Trouble in Mind

January 27, 2014
The 12 tales in bestseller Deaver’s third story collection (after 2006’s More Twisted) abound in shrewd detection and twists. In “Fast,” series lead Kathryn Dance and colleagues attempt to stop a terrorist attack. Another series character, Lincoln Rhyme, figures in “A Textbook Case” and “The Obit.” Deaver’s fondness for cons and sleights of hand is evident in such selections as “Game,” inspired by a real case involving the murder of a New York socialite; “Bump,” in which an aging actor agrees to a reality-show poker game; and “The Plot,” in which a writer’s death seems suspicious to his biggest fan, who’s also a homicide cop. Both “The Therapist” and the novella “Forever” pose questions about madness, genius, and whether what appears evil might really be visionary. As Deaver explains in the introduction, he doesn’t like loose ends, and he’s sometimes overzealous in connecting all the dots. Still, both fans and new readers should be engrossed by these lively tales of crime and deception. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents.

Starred review from March 1, 2014
Fans of the genre's most indefatigable prestidigitator are in for a treat: The third volume of his short stories (More Twisted, 2006, etc.) may be his best. "I hate ambiguous endings!" Deaver announces in his prefatory Author's Note. Fair enough, but there's plenty of ambiguity, some of it teasing, some of it nerve-wracking, in the middle of most of these dozen tales from the past ten years. Deaver regulars Lincoln Rhyme and Kathryn Dance appear in a pair of stories--he tangles with an exceptionally messy serial killer in "A Textbook Case"; she battles the clock to extract information from a white supremacist about the terrorist plot that's about to bear fruit in "Fast"--that could have been sketches for their novels. In "Paradice," Hollywood location scout John Pellam crashes his truck, its brakes shot, into the western burg of Gurney and multiple betrayals. "Reconciliation" begins in a more ruminative vein, as a man returns to his hometown in the hope of somehow reconnecting with his uncaring late father, but ends with the usual Deaver surprises. Best of all are "The Weapon," another interrogation, this one with a sharper-edged punch line; "The Therapist," whose hero has a unique way of attracting and helping new clients; and "Bump," in which a has-been actor ends up in a reality TV poker show whose stakes are higher than he can imagine. The only real disappointments are "The Obit," an undernourished and eminently predictable tale that begins with Lincoln Rhyme's obituary, and "Forever," whose opening question--why are so many aging couples engaging in murder-suicide pacts?--bogs down in disjointed plot twists and an ending that's, well, too ambiguous. Deaver describes five of these stories as new, and his publisher identifies five more as reprints. One of the others, "Bump," is a reprint as well. But what about "The Competitors," a routine tale of terrorism at the Olympics? It's just one more mystery.

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October 1, 2013

Including Lincoln Rhyme, Kathryn Dance, and John Pellam stories, this collection also features four pieces that first appeared as ebook originals.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.