Book Review: THE NEVER GAME by Jeffery Deaver

THE NEVER GAME by Jeffery Deaver (Thorndike Press Large Print, May 2019)  Harcover, 510 pages. ISBN # 1432863398 / 9781432863395  Series: Colter Shaw #1  

Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .

From the bestselling and award-winning master of suspense, the first novel in a thrilling new series, introducing Colter Shaw.

"You have been abandoned."

A young woman has gone missing in Silicon Valley and her father has hired Colter Shaw to find her. The son of a survivalist family, Shaw is an expert tracker. Now he makes a living as a "reward seeker," traveling the country to help police solve crimes and private citizens locate missing persons. But what seems a simple investigation quickly thrusts him into the dark heart of America's tech hub and the cutthroat billion-dollar video-gaming industry.

"Escape if you can."

When another victim is kidnapped, the clues point to one video game with a troubled past--The Whispering Man. In that game, the player has to survive after being abandoned in an inhospitable setting with five random objects. Is a madman bringing the game to life?

"Or die with dignity."

Shaw finds himself caught in a cat-and-mouse game, risking his own life to save the victims even as he pursues the kidnapper across both Silicon Valley and the dark 'net. Encountering eccentric game designers, trigger-happy gamers and ruthless tech titans, he soon learns that he isn't the only one on the hunt: someone is on his trail and closing fast.

The Never Game proves once more why "Deaver is a genius when it comes to manipulation and deception" (Associated Press). 

My Four-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .

     With over 900 mostly favorable reviews on Goodreads, this one doesn't need any help from me. I prefer to save the longer reviews for books that need a bigger audience.

     With Colter Shaw, Jeffery Deaver has created a likable character with a curious past and enough unanswered questions about his background and financing to make us want to read more. Colter Shaw is a nice counter-balance to Deaver's Lincoln Rhymes, who I find to be just a little bit too intelligent to be believable. Shaw is believable. He makes mistakes and has flaws. 

     I love the backstory of his upbringing in a sheltered survialist-minded family in an isolated estate called appropriately "The Compound". 

There's a lot to like here in this story of a killer who seems motivated by a video game and follows those same scenarios of danger with a low percentage of possible escape.