Let the Devil Sleep

A Novel

By: John Verdon

Narrated by: Scott Brick

In this novel from best-selling author John Verdon, ingenious puzzle solver Dave Gurney puts under the magnifying glass a notorious serial murder case - one whose motives have been enshrined as law-enforcement dogma - and discovers that everyone has it wrong.

The most decorated homicide detective in NYPD history, Dave Gurney is still trying to adjust to his life of quasi-retirement in upstate New York when a young woman who is producing a documentary on a notorious murder spree seeks his counsel. Soon after, Gurney begins feeling threatened: A razor-sharp hunting arrow lands in his yard, and he narrowly escapes serious injury in a booby-trapped basement. As things grow more bizarre, he finds himself reexamining the case of The Good Shepherd, which 10 years before involved a series of roadside shootings and a rage-against-the-rich manifesto. The killings ceased, and a cult of analysis grew up around the case with a consensus opinion that no one would dream of challenging - no one, that is, but Dave Gurney.

Mocked even by some who’d been his supporters in previous investigations, Dave realizes that the killer is too clever to ever be found. The only gambit that may make sense is also the most dangerous - to make himself a target and get the killer to come to him.

To survive, Gurney must rely on three allies: his beloved wife Madeleine, impressively intuitive and a beacon of light in the gathering darkness; his de facto investigative “partner” Jack Hardwick, always ready to spit in authority’s face but wily when it counts; and his son Kyle, who has come back into Gurney’s life with surprising force, love, and loyalty.

Displaying all the hallmarks for which the Dave Gurney series is lauded - well-etched characters, deft black humor, and ingenious deduction that ends in a climactic showdown - Let the Devil Sleep is something more: a reminder of the power of self-belief in a world that contains too little of it.

©2013 John Verdon (P)2021 Random House Audio

Love this writer!

And love Scott Brick. Best combo ever, keep them coming please! Ready for my next listen!

Gripping suspense!

After listening to Think of a Number, I immediately bought the rest of the series. The "devil" in the title is the Good Shepherd who's been silent for 10 years. He has no intention of killing again. He's sleeping. Someone should've told young Kim to let the devil sleep. Instead, she awakens him with a research project and he begins killing again, this time his victims' families. Stayed up half the night doing a jigsaw puzzle, listening to the end. The narrator is magnificent.

The great plot!

I loved everything! The nail- biting story line and Scott Brick’s fantastic narration skills! What’s not to love.

A decent start squandered.

This book underperformed. There were moments of engaging writing and narrative development and then there were breakdowns in both of the above. It happened often enough that I really can't recommend this book unless it's on sale and you can get it without expanding important resources.

I usually stay away from procedurals that deal with super villain serial killers. They become too predictable as a near omnipotent baddie has his way as the good guys struggle to unravel the scant and confusing evidence. My prejudice is that the bar for creating such a story is so low that it's lazy for most authors to work in this subgenre. Strangely enough, as the author sets up the narrative, this starts as a rather pleasing read. That doesn't last forever.

In this particular story, the author shows no skill at writing about human relationships in a way that scales with how such relationships should work in a realistic world. Writers have to create tension and conflict in their narratives to propel the plot along. In this particular story, this happens quite often with people fussing if not outright yelling at each other. It's trite. It's rookie writing.

I won't go through the litany of issues that make the MC fall into the category of semi lone wolf detective who has keen insights that others lack. The MC is married, but I don't understand why and that is the faut of the author who doesn't know how to convey how such a relationship can exist. The MC seems to have trust issues concerning information his spouse probably should know because she's his spouse. Similarly while it's understandable the spouse would be miffed at some of her husband's behavior, she is written in such a way that she comes off quite often as an aggressive, angry scold. Geez.

There is another female character at the center of the action. Unfortunately the way she is written I could never know from one moment to the next whether she will be brave or hysterical.

And just to add salt to the wound, this story does not stick the landing.

Great story! Amazing ending!

The ending blew my socks off. Wow! This is my first Verdon book, but based on the well-written characters and the great story, I’ll be getting more in this series. Kudos also to Scott Brick for adding his own special brand of exciting to the narration. As I’ve said before, Scott Brick could read the phone book and make it sound exciting.

Terrible

The narration was good. Everything else was awful. One two three four five six seven

Let the devil sleep

Author dragged the story too long. The story was dull . The only positive thing was Scott Brick 's fantastic Performance.