Solitude Creek

Starred review from March 23, 2015
Numerous surprises are in store for Kathryn Dance (and the reader) in bestseller Deaver’s stellar fourth novel featuring the California Bureau of Investigation kinesics expert (after 2012’s XO). As part of Operation Pipeline, which is aimed at stopping the drug and gun transportation network headed by gangbanger Rodrigo Guzman, Dance lets a suspect escape during an interview and winds up assigned to the CBI’s Civil Division. Working with Civ-Div, she discovers that a false fire alarm at a Monterey Bay area club, Solitude Creek, where three patrons died in the rush toward blocked exits, was the work of elusive killer Antioch March. March has other panic-inducing attacks planned, and Dance leads an investigative effort while continuing to pursue the Guzman connection without the knowledge of her boss, Charles Overby. In addition, Dance and her colleagues continue to fight a frustrating battle against contraband crossing the porous Mexico-U.S. border. Deaver’s meaty thrillers are as good as they come. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents.

In the latest Kathryn Dance mystery, the brilliant kinesics (body language) expert is up against a really sicko serial killer and an equally horrific Mexican drug cartel. Narrator January LaVoy excels in her timing, pacing, and sensitivity to the myriad subtleties in the story. She delivers children's voices of both genders extraordinarily well, and the wide array of adult characters allows ample scope for her ability to develop multiple voices for the complex dialogue. Her Hispanic thugs are especially well done. LaVoy is so good as the lead that listeners will want her to be the voice of Kathryn Dance in all future publications. M.C. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

April 15, 2015

In her fourth outing (after XO), Kathryn Dance, a California Bureau of Investigation agent and a body and language expert, is demoted to the Civil Division after a mix-up on a drug-related case. Tasked with investigating boring things such as failing to follow regulations, she is assigned a case involving a fatal stampede at a roadhouse. On the surface, it seems that the fire in the club caused the concertgoers to panic, but because she can't help herself, Kathryn does more than just make sure the paperwork was in order. She begins to ask questions and pursue witnesses and discovers that the stampede may have been caused intentionally by a man who turns people's fears into weapons. VERDICT Deaver once again satisfies with this exciting entry. His fans won't be disappointed, and readers looking for a new thriller series will enjoy making Kathryn's acquaintance. [See Prepub Alert, 11/3/14.]--Robin Nesbitt, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., OH

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2014

No word yet on the plot of Deaver's latest thriller-chiller, but it does feature the return of Kathryn Dance, almost as popular as Deaver's key protagonist, Lincoln Rhyme. Note that Deaver will be awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2015 Bouchercon. With a 100,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2015
Someone yells fire in a crowded Monterey concert venue, setting off the latest cat-and-mouse game for kinesics expert Kathryn Dance and her elusive quarry. Dance, the human lie detector, wouldn't have been pulled into the case at all if her failure to pick up the cues that marked landscaper Joaquin Serrano, a potential witness against the fearsome gangbanger Guzman, as a killer himself hadn't gotten her kicked off the Guzman Connection task force and exiled to the Civil Division, which doesn't allow her to carry a weapon or make arrests. Once settled into the Civ-Div, however unhappily, she gets her teeth into the fatal fire at aging hippie Sam Cohen's popular concert site. Or rather, the fatal nonfire, since reports of a blaze were greatly exaggerated in order to induce the crowd to crush each other, sometimes fatally, as they swarmed the fire exits, which had been strategically blocked. The noncalamity-turned-calamitous is only the first act for Antioch March, whose online nonprofit, Hand to Heart, conceals a dark secret. As Dance puts it: "He starts panics. And he's real good at it." As she sweats to anticipate the unknown terrorist's next move, March naturally takes a personal interest in her interventions, becomes infatuated with her, and waxes more and more determined to show her his best stuff. Fans of Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme tales (The Skin Collector, 2014, etc.) will anticipate a long string of surprises, but this time Deaver takes the edge off his customary overgenerous elan, and most of his few lightning bolts land with a thud. Dance's fourth appearance (XO, 2012, etc.) shows her still-creaky skill set-she can't tell when her 12-year-old is lying to her-in search of a plot that can effectively harness her putative gifts.

May 1, 2015
California Bureau of Investigation body-language expert Kathryn Dance appears to have royally screwed up, misreading a suspect's behavior and letting a dangerous criminal escape justice. Shifted to a new assignment, she shoehorns her way into a case involving a fatal stampede in a nightclub. The latest Dance thriller is full of Deaver's trademark plot twists, including one at the end that makes you rethink most of what you've just read. Dance might not be quite as compelling a character as Deaver's other series hero, quadriplegic criminalist Lincoln Rhyme, but with each book, she gains ground. A further reminder that Deaver is a must for mystery readers looking for devilishly curlycued plots.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)