The October List: A book review.

I love Jeffrey Deaver.  He writes the most delicious thrillers.

So when I happened across this book, I was excited.

And then I started to read it.  And to say I was confused is beyond an understatement.

Usually, when I read, I ignore the chapter titles.  It's a major flaw of mine, I will readily admit.  But after two or three chapters I began to pay attention...mainly so I wouldn't have to keep re-reading the previous chapter.

From the book jacket;

The shocking end is only the beginning...#1 bestselling author Jeffrey Deaver has created the most riveting and original novel of the year --  a race-against-the-clock mystery, told in reverse.

Yeah, somehow I missed those last three words.  It's true, this novel is written completely in reverse.  Once you catch on to that fact, it's an amazingly well written.

Again, from the jacket:

Gabriela waits desperately for news of her abducted daughter.  At last the door opens.  But it's not the negotiators.  It's not the FBI.  It's the kidnapper.  And he has a gun....

A mind-bending novel with twists and turns that unfold from its dramatic climax back to its surprising beginning, (again, I missed that part) THE OCTOBER LIST is Jeffery Deaver at his masterful, inventive best.

According to the Foreword (which is appropriately, prior to the first chapter - which is also the last chapter) Jeffrey Deaver got the idea to write a novel after listening to a Stephen Sondheim interview in which he discussed Merrily We Roll Along a play that began in the present and moved back in time.

It's an interesting approach and, I imagine, one that might be difficult to actually implement.

But, he pulled it off.  It's a fabulous book and one that I heartily recommend.  Just pay attention to those chapter titles.