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Let the Devil Sleep
(Dave Gurney #3)
by
In this latest novel from bestselling author John Verdon, ingenious puzzle solver Dave Gurney puts under the magnifying glass a notorious serial murder – one whose motives have been enshrined as law-enforcement dogma - and discovers that everyone has it wrong.
The most decorated homicide detective in NYPD history, Dave Gurney is still trying to adjust to his life of quasi ...more
The most decorated homicide detective in NYPD history, Dave Gurney is still trying to adjust to his life of quasi ...more
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Hardcover, 449 pages
Published
July 24th 2012
by Crown
(first published 2012)
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Start your review of Let the Devil Sleep (Dave Gurney, #3)

I’ve grown really attached to Dave Gurney. I like his slightly grumpy manner, his total lack of a sense of humour but mostly I appreciate his logical thinking; he loves a puzzle and he’s good at solving them. In this episode he’s recovering from injuries and the trauma brought on by his last ‘puzzle’ when he’s asked by an old acquaintance to help her daughter out with some career advice – oh, and there’s also a small issue with a persistent ex-boyfriend, if he could just chat to her about this t
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It's 9PM and I'm thinking: "I'll lay in bed for a bit, read and call it a night. Gotta get up early, wake my daughter up, fix her lunch, get breakfast ready and then take her to school." The book I'm reading is John Verdon's latest: Let the Devil Sleep. The plate that sits on top of the chimney on the roof sends the sound of rain - like soft staccato bullets - down the chimney chute into the bedroom. I hit the power switch on my Kindle and focus on the page before me.
After reading a few hundred ...more
After reading a few hundred ...more

Good story but could be shorter if not for the many descriptions that weren't always necessary. My favorite character remains Jack Hardwick and I wish he could be more present throughout the story. I can't remember if I liked Kim in my first reading of the story but I definitely didn't like her in my second. I liked Kyle Gurney's son though and I think he would make an excellent detective like his father.
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Retired NYPD detective Dave Gurney returns with a new mystery to solve. For years and years no one has revealed the true identity of “The Good Shepherd”, the notorious serial Killer who chooses his victims well and wealthy. After ten years of silences, he returns to kill the victims’ families, supposedly because a television special about him was aired, driving him mad and ready to avenge.
Gurney thinks that there’s more than meets the eye about this case, and objects to the psychological profile ...more
Gurney thinks that there’s more than meets the eye about this case, and objects to the psychological profile ...more

This book is very disappointing. I'm so glad I didn't buy it. I was tempted to a few times when I saw it at B&N, but eventually borrowed it from the library. I'm beginning to think that the third book in a series is the make-it or break-it book. So many series I've read recently go really bad with the third book and unfortunately this seems to have happened with Dave Gurney, retired NYPD detective extraordinaire.
Dave is recovering from the near-fatal gunshot wound he received at the end of the s ...more
Dave is recovering from the near-fatal gunshot wound he received at the end of the s ...more

I don’t recall Gurney being like this. I remember him as stronger. Then again, I don’t recall much about the two prior books - just that I enjoyed them. I didn’t like who the murderer turned out to be. I had higher expectations on the whodunit part. All this being said, I loved most of the characters and found it fairly fast paced for 460+ pages.

Gurney novels are my fav for this particular genre of series in the thriller category. At least for all of those novels which have come out in the last 10 years. Despite the Nordic invasion.
His tension is really crisp and intact from the get-go and you just have to keep reading to see what happens next.
These are pretty graphic for most peoples' tastes, but without being occult or pure horror at all- he has still got that menacing chill factor foundation. And Dave fits into that slot (the react ...more
His tension is really crisp and intact from the get-go and you just have to keep reading to see what happens next.
These are pretty graphic for most peoples' tastes, but without being occult or pure horror at all- he has still got that menacing chill factor foundation. And Dave fits into that slot (the react ...more

All through this book I intended to give it a full five stars. I loved the locale - upstate New York; I adore the MC and his long-suffering wife - retired homicide detective Dave Gurney and the book-reading, forever-cooking Madeleine; and the plot is great - Dave agrees to help a young woman starting out on a journalistic career.
(Her idea: interview families who've lost a member to a serial killer. It's an idea being turned into a reality-TV program. But little problem here: the crimes were nev ...more
(Her idea: interview families who've lost a member to a serial killer. It's an idea being turned into a reality-TV program. But little problem here: the crimes were nev ...more

