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Deep Sleep
The South Louisiana Sleep Disorders Institute promises to let you live out your dreams in your sleep—to experience them so strongly that afterwards you won't be able to tell the difference between them and real memories. The Institute Director claims to use these lucid dreams only as therapy for her clients. But when one of the clinic's clients and two of its neighbors are murdered, Detective Mark French finds that the institute also has more sinister purposes.
346 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 6, 2020
In short: Unusual, eerie thriller that takes place in the bayous of Louisiana and develops its own dynamic that scares you!
The nightmare come true! And that in Louisiana!
Mark French has returned to the police force in his thirties. In the rural Louisiana community where he grew up. He is a Caucasian and Chief Deputy.
He was a former police officer in New Orleans, but something bad happened there and he quit the police force. Then he first worked on oil platforms off the coast. But now he was drawn back to the job he had learned.
He hoped it was just about theft, brawls, property damage and other trivialities, but think, a brutal murder is happening. The sheriff and his wife are on vacation in Europe and the responsibility rests on his shoulders.
Because out there at the edge and at the beginning of the bayous is a stately villa, which houses an institute that specializes in lucid dreaming. Controlled dreaming in order to fulfill even the most remote desires, at least in the imagination.
Very exclusive, expensive and popular. Four people are currently guests and the young woman, Missey, one of them, has been strangled and is lying naked in the swamp.
Mark and his deputies seem to have a tough case ahead of them. Mainly because another guest has roped off, likes violence and, due to various indications, appears highly suspicious.
A driven hunt through the swamps begins. Two other bodies appear, also cruelly killed. Things seem more complicated than it seems and maybe someone completely different is the killer. And Mark could be in mortal danger ...
This is a really compelling book with a lot of bayou atmosphere. The local color is excellent and you can directly perceive all the many smells, hear the noises and various scenes play in the twilight or at night. Far from artificial lighting when the investigators and civilians only have their flashlights to rely on.
Danger lurks everywhere. Not only by alligators and snakes, but also by the murderer who could lurk behind every tree.
Mark French is double battered. Not only is he busy with a difficult investigation and the murder hunt, no, since the events in New Orleans he has also been plagued by violent migraine attacks, including nausea, which always haunt him at the most inopportune moments.
Shasha Dominique is the psychological director of the sleep institute. Her mother had murdered someone when she was a child, in her function as a vodo priestess who practiced black magic (Petro). For this she was executed in Angola / Louisiana prison.
Since then, Shasha has tried to redress her mother's injustice through generous donations.
Cassandra, an FBI agent, comes along, but privately, because she was the best friend of the murdered Missey and has important information for Mark that could shed a new light on the whole investigation.
And then there is Boudron, who is deformed since birth and lives with his "old" parents in the swamps on a small island. He just seems to be "slow-minded". He only has one arm, but could he ...
The case gets more and more complicated and nothing seems obvious anymore, which drives Mark and his migraines crazy.
Surprising twists and turns, vivid descriptions of the setting, protagonists with depth, a breathtaking showdown ...
Even before that, the fever curve of the reader rises more and more in the not risk-free hunt for a person because it is not always, fortunately, clear who is REALLY dangerous.
Mark, the psychiatrist Kelly, who then supports him, the Deputies Dottie, Dennis, Jerry and Co. are all personable and I like them. With everyone else you remain ambivalent because you never really know ... Hmh! Hmh!
The descriptions of nocturnal scenes are very successful and extremely eerie.
Charles Wilson lives in Mississippi.
The nightmare come true! And that in Louisiana!
Mark French has returned to the police force in his thirties. In the rural Louisiana community where he grew up. He is a Caucasian and Chief Deputy.
He was a former police officer in New Orleans, but something bad happened there and he quit the police force. Then he first worked on oil platforms off the coast. But now he was drawn back to the job he had learned.
He hoped it was just about theft, brawls, property damage and other trivialities, but think, a brutal murder is happening. The sheriff and his wife are on vacation in Europe and the responsibility rests on his shoulders.
