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hugbandit7's review against another edition
5.0
A dive into the gaming world while solving kidnappings etc. I really enjoyed listening to this book...now I have to find more to see what Colter Shaw will do next. Very likable character, smart, and not someone I would want to come up against in a dark alley.
jimbowen0306's review against another edition
3.0
I’ve read a number of Jeffery Denver books, mostly his Lincoln Rhyme series, and this was, by far the worst book of his that I have read.
In this book, we discover there are a group of people who travel the country collecting the rewards that are paid out when rewards are offered on missing people, or convicts/suspects are discovered. Colter Shaw, Denver’s new protagonist, is one such rewardist, and we watch him arrive in Silicon Valley, after a student goes missing.
It’s not a bad book, just somewhat daft. I struggle to believe, for example, that there are sufficient rewards for people to do the job (especially enough for people like Shaw to be as successful as he seems to be in the book).
In addition, I think there’s something about characters that are deliberately written as series. It feels sometimes when they’re written, that the author’s thinking “I have no idea about what character traits will work, so I’ll throw all of them at you.” As a consequence, Shaw has the crazy father, the put upon mother, parents who read him adult books as kids, rather than kids books, the living in the wilderness/survivalist upbringing (I half expected them to be Neo-Nazis at one stage), the fact he has Native-American ancestry (and so had to go through some coming of age ritual), no phones, or televisions growing up, the strange brother who takes it all too far, the inability to really connect to people, or relate to 21st Century. The result is that I’m not even sure I like the guy. He feels like a cross between a Jack Reacher (who doesn’t fight), Dora the Explorer, and someone who is slightly autistic.
Finally, another criticism I would have is that there’s too much story. I can’t work out whether the author really though the main story isn’t sufficiently strong to carry a narrative, and so added a secondary story, or was looking for guidance from his readers, and wanted them to tell him who they wanted him to be. Rewardist, or a slightly autistic Dora the Explorer. The book could have been 10-20% shorter, had he not been in 2 minds as to what he wanted it to be.
So all in all, I’ll probably read the second book in the series, but if the character isn’t decided on by then, I won’t read further.
In this book, we discover there are a group of people who travel the country collecting the rewards that are paid out when rewards are offered on missing people, or convicts/suspects are discovered. Colter Shaw, Denver’s new protagonist, is one such rewardist, and we watch him arrive in Silicon Valley, after a student goes missing.
It’s not a bad book, just somewhat daft. I struggle to believe, for example, that there are sufficient rewards for people to do the job (especially enough for people like Shaw to be as successful as he seems to be in the book).
In addition, I think there’s something about characters that are deliberately written as series. It feels sometimes when they’re written, that the author’s thinking “I have no idea about what character traits will work, so I’ll throw all of them at you.” As a consequence, Shaw has the crazy father, the put upon mother, parents who read him adult books as kids, rather than kids books, the living in the wilderness/survivalist upbringing (I half expected them to be Neo-Nazis at one stage), the fact he has Native-American ancestry (and so had to go through some coming of age ritual), no phones, or televisions growing up, the strange brother who takes it all too far, the inability to really connect to people, or relate to 21st Century. The result is that I’m not even sure I like the guy. He feels like a cross between a Jack Reacher (who doesn’t fight), Dora the Explorer, and someone who is slightly autistic.
Finally, another criticism I would have is that there’s too much story. I can’t work out whether the author really though the main story isn’t sufficiently strong to carry a narrative, and so added a secondary story, or was looking for guidance from his readers, and wanted them to tell him who they wanted him to be. Rewardist, or a slightly autistic Dora the Explorer. The book could have been 10-20% shorter, had he not been in 2 minds as to what he wanted it to be.
So all in all, I’ll probably read the second book in the series, but if the character isn’t decided on by then, I won’t read further.
kdowli01's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
caszriel's review against another edition
5.0
~I received a copy from HarperCollins NZ and willingly reviewed it~
The Never Game combines mystery and video games with a compelling main character that is nothing if not unconventional. Colter Shaw, a survivalist ‘reward seeker’ taught by his parents and raised in the wilderness. His search leads him to Silicon Valley, California, where a nineteen year old student has gone missing. However, it soon becomes clear that this is much more than a missing persons case, or a random kidnapping. When a blogger is kidnapped it seems there is an ulterior motive to this series of crimes. Drawn into the world of corporations and hidden secrets, Colter must figure out what’s really going on and find the perpetrator before it’s too late…
I’m trying to avoid getting into too many new mystery series as I’m constantly behind anyways, but I don’t regret picking up this one at all. Uh, hello, Jeffery Deaver, where’s book two at? While containing the usual elements of a mystery novel, The Never Game is unlike anything else I’ve ever read. Colter Shaw is a masterfully constructed main character with a unique background, and his own past is a mystery in itself that is slowly unravelled as the book progresses. There is just something about this book that makes me constantly want to keep reading!