This was the longest (so far) and the least impressive (so far) of Verdon's books. Mind you, he's set the bar pretty high with the two previous Dave Gurney, retired detective extraordinaire, series, meaning that even a lackluster entry into his world would still be pretty decent, but it did lack a lot of the things that made books one and two so, so good. The character writing is still top notch, Gurney, his oddly balanced, yet very functional marriage (although by now one might start to questio
...more

3.5 stars
Well, I am going to be honest here... Although I really liked the plot and I read it quickly because I was anxious to find the truth, I had a huge problem with the main character.. I didn't like the way he acted with his wife and with his son... Actually, I didn't like the way he treated almost everyone... He is always acting distant... I don't dislike him, I am intrigued by him and his mind but I wanted him more... human...
...more
Well, I am going to be honest here... Although I really liked the plot and I read it quickly because I was anxious to find the truth, I had a huge problem with the main character.. I didn't like the way he acted with his wife and with his son... Actually, I didn't like the way he treated almost everyone... He is always acting distant... I don't dislike him, I am intrigued by him and his mind but I wanted him more... human...
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For me the story did not grab me at all could not pick this up to keep reading might be me i don't know took to long to get into the story
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This third installment of the Dave Gurney series follows the same formula as the first two. Dave is once again brought in on a seemingly unsolvable case, but unfortunately, the plot lacks the suspense of the first 2 books and the story didn't warrant >400 pages. Also, for being such a Supercop legend Dave does some amazingly stupid things and he never actually solves the case (the same device was used in the first 2 books). Instead there is a climactic scene where Dave gets in a bind, his life i
...more

I've really enjoyed getting to know the Dave Gurney character through the couple of books I've read in John Verdon's series. He's a retired NYC 'supercop' detective living in upstate New York, trying to take it easy and finding it difficult to do so. He's smart, data driven, fairly unemotional, humble, and, in "Let the Devil Sleep", recovering from injuries he endured in his last adventure. Trouble seems to follow him, though, and it succeeds yet again in finding him.
Gurney is pulled into lookin ...more
Gurney is pulled into lookin ...more

PROTAGONIST: Dave Gurney, retired homicide detective
SETTING: New York State
SERIES: #3 of 4
RATING: 3.25
How does the most decorated homicide detective in NYPD history go into retirement? For Dave Gurney, it hasn’t been an easy journey. He was grievously injured while working on his last case, and now he’s living in a kind of twilight zone, feeling depressed, lethargic and angry. He and his wife, Madeleine, have moved to upstate New York; but Dave has no interest in what is going on around him. Bas ...more
SETTING: New York State
SERIES: #3 of 4
RATING: 3.25
How does the most decorated homicide detective in NYPD history go into retirement? For Dave Gurney, it hasn’t been an easy journey. He was grievously injured while working on his last case, and now he’s living in a kind of twilight zone, feeling depressed, lethargic and angry. He and his wife, Madeleine, have moved to upstate New York; but Dave has no interest in what is going on around him. Bas ...more

The third volume in an on-going detective series sees a former NYC super-cop, now retired to the sticks get dragged into yet another investigation on an amateur basis. Once again the story is eminently readable and it is an improvement over its predecessors in that it is not blatantly obvious who the mystery killer is - in fact I guessed incorrectly this time.
THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN CURTAILED IN PROTEST AT GOODREADS' CENSORSHIP POLICY
See the complete review here:
http://arbieroo.booklikes.com/post/ ...more
THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN CURTAILED IN PROTEST AT GOODREADS' CENSORSHIP POLICY
See the complete review here:
http://arbieroo.booklikes.com/post/ ...more

Will probably be my last in this series. The wife is just too annoying. The main character is turning into a dullard. And the son is far too eager to please his absentee father.
Mystery wasn't bad, but can't make up for totally unlikeable characters. Count me out from now on. ...more
Mystery wasn't bad, but can't make up for totally unlikeable characters. Count me out from now on. ...more

I don’t know if this is a 5 star read. It’s more cohesive and satisfying than the first two in the series and a little less far fetched. It appears that Dave Gurney’s near death in his last case was, oddly, beneficial to his mental health in serendipitous ways. Still an obsessive curmudgeon, he is more likeable for his shortcomings and an increasing awareness of his human frailties.
His wife, too, is a more compelling and likeable character in this story. In fact, while she comes close to being p ...more
His wife, too, is a more compelling and likeable character in this story. In fact, while she comes close to being p ...more

was lucky enough to be an early reader (and fan) of John Verdon's debut novel - Think of a Numb3r. I love getting in on the ground floor of a new series. His second book - Shut Your Eyes Tight - was just as good and proved that Verdon wasn't a one book wonder. The latest book in his Dave Gurney series - Let the Devil Sleep - was fantastic! John Verdon just gets better and better.
Retired NYPD Homicide Detective Dave Gurney has spent the last six months recovering from gunshot wounds sustained du ...more
Retired NYPD Homicide Detective Dave Gurney has spent the last six months recovering from gunshot wounds sustained du ...more

