Shallow Graves (Location Scout Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Jeffery Deaver (Author)

Book Description

Series: Location Scout Mysteries | Publication Date: August 29, 2000

New York Times bestselling author

JEFFERY DEAVER

created the acclaimed blockbusters The Devil's Teardrop and The Coffin Dancer. Here he showcases his superb talent for "ticking-bomb suspense" (People) in this Edgar Award-nominated novel

SHALLOW GRAVES

Location scouting is to the film business what Switzerland is to war. John Pellam had been in the trenches of filmmaking, with a promising Hollywood career -- until a tragedy sidetracked him. Now he's a location scout, who travels the country in search of shooting sites for films. When he rides down Main Street, locals usually clamor for their chance at fifteen minutes of fame. But in a small town in upstate New York, Pellam experiences a very different reception -- his illusionary world is shattered by a savage murder, and Pellam is suddenly center stage in an unfolding drama of violence, lust, and conspiracy, which have a stranglehold on this less-than-picture-perfect locale.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Lawrence Block author of Everybody Dies Shallow Graves is a real pleasure -- tough-minded, intelligent, and very well written. Bravo! -- Review

About the Author

In 2004, Jeffery Deaver won the Crime Writers’ Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for his book Garden of Beasts. Little could he know that his acceptance speech, in which he spoke about his life-long admiration of Fleming’s writing, would lead to him being approached to write the next James Bond novel.

The international number-one bestselling author of two collections of short stories and 27 previous suspense novels, Deaver is best known for his Kathryn Dance and Lincoln Rhyme thrillers, most notably The Bone Collector, which was made into a feature starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.  His many awards include the Novel of the Year at the International Thriller Writers’ Awards in 2009 for his standalone novel The Bodies Left Behind. The latest entries in the Lincoln Rhyme series are The Cold Moon, The Broken Window, and The Burning Wire. 

Deaver’s most recent standalone thriller, Edge, was called “an exciting new weapon in the author’s arsenal of memorable characters.” (Publisher’s Weekly)

Jeffery Deaver lives in North Carolina. Parallels between Bond's and Deaver’s lives include their love of fast cars, skiing and whiskey. Deaver is the fifth author to continue Ian Fleming’s legacy by penning a James Bond novel.

For further information, visit www.jefferydeaver.com.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (August 29, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671047485
• ISBN-13: 978-0671047481
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,104,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jeffery Deaver was born outside of Chicago in 1950. His father was an advertising copywriter and his mother was a homemaker. He has one younger sister who writes novels for teenagers ' Julie Reece Deaver.

Deaver wrote his first book ' which consisted of two entire chapters ' when he was eleven, and he's been writing ever since. An award-winning poet and journalist, he has also written and performed his own songs around the country. After receiving a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri, Deaver worked as a magazine writer, then, to gain the background needed to become a legal correspondent for The New York Times or Wall Street Journal, he enrolled at Fordham Law School. After graduation he decided to practice law for a time and worked for several years as an attorney for a large Wall Street firm. It was during his long commute to and from the office that he began writing the type of fiction he enjoyed reading: suspense novels. In 1990 he started to write full time.

The author of twenty-two novels, Deaver has been nominated for six Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America, an Anthony award, a Gumshoe Award, and is a three-time recipient of the Ellery Queen Reader's Award for Best Short Story of the Year. In 2001, he won the W.H. Smith Thumping Good Read Award for his Lincoln Rhyme novel The Empty Chair. In 2004, he was awarded the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain's Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for Garden Of Beasts and the Short Story Dagger for "The Weekender." Translated into 35 languages, his novels have appeared on a number of bestseller lists around the world, including the New York Times, the London Times and the Los Angeles Times. The Bone Collector was a feature release from Universal Pictures, starring Denzel Washington as Lincoln Rhyme. A Maiden's Grave was made into an HBO film retitled Dead Silence, starring James Garner and Marlee Matlin.

Jeff has also released two collections of his short stories, called Twisted and More Twisted.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenal! Deaver Can Not Write A Bad Book!, August 29, 2000

By 

Brad Stonecipher - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shallow Graves (Location Scout Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Yes, that's right, another winner by the male king of suspense, Jeffery Deaver. As most of you Deaver fans know, Jeffery is revising and re-publishing his older novels. Manhattan is My Beat was the first re-published and I enjoyed that novel a lot. The only thing I didn't like was the main character in that book, but overall it was a good novel. But with SHALLOW GRAVES, that's another story. Great characters, a great plot, action, suspense, drug-dealing, shootouts, and more! What more could you want in a suspense novel? I have heard through the "grapevine" that Death of a Blue Movie Star will be out in October, and Blood River Blues and other older Deaver novels will be out in the future. Along with his NEW thriller Speaking In Tongues in December 2000, that can be ordered with Amazon.com, of course. If I could, I would give Shallow Graves six out of five stars.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reissue of Deaver is all good!, September 6, 2000

By 

P. Legerski (Corona, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shallow Graves (Location Scout Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

SHALLOW GRAVES is another reissue, following up MANHATTAN IS MY BEAT. This one is not a sequel to MIMB but is a series, this being the first. It is about a location scout who gets mixed up in a murder, dealings with drug makers/sellers, a nice affair possibility and a great switcheroo at the end. if you like Deaver you will love this book, it has everything you want! Can someone please tell me what happened with the "Mark" character in this book...I don't think it got resolved...unless I missed it!

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deaver's first is also one of his best, November 12, 2000

By 

Karen Bierman Hirsh (Greenwich, CT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shallow Graves (Location Scout Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Shallow Graves was first published under Jeffery Deaver's pseudonym, William Jefferies. While he may have been writing as someone else, fans of Mr. Deavers will instantly recognize the unique and wonderful writing style, imaginative and fully sketched characters and locations and the twisted plot lines of Jeffrey Deaver lurking throughout Shallow Graves.

This is the first of the location scout mysteries, as they are called, and readers are lucky that Deaver's popularity has grown so much that they have chosen to re-print his first novels. WE are instantly thrown into the world of mysterious John Pellam and his partner Marty as they are looking throughout upstate New York for a location for a new Hollywood Film.

While half the town is out parading in front of John for an unofficial audition the other half of town is trying to get rid of him. When John's partner Marty dies under strange circumstances, all eyes are focused on Pellam. He must quickly learn who he can trust and who is out to get him. The reader begins to suspect, along with Pellam, that not all is at it would seem in this sleeply little town in the middle of nowhere.

Deaver does what he does best in this novel, he creates a believable and likeable set of characters, creates a seedy and dark unbelly in the most unlikely of places and brings the reader on a rollercoaster ride that you wish would never end. But end it must and readers will be running back to well for more when they are finished.

This is one mystery that I wished would go on - Deaver is a master and this novel continues to prove his talent.