More Twisted

More Twisted - by Jeffery Deaver

I’ve read an awful lot of Jeffery Deaver’s books the last few years, and it’s hard to write a review of any of his offerings without feeling as though I’m repeating myself. Fortunately, reading his books is much more rewarding than writing reviews – which is why I keep reading them.

This is Deaver’s second collection of short stories.  A nice twist (pardon the pun) that provides his readers a bit of a diversion from what they’re used to.  In addition to being a great writer, Deaver’s gift is the ability to fool the reader. He lulls his audience with what seems like a predictable, linear story, only to completely bewilder and baffle his audience with a shocking ending filled with turns and …..well… twists. (His first collection of short stories was simply called “Twisted”.)

After you’ve read a lot of from this author, you know that the direction that he takes you will be severely altered near the end, so in that sense, a lot of the foolery then becomes absent. You can’t really be fooled when you know you’re about to be fooled. Fortunately, though, this never takes away from the enjoyment of his writing. He’s a great story teller, even if most of his stories are slightly on the morbid side (another definition of “Twisted”, I guess). It’s even fun to try to match wits with the author and see if you can predict how he will try to trick you as you’re proceeding through the tales. Sometimes it’s like watching a magician. If you’re quick and astute, you may be able to spot a slight of hand, but in most cases, it’s best to relax and enjoy the performance.

Most of the stories here succeed.  There was one or two that I felt could have been better, but most were highly entertaining and, as usual with Deaver, quite educational.  The short story about the poker game was probably my favorite. In addition to a great twist, one learns much about the intricacies of the game.  He even includes a Lincoln Rhyme short story within this collection.  Sadly, I’m a bit weary of Lincoln Rhyme.  All of the full-length Rhyme books are good.  I think the problem is that I’ve read too many of them in too short of a time frame. So for me, the short story here still seems a bit like “I’ve read this all before”.

The Short Story is not something that all authors pursue.  I’m a bit surprised. I would think short stories would be easier to churn out than a complete novel.  Regardless, Deaver succeeds in this format just as well as his full length novels.  I’m hoping for a lot more of this kind.