The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver – a Review

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Description:
“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.

Review:

The Never Game by Jeffery Deaver is the 1^st book in his new Colter Shaw series.  We meet our hero, Colter Shaw, who is investigating the disappearance of woman who is missing in Silicon Valley.  Colter is an expert tracker and investigator, who accepts cases for rewards; he is technically not a private investigator, but having grown up trained by his father to be a survivalist, he has become one of the best at helping solve cases, especially in dire situations.  What is nice about this book is that Deaver gives us glimpses into Colter’s life growing up, living with his highly intelligent mother and father, and how he became so good at what he does. 

Colter is a different kind of hero, who is not only smart, tough, savvy, but he is also conscientious & caring about what cases to take and his determination to find the victim; as well as using his probability percentages to solve cases.

The Never Game revolves around the video gaming industry in Silicone Valley, and when Colter begins to delve deeper into the case, he realizes the culprit seems to be following steps played in an older game, The Whispering Man.  Early on he manages to find the victim barely alive, utilizing the first level of the game, The Abandoned Factory.  With the help of a female gamer, Colter initiates himself with the top management of various ruthless gaming leaders, designers, gamers, etc.   When another person is kidnapped, and clues arise that the culprit is now on the second level of the game, Colter will have his hands full trying to work with Joint Major Crimes Task Force in Santa Clara, CA. 

To tell too much more would be spoilers. I will say that The Never Game was an exciting, non-stop intense, suspense thriller, with many twists and turns, especially in the last half of the book.  I look forward to reading more about Colter Shaw in future books, as he made a wonderful hero.  The Never Game was so very well written by Jeffery Deaver.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher