Author: Jeffrey Deaver

Perceptiveness, an acute sense of hearing, quick and unique assessment of a situation and able to research on his laptop enabling him to learn what he needs to learn in order to save lives. Colter Shaw is smart and spends his days finding people that have been kidnapped or working with the police to solve difficult cases. He is a reward seeker who looks over the net searching for rewards offered by law enforcement or private people for suspects, fugitives and missing persons.

 When Sophie Mulliner  is kidnapped and her father contacts him, what ensues and happens next is right out of a spy movie. Learning more about her whereabouts before she was kidnapped, able to see CCTV videos of where she was last seen helped him to assess how to find her. But, the startling revelation about this kidnapper would not come to light until he goes to a video gaming conference with his friend Maddie, then another young person named Henry Thompson is kidnapped linking it all to a video game called The Whispering  Man. The person who is kidnapped or plays the game is given five things that he/she can trade along the way in order to survive. Someone, Sophie used her ingenuity and quick thinking to find her say out of where she was being kept allowing Colter to bring her home. But, just where is Henry and where did the kidnapper take him?

Things do not go that smoothly when Colter approaches the proper law enforcement people and when explaining what he finds, the Detective in charge does nothing with the information making it necessary for him to search for Sophie himself. But Detective Wiley is revengeful, and circumstances look like Colter might be guilty and he’s arrested. That’s just the tip of the iceberg as he is being followed, chased and stopped at many junctions as the author takes us back in time to his childhood, how he learned to use his skills at an early age and something he wants to remember about an incident long ago.

As we learn more about Colter’s past, we learn about his father Ashton and the circumstances around his death. Awakened in by his mother needing him to find his father who never came home, what Colter realizes is that what appears and was designated as an accident was really murder. But, was it someone close to him or someone close to his father? The mystery is unveiled but the killer remains hidden.

Maddie Poole is a reviewer of video games or is she much more? As Colter spends more time with her and finds himself embroiled in the many cases that come to light, he and Detective Standish become sort of a team, and the revelation about Henry Thompson and his death really hit him hard. Just who is the killer and what link does the killer have to Marty Avon the creator of The Whispering Man game and what five things did Henry have in order to try and survive? When Colter assesses what he learns and then realizes when searching through Maddie’s notes, that somehow, she appears to be a gamer, has played Whispering Man even though she claims she never did, and other elements of what he finds draws him to believe that she is hiding something. Is she the killer? 
Things take on a different perspective when Colter approaches Marty Avon and learns more about  Jimmy Foyle cocreator of the video game and hopes to enlist their help find the third victim. Each victim is sent to a place based on one of the levels of the game and Elizabeth, the third was sent to the Sinking Ship. But a young man named Brad Henricks seemed likely to be the kidnaper as his life was filled with this came, lives being a gamer but when Colter exams his room he realizes that he might be a pawn in someone’s master plan.

The author reminds us of the skills Colter’s father taught him, the information he finds related to someone named Braxton and the final reveal will shock readers as author Jeffery Deaver delivers a three-punch surprise ending as the truth behind the kidnappings comes out. Just what was the hidden agenda planned by those involved. How would Colter help solve the problem as someone close to the investigation is fighting for her life. Lives are at stake, but the final ending is more like a beginning as Colter learns some harsh realities about his father’s death, who he was affiliated with and he needs to decide his next move. Sophie Mulliner, Henry Thompson and Elizabeth Chabelle were taken for a reason, but Henry was killed in order to silence something that would destroy many.

Rumors can destroy. Disinformation can take down many but the falsehoods that were being created would change the complexion of some things that no one would be able to stop. Author Jeffrey Deaver takes strong aim at the video gaming industry allowing readers to know the negatives and positives as the research was extensive and explaining that certain mental and motor skills can be enhanced by playing these games. Shaw is smart and the son of brilliant professors. His father had a difficult personality disorder. He was paranoid. He was a survivalist and demanded the same from his children. But the finale or ending will allow readers to know that Colter’s past, what really happened to his father would not sit tight with him until his murder is solved. Did he commit suicide or what did he hide that someone wants so badly that Colter might be sacrificed? Will he take on another reward assignment or will he take a lead to solve the death of his father. When you read the final words, you decide.