Customer Reviews

A Deeper Sleep

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This 15th entry in the wonderful Kate Shugak series is like candy for regular readers like me. In a quick and dirty (which is to say not long, not complicated, NO explanation for readers who have not been following the series) visit to Kate et al., we find the loathed Louis Deem getting off the hook in court for a crime he does so well: Murdering yet another young wife. Everybody in the Park, Kate included, knows he did it, but he has a great lawyer and a way of sliming himself out of the worst crimes.

Before Kate and her fellow Park Rats can recover from this latest miscarriage of justice, a double murder of a well-known mother and her teenaged son shocks the Alaskan countryside into a dangerous, simmering rage. Everybody knows Deem did it. Will he get away again? Can Kate's new love interest, law enforcement officer Jim Chopin, collect enough evidence this time? And what about the strange 17-child family, the Smiths, who seems ready to sacrifice their oldest daughter to marriage with the smarmy Deem? Why would they do this and why are they protecting him?

There's a lot of angst and worry in this book, about Mutt, about whether Kate is ever going to escape her karma of being the native community's leader after the death (several books ago) of her grandmother, whether Kate and Jim can really become an item, whether Kate's adopted son Johnny can get over seeing his friend Fritz being murdered by Deem...and that's not even the half of it!

I think if somebody new to the series picks up this book, he or she will be sorely confused. There is a bit of impatience to this story, a bit of "I'm not going to tell you again." So if you don't know the characters and the ins and outs of Park Rat doings, I would suggest starting at the beginning, with the first book. For the rest of us, Yahooo!

In this 15th entry in Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series, girls are being molested and murdered by a sociopath, Louis Deems. However, the girls claim they love the man, and jury members are warned off by his henchmen, so he seems to be above the law. He even seems able to thwart the legendary Kate and get away with it. Everyone agrees that something must be done, yet the "solution," when it comes, may lead to more problems than it solves...

I think Kate turns the corner in this book -- from being indomitable and headstrong to beginning to consider the wishes of others and even to owning self-doubt. Her "fling" with Trooper Chopin is still flinging after all this time, and both parties are a bit surprised and wary -- it's almost like a relationship, and (to paraphrase Mae West) who wants to be in a relationship? Perhaps both Jim and Kate, do? Johnny continues to mature in exactly the way I think Johnny should -- he's a good kid, not some charicature thrown into the series to provide mindless drama, as so many teens seem to be.

The Alaska lore and surroundings take a back seat this time and is seen mostly in exposition and with only a few close encounters of the Moose kind. Mutt plays a much bigger part, though, and is an extension of Kate in the story. I love Mutt -- she is easily my favorite character, and I think she deserves more page time in every book! Has Mutt ever had a real romance? That might be a big eye opener for Kate!

Lastly, there is the question of the role Kate is to take within the community. The board members of the native corporation are the tribe's elders and leaders, and everyone except Kate agrees that she should be one of them. She doesn't want to be, and yet even she is beginning to realize that it is inevitable. Kate is growing up...

Having read all Kate Shugak novels preceeding this one, I was anxiously awaiting its release. While I did enjoy the book overall, most of the fun came out of revisiting a favorite character in a familiar setting. The best way to describe this book is 'comfortable.'

This book highlights a Kate we know well. She's set her sights on something and goes forward with a single-minded determination. Kate struggles with her age old issues - driving need for independence, clash of family obligations and personal desires, daily struggles of life in the park. And death in the park, of course.

It's almost unfortunate that the Shugak mysteries are murder mysteries. It feels like the basic plot lines are working to 'thin out' the background of the book. There are several non-murder related mysteries alluded to throughout the series but are not explored and do not enhance the overall series.

Back to this book, specifically. I felt it was 'lighter' than some of the other novels. Kate doesn't seem to grow much in this paticular book, instead settling into growth from previous novels. This book lacks the romance novel feel that some readers complained about in previous books. While Kate has become a more overtly sexual being, her actual escapades are more alluded to than detailed. I found this to be a welcome change.

For fans new to the series, this novel is not a great place to start. Quite a bit of character interaction would be lost to someone not familiar with the series. To truly appreciate this novel the best place to start is in the beginning, with "A Cold Day for Murder" but a 'not so bad' place to start is in the middle with "Breakup."

I will continue to wait anxiously for the next Kate Shugak novel, but I hope that this book will prove to be a necessary connection to previous and future works. As it stands now, I was happy to reunite with an old friend, though the connection be brief and easy to read.

In this fifteenth Kate Shugak outing, Stabenow has fallen short. This outing lacks passion, it feels obligatory, the ending seems contrived and unrealistic.

Yes, it's a mystery - of sorts. There's a killer on the loose in the Park. Everyone knows who has done the deed. But the killer is like teflon - the charges against him don't stick. When an eyewitness accuses the killer killing a mother and her child, the Park Rats know that the killer will be sent away. But will he? Not if his luck holds.

