Rating: 
Summary: Stunning suspense thriller
Review: It was a while ago that i read this book, and it was my first of Deavers. Since then i have bought every single book he has ever written, and have read all but a few of them. This is simple an outstanding book. it is the best hostage thriller i have ever read, and that i expect i ever will. Deaver mounts the tension beautifully...every now and then it gets so high that you literally feel it as he lets a little of the tension out...it's a wonderful display of suspense writing. Deavers characters are vivid, and his characterisation is wonderfully subtle. they are well rounded and very human. Arthur Potter is a compelling hero, and his "invisble" relationship with Melanie is brilliantly done. the way they feel connected to each other during the hostage negotiation even though they have never met is wonderful. I felt very moved. As well as being a very suspenseful book, this is also an extremely emotional one. there are times when you really feel very sorry for the characters, and an insipid hate for their characters. I felt particularly sorry for poor Donna Hawstrawn. I really wanted this book to keep going, just so that i could see if she would be okay...there are also a couple of moments in the book when you might be moved to tears. there are some devastating events, which really tug at you. Deavers portrayal of the Deaf is completely unpatronising. He is extremely good at writing about people with what might be termed "handicaps", and in this case i think he was at hsi most sucessful. He wrote about it in such a way that you did feel slight sympathy, but moreover you felt proud of these people. Also, i felt a strange but strong urge to actually really try and get a feel for what it might be like to be Deaf... This is a brilliant book, with a good twist at the end. good characters, emotional writing, stunning suspense, and an excellent hostage thriller. Deaver is simply the best.
Rating: 
Summary: Deaver Digs Deep
Review: Jeffrey Deaver is well recognized for his visciously violent mind. And the ability to dig deep from within and transfer those thoughts to paper has been rewarded with two Edgar nominations. I just read the Amazon review he did with Barrie, and am anticipating his computer thriller presently being molded. As he stated, "Noone will ever go on-line again after reading this one". In, "A Maiden's Grave", eight deaf girls and their teacher are pulled off a school bus along a wheatlined Kansas road. They are held hostage in an abandoned slaughterhouse by escaped murderer, Lou Handy, and two fellow inmates. The threat--to kill one hostage an hour unless demands are met. Enter Arthur Potter, the FBI's senior hostage negotiator. Killer Lou Handy may just be Potter's downfall. This book moves like an out of control train. Of course with Mr. Deaver, you never know where those solid serpentine tracks will take you. Tick-tock Tick-tock--do not miss this emotional crime novel. other reading suggestions: "The Devils Teardrop" by Jeffrey Deaver and "The Lions Game" by Nelson DeMille I appreciate your interest & comments--CDS
Rating:
Summary: Great thriller!
Review: There are many novels written with kidnapped children as their central story line, but this book certainly leads the pack and stands out as a gut wrenching thriller. A Maiden's Grave is an interesting take on hostage negotiations and Deaver really makes it work. You feel the tension the hostages feel and the pressure the negotiator goes through. You can feel the terror and bravery of the characters. It is so wonderfully well written that the story is almost palpable. I look forward to reading more books written by this author. Great thriller...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This is one of Deaver's best works. The plot is very strong, with many twists. The setting is almost another character in this book. The descriptions of the slaugterhouse make this a disturbing read, and helps the reader see horror these girls go through. The dialogue is excellent, as is typical of Deaver. Most author's wouldn't attempt to write dialogue that included 9 deaf characters, but Deaver pulls it off in stunning fashion. The only thing that kept this book from being my favorite Deaver book was the characters. They are all very strong and very well defined (especially Melanie, Arthur, and Lou), but there wasn't one that I could identify with. Read this book. It is excellent, and I guarantee you won't be disappointed. But also don't miss my personal favorite Deaver novel The Devil's Teardrop.
Rating:
Summary: Non-stop entertainment
Review: This nail biter of a thriller involves a hijacked schoolbus carrying eight deaf school children and two teachers. Sound familiar? Mary Willis Walker's "Under the Beetle's Cellar" develops a very similar premise. Both books even include an asthmatic among the kidnapped children.
But in Deaver's skillful hands, the story works again. The two protagonists are Arthur Potter, senior FBI negotiator, nearing retirement, and Melanie Charrol, a young, timid deaf teacher whose lonely passion is music. The three kidnappers are prison escapees who have already killed three people before holing up in an abandoned slaughterhouse with the terrified hostages. Potter works against time to get inside the head of their leader, Lou Handy, and derail his threat to kill one hostage every hour until his demands are met. Meanwhile, state officials have their own agenda, as does the press, and their machinations ratchet up the suspense in several different directions. And, inside, Melanie fights her fears, holding onto an image of Potter (who she has glimpsed outside) as inspiration, and works feverishly to save at least a few of the girls. Deaver's characterizations - the outbursts of rebellion and tears among the children, the gleeful coldbloodedness of Handy, Potter's feverish analysis and risky gambles, Melanie's terrified bravery - hurtle the plot forward, while the slaughterhouse atmosphere is dank and cold, and the action is non-stop, right up to a couple of switch-back twists at the end.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent at every word, definitely a SIX STARS BOOK
Review: When you start reading a book and you can't put it down.
When you regret that you are not reading it because you have to do something else.
When no-part of the book is boring (here I have to accept that the last six or seven pages of the penultimate chapter (page 370-376), after the hostage release, are boring, but you must read them to understand the book's finish).
When you can't guess what'll happen in the next page.
When everything you read could be true.
When you think that the book is already finish with a fairy tale end and you have to read 40 more pages to read an excellent end.
With all these points, the book deserves SIX stars.
And I almost forget that you'll learn very important things about the Deaf people.
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