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"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)"--… (more)
User reviews
With strong, well-developed characters and an intriguing premise, readers will find themselves pulled into the telling of the tale from the very first page. Flashbacks to Colter’s upbringing slowly reveal his backstory and provide depth and complexity for the character. Some surprising twists and unexpected reveals keep the tension mounting as the story unfolds; the compelling tale is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats until, as the narrative comes to a close with most plot points neatly resolved, there are just enough questions left for the next Colter Shaw adventure.
Highly recommended.
The Never Game is the brand new thriller, and the beginning of a new series from the master of thriller writing himself, Jeffrey Deaver. He has long been a master of plot twists, which also helps to make him one of the best American thriller
Colter Shaw finds people, he is neither a Private Investigator nor a Bounty Hunter, but he does collect rewards if they are offered. He travels around the US in her RV, which besides his home, acts as his office and armoury while he travels. He has been tasked to find a young woman who has disappeared somewhere in Silicon Valley.
The more he investigates the more he is told how it resembles a particular video game, and when he succeeds in his first case, he is struck how much of a game it seemed. Even when he informed the police they thought, he was out of his depth, and interfering in an ongoing investigation, even though they were doing nothing.
When another person goes missing, the police finally join the search, and start taking Colter seriously. Together with a female police detective they have to get to know a video game, to understand how a gamer becomes a killer. As they get closer the bodies are dropping, even more so as Shaw gets closer to the truth.
As we get further into the thriller we also learn about the background of Colter Shaw, which makes him a very interesting person. Very much, someone who can live on his own and survive, taught by his now dead father. Even the death of his father, and the reasons behind that death are mysterious and are a thread throughout that has been entwined easily into the plot.
The Never Game is a clever introduction to a new series and introducing an enigmatic investigator, whom the readers will love. As with any Deaver thriller, he draws the reader in, and then you just cannot put that book down. I cannot wait for the next Colter Shaw thriller, as this is a winner.
Colter is a good leading man. This is a good thing as he will be the feature in this new series from author, Mr. Deaver. Part of the problem I had with this book is that there were a lot of characters thrown at me very quickly; I hardly had any time to familiarize myself with them.
Additionally, The Whispering Man was kind of a whisper. Maybe it was me but I felt like his presence was not as strong as it could have been. Yet, the pacing did make up some of the low points. This was a fast read.
This is a new series, and another interesting person with an unusual background fostering unusual skills. Colton Shaw, comes from a survivalists family, off the grid living, homeschooled and trained by his father to anticipate all variables. This story has much to do with game playing.nim not a player myself but I found this fascinating. Had no clue the depth of the games and the competition between writers of codes and developers. The story line takes the unreal and makes it real. Enough said.
A great start to what I think is going to be a hit of a new series. The ending left me wanting more immediately, since it is open ended. There is a family mystery to be solved.
ARC from Netgalley.
The investigation takes Shaw into the heart of the video gaming industry and
A thread that runs through the story is what happened to Shaw's father 15 years earlier. Frustratingly this thread is left open to be continued in the next book in the series, to be published in 2020. A lot of the book is taken up with reminiscences about Ashton Shaw and allusions to his philosophy.
In the book, confusingly, the video game behind the kidnappings is called The Whispering Man, and The Never Game has a slightly different connotation.
This is a new series introducing Colter Shaw. Jeffery Deaver is one of my favourite authors and, as usual, it’s non stop action. I got through it in no time.
This is the first book in the Colter Shaw series.
Colter Shaw makes his living by working on cases in which a family has offered a reward for information- mainly in missing persons cases, obviously, which is how he gets
The case turns out to be a kidnapping- which sets off a string of other kidnappings and murder, which is how Shaw winds up helping law enforcement.- Without any additional reward money.
As the investigation deepens it comes to light that the kidnappings and murders are patterned after a popular video game called ‘The Whispering Man’…
My husband likes this author, but try as I might, I remained underwhelmed, eventually giving up entirely. But some while back, I saw one of those ‘top ten’ list of novels centered around cults, and the second book in the Shaw series made the cut. Though I had some reservations, I decided to give the series a try and felt I would probably have better luck if I started at the beginning.
I’m not sure where to start here...
The premise was an interesting look inside the world of video gaming, while building an ongoing personal thread for Shaw to deal with. But there were heavy execution issues and writing quirks that took me out of the story. Shaw’s percentages logic was interesting in the beginning, but quickly wore thin. The story just did not grab me as I’d hoped.
That said, the book I really wanted to read is the follow up to this one- and since I’ve gone to this much trouble, I will definitely read the next installment- which will determine whether or not I continue with this series.
Overall, for some reason I don't jibe with this author- but maybe the second installment will change my mind. Here's hoping...
2 stars
*Note: There was an odd exchange in this book about Nancy Drew- so I'm just going to ask. Guys- Have you ever heard of Nancy Drew? Have you ever read any of her mysteries? Just curious.