These are the rules : You are taken away and isolated. You will be given five objects. It’s up to you how you use them to free yourself before time runs out. OK, are you ready to play?

Play .. or die
Can't escape .... die

Colter Shaw is hired by a missing woman's father. Colter is a kind of reward seeker, He travels all over the country helping police departments solve cold cases, sometimes, as in this case, he looks for missing people.

What seems to be a fairly easy job for him turns into something totally unexpected.

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?

He soon learns he is not the only one hunting ... someone has targeted him.

A new series, this is sheer non-stop action with dubious characters swirling around Silicon Valley. What he finds are game designers, gamers who are a little bizarre, and the techies at the top of the charts. The characters are solidly defined and bring life to a complex plot and intriguing story line.

Many thanks to the author / G.P. Putnam's Sons / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

The news article catches Colton Shaw's eye. A nineteen year old girl has gone missing, possibly kidnapped on her way home. Shaw makes a living finding people for rewards. Sometimes they are children, sometimes senior citizens with memory issues. Often they are criminals that law enforcement needs to be found. He makes contact with the girl's father and is hired to find her. Although he gets almost no cooperation from the police when he shares his ideas with them, Colton is able to find the girl and bring her home safely.
But things aren't over in Silicon Valley. Another man is kidnapped and this one isn't as lucky. Shaw finds him also but he has been killed. Now the police are willing to listen and Shaw goes into high gear. It becomes evident that the kidnappings are tied to a video game. Shaw meets a gamer named Maddie who serves as his entree into the gamer world; a world he isn't a part of at all. Shaw was homeschooled by a survivalist family on a large forested compound. Survival he understands; computer gaming not so much. A female police sergeant becomes Shaw's partner as they rush to find the culprit before more victims are killed.

This is the first in the Colton Shaw series and a New York Times Book Review Top 10 Crime Novel Of The Year. To this date, there are three books in the series. Colton is a fascinating character although Deaver makes it clear the reader hasn't been given all of his secrets yet. His background makes him perfect for finding those who are missing as he knows how to track and survive in any situation. Readers will find the pace fast and there is a twist that most won't see coming. This book is recommended for thriller readers.

This was my first read by Jeffery Deaver and I really enjoyed it. I can’t wait to find out what happens to Colter Shaw in the second book!

I have read every book by Jeffery Deaver. I was very excited that he has a new series. But I have to say, I am a little perplexed with this new novel. I like the premise of his new protagonist, Coltor Shaw. He calls himself a "rewardist" because he looks for missing persons for a reward and he tries to distinguish that from being a bounty hunter - I could not decipher the difference. The story felt disjointed to me which made it hard for me to get into - and the end was muddled. I am hoping for this series to develop more in plot and character for I will continue to read Deaver!

I read Jeffrey Deaver books to escape the everyday. His stories center on characters and back stories that you would not normally encounter. This series takes a man raised in a prepper family who hires out to find missing persons. The number of missing and the evidence left behind convince the searchers that someone is playing a real life version of an internet game. Mr Deaver has given his characters life and depth that left me adding voice overs, just like they could hear me. An exciting story line with an unusual villain made The Never Game a great read for me.

This novel introduces Colt Shaw, an expert tracker and survivalist; he grew up homeschooled by survivalists In a compound in the Sierra Nevadas, and now makes his living finding missing persons, if a a rewards seeker is offered, which is exactly what happens when a young woman has disappeared in the Silicon Valley, and her farther puts up a reward. When a second abduction occurs, the similarities point to a video game called The Whispering Man, and the highly competitive billion dollar gaming industry. When an eight months pregnant woman is abducted next, the clock is ticking to find her and Shaw has to figure this out fast to save her. Is it a disgruntled player, someone wanting to discredit the publishers of the game, or something else? The possibilities are endless, and time is running out.

Deaver has once again written an excellent book. Colter Shaw is a fascinating, intelligent character with incredible, but believable deductive skills. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and most highly recommend it. An excellent read.

