Dantes' Inferno (Nova Audio Books) [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Sarah Lovett (Author), Joyce Bean (Reader)

Book Description

Series: Nova Audio Books | Publication Date: April 1, 2001

When a massive explosion blasts through the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu and kills innocent visitors - including children on a class trip - the police peg mysterious loner John Dantes as the killer. But there's something about him that puzzles Dr. Sylvia Strange, who is called in to perform a psychiatric evaluation. She's not convinced that he's the key to understanding - and finding - the bomber. Can Dr. Strange unravel Dantes' madness and bring the real killer to justice?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite a derivative and formulaic plot about a terrorist intent on blowing up Los Angeles, forensic psychologist Dr. Sylvia Strange's fourth outing (after 1998's A Desperate Silence) should keep suspense fans turning the pages. Strange comes to L.A. to interview convict John Dantes as part of a profiling study of incarcerated bombers. Dantes is serving a life sentence for an explosion in the Malibu Getty Museum that killed several fifth graders and their teacher the year before. While Dantes has claimed responsibility for several earlier political-protest bombings, he denies involvement in the Getty outrage. Meanwhile, further explosions are causing chaos in L.A., and Strange becomes convinced that Dantes knows the identity of the new bomber on the block. With the help of various law enforcement officials, as well as unofficial (but brilliant) terrorist tracker and amateur sumo wrestler Edmond Sweetheart, Strange pursues the killer through deepening circles of purgatory and punishment into the dark guts of the subterranean city. Sprinkling the story with references to Dante's Inferno, Lovett builds an extended and predictable metaphor for Los Angeles as nine-circled Hell. L.A. noir is a rich territory already well explored; this novel sets its characters down a skillfully wrought but never truly surprising path of destruction. Agent, Theresa Park. 7-city author tour.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In her fourth thriller featuring forensic psychologist Sylvia Strange, Lovett (A Desperate Silence, is harder edged, higher tech, and cooler than ever. Called to Los Angeles to interview the notorious imprisoned bomber, John Freeman Dantes, Strange still off-stride after the suicide of a patient longs for the warmth of her family and her Santa Fe home. But when Dantes will negotiate only with her, she becomes the pivotal figure in a frenzied search for the shadowy M, somehow linked to Dantes, who's still setting off bombs. Sylvia and renowned antiterrorist analyst Edmond Sweetheart, who has a personal stake in the bombings, analyze the bombers' communications (containing allusions to Dante's Inferno and Milton's Paradise Lost), explore the subterranean city, and barely escape being blown up. Lovett creates some of the most mesmerizing serial killers since Hannibal Lector and presents a frighteningly plausible scenario for crippling a city. Her anthropomorphized L.A. is as strong a presence as any human character. Fans of the author and her gutsy protagonist are likely to be thrilled, but newcomers to the series may prefer to meet Strange in an earlier outing. Recommended for all public libraries. Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., VA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Nova Audio Books; Abridged edition (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587883988
• ISBN-13: 978-1587883989
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,961,649 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real chilling thriller, February 18, 2001

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dantes' Inferno: A Dr. Sylvia Strange Novel (Dr. Sylvia Strange Novels) (Hardcover)

When an elementary school class was asked to select between going to Universal Studios and Getty Center in Los Angeles, they chose the latter. That decision led to a lifetime of regrets at least for those who survived the bomb blast that killed their teacher and ten year old Jason Redding. Dr. Sweetheart, a counter terrorist expert and the uncle of Jason believes that anarchist John Dantes is the culprit. Using all his contacts, Sweet launches a manhunt that culminates in the capture of Dantes.

Dantes asks Dr. Sylvia Strange, a forensic psychologist, to fly to California to administer court ordered test. As the pair battle for supremacy, Sylvia becomes convinced John did not commit this crime, but instead is a victim of a cunning predator playing deep-rooted psych games with all of them. Her theory soon converts her and Sweetheart from hunter to hunted, as they struggle to survive a deadly killer.

Serial bombers are a product of the last forty years so that data is limited and subsequently profiling is difficult. DANTE'S INFERNO uses that premise to build a fantastic story line based on one knowledgeable pro Trying to destroy the infrastructure of a city. Sarah Lovett's latest Dr. Sylvia entry is an exhilarating read due to the antihero John gaining grudging respect from an audience who want to see him burning in hell.

Harriet Klausner

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended, April 9, 2001

By 

David A. Garcia (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dantes' Inferno: A Dr. Sylvia Strange Novel (Dr. Sylvia Strange Novels) (Hardcover)

This is a powerful, fast-paced story. I especially enjoyed the literary allusions so thoughtfully and accessibly woven into the novel. Ms. Lovett's use of the Inferno's geography of hell is fascinating and, added to the things we experience with her always-deep characters, makes complex moods and a terrific foreboding that continually draws in the reader. When I finished the book I felt like I knew these people (including the villains) and had been through a lot with them.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Flat and forgettable, November 21, 2004

By 

Linda Pagliuco "katknit" (CT, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Dantes' Inferno: A Dr. Sylvia Strange Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Dante's Inferno, despite a fairly intricate plot, fails to deliver much suspense or mystery. Most of the developments upon which the story twists and turn were formulaic and predictable. Sylvia's character is one-dimensional, and the adventures in which she participates would never be remotely possible in a real life setting. The other characters simply hover around Sylvia, who calls the shots for police, forensics, FBI,other psychiatrists, and the rest of a large but poorly defined cast of supporters. Even sociopath John Dantes comes across as wooden, as he helplesslessly becomes enamoured of Sylvia while trying to manipulate her. This is a long book not worth the effort it requires to reach the "climax".