Billingham, Mark - SLEEPYHEAD

[LJ Roberts]

SLEEPYHEAD – G+
Mark Billingham – 1^st book (UK Release – Police Procedural)

DI Tom Thorne is up against is a particularly creepy specimen who savagely killed three victims but his fourth, Alison, has undergone a deliberately induced stroke and although all her senses are intact, she is totally unable to move or communicate. This hideous condition, called Locked-in Syndrome is, however, quite possibly the killer's first miscalculation ... or is it? Soon the dogged Thorne is playing a cat-and-mouse game with a psychopathic killer.

Billingham has created some very interesting characters; Thorne, a relentless investigator who empathizes with the victims but is certainly not supercop; Dr. Anne Cobert, Alison’s doctor who becomes Thorne’s lover; and Alison herself. The dialogue is quite good as is the level of suspense—not over the top but done well in the right places. I already have Billingham’s next two books and am looking forward to reading them.