No one hates the killer more than Kate Shugak. She and Jim Chopin investigate the killing, but can't seem to put him at the scene despite the eyewitness. The case against the killer goes from bad to worse in a very short time.

The ending, involving the aunties, is just not believable. It's as if Stabenow got only so far in her writing and couldn't figure out how to end the book so she contrived the ending. This is not a good ploy for Stabenow fans.

Stabenow has, for years, been one of the best writers of procedurals around. Her characters have remained vibrant and interesting over the years. Stabenow's writing has improved from very good to outstanding. It's too bad that this book was published as is.

Although Kate Shugak believes deep in her heart that justice usually prevails, she's having a hard time reconciling that belief to the facts in the case of Louis Deem, a loathsome miscreant who literally destroys the women unfortunate enough to succumb to his charms. Despite being charged with several crimes towards women, Deem has never been convicted; he seems to lead a charmed life in that regard. Remarkably, he's also unafraid of Kate, who's able to intimidate every other man who's crossed her path.

Coming off yet another failed attempt by the legal system to take him off the streets for good, Deem sets his cap for young Abigail Smith. Kate and the rest of her community know that bad things are on the horizon, but are helpless to act. But are they, really? A Deeper Sleep provides the troubling answer to that vexing question.

It's really not sufficient to merely heap the usual praises upon Stabenow and her Kate Shugak books--although they're certainly well written and prove satisfying to mystery and thriller fans, they're really beginning to transcend genre. Stabenow's characters live (and sometimes die), breathe, love, and most importantly, evolve, changing from book to book because of the events chronicled therein. The books are also about a lot more than the adventures of a tough female PI--in the final analysis, they're about community, and the individual's place in and responsibility to that community, an aspect of these novels that becomes almost painfully evident in A Deeper Sleep.

Kate Shugak and Trooper Jim Chopin are after Louis Deems. They know Deems has killed, but they've never been able to convict him. Once again, a woman and her son are murdered, Deems is the prime suspect, but they lack evidence. Now Demms has turned up dead.

This really is a Kate and Jim Chopin book. While always enjoyable, it did seem less than her previous books; less Kate, less Alaska, less suspense. What this did have was a very intriguing ending. I enjoyed this book but don't feel it is Stabenow's best. As always, recommend reading the series in order.

Superb story of the Alaskan country and native cultures. As an American Indian and an "Auntie" I love Stabenow's portrayal of the importance of "Aunties" in our cultures. Fine story line and great all around reading.

I must say first that I await every Stabenow and Henry Alaska series books to find out what the characters are going to do, or in most cases be challenged by. Kate, for what she is, an Aliut, seems to be heading toward responsibility in the "Park". I just am beginning to find her so predictable, so unbelievable, and developed in this "A Deeper Sleep", with little to add to her growth. Still, it is fun to visit the Park and their fun house of residents. This book just didn't ask anything of the reader, nor gave a whole lot back. Maybe Kate will take on Ted Steven in the next installment.

Private detective Kate Shugak is an Alaskan Aleut who homesteads in the Park and was groomed by her grandmother to become the leader of the tribe and head of the Niniltna Native Association. Solitary by nature, Kate ignores the pleas of the "Aunties" and devotes her own time to raising her dead lover's son Johnny and luring state trooper Jim into a relationship with her. They both go to see the verdict on Park resident Louis Dean for murder.

The jury acquits him in the death of his wife even though Louis has a habit of killing his wives and assaulting and raping females. Yet he has never been convicted. A few weeks later a woman and her child are murdered and their gold nugget collection stolen. Kate's ward Johnny identifies Louis as the killer. The DA refuses to prosecute so he walks once more leaving the residents of the park angry enough to murder him themselves.

There are a lot of fun scenes in which Jim feels that he is going down for the count and Kate is getting ready to rope him in. These scenes are needed as counterpoint to the odious actions of a sexual predator and killer who has his henchmen try to kill Johnny and end up injuring Kate's beloved mutt. This Alaskan tale is part mystery, part police procedural and part action thriller.

Harriet Klausner

I had been looking forward to Dana's new Kate Shugak novel. I've read all of them, cried over her lover's death, and was so excited to read the new one.
Well, I'm now sad. The story was good enough, but there wasn't the excitement of "not being able to put it down" in this one. It was more like an extended short story. It just didn't seem like she'd put as much work into this one as the others. Lack of details, lack of character development, lack of Jim Chopin. He was there, the Park Rats were there, but it just didn't feel "full" as the others do.
I am "chomping at the bit" for the next one, and I'm hoping it fulfills my "Kate" needs. I need her! OK, I just love reading about her, and Jim, and the rest.
Bring it on!!