You follow Colton Shaw as he is hired by parents to find there missing children. It is really not that simple but that is what he does. Raised as a survivalist, tracker, he was home schooled and not raised around a TV, or phones. He does find his way around in life but still needs help along the way for more in-depth computer searches. When one investigation ends at the beginning of the book he is led to his next one and it is strange that they are close to one another. He also finds out that part of what is happening is similar to a computer game and looks for help in finding out about the game. I found this book to be full of surprises from page to page and not really knowing you the person was. The characters were all good and I really liked the lead character Shaw, so overall a very good book and very much worth the read. I don’t want to go into the story too much for I am afraid of reveling something about the story that will ruin it for the reader. Just know that this book will keep you going.

I love thrillers and I have wanted to read Jeffrey Deaver for years. However, I don't think I realized how much this would focus on the "gamer" industry and storyline. That's not at all anything I'm interested in. I thought Colton was an intelligent, fairly interesting main character but I found killer lacking as far as bad guys go. The plot was evenly paced but due to my lack of interest in the world of gaming I had a hard time staying engaged. I also prefer a more charismatic protagonist. In the end, this wasn't a story I enjoyed

I remember the first time I read this author. It was the Bone Collector featuring Lincoln Rymes, a parapeligic and Amelia Saks, who was his legs and eyes, in their crime solving Enterprise. It was brilliant, such unusual characters, but so likable. What really blew me away were his many twists and turns. I couldn't follow them, never could figure out where he was going. And I tried.

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.

Jeffrey Deaver once again shows why he is the master of the thriller. His new character Colter Shaw is fantastic. I cannot wait to see where Deaver takes the series. I will recommend this book to those who like Lee Child's Jack Reacher or John Sandford's Lucas Davenport as they all seem to be cousins.

This excellent thriller begins a new series for Deaver, and it’s a welcome one! I’ve grown tired of the Lincoln Rhyme series in the past few years, but this novel had the energy I’ve always appreciated in Deaver’s earlier works. Colton Shaw follows rewards - He shows up someplace where a person has been kidnapped or has disappeared and tries to find them in order to collect the reward being offered by the family. Add in an unusual childhood and a mysterious conspiracy possibly related to his late father, and you’ve got yourself a thriller.

I have always been a fan of Jeffery Deaver (especially his Lincoln Rhyme series) so I was excited to read this new series featuring Colter Shaw. Shaw is an interesting character. He travels around finding missing persons/solving crimes to collect reward money. He is a man with a particular set of skills -- somewhere between a bounty hunter and a private detective. I will look forward to learning more about Colter's backstory in the next installment.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.
A new series from Jeffery Deaver featuring Colter Shaw who is not a PI and not a bounty hunter but who works for reward money.
This book features an interesting plot as it manages to start to fill in the back story. I think ensuing books will be even more interesting as the characters and the back story are fleshed out.

THE NEVER GAME
Jeffery Deaver
Putnam Books
ISBN 978-0-525-53594-2
Hardcover
Thriller

Jeffery Deaver never fails to impress. It’s not just the sheer number of books laid across several series (including the magnificent Lincoln Rhyme novels) and an impressive number of stand-alone works. There is also the matter that each and every one of Deaver’s books (and short stories, for that matter) contains nuggets of different size, shape, and number that make this novel or that tale memorable. He could probably rest on his laurels or at least slow down by this point. He is not. THE NEVER GAME, Deaver’s latest work, begins a new series with an intensely interesting protagonist and with a just of a change of style. The result is a work that will undoubtedly please Deaver’s legion of fans as well as readers new to his work.

