The Never Game by Jeffrey Deaver

I'm not entirely sure what this book was actually supposed to be about.  There are a range of topics sort of covered here but none of them are ever really fully explored.  Initially I thought this was going to be about the, certainly peculiar world, of gaming but that is a very tiny portion of the book.  This was a bit of a disappointment if I'm being honest.  Yes, there appears to be a link between a MMORPG and some kidnappings but it is fairly flimsy and tenuous and there is a distinct lack of research in to the whole phenomenon of professional gamers and, indeed, gaming as a whole.  I haven't gamed for years but even I could spot the flaws in the plot, technology and the cliche of the type of people who game stuck in my craw.

Then you have out hero, Colter Shaw.  Kudos to Mr Deaver that I can remember the character name (something that I am famously bad at) some 5 days after reading this book.  Colter is a bit of a poor-mans Jack Reacher to be honest.  He works for reward but he isn't a bounty hunter, oh no sir, nothing as distasteful as that - and believe me Shaw tells us this often enough.  Brought up by survivalist parents he knows all there is to know about wilderness survival and is an expert tracker.  He is also strangely alluring as a character and has a wry wit that comes across on the page.  Unfortunately I also found him to lack any humility or to have a depth of character beyond survivalist training; this hero is no Lincoln Rhyme.

What else is there, oh yes, his dotty father that has left something somewhere and the clue is in a package of papers that Shaw has managed to steal.  This thread pops up a few times in the book, mainly because Shaw constantly worries he's going to get busted for pinching it - if I was him I would be more worried about inherited dementia.  To be honest I never really understood what place this had in the book, apart from opening the way for a second book (at least) and it is never resolved in this tale.  Instead it leaves us on what is supposed to be a cliff hanger as Shaw realises what happened to his father and where he may have hidden something (no idea what he may have hidden).  As a cliff hanger it didn't work for this reader.

What did save the book for me - to a limited extent - was the procedural side of things.  Great explanation of the various levels of Law Enforcement in California.  Now, I have taken this at face value so if it is wrong then it is certainly believable (if that sentence makes any sense).  The Law Enforcement individuals Shaw comes in to contact with are a fairly innocuous bunch with no real Goodies or Baddies just working stiffs trying to uphold peace and community in the best way they can.

It was a pleasant enough read and allowed me to unplug my brain and just go along for the ride.  I didn't really get invested in the characters or wonder about who could be perpetrating a dastardly Whispering Man plot in real life.  It was sort of thriller by numbers and endearingly daft in places.

THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE