From Publishers Weekly
Despite a derivative and formulaic plot about a terrorist intent on blowing up Los Angeles, forensic psychologist Dr. Sylvia Strange's fourth outing (after 1998's A Desperate Silence) should keep suspense fans turning the pages. Strange comes to L.A. to interview convict John Dantes as part of a profiling study of incarcerated bombers. Dantes is serving a life sentence for an explosion in the Malibu Getty Museum that killed several fifth graders and their teacher the year before. While Dantes has claimed responsibility for several earlier political-protest bombings, he denies involvement in the Getty outrage. Meanwhile, further explosions are causing chaos in L.A., and Strange becomes convinced that Dantes knows the identity of the new bomber on the block. With the help of various law enforcement officials, as well as unofficial (but brilliant) terrorist tracker and amateur sumo wrestler Edmond Sweetheart, Strange pursues the killer through deepening circles of purgatory and punishment into the dark guts of the subterranean city. Sprinkling the story with references to Dante's Inferno, Lovett builds an extended and predictable metaphor for Los Angeles as nine-circled Hell. L.A. noir is a rich territory already well explored; this novel sets its characters down a skillfully wrought but never truly surprising path of destruction. Agent, Theresa Park. 7-city author tour. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
A bomb goes off at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, CA, killing a child, a relative of antiterrorist analyst Edmond Sweetheart. John Dantes, imprisoned for previous bombings, is brought in for questioning. Dr. Sylvia Strange, a forensic psychologist looking to make her mark in criminal profiling, is to administer tests to him. She is not prepared for Dantes's knowledge that a patient has recently committed suicide, which renders her vulnerable. Brilliant but flawed professional woman meets brilliant but flawed serial killer, ground covered before in Silence of the Lambs. More interesting are the anthropomorphic descriptions of Los Angeles along with Dantes and an unknown bomber's smuggled communications (with allusions to the Inferno and to Paradise Lost). Fans of Lovett (Dangerous Attachments) and of psychological thrillers will want to hear this audiobook, read exceptionally well by Joyce Bean. Recommended for all public libraries. Patsy E. Gray, Huntsville P.L., AL Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Dr. Sylvia Strange undertakes a psychological evaluation of a serial bomber and gets drawn into a complicated drama being orchestrated by an unknown adversary. Joyce Bean's presentation of the primary characters is distinct and intense; different personalities come through strongly. Special effects--for example, reverberation to set off conversation in a tunnel--don't add measurably to the drama of the moment. But Bean's steadiness keeps the pace moving and sustains the tension of the plot. Music abruptly marks the end of each side but is consistent with the jarring turns of the plot. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Lovett's latest Sylvia Strange thriller takes on a difficult task: describing the work of a mad bomber. A bomb blast, perfect for film, is not easy to transfer to the printed page--at least not with the same visceral impact. Luckily, Lovett is up to the challenge. Renowned forensic psychiatrist Strange is summoned to L.A. from her beloved New Mexico to interrogate bomber John Dantes, who has been arrested for a deadly museum bombing that killed a child. Though the brilliant Dantes plays Hannibal Lecter-like mind games with her, Sylvia comes to believe he may be innocent. As the presence of another bomber, a "student" of Dantes, becomes known, she must decide if Dantes is calling the shots or is being set up--before the next deadly blast. Fervently pursuing the new bomber is Dr. Edmond Sweetheart, a brilliant scientist whose nephew was killed at the museum. His turbulent relationship with Sylvia adds heat to this already scorching tale. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
Jeffery Deaver author of The Blue Nowhere and Speaking in Tongues Warning: Don't start this book if you've got plans for the next day or so. I guarantee you'll cancel them to stay home and keep reading. Dantes' Inferno has everything readers crave: a full-throttle plot, top-notch psychological suspense, and -- as always with author Lovett -- gorgeous prose. And to top it off, the book features one of my all-time favorite characters, Dr. Sylvia Strange. Welcome back, Doctor. Good to see you again!

Book Description
When a massive explosion blasts through the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu and kills innocent visitors - including children on a class trip - the police peg mysterious loner John Dantes as the killer. But there's something about him that puzzles Dr. Sylvia Strange, who is called in to perform a psychiatric evaluation. She's not convinced that he's the key to understanding - and finding - the bomber. Can Dr. Strange unravel Dantes' madness and bring the real killer to justice?