THE NEVER GAME is set in the San Francisco Bay area and takes place over the course of an extremely busy three days. The new protagonist introduced to the Deaver constantly evolving cast of characters is a gentleman named Colter Shaw. The son of a survivalist family, Shaw is known in many circles as an expert tracker. There are no “woo-woo” elements in his skill set. Deaver, always the careful and meticulous researcher, infuses Shaw with abilities that are very human and well-grounded in reality. What is most interesting is that Shaw makes an occasional mistake, which makes him more real and ratchets up the suspense quotient a notch or five during the course of the book. The skills which Shaw possesses are brought to bear in his occupation as a “reward seeker.” It’s a simple enough concept. If someone is missing or wanted and a reward is being offered Shaw shows up and offers his services. Occasionally his reputation preceded him. What occurs in THE NEVER GAME is that a series of kidnappings take place in which each of the victims, as we quickly learn, is placed in dire straits. The doer, if you will, is known as The Whispering Man, and models himself and his actions after a video game. Shaw, like John Coltrane, goes in both directions at once, looking for clues as to the whereabouts of each victim (before it is too late) while conducting research into the video game industry in general and the makers of the game which features The Whispering Man in particular. The reader can almost hear the clock ticking in the background on each page (or, in some cases, in each paragraph) as Shaw races against time to rescue each victim...and with varying degrees of success. Meanwhile, Shaw must also deal with certain aspects, issues, and questions about his past which begin to manifest themselves while he attempts to save others. By the end of THE NEVER GAME much is answered but not all issues are resolved. There are more than enough interesting threads to make the wait for the next book in the Colter Shaw series sure to be excruciating.

THE NEVER GAME is stylistically a bit different from Deaver’s other works. While THE NEVER GAME has plenty of heft to it the page count is a bit less than some of his other works. Chapters are also a bit shorter --- three to five pages --- than some readers might be used to. The story is also a bit more focused on activity rather than explanations concerning the topics which form the bedrock to the story (though Deaver does not shortchange in that area). This results in a bit more of a streamlined reading experience which will still be embraced by Deaver’s reading public. There are no losers with THE NEVER GAME, except, of course, for the antagonists, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Recommended.

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
© Copyright 2019, The Book Report, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on May 14, 2019

It isn’t often that thriller writers come up with a fresh premise. I don’t know if The Never Game is based on an original concept, but it’s new to me. A role-playing video game called The Whispering Man requires players to escape their captivity. They are initially given five objects to help them escape; they then search for more objects, trade with other players, or kill other players, depending on their strategy. In the real world, someone is kidnapping people, apparently at random, and supplying them with five objects. The involuntary players either escape and survive or not. The victims are left in places that correspond to different levels of the game. As improbable criminal schemes go, this one is fresher and more entertaining than most. The idea of forcing someone to play a game isn’t new, but forcing people into the real-world version of a video role-playing game is something I haven’t seen before.

The protagonist of this new series, Colter Shaw, travels around in his RV collecting rewards. The Never Game begins with a confrontation between Shaw and a fellow with a Molotov cocktail, but soon shifts to Shaw’s agreement to find information leading to the location of a missing girl named Phoebe, for which her father will pay $10,000. She was last seen riding her bicycle in Santa Clara County, California, where Shaw begins his hunt.

Phoebe’s kidnapping is eventually followed by another, leading Shaw (with the assistance of people who know more than he does about video games) to conclude that the kidnapper is following the progression of The Whispering Man. Shaw spends some of his time learning (and thus educating the reader) about the world of gaming and different perspectives on the players who inhabit it. One of his teachers is an attractive young woman named Maddie, adding a bit of sexual tension (or just sex) to the plot.

Shaw is the kind of restless loner who is familiar to thriller fans. He grew up on a large compound adjacent to forested public lands. Only the strangest of people live in compounds, but Shaw is only moderately damaged by his childhood. His father taught him many rules, all of which begin with “Never.” Shaw also learned how to track, a skill that led to his current occupation as a finder. Shaw’s backstory is developed intermittently as the novel progresses. Suffice it to say that he learned how to handle himself in the wilderness, armed or unarmed, and that he is still unraveling a mystery concerning his father. Shaw doesn’t pretend to be a skilled fighter, which makes him a refreshing thriller protagonist.

A clever and timely twist at the end has Shaw and the reader rethinking the killer’s motivation. I’m not always a fan of Deaver’s novels — I like his Lincoln Rhyme books more than the Kathryn Dance series — but he pushes all the right buttons in The Never Game. The story is smart, it moves quickly without devolving into mindless action, and the protagonist has a bit of depth.

