A former jury consultant, Kathryn Dancer works for the California Bureau of Investigation as a Kinesics analyst and interrogator or in plain English -- a human lie detector. Called on to interview a jailed cult leader, Daniel Pell (who eight years earlier killed a family of four), Kathryn's job is to question him regarding an unsolved murder 10 years ago. After the interrogation, Pell pulls a spectacular jailbreak and goes on a killing spree, staying one step ahead of Kathryn and her partners as they pursue him.

Trying to capture Pell, Kathryn looks back at his past behaviors as she attempts to dissect his motives. She gathers his former cult members and probes their memories looking for behavior patterns that will help them capture Pell. She tracks down and interviews the only family member Pell did not kill -- a young girl the press calls The Sleeping Doll.

Pell, a master manipulator, needs to control and transform his followers into his own creatures. If they are not susceptible to him, Pell kills them. The intense public pressure on Kathryn and her team to capture Pell causes her superiors to add another member to their team -- Kellogg, a cult specialist and profiler, who increases the tension within the group.

Suspense quickly builds in this riveting tale of a sadistic serial killer. With considerable skill, Deaver employs twists and turns that escalate the tensions with an ending that will surprise everyone. THE SLEEPING DOLL is a departure from Deaver's excellent Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs series, but I hope this is a start of a new series featuring Special Agent Kathryn Dance, who was first introduced in Deaver's THE COLD MOON (which is being issued in paperback by Pocket Star on May 22, 2007).