From Publishers Weekly
The title applies in several ways to this wicked collection of crime short stories by bestselling author Deaver (The Vanished Man, etc.): to many of the stories' characters and protagonists, who include murderers, adulterers, thieves; to the stories' arcs, which offer numerous bends and surprises; and to the general tone of the tales-as Deaver says in a brief introduction, "In a story, I can make good bad and bad badder and, most fun of all, really bad good." Of the 16 stories, 15 are reprints, some from Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, some from its counterpart Alfred Hitchcock, while one, a Christmas tale featuring Deaver's beloved quadriplegic crime-buster Lincoln Rhyme and his sidekick, Amelia Sachs, is original to the anthology. The opening story, "Without Jonathan," is representative of Deaver's approach here. A woman, Marissa, drives along a Maine road, tormented by images of her husband drowning at sea. She's on her way to meet a man, presumably her first date since her husband's death. Cut to the man, shown strangling a woman-is our heroine about to encounter a serial killer? The two meet... and it turns out that he's a hit man hired by Marissa to kidnap her cheating husband aboard the husband's ship, then throw him overboard. And so it goes in story after story, all characterized, in addition to clever plotting, by brisk characterization and compact, efficient prose. The Rhyme/Sachs entry, "The Christmas Present," is the cherry on the tart, as grumpy Rhyme and sweet but dangerous Sachs set out to save a woman from one apparent predator only to have to rescue her from another. Like an afternoon snack, this snappy volume will stave off hunger for Deaver fans until his next novel appears.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From AudioFile
It's unfortunate that a production this good should be somewhat spoiled by the lack of any indication of contents on the package or the individual cassettes. Most of these stories are so enthralling that you would like to find them again at a later date. That said, the four readers do a stupendous job getting inside a lot of twisted characters and plots. The mild-mannered fisherman, the suitor who kidnaps his "love," the woman struggling to hold onto her dead husband's business--these and many others will keep you guessing. A personal favorite involves a controlling father, terrified daughter, and gibbering stalker--all voiced by Stechschulte. Try the CD version; it might be better marked. J.B.G. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
From Booklist
Deaver, the author of a string of deliciously convoluted thrillers (his best work is the Lincoln Rhyme series, featuring a quadriplegic crime solver), offers his fans a real treat. This short story collection lives up to its title in more than one way: the stories are twisted, and so are many of the characters, a tasty assortment of murderers, thieves, con artists, and other no-goodniks. The best thing about the stories, however, is that we don't really know what they're about until the very end. Deaver is the grand master of the plot twist: his novels regularly perform elaborate about-faces, making us rethink much of what we believe about a character, a subplot, a seeming coincidence. His short fiction is like that, too: what appears to be a story about a man plotting the perfect murder, for example, becomes, in its final moments, something altogether more chilling. We're stunned, and then we think, OK, that makes perfect sense, but why didn't we see it coming? That's the beauty of a Deaver story: we never see the twist coming. These 16 stories are polished gems, beautiful examples of what splendid intricacies can be wrought in a small space. As an added bonus, one of the stories, featuring Lincoln Rhyme, has never been published before. For Deaver's fans, and any reader who likes that little thrill you get when a story takes an unexpected right-angle turn, this one's an absolute necessity. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
Publishers Week Outstanding, gripping, brilliant, spectacular.
Book Description
New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver has long thrilled fans with tales of masterful villains and their nefarious ways, and the brilliant minds who bring them to justice. Now the author of the Lincoln Rhyme series has collected for the first time his award-winning, spine-tingling stories of suspense -- stories that will widen your eyes and stretch your imagination. A beautiful woman goes to extremes to rid herself of her stalker; a daughter begs her father not to go fishing in an area where there have been a series of brutal killings; a contemporary of the playwright William Shakespeare vows to avenge his family's ruin; and Jeffery Deaver's most beloved character, criminalist Lincoln Rhyme, is back to solve a chilling Christmastime disappearance. Diverse, provocative, eerie and inspired, this collection of Jeffery Deaver's best stories exhibits the amazing range and signature plot twists that have earned him the title "master of ticking-bomb suspense" (People). With nods to O. Henry and Edgar Allan Poe, these beautifully crafted pieces, never before compiled in one volume, pulse with subtle intrigue and Deaver's incomparable imagination.
