A Maiden's Grave

Rating:
Summary: Awesome and scary!
Review: A great read! I was facinated with the deaf theme, never having read one of this type before. It makes you think about how scary this could really be.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Thriller
Review: Mr. Deaver is an excellent writer, evident in his flowing, non-stilted prose and sense of pace. The last section of A Maiden's Grave contained the best writing, with its dark, fast-paced build up to the surprising climax.

Certain aspects took away from the book, however. Some of the characters, such as Special-agent-in-charge Hendersen, seemed almost uncessary to the story; in fact, Mr. Deaver builds up expectation of a new subplot involving Hendersen, then lets you down, almost as though he had forgotten all about him, only to bring him back later for convenience to justify the character's existence. The two technical agents assisting the main character Potter seemed interchangable in personality -- Mr. Deaver could have combined the two into one character. The romantic blossoming between Potter and Melanie seemed also a little bit forced, without much explanation, forcing the reader to take it for its face value.

Despite the small flaws, the novel wows the reader with its rich realism and fabulous dialog and the intricate plots and subplots. It's an enormous feat given that the novel takes place virtually in one place in less than a 24 hour period. I highly recommend it to anyone. A Maiden's Grave transcends the thriller genre. It's an excellent fiction, period.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Deaver so far!
Review: This was the 2nd Deaver book I read and it is the best so far. A simple premise that is so thick with tension I had to stop reading to calm down. Escaped convicts hijack a bus full of deaf students and the fun begins. The negotiations and give and take of the main characters were great. When you find out what is really going on you will be shocked! Great novel! Now I've got to see the HBO movie based on this, DEAD SIILENCE.

Rating:
Summary: Am I starting to see a pattern here?
Review: This is my third Deaver. The Bone Collecter and The Devil's Teardrop were the others. It will certainly not be my last. However, in these books I detected a some clear patterns. Disenfranchised common-man hero, unreachable sexually repressed love interest, character mentioned twice that pops up in the end.

Still, gripping stories, interesting characters, and insite (correct or not) into some esoteric areas of law enforcement. Hopefully his other books, if they repeat this formula, will somehow keep it fresh.

Rating:
Summary: Good police insight but doesn't pull the heart strings
Review: Eight young deaf girls and their teachers are abducted by three escaped convicts and held hostage in an abandoned slaughterhouse. Arthur Potter, senior hostage negotiator with the FBI, is called to the scene. He soon finds in Lou Handy, the convict in charge, a diabolical adversary. Deaver is at his best when describing police procedure in detail without complex jargon. Excellent juggling of multiple scenes and varied characters.

Rating:
Summary: Believably scary, especially for a Deaf person!
Review: Yikes, being a Deaf educator and a Deaf person myself, I read this book straight through. I hated having to go to school and not know where the book went! Mr. Deaver has an incredible insight into people with malfunctioning brains...wonder why. He did a fair job on research concerning Deaf people, and certainly he captured my own parents' fears concerning people taking advantage of my own deafness. Luckily, I've never run into anyone like Handy in spite of my neuroscience degrees and hope I never will! As a Deaf person and one with a failed cochlear implant, I wish he had been a little more careful about his presentation of what a cochlear implant can and can't do. I realize he tried to be fair in presenting the militant Deaf side and the feelings of those who hearing was lost over time, like mine was...but the cochlear implant will not help the person feel better about themselves if they are taught they are somehow not fit to be in society without hearing of some kind. But enough of the lecture...otherwise the book was outright frightening because of the fact that something as horrible as this could happen. I just hope Deaver doesn't feed any wackos out there new ideas! Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh, [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Gripping thriller!
Review: Jeff Deaver is a master of suprise twists and turns and will have you on the edge of the seat turning pages as quickly as possible to see what happens next. You will think you have it all figured out and then Mr. Deaver hits you upside the head with a doozy.

The subject matter of deaf children as hostages was done very tactfully and well. I learned a lot about deaf culture and the courage and strength of the people in the culture.

Characterization was done extremely well. I was able to get to know the characters and feel the passions, anger and anxiety that they felt.

A thoroughly enjoyable read from the get go

Rating:
Summary: FASCINATING
Review: Found this book to be as fascinating as The Bone Collector. Those readers expecting a fairy tale will probably be shocked and disturbed. Readers familiar with Douglas's books on serial killers will be mesmerized by this psychological study of negotiators and their adversaries.

Rating:
Summary: WARNING
Review: i thought the book was really good. there's only one problemwith it and that's the rape scene that was way to descriptive. i wishhe wouldn't have put that in, it spoils the book. it bothers me alot to read that kind of thing, because then i'll have that image in mind for some time. besides that i thought the book was one of his best. it had well written character, a good plot, and not a bunch of technical terms they spend pages explaining to you. BUT had i known about the rape i would not have read it.

Rating:
Summary: Great thriller
Review: A gripping thriller, ideal for a long train journey or flight. What makes it stand out is its compassionate and intelligent portrayal of the world of the Deaf (with a capital D). Any run-of-the-mill writer would have used deafness as a McGuffin without taking it any further. Deaver's sensitivity makes his book stand out from the rest of the pack.