The Never Game

Colter Shaw, Book 1

By: Jeffery Deaver

Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith

Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's Summary

Number one international best seller Jeffery Deaver returns with a stunning new thriller – the first in an exciting series featuring enigmatic investigator Colter Shaw. 

Escape or die trying....  

Three people are kidnapped across California.  

Sophie is locked inside a derelict warehouse.

Henry is abandoned in remote woodland.

Elizabeth is trapped inside a sinking ship.  

They are alive, but don’t have much time to live....  

Only one man can save them: unique investigator Colter Shaw. He’s an expert tracker with a forensic mind, but this will be a test even for him.  

Because this killer isn’t following the rules; he’s changing them. One murder at a time....

Soon to be a major TV show starring Justin Hartley (This is Us).

©2019 Jeffery Deaver (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic Reviews

"Terrific writing, vivid and raw, Deaver grips from the very first line and never lets up. He is, hands-down, one of the finest thriller writers of our time." (Peter James)

"No one in the world does this kind of thing better than Deaver." (Lee Child)

Disappointing and Confusing Story

I am a fan of Deaver's books featuring Lincoln Rhyme and Kathryn Dance, but Never Game was a big disappointment. I was looking forward to a new character, but Shaw is a an odd duck with an strange background. Deaver reveals some of his earlier life, but too much is held back for future books. There are too many seemingly unrelated stories with no hints at how they might be connected until viola...now they kind of make sense. The opening scene is a good example because it pops up throughout the story but takes a long time to fit with the rest. SPOILER - Deaver leaves the major mystery unresolved. He leaves it as an unsatisfying cliff hanger to get the reader to buy the next book. This reader will not buy it unless Deaver returns to his Dance and Rhyme characters.

Kaleo Griffith was devoid of any emotions while delivering the story

Definitely not the same level of Deaver.

Only realised now that this is a franchise Deaver. Very formulaic and thoroughly disappointing. For those who have devoured the Lincoln Rhyme universe.....run for the hills

Confusing

I have twice tried to start this book, this time I got 1/3 of the way through, I have no idea what is going on, the story is all over the place and I have got to the stage of wanting to find some paint that I can watch drying, just so that I can have some excitement in my life!
I don't give a fig about the main character, he seems a cocky and very odd chap! I have really had enough.

I have enjoyed many of Jeffery Deaver's books, but this one is making me lose the will to live!

Disappointing and very confusing

The character of Colter Shaw is well drawn here, and his back story is fascinating but the plot is too complicated with its various red herrings. The most confusing and uninviting aspect of the novel is the beginning, where Shaw is trying to rescue a woman from a sinking boat; I found myself bewidered by it, almost as if it belonged to a different book and for a long whilew as concerned I had missed a vital clue.

Jeffery Deaver has painted a picture of Silicone Valley and its occupants which seems very real but for me all the technical information is too much and detracts from the forward movement of the story. It's not quite formulaic but close to it, and the plot mix of part Native American tracker, and I.T., is jarring.

Ok

To be honest it is a while since I have listened to a Jefferey Deaver, and I was interested by the plot. I thought the book went on too long, and about 1/2 way through I was looking forward to the end. Storey seemed very formulaic. While I hadn’t worked out who the killer is, by the end, I didn’t really care.

A compelling listen with good storyline

A fast paced storyline that keeps you listening from chapter to chapter. Good narration helps keep you engaged.

Deaver on top form

I have always liked the cleverness and complexity of Deaver's plots but felt recently he hit a flat patch with the twists more and more unlikely. The new Colter Shaw trilogy puts him right back on his A-game. One of the best first part of a series I have read with both good resolution at the end but also very promising developments left to be unravelled. Shaw is a very interesting protagonist, "from a "Deliverance" family", trained to survive, hunt and make his living from collecting rewards offered in difficult cases.
The "Never Game" is set in the gaming world but it is incorporated so cleverly and not for computer geeks. The twin plots of catching the murderer and the flashback writing to his own father's death are very cleverly linked. This book was an absolute page turner and I will definitely be reading books two and three in this story. Everything to like, except when Deaver tries to inject any humour. He really cannot do funny.

Total loss of Form

Jack Reacher clone enters the world of online gaming.Preposterous plot .Awful and I normally enjoy this author's novels.Avoid.

A good story well told.

A good storyline and thankfully it didn’t slip into the quiet he man hero genre.

Not for me

Not for proper adults as only of interest to nerd gamers!!
Not Deaver’s usual style. Disappointed, but am sure his younger audience will enjoy.

All over the place

Jumbled and all over the place. Very disappointed. I usually love Jeffrey Deaver books but won't be bothering with any further books from the series. What a waste of a credit.