Review 31: The Never Game

The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

This is a fast paced action mystery book that takes place in Silicon Valley. Colter Shaw is the main character, who also is a mystery to most who meet him. Colter’s line of work is collecting rewards when offered for missing persons mostly. He’s not a bounty hunter or a private investigator, nor has he ever served in the military or police, yet he’s been trained very well. His father, Ashton Shaw home schooled his three children and taught them survivalist tactics.

The book starts about finding a missing college girl that the police think is more a runaway than kidnapping. Shaw finds the girl, and the police finally take it serious, particularly when another kidnapping happens in a similar way. They turn out to be reenacting a video game called The Whispering Man.

The author Deaver is not new to writing books. With over 30 books to his name, the most popular may be The Bone Collector. Deaver knows how to write a fast paced book. At first the writing style seemed clipped to me, short, too abrupt, almost like writing short-hand. I wondered if this is due to the many books he’s already written that some parts become tedious or seems to him not necessary. This was most pronounced with early conversations. Like the characters all spoke in the same clipped way. It didn’t feel natural to me.

By the end of the book I was hooked and could hardly put the book down, wanting to know what happens next. There were a few misdirection and teases so I was a little surprised by the end. We also have a set up for an ongoing personal mystery of Colter’s, which surrounds his father and his death. This book can easily stand alone, but also is a good set up for a new character to follow and a series.

This was the first book I've read by Jeffrey Deaver. While he may write good thriller/mystery books that is generally not my preferred genre. People who enjoy these types of book may well enjoy this one, likely more than myself.

Thanks to G.P.Putnams' Sons/Penguin Random House and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.