Sleeping Beauty

By: Phillip Margolin

Narrated by: Houston Suzanne

Author Miles Van Meter is on a book tour to promote his sensational best seller Sleeping Beauty, a true-crime account of a deeply personal subject: the attack by a serial killer that left his twin sister, Casey, in a coma. Tonight the audience waits to hear Miles discuss recent developments in his sister's case, unaware that pieces of this complex puzzle of violence, unknown even to the author, are about to be revealed.

Six years earlier, life was much simpler for everyone involved, especially 17-year-old Ashley Spencer, a popular high school soccer star. Then one night an intruder entered Ashley's home and murdered her father and her best friend. Traumatized and suffering from a crippling sense of survivor guilt, Ashley is ready to give up on both soccer and life until help comes from an unexpected source, a scholarship to an elite private school is extended to her by school dean Casey Van Meter. The school quickly becomes a haven for both Ashley and her mother, Terri. As Ashley regains her sense of self through the school's soccer program, Terri joins a writing group for adults led by Joshua Maxfield, a former literary wunderkind who has disappeared from the best seller lists since his second book was panned by both critics and fans.

Then tragedy strikes again and Ashley has to run for her life, unaware that the key to her survival is in the one book she's afraid to read, Sleeping Beauty.

©2004 Phillip Margolin (P)2004 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Margolin knows how to put together a high-concept thriller, piling plot twist upon plot twist and keeping the narrative pounding ever forward." (Booklist)

Average

This book was entertaining, but the narrator made it hard to take seriously. She sounded like this was one of her first audiobooks. If you are looking for an easy read for a trip/vacation, this would be a good pick. If not, skip it-I wish I would have.

If you like Margolin, you will like this book

Margolin's focus is action. His books are always a little bloody and would probably be R rated if made into movies. I end up not remembering much about any character when I get very far away from the story but they keep you interested when you are listening.

Childish narrator

This is an interesting story but the narrator makes it seem trivial. This one would be better read in print form.

Rambling saga

Lliked the book , always intrigued by Margolin's stories, but this one was rambling. The dialogue was stilted, perhaps because the narrator's reading did not flow. The back an forth of time lines was confusing, not one of Margolin 's best. Janice

Sleeping Beauty

Someone reviewing (not very favorably) Grisham's "The Last Juror" recomended Phillip Margolin, so I tried "The Undertaker's Widow". It was great, kept me guessing up to the last chapter. "Sleeping Beauty" was even better. The narrator, Suzanne Houston, was excellent. Right up there with Michael Beck, one of my favorites. Suzanne did such a good job bringing the characters to life for me, especially DDA Delilah Wallace. Her voice characterizations were not overdone. There was a subtle difference in each character that was just enough to identify them without distracting me from the story.
Margolin's story kept me interested from beginning to end. I've learned to suspect the obvious, so doubted the key suspect from the beginning. But that did not help me see around corners to see what was coming. And Margolin kept heaping it on so I began to doubt my conclusions. The story was full of surprises for me. I liked his characters, they were all pretty believeable and, again, not overdone. I'm back for more.

The Titanic Sinks

Very early on, you are told exactly who the creepy stalker murderer is. The rest of the story is the bloody, sociopath route to the end, told from the beginning. That's where I gave up the book. It was too horrible for me. We already knew the end, so I didn't want to suffer through the ordeal.
The narration is okay but not great.

I loved this book

I have been looking for a new author, and I found one. Margolin does an excellent job of keeping the reader in suspense, without making the plot twists seem wild or unbelievable. The charchter development was uncharachteristiclly good for this genre. I'm looking forward to listenting to more of his novels.

Another winner

Phillip Margolin does it again with this latest work of suspense. This one is a little slower than his usual style and only peripherally involves the legal system, but is quite entertaining none the less. This audiobook was particularly enjoyable due to the vocal talents of the reader, Suzanne Houston, who is able to convincingly modulate her voice to mimic everyone from a 16 year old girl to a sassy black prosecutor.

TWISTS AND TURNS

If you want a must listen book that will keep you guessing, this is it. It had more twists and turns in the storyline to keep you wondering right until the end. I could not put my player down, great job.

A Fun Read

This was a well crafted tale with an excellent narrator. The writing (narrative) was trite -- almost amateurish. Literary fiction it ain't. Still worth reading...