Started this one today having enjoyed both the first two Think of a Number and Shut Your Eyes Tight.
I'm going into this with great expectations that the author has been toying with us about the deranged wife, and that it's this book which will expose her and see Dave saved from her evil clutches. Yeah. But I like Dave Gurney enough to overlook this little flaw in his character (that he hasn't quietly murdered his wife) and enjoy some great writing and plotting.
I'll update when finished...
Finis ...more
I'm going into this with great expectations that the author has been toying with us about the deranged wife, and that it's this book which will expose her and see Dave saved from her evil clutches. Yeah. But I like Dave Gurney enough to overlook this little flaw in his character (that he hasn't quietly murdered his wife) and enjoy some great writing and plotting.
I'll update when finished...
Finis ...more

I learned something this week: John Verdon is a heck of a writer. I read LET THE DEVIL SLEEP in two days, which is saying a lot, because it's a BIG book, running 449 pages. It was just hard to stop.
This is Mr. Verdon's third novel, and third in the continuing adventures of retired NYPD homicide detective Dave Gurney. And now, God help me, I'm going to have to find and read the first two, THINK OF A NUMBER and SHUT YOUR EYES TIGHT.
LET THE DEVIL SLEEP begins with Gurney at home, lamenting the guns ...more
This is Mr. Verdon's third novel, and third in the continuing adventures of retired NYPD homicide detective Dave Gurney. And now, God help me, I'm going to have to find and read the first two, THINK OF A NUMBER and SHUT YOUR EYES TIGHT.
LET THE DEVIL SLEEP begins with Gurney at home, lamenting the guns ...more

Sep 04, 2019
Vicki
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
cold-case,
inheritance,
forensics,
ptsd,
friendship,
serial-killer,
suicide,
murder,
police,
psychology
I'm really enjoying the Dave Gurney series: great plotting and characterization.
...more

3.5 I enjoy Verdon because his books are like puzzles. So many layers to uncover and try to fit the pieces where they belong. This one I felt was a little awkward with the conversations in the beginning but true to form they smoothed out and gave the reader an in depth analysis of the storyline and what the characters are thinking. Another very good read from this author.

I found this book a bit disappointing after the first two by Verdun. The plot is weaker; Gurney doesn't truly get entangled in the mystery until the final third of the story, and I found it hard to really care about what was happening as a result.
...more

Once again, Dave proves how brilliant a detective he is, then does something a bit dumb, almost dies, and ends up in the hospital. Still, the stories are interesting, with a good mix of suspense and humor, and a lot of interesting characters. I guessed fairly early one of the key parts of what was going on, although it didn't really spoil the story as I was never really sure. I think I've read so many mystery novels that my mind automatically finds these tricks.
All in all, it's an interesting se ...more
All in all, it's an interesting se ...more

Mar 24, 2018
Russ
added it
Another serial killer mystery. Only this time with a twist. Instead of the serial killer du jour, this is about a string of killings 10 years in the past. A little slow warming up, but once it got started ...whew. A few new bureaucratic adversaries to deal with makes me want to read the next installment of Dave Gurney, Serial Killer Hunter.

Not my favorite of the series, but still great because of Dave Gurney, and his long suffering, mystically wise spouse, Madeleine. Some of the scenes I liked best in this book can't be described in a review, because I don't want to include spoilers.
...more

The book focuses its energy in its complex portrayal of Dave Gurney's struggles as a wounded, vulnerable, aging human being who is extremely close to "breaking". There are suggestions from characters that he is suffering from PTSD from his last case and the attack on him. The murder mystery seems a little lackluster as well as the revelation of who the killer is surprises most readers; in fact, it's hard to accept who it is. So many other characters seem a more logical choice.
...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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Compañeros de lec...: Deja en paz al diablo de John Verdon | 26 | 51 | Oct 30, 2017 09:07AM | |
Let the Devil Sleep- win a copy! | 1 | 19 | Aug 04, 2012 02:53AM |
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