The Seventh Sleeper [Paperback]

William R. Dantz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1992

Dr. Sara Copley and Detective Lee Valdez investigate the presence of Sleepers, comatose zombies that are the result of a twisted sociopath's inhuman experiments in the Florida Everglades. Reprint. K.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dantz's ( Pulse ) suspenseful medical thriller features nightmarish villain Dr. Emile Vidoc, a self-confessed sociopath who has discovered a new way to recruit soldiers for guerrilla warfare. Through the use of neurotoxins, Vidoc induces in "volunteers" a coma-like state in which their minds remain alert while their bodies are paralyzed. A shot of adrenaline mixed with certain psychotropic drugs revitalizes the victims but leaves them in a psychopathic rage, with obsessive thoughts of murder and with physical powers that border on the superhuman. When Dr. Sara Copley and Miami police detective Lee Valdez begin searching for a friend of Sara's who has disappeared, they stumble onto Vidoc's terrifying plans and must act quickly to avoid becoming his next victims. Although Dantz, aka mystery writer W. R. Philbrick, occasionally lapses into stage-direction-like prose, this tale is a page-turner.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The Florida Everglades are the eerie setting for the author's second medical thriller ( Pulse was the first); he's mystery writer W.R. Philbrick, writing under a pseudonym. Emile Vidoc, brilliant medical doctor and psychopath, finds a combination of drugs that turns young men into wild, demented "fighting machines" who can feel no pain. He hopes to fuel guerrilla warfare in Central America, and to make a handsome personal profit. But his scheme is discovered by a public health physician in Miami. When she teams up with a Missing Persons detective, the two encounter Vidoc's "recruits," lying comatose in an abandoned van. A lively pace, crisp writing, and a twist at the end make the book better than average, but its overdose of violence may upset some readers.
- Joyce Smothers, Monmouth Cty. Lib., Manalapan, N.J.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Avon Books (Mm) (June 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380710323
• ISBN-13: 978-0380710324
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,026,781 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Sleeper is right, April 12, 2005

By 

M. Dale (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Seventh Sleeper (Paperback)

This is one of the worst books I have read in a few years, and I read 2-3 books a week. The medicine is appallingly poorly researched, hackneyed, and just plain non-sensical. The characters are poorly developed. The author makes only a passing attempt at providing motivations for his characters' actions, leaving the reader to constantly wonder why the characters are behaving so oddly. The villian is boring in his monotonous OCD/sociopathism. The supporting characters outside of the three main ones seem to be nothing more than clownish plot support. The resolution of the ridiculous plot made little sense, and the gaping hole left for a sequel at the end borrows too heavily from "Silence of the Lambs." The only positive note is that I can choose not to read the next book.