Sleeper [Paperback]

Steven Harriman (Author), Steven Spruill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 4, 2003

The Pentagon holds many secrets, but none are more deadly than what is kept hidden beneath the basement in a cryogenic freeze. It has claws that could cut a man in half and an insatiable appetite for human flesh...and someone just woke it up.

After half a century of sleep, the beast is loose in the very heart of national security-making easy work of its prey. And tracking it through the catacombs of the fortress won't be easy, because this is no ordinary beast...it's a living weapon.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set a year after September 11, this taut chiller unfolds on the Pentagon grounds, as workers return to the remodeling job that was hastily abandoned after the terrorist attacks. In a remote section of the building, a construction worker finds a mysterious canister behind a wall. When he accidentally opens it, he unleashes a carnivorous beast that has been lying in hibernation for decades. The task of putting an end to the creature's killing spree falls upon Ed Jeffers, the "mayor" of the Pentagon; Terrill "Terror" Hodge, a Navy SEAL who chafes at being told what to do; and Dr. Andrea Deluca, the attractive-yet-serious herpetologist who catches their attention. As the three work with Terrill's fellow SEALs to destroy the creature and rescue a trapped soldier, Andrea unravels the Cold War origins of the beast. The novel unfolds slowly, particularly in the flashback sequences, which tell of the creature's origin. But the protagonists are well developed, and the race-against-time structure makes this a particularly quick read. With a tone that is equal parts horror, sci-fi and Tom Clancy-esque military thriller, Harriman's debut novel nicely fills the void left by The X-Files.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (February 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425188817
• ISBN-13: 978-0425188811
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,843,080 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Killer Thriller, February 24, 2003

By 

Bee Hive (Northern Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sleeper (Paperback)

I picked up this book at 9pm thinking I'd read a chapter or two before bed. Didn't happen. I stayed up all night reading it. SLEEPER is the perfect book for people who like a monster/horror story that scares you silly but makes you think. If you liked (Preston and Childs') RELIC you'll love SLEEPER. But in my opinion it does a much better job and is a much tighter read than RELIC. Furthermore, the climax and ending do not cheat the reader. This tells in gory detail exactly what would happen if a supernatural monster was let loose in the Pentagon - without any cheap tricks. Even more eerie is the fact that this supernatural monster is less fantasy than most people would want to believe: SLEEPER is a good yarn, but it makes a chilling statement about battling an enemy that trains its soldiers to be monsters. Fans of Aliens, Rosemary's Baby and Thomas Harris' thrillers will not be disappointed.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SLEEPER NO YAWNER, February 6, 2004

By 

Michael Butts (Berkeley Springs, WV USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sleeper (Paperback)

Steven Harriman (aka Steven Spruill) has written a tight, original and suspenseful thriller in SLEEPER. Although there are a couple of lengthy sequences that tend to distract the reader, he provides us with some three-dimensional characters that one can identify and empathize with: Dr. Andrea DeLuca, a brilliant herpetologist, more involved in the creature's background than she can imagine; Ed Jeffers, a conscientious and loyal member of the Pentagon, whose own disability haunts his life; and the macho Terrill Hodge, the SEALS commander with an agenda of his own.
Harriman blends these personal crises into the horror of the story very well, and there are several scenes of bloodcurdling terror. This novel isn't as good as Matt Reilly's action books or as exciting as "Jinn", but it is a good read and would like to see more of Harriman in the future.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT thriller!, May 31, 2004

By A Customer

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This review is from: Sleeper (Paperback)

This is an incredibly well-crafted thriller, one that avoids stereotypes and cliches to keep you on the edge of your seat. As I think another reviewer said, this one is at least as good as, if not better than, the Relic.

The characters are well-developed and the structure and culture of the Pentagon are effectively woven into the action. The story makes good use of history, including certain aspects of modern history I was not familiar with. And the "monster" is anything but a cliched, rogue product of the paranormal or geological isolation.

I can't believe this book hasn't gotten more attention.