Deep Sleep

Chief Deputy Sheriff Mark French was a detective with the New Orleans Police Department until three people were killed because of his error. Now he's back in law enforcement, trying to battle against the migraines and the memories. When he is called to the South Louisiana Sleep Disorders Institute to investigate a murder, he finds a lot of things that don't add up. This Institute promises people that they can dream their fantasies, any fantasy they want. The director is Dr. Sasha Dominique, who is notorious in her own right. The victim of the murder is a young woman who was visiting the clinic to live out fantasies of her dead lover. Almost as soon as he begins investigating one murder, two others crop up to confuse the case. The murders of the parents of a pathetic, crippled man who lives like a wild man in the swamp, change the dynamics and make Mark realize he has to look at a broader picture. The picture keeps getting muddied. Everyone has something to hide, it seems, and it's not until it's almost too late that Mark realizes he's been close to the answer all along. Charles Wilson's imagination seems to have no bounds. His latest thriller from St. Martin's Press Deep Sleep ventures into one of the most mysterious arenas of human beings, dreams. Deep Sleep is an edge-of-your-seat page turner with driving action and non-stop suspense.

Every time you think Charles Wilson has reached his peak, he proves you wrong. Amazingly, DEEP SLEEP is even better than GAME PLAN, DONORS, all of his beautifully-crafted novels. This is, indeed, his best book yet!Moody and atmospheric, DEEP SLEEP owes a great deal of its impact to the power of the setting. Wilson has brought out the beauty and mystery of the Louisiana bayous in a way no author ever has. The alien territory emerges as a character as intriguing as the varied cast of characters populating this chilling novel.Something is seriously wrong at the sleep on the outskirts of town; the first murder makes that clear. With each new corpse, things get a bit foggier, but Detective Mark French is not the kind to let the complexity get to him. He will find the truth if it kills him...And it just might.A series of murders, a mythical creature in the swamp, a new love -- all this and he's still dealing with a past that threatens to paralyze his present and future.There is always more going on in DEEP SLEEP than you can brusquely explain away. If you have somehow missed Wilson's novels, this will send you scurrying to complete your collection. If you are already a fan of his work, you can just smile smugly, knowing he's done it again. As you knew he would.

Charles Wilson has the knack for merging genres of fiction into imaginative tales that excite, entice and entertain. In his latest, DEEP SLEEP, there is a mixing of mystery and thriller into a tension filled novel set in the Deep South that the author so vividly brings to life. Detective Mark French is called in to investigate a most bizarre murder at the South Louisiana Sleep Disorders Institute. It appears that one guest has murdered another, but the lack of motive is complicated by the involvement of Boudron, an 'unfortunate' who lives in the nearby swamp where he hides his birth-defect, deformity-ridden body from the public at large. And what exactly is the staff and director of the Sleep Institute hiding from the police? The plot, like a good jambalaya, has a plethora of elements that only enhance by their coming together. Science, psychology, herbal medicine and even Voodoo become essential ingredients in this tasty novel.The resolution of the crime(s) is not merely a matter of serendipity. Wilson lays out a wonderful trail of logic that effectively shows how the resolution of the many mysteries comes about, in a highly suspenseful manner. As an added bonus, the last few pages leaves the reader with enough of a question in the air to wonder whether logic and science is enough to provide the answers needed. A highly recommended novel!

The South Louisiana Sleep Disorders Institute is located near the famous bayous. It is not your typical sleep disorder clinic. Instead, the place caters to customers desiring to live out their fantasies in a dream state. Though weird by local standards, the clinic had no incidents until the night three people died there. The owner, psychologist Dr. Sasha Dominique, has her own history as she once turned in her mother and brother for murdering her uncle.The strangled body of patient Massey Rivet was found near the water while another client Mr. Womack vanished leaving everything he owned behind except his car. The latter's fingerprints seem to match those found on the victim's neck. Two more corpses are found whose deaths are attributed to Womack. Only Detective Mark French keeps an open mind, as he investigates what appears is an open and shut case with such an obvious suspect on the lam.Charles Wilson has written an exciting novel that will send readers seeking the help of sleep clinics, as the audience will finish the book in one sitting. DEEP SLEEP gradually builds up the tension to the point that anticipating fans will need (with a capital N) to know what happens next. The mystery is well thought out showing what one sees in a mirror is not often a true reflection of reality. For anyone who prefers a taut thriller with a shocking climax, this is the book to read.Harriet Klausner