Greg Iles' books in a convoluted order, but this has heightened my sense that he appears to losing something.  Either that, or his previous books were so phenomenal that they can't be bettered by what he's doing now.  The reason I say this is because I have enjoyed but been lukewarm toward his latest books, but then I read 2002's Sleep No More and loved it.  Having now read Dead Sleep, I feel even more strongly that this is the case.  This book was riveting from beginning to end, with only the occasional slow spot where the character background descriptions got a bit too lengthy for my taste.

Photojournalist Jordan Glass is following in her famous father's footsteps in the photography field, having earned many of the awards that he did.  Working on a new book to take a break from the immediacy of journalism, she stumbles upon an art gallery in Hong Kong with a horrifying sight.  A series of paintings of nude women, called the "Sleeping Women", women who to Jordan appear dead rather than sleeping.  Even more shocking, though, is that one of the women has her face.  Actually, it's the face of her twin sister Jane, who disappeared 13 months ago and hasn't been seen since.  With this new clue, Jordan and the FBI are hot on the trail of a serial killer in New Orleans, a trail that leads to rape, murder, and a history of sexual abuse that would drive any sane person over the waterfall to insanity.

Once again, it takes reading an older Iles book to avoid getting stupid characters, or at least characters who don't generally do stupid things.  Jordan is a fascinating character, with a past that Iles slowly unveils as the story continues.  She's got her own demons in her past to defeat, even as she's trying desperately to discover whether Jane might still be alive.  When she meets up with FBI agent John Kaiser as part of the investigation, sparks fly almost immediately, and as Iles slowly reveals his past as well, we see two extremely damaged people coming together with both an external purpose (finding the killer or killers) and an internal one as well.

More importantly, the characters are generally likeable (or at least the ones who you are supposed to like).  I loved agent Wendy Travis, a woman who obviously has the hots for Kaiser but is professional enough to do her job despite Jordan horning in on things.  I loved the relationship that develops between Jordan and her as well.  Yes, these characters are still full of flaws, which appears to be an Iles trademark, but he keeps the reader rooting for them rather than wishing they'd all be hit by a bus.

Iles also keeps the coincidences to a minimum, which I really appreciated.  Yes, the story begins with the massive coincidence of Jordan finding these paintings, but I don't necessarily mind coincidences that spark a story.  That's almost the definition of the "what-if" process of coming up with a story to begin with.  It's the coincidences that resolve the action, or even worse move the action along because the author couldn't come up with a better way that really grate on me.  Iles avoids this problem, which he doesn't as successfully in more recent books.

The plotting in Dead Sleep is as meticulous as Iles usually is.  There are plenty of red herrings floating around; characters who the reader dismisses as somebody unimportant turn out to be very important.  Some of the twists can be seen a mile away, but then one hits you and just floors you for a moment.  Something that Iles doesn't draw a lot of attention to suddenly becomes pivotal, so that the reader says "how did I miss that?"  Iles once again cements his reputation in the thriller field with this book.

That's not to say the book is perfect, of course.  There are long passages where characters are given (or giving) background on themselves or on other characters.  Most of the characters are interesting enough that the reader still stays intrigued even as pages and pages go by with this information.  Other times, however, it just starts to drag and I kept on wanting Iles to get on with it.  I liked how Jordan, being the narrator of the book, only releases information on her past in dribbles as it becomes relevant.  However, the other characters aren't so lucky.  The FBI briefing scene of four possible suspects at Tulane university is one such scene that I wished had been shorter.

Such scenes are few, though, and once Iles gets moving again it's hard to put down.  The fact that Iles uses present tense to tell the story adds to the immediacy of it, giving the story a great impact.  The last 100 pages almost have to be read in one sitting, though, with event after event happening and the reader watches the plot boil over.

Dead Sleep is yet another page-turner by Iles, with compelling characters, prose that keeps you reading and a plot that will keep you guessing.  It's a bloody-knife book for the ages, and the best Iles I've read so far.

Originally published on Curled Up With a Good Book at www.curledup.com. © David Roy, 2009 

Books by Greg Iles
Dead Sleep
Sleep No More
Turning Angel
True Evil
Third Degree

Recommended: Yes