I've been a fan of John Verdon since reading his first thriller Think of a Number back in 2010 and then his second Shut Your Eyes Tight last year so I'm eagerly awaiting his latest...
Let the Devil Sleep by John Verdon
Crown Publishing
Release date 24th July, 2012
464p
Let the Devil Sleep finds Dave Gurney in bad shape. It’s been a few months since he solved the infamous Jillian Perry murder case, but the physical and mental damage he sustained during those hellish days has taken its toll. Seeing Gurney falling deeper and deeper into a depression, Madeleine Gurney will do anything to help her husband get back to his old self—even if that means taking on a new case. So when Connie Clarke, the journalist whose New York magazine story turned Gurney into the superstar detective of the NYPD, calls to ask a favor of Gurney, it’s Madeleine who encourages him to help. As Connie explains, her daughter Kim is about to graduate from journalism school, and her final project, a documentary about the families of murder victims, has captured the interest of a major television network. Kim has been interviewing the families of the victims of “the Good Shepherd.” A serial killer who began his killing spree a decade earlier, the Good Shepherd claimed six lives in a series of bizarre roadside shootings and then disappeared; and now RAM-TV wants to mark the ten-year anniversary of the murders with Kim’s series, entitled The Orphans of Murder. Kim is looking for a consultant, someone with a professional background in police work to provide some needed guidance and credibility, and Connie is hoping Gurney might take on the task.
Gurney reluctantly agrees, but as soon as he becomes involved, peculiar things start to happen. There is an odd problem with the brake on his tractor, he hears strange noises in the night, and he finds a razor-sharp hunting arrow in Madeleine’s flower bed. As events take a more threatening turn, Gurney takes a closer look at the Good Shepherd case—and quickly finds himself at odds with the FBI’s core conclusions. As he probes deeper, uncovering serious discrepancies, he arouses the ire of the original investigatory team and turns some former allies into enemies.
His most dangerous enemy of all, however, turns out to be the Good Shepherd himself. Though no one wants to believe it, the once dormant serial killer appears to have come back to life—and this time his sights are set on Gurney.
About the author:
John Verdon, a former Manhattan advertising executive, lives with his wife in the mountains of upstate New York.
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