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Summary: government propaganda packed in a horror story
Review: I thought the story was good, but barely kept back the bile on the unabashed propaganda about the inner workings (and what they do for us average civilians) of the pentagon.
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Summary: Sleeper is a Sleeper!
Review: I'm sorry, I bought this book because most of the reviews were 4 or 5 star. If you buy this book and expect a lot of action, you may be disappointed. The action generally only lasts two or three pages and is gone for another 50 to 60 pages. I do agree the author was easy to read, but I would often lose interest after 10 - 20 pages. If you would like a similar book which you will not want to put down from start to finish, I recommed Relic or Reliquary, by Child and Preston. Happy Reading!
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Summary: From the "X"-Files of the Abwehr
Review: If Dean Koontz wrote Alien, and set it in the labyrinthine halls of the Pentagon instead of an industrial ship in outer space, the result would be pretty much this book.In the midst of basement bedrock repairs in the terrorist-damaged Pentagon of post-9/11, a worker uncovers a cannister from WWII Germany's Abwehr. The cannister contains what he first believes must be an alien body, but turns out to be something more immediately lively - and deadly. The worker becomes the first in a string of abductions and fatalities, as something starts making short work of the Pentagon's staff. What is the thing working its way through the air shafts and the underwater streams of the Pentagon? Is it an alien? Some kind of dinosaur? An early recombinant DNA experiment of the Third Reich? Or something altogether more startling? A crack SEAL team, an expert herpetologist and the Pentagon's chief administrator become their own Intelligence team to find out, before whatever-the-thing-is can wreak more havoc, possibly extending beyond panic among the staff and actually becoming an international incident. This clever thriller reads very much like vintage Koontz, with likeable and credible characters sleuthing-out an unknown nasty that turns out to be a great deal more surprising than even the most avid thriller/sci-fi/action-adventure fans are accustomed to. It's reminiscent of Koontz's Watchers, Preston and Childs' The Relic, and the aforementioned Alien, but manages to be its own ingenious little piece. A short, easy read, but a satisfying one.
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Summary: A surprisingly brisk, engaging horror/thriller!
Review: It lurks beneath one of the nation's largest and most powerful buildings. Underneath the Pentagon, a creature has been awakened. Bloodthirsty, intelligent, with an agenda all its own, it begins to kill...and kill...and kil...
Teamed together to stop it are Ed Jeffers, who "runs" the Pentagon; Dr. Andrea Deluca, a herpetologist who may know more than she's letting on; and Terrill "Terror" Hodge, a SEAL who is uniquely fearless, and thrives on danger. Together, they must stop this creature before it is too late...
Alright. An interesting, but not exactly unique, plot. A creature that is again interesting but entirely scary. Characters that are (yes) interesting, even realistic, but not ones who're likely to become your best friends for a couple days. "Sleeper" seems destined to be a forgetful horror/thriller novel...which is unfortunate. Steve Harriman obviously has talent, as this novel moves along at a reasonable pace (save for the flashback scenes). My only real beef with Harriman is his frequent rants about al-Quaida, and how horrible and terrible they are; not that I disagree--I happen to believe he has a valid point--but a fiction novel isn't the place for such thoughts, which seem to come out of nowhere.
Still, "Sleeper" is definitely a novel you'll want to read, if you were a fan of "The X-Files," or just enjoy a good horror/thriller. Not entirely unique, and not the best book ever written...but good enough. Yes, definitely good enough to warrent re-reading.
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Summary: I cried at the end- what a wimp i am!
Review: Okay. For real, I bought this book just for a quick fun read and boy I don't think I could have been anymore wrong. I could not stop reading it, and have told my friends that I will lend it to them afterwards but if they lose it I will do to them some of the things described in the book- and I usually am not a book keeper. I don't want to give away plot details here, but I will say this: the main thing that works is Harriman's research into Everything in the book. With detailed analysis of the Pentagon, Navy SEAL POV's (the scene in the red office and the Frazetta paintings is just fantastic- Harriman seems to enjoy becoming Terrill as much as we enjoy reading it!), the habits of both frogs AND druids, and Nazi breeding habits which leads me to believe that Harriman has definitely read Adam Parfrey's Cult Rapture chapter titled "The Sex Economy of Nazi Germany"- Emera is a walking example of that! I think that perhaps Harriman thought the plot a bit too ludicrous and went overboard in factoids to bring the story to the real - and it's good, and it works. By the last chapter you'll love every character, which makes the suspense unbearable!!! Note to Mr. Harriman: I know an artist hates to hear this, but please bring back Tall, Dark, and Scaly for a sequel, no matter how implausible, and I promise to buy three hardcover copies myself! Best pop book I've read in a very long while, and the theme underlying it elevates it into what could possibly become a fan favorite in the meanwhile.
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Summary: Who is the Monster?
Review: Sleeper, by Messrs. Harriman and Spruill, will keep you awake at night. My first glance at Sleeper; thought it might be a spy novel. Then when I read the reviews, I was hooked. Sleeper is about a dormant monster hidden beneath the Pentagon. Once awakened, tears people apart. The novel clearly is modern "pulp" horror at it's finest. What started out as a corny novel, goes totally against cliche and gets better with each passing page. The story begs, who is the monster? The psycho-social archetypes of war, terrorism, monsters and society make this "weird tale" a strange and eventful read.
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Summary: Wide Awake
Review: So many good things to say about this novel: the writing is both hard-charging and eloquent; the plot puts most thrillers to shame and Terrill Hodge is an amazing character
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Summary: Good Premise but.......DOH!!!!!
Review: Started reading Sleeper with high expectations. It seemed like the perfect book for my daily 2.5 hour commute home from work. The premise of a creature running amok in the Pentagon ripping people to shreds is too good to pass up. However towards the half way mark it became obvious (painfully so) what the plot twist was and how the book was going to end. I could not believe that the author was moving the story in this direction. Why? to what purpose? (I Don't want to give anything away) It started off great and it ended rather badly. Give it a try you might like dumb plot twists.
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Summary: Sleeper turns into a laugher
Review: Starts out very promising and then degenerates into an idiotic farce complete with talking monster (with a German accent no less!) who is lonely and misunderstood. Had me going up until the last portion of the book which is so ridiculous it doesn't require the reader to suspend belief, but rather requires the reader to wear a gag to prevent the frequent emission of unintentional guffaws...What a sad denouement...I now know why Steven Spruill wrote this under a pseudonym!
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Summary: SLEEPER NO YAWNER
Review: 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.
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