DEAD SLEEP

There is nothing dead about the writing or reading of Iles's latest--both are imaginative and exciting from beginning to end. Award-winning Mississippi journalist Jordan Glass, whose twin sister disappeared 18 months earlier, comes upon a portrait of her reposing in death for sale to art connoisseurs. Thus begins the intense search for a serial killer who has abducted and painted dozens of beautiful women. As the plot twists and turns, Breck captures Jordan's Southern accent, a male FBI agent's staccato pronouncements, and an art professor's courtly manner. Susie Breck is at her best when portraying a steamy alliance between heroine and agent and in the tense moments leading to the breathless conclusion. A.L.H. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/ JAN 02]