Death Trance: A Novel of Hypnotic Detection [Hardcover]

R. D. Zimmerman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1992

A blind, paraplegic detective uses forensic hypnosis to delve into her brother's past and uncover clues to his lover's murder. By the author of Dead Fall in Berlin. 20,000 first printing. $15,000 ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this oddly compelling and suspenseful novel, Edgar nominee Zimmerman ( Dead Fall in Berlin ) steps to the very edge of credulity but avoids falling off. Technical writer Alex Phillips agrees to be hypnotized by his sister Maddy, a blind paraplegic clinical psychologist, to see if his subconscious holds any clues to the murder of his former lover Toni, a still-unsolved crime that he witnessed. Enigmatic Maddy takes Alex back a few months to the moment when Toni asks for his help, appearing in Minneapolis following the drowning of her sister Liz. Although the police label it suicide, Toni believes Liz was killed and convinces Alex to help her delve into her sister's affairs, which turn out to include a former boyfriend involved in a weird cult that may be responsible for the ritual killings of four young women. Slowly Alex's retelling arrives at Toni's murder, and although he didn't see the killer's face, his account provides Maddy with an invaluable clue. The author nicely integrates his frequent flashbacks into the narrative, which disappoints only with its contrived ending.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

Alex. He witnessed the murder of a woman he loved, and somewhere in the events leading up to her death is the key to identifying her killer. But to find it, Alex needs to relive those terrifying months via hypnosis. Now, with the help of his sister, a forensic psychiatrist, he's journeying back into the dark recesses of his mind to experience the horror and pain again.

Maddy. Her investigative prowess isn't dimmed by the special challenges or her blindness -- or by the accident that has left her a paraplegic. Now she is guiding her brother into the past, listening as his subconscious memories create a montage of a killer, and coming up with a plan for justice that will endanger her own fragile life...

The stunning debut of a unique brother-sister detective team, Death Trance sheds fascinating new light on forensic hypnosis, a doorway into the mind's locked chambers of memory and terror.

"Hair-raising... Introducing a unique and charming heroine with an equally compelling supporting cast." -- Mostly Murder

"Finely crafted, elegantly written... A novel of sheer suspense -- it tales off at a run and never lets up." -- Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 254 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; 1st edition (October 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688114512
• ISBN-13: 978-0688114510
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,081,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars should be a movie, January 4, 2000

By 

Scott Rea (Huntington Bch., Ca.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death Trance (Mass Market Paperback)

This was a great mystery that I could honestly not put down until I finished it. And this is coming from someone who does not read very often because many books drag on and don't keep your attention. Solving the mystery through hypnosis is a great way to tell the story.

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but a bit tedious., May 26, 2010

By 

Big Frank (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Death Trance (Mass Market Paperback)

When reading the blurb for this book, I thought that making a detective out of a blind, paraplegic and attractive young woman had definite possibilities. (Jeffrey Deaver has created a fascinating quadriplegic detective in Lincoln Rhyme, eg). The character of Maddy Phillips is quite fascinating, though a little less exposition about her life, and the private island she has made her personal safe zone would have been nice.
The scenes in which she uses her skills as a hypnotherapist to gradually pull out her brother's memories, and solve the murder of his lover, are well written, if a bit implausible to me (perhaps I've read too much about why hypnotically-obtained testimony is verboten in US courts). But Maddy herself is a quite fascinating, if a bit mysterious character,and makes the book worth finishing. If I could, I would have given it 3 1/2, instead of 4 stars.