Shaw’s backstory gives him reason to investigate a formative incident from his past, while various encounters during the novel set up a mystery that could unfold over the course of several books. The concept of collecting rewards for finding missing persons gives Deaver room to take this series in any number of directions, and the last chapter sets up alternative scenarios for Shaw’s next mission. If The Never Game is any indication, crime novel fans who like to follow a protagonist throgh a series of books should consider adding Shaw novels to their book-buying lists.

RECOMMENDED

In the Never Game, Colter Shaw finds people for a living. Not for honor. Not for glory. For the reward money.

Taught rules for hunting by his survivalist father from a young age, Colter uses his skills to find missing people.

When Sophie doesn’t return home, her father is convinced that she wouldn’t leave without her beloved poodle. The local police are not convinced and assume the nineteen year old is just a runaway rather than a victim. Desperate, the father advertises a $10,000 reward for information leading to her return. Enter Colter.

Never Game begins a new series for Mr. Deaver. The twisty thrill ride of a plot keeps the reader engaged. The premise of a modern day bounty hunter is unique. Colter is a intriguing hero. His own history was the best mystery in this book so I’m looking forward to the next entry in the series.

This book is highly recommended to fans of CJ Box’ Joe Pickett and Dean Koontz’ Jane Hawk series. All three heroes are willing to work occasionally on the shady side of the law in pursuit of a greater good. Plus all three of the series provide a pulse-pounding ride. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars!

Thanks to G.P. Putnam’s Sons and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Nice start to a new series we hope. really liked the storylines and how he managed to bring them together.
havent read any of his lincoln books for a few years, they had gotten pretty stale for me, but this looks like he may get back to form.

I finished reading The Never Game, breathlessly, in the span of a few days. I hung on every word, devouring the pages. Colter Shaw is that character I want to read about. He’s a private eye (don’t you dare call him that), who lives in an RV, going from state to state, helping find missing people. Recently, he has returned to the Bay Area, searching for Sophie, a missing college student, whose father is offering $10,000 for the return of his daughter. Shaw could use that money. The private eye business is never a steady gig, even for a PI of Shaw’s caliber.

Despite his rugged persona and home on wheels, Shaw is a near level genius who quickly calculates the odds of Sophie being still alive. Spoiler alert: they are not great. And as Shaw finds out, Sophie is not the only person missing under suspicious circumstances. There are others. The crumbles of clues, establish a frighting connection between a popular video game, The Whispering Man and the disappearances. In the game, the player is deserted with five objects to help him escape.

If you are one of those people who skim through a prologue, I highly advise against it in the Never Game. The prologue might confuse you at first, because it reads as though you are dropped in the middle of an amped up scene. Shaws is trying to rescue Elizabeth Chabelle and her unborn baby from a sinking vessel. We don’t get to find out if he is successful in the prologue. The book begins two days before Elizabeth’s rescue. At first I wasn’t sure if I will like the set up, it’s actually brilliant and creates a plot twist that hooks you.

I am so happy that Jeffery Deaver is introducing readers to such a fascinating, layered, compelling character and basing a series on him. Colton Shaw is definitely a quirky character and this first book in the series is an extremely entertaining introduction. Mr. Deaver takes readers on a journey, and allows us to accompany Colton Shaw on his quest for a "reward." There is a bit of unbalance to this book, between series set up, story and character development. Rest assured it is minimal and I think readers will be captivated enough by Colton Shaw to anticipate the series. I'm already casting the film in my mind!
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

3.5 Hearts This is the first in a new series by Jeffery Deaver. I have been a fan of the Lincoln Rhyme series so I couldn’t grab this new series fast enough.

Here is the thing. I think I am going to like the series but as with any first book in a new series there was a lot of having to explain each new character and their background and the reason why Shaw is in the middle of the suspense.

I look forward to the new in the series so I can get a better feel for how the series will play out.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.