Download Description
"The author of the critically acclaimed novels Dangerous Attachments and Acquired Motives is back with another spellbindingly original thriller featuring forensic psychiatrist Sylvia Strange. Now, in Dantes' Inferno, Sylvia is called to Los Angeles from her New Mexico home when a massive explosion blasts through the J. Paul Getty Museum, endangering children on a field trip and claiming two lives. The police peg notorious bomber John Dantes as the mastermind, even though he's in a maximum-security prison, serving a life sentence for another bombing he claims he didn't commit. Dr. Strange, a genius at accessing the most tortured psychiatric cases, is called in to evaluate Dantes. The prisoner is said to be unreachable -- and renowned for psychologically terrorizing his every visitor. But Dr. Strange forms a sudden, and unsettling, connection with Dantes. There's something about the enigmatic loner and his obsession with Los Angeles that both confounds and unnerves her. She's not at all convinced he's the man behind the bombs now ripping through the city -- but she is convinced he holds the key to finding the real bomber. The problem remains: how to get at Dantes? The police department's drug-and-interrogation campaign effectively stupefies the patient, and Dr. Strange's inability to ""get results"" troubles her deeply pragmatic supervisor, who in turn challenges her approach, her ability, and her intuition. As the death toll rises, so does public outcry, and sanctions against the fully demonized prisoner are further tightened. With the clock ticking on a bomb promised to be of epic proportions, Dr. Strange's sovereignty over her patient is slipping away -- along with, seemingly, her sanity. Dantes' Inferno is a hypnotic, heart-pounding journey to the soul of madness that reveals disturbing and darkly universal truths about human nature. It is Sarah Lovett's best thriller yet. "

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"In Dantes' Inferno, Sylvia is called to Los Angeles from her New Mexico home when a massive explosion blasts through the J. Paul Getty Museum, endangering children on a field trip and claiming two lives. The police peg notorious bomber John Dantes as the mastermind, even though he's in a maximum-security prison, serving a life sentence for another bombing he claims he didn't commit." "Dr. Strange, a genius at accessing the most tortured psychiatric cases, is called in to evaluate Dantes. The prisoner is said to be unreachable - and renowned for psychologically terrorizing his every visitor. But Dr. Strange forms a sudden, and unsettling, connection with Dantes. There's something about the enigmatic loner and his obsession with Los Angeles that both confounds and unnerves her. She's not at all convinced he's the man behind the bombs now ripping through the city - but she is convinced he holds the key to finding the real bomber. The problem remains: how to get at Dantes? The police department's drug-and-interrogation campaign effectively stupefies the patient, and Dr. Strange's inability to "get results" troubles her deeply pragmatic supervisor, who in turn challenges her approach, her ability, and her intuition. As the death toll rises, so does public outcry, and sanctions against the fully demonized prisoner are further tightened. With the clock ticking on a bomb promised to be of epic proportions, Dr. Strange's sovereignty over her patient is slipping away along with, seemingly, her sanity."--BOOK JACKET.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Despite a derivative and formulaic plot about a terrorist intent on blowing up Los Angeles, forensic psychologist Dr. Sylvia Strange's fourth outing (after 1998's A Desperate Silence) should keep suspense fans turning the pages. Strange comes to L.A. to interview convict John Dantes as part of a profiling study of incarcerated bombers. Dantes is serving a life sentence for an explosion in the Malibu Getty Museum that killed several fifth graders and their teacher the year before. While Dantes has claimed responsibility for several earlier political-protest bombings, he denies involvement in the Getty outrage. Meanwhile, further explosions are causing chaos in L.A., and Strange becomes convinced that Dantes knows the identity of the new bomber on the block. With the help of various law enforcement officials, as well as unofficial (but brilliant) terrorist tracker and amateur sumo wrestler Edmond Sweetheart, Strange pursues the killer through deepening circles of purgatory and punishment into the dark guts of the subterranean city. Sprinkling the story with references to Dante's Inferno, Lovett builds an extended and predictable metaphor for Los Angeles as nine-circled Hell. L.A. noir is a rich territory already well explored; this novel sets its characters down a skillfully wrought but never truly surprising path of destruction. Agent, Theresa Park. 7-city author tour. (Apr. 4) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