The construct of setting up the mystery within a video game universe reminded me of Nerve, by Jeanne Ryan; but the way it’s done here is more subtle and minimalistic, which complemented the plot and storyline well. Jeffery Deaver does an outstanding job with misdirection as well, every time a new suspect comes into view you are encouraged to think they’re guilty for just long enough that you believe it, before the book speeds off in a completely new direction. The trail of suspects seemed to form a circle of tunnels, yet every tunnel you headed down was a dead end. I often wondered, ‘where is he going with this’, a question that wouldn’t become clear until much later on.
I think a large part of my enjoyment of this book comes from being inside Colter’s head. He’s a very logical thinker, and I took an instant liking to him almost immediately. And his backstory, paired with the current mysteries; I really want to find out more about Margot and Braxton! Detective LaDonna Standish is also a great contribution to the book, the beginning really highlights her contrast with her then-partner Detective Dan Wiley, which also served as a mini plot point. I found it extremely amusing every time Colter had a secret plan that we weren’t told about, and his calm in the awkward situations with game company heads that he seemed to keep getting into.
In all honesty I don’t really have much more to say about this book other than that y’all should go and read it. Awesome characters, awesome plot, awesome concept… Setting the book in Silicon Valley and having game company executives be such a part of the book also had a large impact, there was a message that the author was trying to get across here. The video game industry is a rapidly developing field, and it definitely brings questions about things such as privacy and health. I’m optimistic about the sequel, hopefully some more of Colter’s mysteries will be cracked. Until then, I’ll just sit here marvelling at the genius of The Never Game.
The Never Game combines mystery and video games with a compelling main character that is nothing if not unconventional. Colter Shaw, a survivalist ‘reward seeker’ taught by his parents and raised in the wilderness. His search leads him to Silicon Valley, California, where a nineteen year old student has gone missing. However, it soon becomes clear that this is much more than a missing persons case, or a random kidnapping. When a blogger is kidnapped it seems there is an ulterior motive to this series of crimes. Drawn into the world of corporations and hidden secrets, Colter must figure out what’s really going on and find the perpetrator before it’s too late…
I’m trying to avoid getting into too many new mystery series as I’m constantly behind anyways, but I don’t regret picking up this one at all. Uh, hello, Jeffery Deaver, where’s book two at? While containing the usual elements of a mystery novel, The Never Game is unlike anything else I’ve ever read. Colter Shaw is a masterfully constructed main character with a unique background, and his own past is a mystery in itself that is slowly unravelled as the book progresses. There is just something about this book that makes me constantly want to keep reading!
The construct of setting up the mystery within a video game universe reminded me of Nerve, by Jeanne Ryan; but the way it’s done here is more subtle and minimalistic, which complemented the plot and storyline well. Jeffery Deaver does an outstanding job with misdirection as well, every time a new suspect comes into view you are encouraged to think they’re guilty for just long enough that you believe it, before the book speeds off in a completely new direction. The trail of suspects seemed to form a circle of tunnels, yet every tunnel you headed down was a dead end. I often wondered, ‘where is he going with this’, a question that wouldn’t become clear until much later on.
I think a large part of my enjoyment of this book comes from being inside Colter’s head. He’s a very logical thinker, and I took an instant liking to him almost immediately. And his backstory, paired with the current mysteries; I really want to find out more about Margot and Braxton! Detective LaDonna Standish is also a great contribution to the book, the beginning really highlights her contrast with her then-partner Detective Dan Wiley, which also served as a mini plot point. I found it extremely amusing every time Colter had a secret plan that we weren’t told about, and his calm in the awkward situations with game company heads that he seemed to keep getting into.
In all honesty I don’t really have much more to say about this book other than that y’all should go and read it. Awesome characters, awesome plot, awesome concept… Setting the book in Silicon Valley and having game company executives be such a part of the book also had a large impact, there was a message that the author was trying to get across here. The video game industry is a rapidly developing field, and it definitely brings questions about things such as privacy and health. I’m optimistic about the sequel, hopefully some more of Colter’s mysteries will be cracked. Until then, I’ll just sit here marvelling at the genius of The Never Game.
agentalpo's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
leontyna's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
3.0
It was a pretty mediocre book, the premise was more interesting than the actual execution.ni won't be reading next books with this character.
barrod221's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. Intriguing new character for An established author. An expert tracker makes a living finding missing people for rewards. Very well written but a touch too much going on. I liked the character so much it didn’t really matter that the mystery was muddled.
hock3599's review against another edition
2.0
Pretty cookie-cutter take on a consultant/investigator who works parallel to law enforcement premise. This one is the standard kidnapping plot and the main character is only slightly interesting, typically only when he is envoking his 'unique' trait of calculating the probabilities of each conclusion in his head. Writing seems unnecessarily long sentence to sentence, for whatever that means. Gets a little better when the story widens and the killer's M.O. is seemingly revealed, but then disappointed that the true motive and events were so basic. Still not sure what The Never Game actually is or refers to.
berryreadbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Kinda slow and unnecessarily long. Didn't realize it was a series and ended on a cliff hanger :(