Download Description
"New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver has long thrilled fans with tales of masterful villains and their nefarious ways, and the brilliant minds who bring them to justice. Now the author of the Lincoln Rhyme series has collected for the first time his award-winning, spine-tingling stories of suspense -- stories that will widen your eyes and stretch your imagination. A beautiful woman goes to extremes to rid herself of her stalker; a daughter begs her father not to go fishing in an area where there have been a series of brutal killings; a contemporary of the playwright William Shakespeare vows to avenge his family's ruin; and Jeffery Deaver's most beloved character, criminalist Lincoln Rhyme, is back to solve a chilling Christmastime disappearance. Diverse, provocative, eerie and inspired, this collection of Jeffery Deaver's best stories exhibits the amazing range and signature plot twists that have earned him the title ""master of ticking-bomb suspense"" (People). With nods to O. Henry and Edgar Allan Poe, these beautifully crafted pieces, never before compiled in one volume, pulse with subtle intrigue and Deaver's incomparable imagination. "
About the Author
Jeffery Deaver1s novels have appeared on bestseller lists around the world, including The New York Times, the Times of London and the Los Angeles Times. The author of eighteen novels,he1s been nominated for five Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America and an Anthony Award, is a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Reader1s Award for Best Short Story of the Year and a winner of the British Thumping Good Read Award. His book A Maiden1s Grave was made into an HBO movie starring James Garner and Marlee Matlin, and his novel The Bone Collector was a feature release from Universal Pictures starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. His most recent novels are The Vanished Man, The Stone Monkey, and The Blue Nowhere. A former journalist, folksinger and attorney, he lives in Virginia and California.
Twisted: The Collected Stories of Jeffery Deaver FROM THE PUBLISHER
"A beautiful woman goes to extremes to rid herself of her stalker; a daughter begs her father not to go fishing in an area where there have been a series of brutal killings; a contemporary of the playwright William Shakespeare vows to avenge his family's ruin; and Jeffery Deaver's most beloved character, criminalist Lincoln Rhyme, is back to solve a chilling Christmastime disappearance." Diverse, provocative, eerie and inspired, this collection of Jeffery Deaver's best stories exhibits the amazing range and signature plot twists that have earned him the title "master of ticking bomb suspense" (People). With nods to O. Henry and Edgar Allan Poe, these crafted pieces, never before compiled in one volume, pulse with subtle intrigue and Deaver's incomparable imagination.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
The title applies in several ways to this wicked collection of crime short stories by bestselling author Deaver (The Vanished Man, etc.): to many of the stories' characters and protagonists, who include murderers, adulterers, thieves; to the stories' arcs, which offer numerous bends and surprises; and to the general tone of the tales-as Deaver says in a brief introduction, "In a story, I can make good bad and bad badder and, most fun of all, really bad good." Of the 16 stories, 15 are reprints, some from Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, some from its counterpart Alfred Hitchcock, while one, a Christmas tale featuring Deaver's beloved quadriplegic crime-buster Lincoln Rhyme and his sidekick, Amelia Sachs, is original to the anthology. The opening story, "Without Jonathan," is representative of Deaver's approach here. A woman, Marissa, drives along a Maine road, tormented by images of her husband drowning at sea. She's on her way to meet a man, presumably her first date since her husband's death. Cut to the man, shown strangling a woman-is our heroine about to encounter a serial killer? The two meet... and it turns out that he's a hit man hired by Marissa to kidnap her cheating husband aboard the husband's ship, then throw him overboard. And so it goes in story after story, all characterized, in addition to clever plotting, by brisk characterization and compact, efficient prose. The Rhyme/Sachs entry, "The Christmas Present," is the cherry on the tart, as grumpy Rhyme and sweet but dangerous Sachs set out to save a woman from one apparent predator only to have to rescue her from another. Like an afternoon snack, this snappy volume will stave off hunger for Deaver fans until his next novel appears. (Dec. 9) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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