A bomb goes off at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, CA, killing a child, a relative of antiterrorist analyst Edmond Sweetheart. John Dantes, imprisoned for previous bombings, is brought in for questioning. Dr. Sylvia Strange, a forensic psychologist looking to make her mark in criminal profiling, is to administer tests to him. She is not prepared for Dantes's knowledge that a patient has recently committed suicide, which renders her vulnerable. Brilliant but flawed professional woman meets brilliant but flawed serial killer, ground covered before in Silence of the Lambs. More interesting are the anthropomorphic descriptions of Los Angeles along with Dantes and an unknown bomber's smuggled communications (with allusions to the Inferno and to Paradise Lost). Fans of Lovett (Dangerous Attachments) and of psychological thrillers will want to hear this audiobook, read exceptionally well by Joyce Bean. Recommended for all public libraries. Patsy E. Gray, Huntsville P.L., AL Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

AudioFile

Dr. Sylvia Strange undertakes a psychological evaluation of a serial bomber and gets drawn into a complicated drama being orchestrated by an unknown adversary. Joyce Bean's presentation of the primary characters is distinct and intense; different personalities come through strongly. Special effects—for example, reverberation to set off conversation in a tunnel—don't add measurably to the drama of the moment. But Bean's steadiness keeps the pace moving and sustains the tension of the plot. Music abruptly marks the end of each side but is consistent with the jarring turns of the plot. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

Internet Book Watch

When an elementary school class was asked to select between going to Universal Studios and Getty Center in Los Angeles, they chose the latter. That decision led to a lifetime of regrets at least for those who survived the bomb blast that killed their teacher and ten year old Jason Redding. Dr. Sweetheart, a counter terrorist expert and the uncle of Jason believes that anarchist John Dantes is the culprit. Using all his contacts, Sweet launches a manhunt that culminates in the capture of Dantes.Dantes asks Dr. Sylvia Strange, a forensic psychologist, to fly to California to administer court ordered test. As the pair battle for supremacy, Sylvia becomes convinced John did not commit this crime, but instead is a victim of a cunning predator playing deep-rooted psych games with all of them. Her theory soon converts her and Sweetheart from hunter to hunted, as they struggle to survive a deadly killer.Serial bombers are a product of the last forty years so that data is limited and subsequently profiling is difficult. Dante's Inferno uses that premise to build a fantastic story line based on one knowledgeable pro Trying to destroy the infrastructure of a city. Sarah Lovett's latest Dr. Sylvia entry is an exhilarating read due to the antihero John gaining grudging respect from an audience who want to see him burning in hell.

Kirkus Reviews

A horrific bombing at the Getty Museum is only the first act in Lovett's wild saga of a demented killer with a grudge against the City of Angels. Called in from Santa Fe to assess incarcerated John Freeman Dantes, that apostle of violent protest whose career is obviously patterned on the Unabomber's, forensic profiler Dr. Sylvia Strange soon realizes that she's not going to make any fast breakthroughs her two predecessors missed. Declining to sit still for her piddling tests, Dantes alternates between proclaiming his innocence in the museum bombing-his blasts go out of their way to avoid killing people, he insists-and needling her, à la Hannibal Lecter, about the suicidal patient who just died on her watch. While Dantes spars with Dr. Strange-and with Prof. Edmond Sweetheart, the freelance psycholinguistic consultant whose great-nephew was killed at the Getty, and with everyone else who's willing to stick a head into his cage-clues throughout the city, some attached to bombs, take the investigators ever deeper into the Dantesque hell Dantes takes modern Los Angeles to be, and incidentally support his claim that he's not the bomber this time around. Borrowing freely from Jeffery Deaver and Michael Connelly, as well as Thomas Harris and Theodore Kaczynski, Lovett creates layers of menace (omnipotent prisoner Dantes, a mysterious acolyte who calls himself the Mole, the endless nightscape of tunnels beneath the city where anything could be waiting) in her most ambitious thriller yet. But as readers of Lovett (A Desperate Silence, 1998, etc.) know, that's not an entirely good thing, since her forte has always been a darkly fertile imagination untrammeled by the focus ordiscipline thatcould harness it. Though L.A. comes off as dramatically, believably vulnerable, not even enough explosives for a shelfload of thrillers can make Dantes or Dr. Strange or any of the other people here as vivid as they're presumably meant to be.