Sleeper

I think the title of my review says it all - Fantastic!

This is an incredibly well-crafted thriller, one that avoids stereotypes and cliches to keep you on the edge of your seat. As I think another reviewer said, this one is at least as good as, if not better than, the Relic.The characters are well-developed and the structure and culture of the Pentagon are effectively woven into the action. The story makes good use of history, including certain aspects of modern history I was not familiar with. And the "monster" is anything but a cliched, rogue product of the paranormal or geological isolation.I can't believe this book hasn't gotten more attention.

Okay. For real, I bought this book just for a quick fun read and boy I don't think I could have been anymore wrong. I could not stop reading it, and have told my friends that I will lend it to them afterwards but if they lose it I will do to them some of the things described in the book- and I usually am not a book keeper. I don't want to give away plot details here, but I will say this: the main thing that works is Harriman's research into Everything in the book. With detailed analysis of the Pentagon, Navy SEAL POV's (the scene in the red office and the Frazetta paintings is just fantastic- Harriman seems to enjoy becoming Terrill as much as we enjoy reading it!), the habits of both frogs AND druids, and Nazi breeding habits which leads me to believe that Harriman has definitely read Adam Parfrey's Cult Rapture chapter titled "The Sex Economy of Nazi Germany"- Emera is a walking example of that! I think that perhaps Harriman thought the plot a bit too ludicrous and went overboard in factoids to bring the story to the real - and it's good, and it works. By the last chapter you'll love every character, which makes the suspense unbearable!!! Note to Mr. Harriman: I know an artist hates to hear this, but please bring back Tall, Dark, and Scaly for a sequel, no matter how implausible, and I promise to buy three hardcover copies myself! Best pop book I've read in a very long while, and the theme underlying it elevates it into what could possibly become a fan favorite in the meanwhile.

Do yourself a favor. Read this book. If you get started you won't put it down. The characters are intelligent and believable. Science fiction isn't my favorite genre...or so I thought. The author has an ability to make the reader feel like a member of an exclusive team. At the same time, I was fascinated with the setting, another subject in which I previously had no interest. Excellent book!

I picked up this book at 9pm thinking I'd read a chapter or two before bed. Didn't happen. I stayed up all night reading it. SLEEPER is the perfect book for people who like a monster/horror story that scares you silly but makes you think. If you liked (Preston and Childs') RELIC you'll love SLEEPER. But in my opinion it does a much better job and is a much tighter read than RELIC. Furthermore, the climax and ending do not cheat the reader. This tells in gory detail exactly what would happen if a supernatural monster was let loose in the Pentagon - without any cheap tricks. Even more eerie is the fact that this supernatural monster is less fantasy than most people would want to believe: SLEEPER is a good yarn, but it makes a chilling statement about battling an enemy that trains its soldiers to be monsters. Fans of Aliens, Rosemary's Baby and Thomas Harris' thrillers will not be disappointed.