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Twisted : The Collected Stories of Jeffery Deaver

Twisted : The Collected Stories of Jeffery Deaver

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: every story a twisted pleasure!
Review: 16 short stories, each has a special twist to it. one story i read twice to see how i could have been so "punked" the first time i read it! the book is so good i'd take it to stores just to read it while i waited in line. the first story i felt his writing style was very amaturish, but by the second story he captured me as a fan. Ray Bradbury has competition! some of the most clever stories and concepts i've ever read. this is a book i'd recommend to everyone!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: excellent short story collection
Review: From reading Deaver's novels, it is abundantly clear that his style, and his love of injecting a twist into a story, would be perfectly suited to the short story form. "Twisted" proves that that is true.

This is a collection of 16 of his stories (apparently the first of a planned two volumes), some of them award-winning, all of them excellent examples of how to write crime genre short stories. If you don't like the crime genre, though, I would you against this collection. If you prefer literature, you'll find them fatuous. They are, I suppose - they mean little and the characters are pretty hollow when it comes right down to it. However, if you want a good series of shocks and surprises, this really is the collection for you. It is EXCELLENT in that respect.

Some of the stories are absolutely excellent. For example, "Triangle" is possible a work of crime-writing genius. Absolutely brilliant. Every story has an unexpected twist. It's possible that you may be able to guess a couple, as you gradually work your way into Deaver's mindset, as I did, but even seeing twists coming, I think, gives you a great sense of satisfaction. There are one or two entertaining oddities, too. "All The World's A Stage" is a historical crime story, in which Shakespeare pops up. Some of the dialogue is laughable, the historical detail suspect, but the story itself is absolutely cracking. Despite it's flaws, it's very fine entertainment indeed.

They're written excellently, in just the way crime short stories should be. Every sentence is telling; every sentence has its function and does its work. Characters are developed as well as they can be in such small frames, and plots are wrought well too.

The only problem with a collection like this, is that, when stripped down, all 16 stories are rather similar, certainly in their devices. If you read this book as you would a novel, all in one go, I can imagine them getting pretty repetitive. It is probably best to read a story every couple of days. That's what I did, and I really enjoyed this. It was a great pleasure to be lead by the hand by Mr Deaver, and be surprised and then surprised again.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Hard to believe
Review: I don't believe that a writer wrote only one story and all others 15 weren't written by him and everybody says that is a good book and a good writer.
All the stories are predictable and alike, if you read them all together at the end of the third one you will know the end of the rest of them only by reading the beginning, if you read these stories between books (one or two each time) may be you will enjoy the book, but maybe also you already read most of them before you read this book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I loved being Twisted
Review: I LOVED this book! What an outstanding collection of stories. I loved this book so much, I made copies of some of the stories so that I could pretend I was working when I was actually reading! Not only did each one surprise me at the end, but all of them held my attention. Very well written, I will add Jeffery Deaver to my favorite authors list and continue to read his work.

My absolute favorite story in the collection had to be Triangle, although that is a hard choice given the quality and suspense of each story.

I highly recommend this book!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Dreadfully Dull
Review: It's been said that the short story is a more difficult genre to master than the novel. Clearly that's the case for Jeffrey Deaver. His novels, while not literary masterpieces by any means, at least hold the reader's attention with reasonably intelligent and interesting plots. This collection of short stories, in contrast, is thoroughly predictable, in places laughably bad (eg, the story set in Shakespearean England and written in a ridiculous, ill-informed version of period language), and mostly just downright boring. The stories are of the same caliber as you'd find in a cheap mystery or horror magazine or anthology filled with the efforts of unknown writers. Unless you're stuck on an airplane with nothing else to read, skip this one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A treat and another star in Deaver's crown for this
Review: O.Henryesque anthology of short and yes, very twisted and unique short stories. Each one can stand alone; yet packaged and tied with a bow in this manner, they give the reader a present that opens anew with each and every turn of the page.

If you imagaine that you can outwit this author and surmise what the twist will be, you have another think coming. How versatile Deaver is in his range of scenarios, in his wild and wonderful surprise endings; in his choice of characters and his imaginative prose!

I recommend this collection to anyone who wishes to be entertained, enlightened and absolutely thrilled to the bone. An exciting and memorable read by the author who has easily soared to first place on my list. I had just finished his 'Speaking in Tongues' when I picked up 'Twisted' and was given hours of reading bliss. Don't miss any of Jeffrey Deaver's works; he is truly gifted!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: hard to put down
Review: The stories in this book are all fairly similar but nonetheless, good. Its hard to imagine twists and turns in a story that lasts only 10 pages, but....Deaver accomplishes this feat with great skill. The book is hard to put down because it's only 10 pages until you're done with the story and on to the next....which, is good for those late, stay up past your bedtime, so you're late for work the next morning nights. =)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Deilciously inventive and surprising
Review: What a treat this collection is.

Deaver is lke a masterful pitcher who keeps changing speeds and spins to keep you off balance. Almost every one of these stories delivers a twist that is deliciously inventive and surprising. As a previous reviewer wrote, "Triangle" is particularly clever.

My least favorite was the Lincoln Rhymes Christmas tale, which was too long and sentimental. But that's a small quibble. Overall, Deaver succeeds marvelously.


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