by Jeffery Deaver
SYNOPSIS In pursuit of two young men accused of terrible hate crimes, Colter Shaw stumbles upon a clue to another mystery. In an effort to save the life of a young woman - and possibly others - he travels to the wilderness of Washington State to investigate a mysterious organisation. Is it a community that consoles the bereaved? Or a dangerous cult under the sway of a captivating leader? As he peels back the layers of truth, Shaw finds that some people will stop at nothing to keep their secrets hidden. All the while, Shaw must unravel an equally deadly enigma: locating and deciphering a message hidden by his father years ago, just before his death - a message that will have life-and-death consequences.
REVIEW The Goodbye Man is the second instalment of the Colter Shaw series by Jeffrey Deaver. I haven’t read the first book, The Never Game, but this didn’t affect my understanding or enjoyment of the story and it worked really well as a standalone thriller. Colter Shaw is a really interesting character who works as a reward hunter, a type of private investigator, earning money from the rewards offered in missing persons cases. Having learned an unusual array of survival skills from his father, throughout an investigation he gives a percentage to every decision he makes based on the various risk factors. This gives him a quirkiness that sets him apart from other detectives/investigators in similar types of novels.
The story begins with what seems like a straightforward missing person case - Colter has agreed to try and find Erick Young who disappeared after participating in a vicious hate crime. But after locating him, he finds himself in the middle of another mystery. Erick had been making his way to the Osiris Foundation, a retreat offering help for people struggling with depression, anxiety or illness. The bizarre behaviour he has witnessed and some further research into the group leader, Eli, leads Colter to join the group undercover as Carter Skye. But this decision puts both his and the other members' lives at risk as the true motives of the Foundation become clear.
I have been a fan of Jeffrey Deaver for a long time and even though I read The Bone Collector and The Coffin Dancer as a teenager, they still stand out to me as some of the best crime thrillers I have ever read. With that in mind I knew even before I started reading, that this book would be a great choice for me. The Goodbye Man was addictive from the start, it was full of twists and turns and it had a very different style and setting to other books I have read from the author. I actually haven’t read any other thrillers based on cults or cult-like organisations but I thought it was a really interesting subject and obviously very well researched in this case.
I also loved the secondary storyline which was woven into the narrative. As Colter Shaw is looking into the death of his father, Ashton Shaw, he discovers an unfinished investigation that his father was working on at the time of his death. There was just enough information to really get my interest in this case and I could have easily carried straight on to read the next book – let’s hope it’s not too long before I can find out what happens!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeffery Deaver is the No.1 international bestselling author of more than thirty novels, three collections of short stories, and a nonfiction law book. His first novel featuring Lincoln Rhyme, The Bone Collector, was made into a major motion picture starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. He's received or been shortlisted for a number of awards around the world. A former journalist, folksinger, and attorney, he was born outside of Chicago and has a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a law degree from Fordham University.
You can visit his website at www.JefferyDeaver.com
Thanks to Anne Cater - @annecater #RandomThingsTours, @JefferyDeaver and Harper Collins Publishers @fictionpubteam @HarperCollinsUK for the opportunity to read & review.
Fiction: Thrillers / Police Procedural
Product format: Hardback
ISBN: 978-0-00-830378-5
Pages: 432 pp
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