Because out there at the edge and at the beginning of the bayous is a stately villa, which houses an institute that specializes in lucid dreaming. Controlled dreaming in order to fulfill even the most remote desires, at least in the imagination.
Very exclusive, expensive and popular. Four people are currently guests and the young woman, Missey, one of them, has been strangled and is lying naked in the swamp.
Mark and his deputies seem to have a tough case ahead of them. Mainly because another guest has roped off, likes violence and, due to various indications, appears highly suspicious.
A driven hunt through the swamps begins. Two other bodies appear, also cruelly killed. Things seem more complicated than it seems and maybe someone completely different is the killer. And Mark could be in mortal danger ...
This is a really compelling book with a lot of bayou atmosphere. The local color is excellent and you can directly perceive all the many smells, hear the noises and various scenes play in the twilight or at night. Far from artificial lighting when the investigators and civilians only have their flashlights to rely on.
Danger lurks everywhere. Not only by alligators and snakes, but also by the murderer who could lurk behind every tree.
Mark French is double battered. Not only is he busy with a difficult investigation and the murder hunt, no, since the events in New Orleans he has also been plagued by violent migraine attacks, including nausea, which always haunt him at the most inopportune moments.
Shasha Dominique is the psychological director of the sleep institute. Her mother had murdered someone when she was a child, in her function as a vodo priestess who practiced black magic (Petro). For this she was executed in Angola / Louisiana prison.
Since then, Shasha has tried to redress her mother's injustice through generous donations.
Cassandra, an FBI agent, comes along, but privately, because she was the best friend of the murdered Missey and has important information for Mark that could shed a new light on the whole investigation.
And then there is Boudron, who is deformed since birth and lives with his "old" parents in the swamps on a small island. He just seems to be "slow-minded". He only has one arm, but could he ...
The case gets more and more complicated and nothing seems obvious anymore, which drives Mark and his migraines crazy.
Surprising twists and turns, vivid descriptions of the setting, protagonists with depth, a breathtaking showdown ...
Even before that, the fever curve of the reader rises more and more in the not risk-free hunt for a person because it is not always, fortunately, clear who is REALLY dangerous.
Mark, the psychiatrist Kelly, who then supports him, the Deputies Dottie, Dennis, Jerry and Co. are all personable and I like them. With everyone else you remain ambivalent because you never really know ... Hmh! Hmh!
The descriptions of nocturnal scenes are very successful and extremely eerie.
Charles Wilson lives in Mississippi.
January 21, 2022
This is the 2nd Charles Wilson book I've read. Mostly enjoyed it, but wished I had known there was some voodoo tied up in the story before halfway through because I just wasn't that comfortable with it.
February 2, 2016
Set in the deep south, "Deep Sleep" attempts to be a tense thriller involving voodoo, a Wildman living in the swamp, and a institute where people go to experience lucid dreams. I said "attempts" because Wilson instead writes a mess of a novel with poorly crafted dialogue, unbelievable characters, and a disappointing ending. Its only redeeming quality is decent pacing. Given 1 star or rating of *bad*.
March 9, 2008
Several of Wilson's books in the library had raves on them, so I decided to give this one a try.
Okay, this was just bad. I'll give another of his books a try, but the beginning was just plain confusing, a monster was mentioned three pages in with no context, and it was just plain strange. Poor writing as well.
Okay, this was just bad. I'll give another of his books a try, but the beginning was just plain confusing, a monster was mentioned three pages in with no context, and it was just plain strange. Poor writing as well.
September 25, 2015
Listened to the book on audible and really liked it. Mysterious, suspenseful, and very well described. The reader was exceptional with what sounded like a s southern accent so made New Orleans seem real.
Read
March 30, 2015Not the best read, but it was ok. It was a little slow at times. This is the first time I have read this author, so maybe his other books are better. This one just wasn't that great to me personally.
July 19, 2008
Voodoo and murder in the bayou. Not bad.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews