Bestseller Deaver's second story collection (after 2003's Twisted
) is best enjoyed in small doses, since, as the author states in his preface, each of the 16 suspense tales contains a "gut-wrenching twist," a formulaic final reversal that loses its punch with too much repetition. That said, readers will find a number of clever and concise thrillers. The standout, "Born Bad," about a mother waiting in fear for her estranged daughter to kill her, does a superb job of matching up the clues at the beginning with the tale's resolution. Sherlockians will get a kick from a pastiche narrated in third person, "The Westphalian Ring," pitting Holmes against a crafty jewel thief. In an afterword to the tale "Afraid," Deaver (The Bone Collector
) explains how he works the concept of fear into his fiction. (Jan.)
closeDetails
Reviewed on: 11/20/2006
Release date: 00/00/0000
Genre: Fiction
Paperback - 480 pages - 9789573326496
Hardcover - 433 pages - 9781416541189
Mass Market Paperbound - 515 pages - 9781416541288
Other - 448 pages - 9781416544241
Paperback - 544 pages - 9781476788302
Paperback - 433 pages - 9780340933879