Customer Reviews

More Twisted: Collected Stories, Vol. II

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Once again, Jeffrey Deaver provides a collection of short stories where nothing is what it seems... all the way to the last twist ending.

The real gems in the book are "Born Bad", about a mother who can't understand what went wrong when raising her daughter, "A Dish Served Cold" about a man living in terror of death by a stalker, and "The Commuter" where a man's attempts to solve his personal and business problems via cell phone during the commute leads to shocking consequences. In addition, Lincoln Rhyme fans will enjoy "Locard's Principle" where Sachs and Rhyme follow the evidence in the murder of a wealthy philatrophist.

Deaver never ceases to amaze, and just when you think you have the story figured out, you can count on him to surprise you once again.

As with its short story predecessor (see TWISTED), this is a terrific crime thriller anthology. There are thirteen reprints with three from the late 19990s and the remaining from this decade. There are also three new tales (Afraid, Locard's Principle, and The Voyeur) with Locard's Principle being a longer short story starring Lincoln Rhyme. Each of the tales are fun to read as most of them share a common twist that leads to questioning just who a character truly is; are they a thief, a killer, a psychopath or just an innocent person in the wrong place at the wrong time. Crime thriller fans will appreciate this entertaining exhilarating compilation in which readers will keep changing their mind over who is guilty in tales faster than "a sniper's bullet".

Harriet Klausner

In each of the 16 stories in this volume, Deaver keeps you guessing as the twists and turns keep coming. A master of the thriller, Deaver will definitely give you thrills and chills, and keep you reading well into the night. Fans of Deaver will not want to miss this exciting collection of short stories. Ranging from the 1800s (with a surprise guest!) to the present day, comprised of murder mysteries, swindles and scams, you won't be able to put it down. High recommend from me!

It's been 4 years since I picked up Twisted Vol 1 and I still remember the kick I got from flipping the pages. Somehow, that kick is missing in Vol 2 but nevertheless, it is still a fairly good read.

This book is not a follow on to the first book, Twisted, but I found myself comparing them both all the time I was reading it. They are different in that this new book seems to be more in-depth in the story work. It was an absolutely excellent read and I found it hard to put down once I started.

The stories are very well thought out and I still couldn't work out what the twist was going to be until it appeared right in front of me.

Another triumph by Jeffrey Deaver - well worth reading.

While I love to read stories, I have a major gripe with short story collections. Usually, some of the stories are great, a couple of them are just so so, and some others just don't do anything for me. A few years ago I bought Twisted, Jeffery Deaver's first story collection. I started to read with the intention of reading a story now and then. But to my amazement I found myself racing from one story to the next and before I knew what had happened I had finished them all! And even more surprising: there wasn't a single bad story in the batch!

The same thing is happening now with his new collection More Twisted. There are no bad stories here. Of course, some of them I like more than others, but all of them are gripping, entertaining and surprising. All the characters and situations are quickly sketched and again and again I found myself captivated after just one or two pages. In fact, the only drawback I can think of with this collection is the central idea of 'stories with twist endings'. After a while I found myself getting into a suspicious mode and while reading a new story I would wonder "okay, if this is not what it seems, what could it be instead???"

For any lover of thrillers and short stories, this collection is an absolute feast!!! I for one can't wait for Even More Twisted....

I'm a huge fan of Deaver's non-Lincoln Rymes writings. I loved "Twisted" as each short story I eagerly took in every word to figure what the twist was that I was reading. I am a reader that "always figures it out" too soon in books. "Twisted" kept me captivated. I was so anxious to read "More Twisted" but was utterly and sadly disappointed. NONE of the stories were written with the same verve as those found in "Twisted". Dull would be a closer description of the ending of most of the stories in "More Twisted". I am hoping the next book of short stories by Deaver will be as good as "Twisted" - but just like movies, book sequels are never as good as the first.

In 2004 there was TWISTED. Two years later, we have MORE TWISTED. Author Jeffery Deaver, poet and former folksinger but best known in our world for writing the Lincoln Rhyme forensic crime novels here puts his hand again to the short story, presenting his second body of collected short works. All are in the mystery/suspense line, and all contain stings in the tail. It has been mentioned that this device in itself becomes formulaic in repetition, so it really is best to dive in and out of this book and not to take it all in at one sitting. We imagine that this is the beauty of the short story in that commitment can be low with still a great reward possible at conclusion. A little misdirection can go a long way and Deaver uses this device to have his readers genuinely surprised as what may have led them to think so soon that the good man is good, and the bad man is bad. Some efforts to have the reader look the other way in MORE TWISTED are more than obvious than others but with the necessary economy in structure and length that must be made best use of in the short story, Deaver strips it all down to bare bones with a masterful hand.

In "Chapter and Verse", police ask the local priest for assistance with what seems to be a coded biblical message, written on a scrap of paper and left at the scene of a murder. But are the police really asking the right person, even if this priest that no one has ever seen before was the handiest man to ask at the time? A mother asks herself where did she go wrong when her daughter, after so long, asks to visit her in "Born Bad" and must steel herself for the final mother/daughter confrontation. "Double Jeopardy" spins out the story of yet another shark lawyer who doesn't believe his client is a good guy, but defends him anyway and pays an unexpected price.

If you're of the popular opinion that there can never be too much time spent with Lincoln Rhyme, rest easy as the former NYPD officer and his team make their appearance in "Locard's Principle", a tale of what happens when the only witness to a shooting becomes a hot target for the killers who know what she has seen.

As Jeffery Deaver is such a major player in the world of crime fiction, it is gratifying to see the author put in a few words about the etiquette of his craft and the level to which some writers may choose to take the fear factor. Below is a quote from an explanatory afterword to the short story "Afraid", in which a young woman is whisked away to a secluded hideaway by her new lover, who turns out, of course, not to be the romantic prospect she had hoped for.

Deaver:
"I always remember that my job as suspense writer is to make my audience afraid but never disgusted or repulsed, as happens when there's graphic gore or violence against, say, children or animals. The emotion that fear engenders in thriller fiction should be cathartic and exhilarating. Yes, make your readers' palms sweat, and make them hesitate to shut the lights out at night - but at the end of the ride make sure they all climb off the roller coaster unharmed".

Reading Jeffery Deaver is always a treat and with MORE TWISTED, it's possible to take time out every twenty pages or so to take a breath. Without the plot restraints of a full length novel, Deaver takes his characters, using the sparsest of narratives, to the fight or flight moment of their lives. When you're next waiting for that train or for the school bell to ring out at the end of the day, Jeffery Deaver's collection of short crime bites should prove to be excellent company.

More Twisted is a volume of sixteen tales of suspense by Jeffrey Deaver, including a previously unpublished Lincoln Rhyme story. Each of these tales, as the title suggests, has a twist. Most are set in modern times, but one is set in Victorian England and features Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. All are enjoyable, some are spine-chilling. An excellent read!

After reading Deaver's first book in the twisted series, I was very excited to recieve this book. I was quite let down by this one. In the first book I could not figure out what the twist was going to be. The stories in More Twisted were predictable and I think deaver lost a little of his touch. They were not boring stories, they just lacked the element of surprise. The best story in this book was Born Bad, it had the element os suspense, and kept you guessing right up until the end and BAM!!! You are blown away by the surprise. But that is just my opinion. The first book was so much better.