Gideon is a contract killer who will take out almost anyone as long as the price is right. His next assignment? He’s hired to kill a preacher.
“Sleeping With Strangers” is the latest novel from the prolific Eric Jerome Dickey, who has written a dozen books and has a new one, “Walking With Enemies,” coming out in August. It’s written in the same page-turner style as his other novels.
It opens with an account of Gideon’s latest contract. He calmly prepares to take out the minister while watching the evening news. Even as the Detroit preacher begs for his life, Gideon barely breaks a sweat. Oddly, Dickey’s graphic violence of the slaying does not repel; instead, it causes you to want to learn more about Gideon’s complicated mind.
Dickey is good at details and makes readers a part of Gideon’s roller-coaster life. As the killer travels from city to city on various assignments, the reader is shuttled to the crowded streets of London or the dingy back rooms of some of Gideon’s hangouts.
Readers are instantly thrust into Gideon’s world of violence, sex and money. While the novel shows his cold-hearted nature, we also learn that this killer does have a kryptonite: the women in his life.
Dickey delves into Gideon’s past – particularly his relationship with one woman – to link the events of his past to his eventual life of violence.
Despite Gideon’s tough guy bravado, even killers have a breaking point. He takes the ultimate contract but realizes his greed may have caused him to go too far. Gideon tries to run from his problems, but in the seedy underworld in which he lives, Gideon finds it difficult to remain unnoticed. His past soon catches up with him and the hunter becomes the hunted.
“Sleeping With Strangers” is filled with twists and turns that will keep you glued to the pages. It is detailed and even gruesome at times, but the horror only helps the reader to dive deeper into Gideon’s dark world.
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