Review: Dead Time by Stephen White

Book Info:
Dead Time by Stephen White
Paperback: 464 pages
Publisher: Signet; (August 4, 2009)
ISBN-13: 9780451223777
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Rating: 4/5

Psychologist Alan Gregory is struggling to deal with his newly adopted son and repair his shaky, though generally improving, marriage. Then Alan'x ex-wife, Merideth, reappears, seeking help she feels only Alan can give. Suddenly Alan is pulled into a mystery that reaches back years to a camping trip at the Grand Canyon involving Merideths's fiance' and five friends whose lives were changed forever when a young woman mysteriously vanished from the Canyon floor.

I have been reading this series for years. I get a little behind at times, but these are characters I feel comfortable with. It usually doesn't take me long to get back into the rhythm of White's books. Dead Time started out a little rough for me though. The sentences seemed long and meandering, with lots of parentheses and dashes. Once I got used to the feeling of his writing again it moved along a little smoother.

Alan is a really likeable character. He is solid and someone you can count on. In Dead Time his marriage to Lauren is going through a rough patch and he didn't seem quite as reliable as usual. This was a good thing though, as sometimes he comes across as a little too unflappable. I've never been a fan of Lauren's though, so I wasn't sad to see her part in the book was minimal.

Another of my favorite aspects of this series is that it is set in Boulder, CO. I grew up near there and love to see all the familiar landmarks mentioned. It makes me feel a bit closer to the characters. Not much of Dead Time is set in Colorado, but this is still a solid installment to the series. 4 stars