Sleeping Beauty

March 8, 2004
The criminal at the heart of bestseller Margolin's unsatisfying 10th thriller is particularly heinous. Late one night in Portland, Ore., he assaults teenager Ashley Spencer, rapes and kills Ashley's friend Tanya, a sleepover guest, and stabs Ashley's father to death. Ashley miraculously escapes, but her brush with terror is far from over. A few months later, just as she and her mother, Terri (out of town on the night of the attack), are beginning to re-engage with the world, the killer strikes again, murdering Terri and leaving another woman, Casey Van Meter, in a coma on the grounds of Ashley's new school, the exclusive Oregon Academy. Ashley doesn't witness the crime, but she sees Joshua Maxfield, the school's writer-in-residence, at the scene, clutching a bloody knife. Wondering why her quiet, loving family has been targeted by this madman, she goes into hiding in Europe, returning to Portland years later to bear witness when Maxfield is finally apprehended and tried. But is he guilty? And what was the motive for this crime spree? The search for answers generates a modicum of suspense, but the book never really commands much interest, thanks to clumsy plotting and even clumsier prose. Much of the story is revealed in flashbacks, framed by scenes from a reading in a Seattle bookstore given by Casey's twin brother, Miles Van Meter, who has written a bestselling true-crime book about the case and his comatose sister (and yes, it's as contrived as it sounds). Margolin (The Ties That Bind
, etc.) has imagined a particularly lurid and sensational crime, but he fails to realize virtually any of its inherent dramatic potential. (Apr. 2)

Forecast:
The publisher is making a big promotional push, including a 14-city author tour, that should ensure placement on bestseller lists.

Suzanne Houston begins reading in a clear, lively voice but soon loses her way in cardboard characters, inane dialogue, and uninspired situations. However, when the bailiff raps his gavel at the start of the courtroom scene later in the book, Houston moves into high gear again, bringing the characters' voices to life with dialogue that is tense and spirited. The plot still remains problematic--the "shocking ending" isn't, a particularly heinous crime is predictable and lacks drama, and many obvious clues are overlooked in the trial. Yet Margolin's ability to pace the courtroom material, coupled with Houston's riveting reading of it, makes the last 100 pages worth every listening moment. K.A.T. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

January 1, 2004
When the serial killer who murdered her parents wangles an escape, high school soccer star Ashley is on the run.

Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

February 15, 2004
Ashley Spencer and her best friend, Tanya Jones, both high-school soccer superstars, had just gone to bed at Ashley's house after a postgame pizza party. Their rest was disturbed by an intruder, who slaughtered Ashley's father (her mother was out of town) and proceeded to rape Tanya. Then he inexplicably stopped for a snack, giving Ashley an unexpected opportunity to escape. Although she avoided physical assault, the haunting memory of her father's cries, Tanya's sobs, and the clinking of fork on plate as the intruder raided the family refrigerator have left Ashley emotionally numb. A transfer to a prestigious prep school with a good soccer program seems to be helping, freeing Ashley's mother, aspiring novelist Terri, to take a writing class with best-selling author Joshua Maxfield. When Maxfield's novel appears to be based on the Spencer family assault, Ashley and Terri find that their nightmare is not yet over. Margolin knows how to put together a high-concept thriller, piling plot twist upon plot twist and keeping the narrative pounding ever forward, even, on occasion, at the expense of believability. This time he pulls off a genuinely surprising ending, too, making up in part for the torment he heaps upon poor Ashley, who undergoes more trauma than any teenager should be forced to endure, even for the sake of a good story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)