Another amazing and riveting short story from the pen of Jeffery Deaver.

Using a brevity of words, but each enriched with meaning, chosen with care, Deaver is a master storyteller. I really like the way he combines mystery and suspense to weave a multi-facetted narrative which is strong on character and locations. The story twists and turns about itself. Not in a confusing way but in a teasing manner which demands you reappraise a character’s integrity and where the story is going.

Jon is a history professor who has just lost his wife in a terrible car accident returning home late, from a placement where she volunteered. Numbed by events, seemingly unable to grieve, he becomes increasingly convinced the circumstances leading to his wife’s passing were not just a a twist of fate.
As the narrator we are led to believe what he is telling us until the police become interested in the events and have Jon as a legitimate suspect. With opportunity and motive along with either prior knowledge rather than clear brilliant intellectual reasoning it looks like the academic might be arrested for his wife’s murder.

Deaver plays with the reader. Can we trust the narrator of this story? This is a literary technique, used by the best.

I love this constant reassessment of a story as you read along. It is good to be tested and have doubts thrown up.

This is a genuine experience rather than slight of hand. Other books have a littering of red herrings, like tacks on the road to delay pursuers. Not crafted, and often confusing and disappointing in the end.

Not here though. In this author’s writing there is a delicate layering of information that the reader is asked to sift and analyse which deepens the mystery and brings subtle subterfuge to the suspense.

Don’t be put off by it only being a short story. It is an immense and original tale others would need 400 pages to tell. While Deaver has achieved the same satisfying result in a memorable and engaging fashion to take you out of yourself and consider the human condition and the dark forces that lead to murder.

A quick-paced story about a history professor who decides to investigate his wife’s accident.
Jon Talbot, married for five years, is unable to explain his emotions after his wife’s sudden death in a car accident. Using his training as a historian and researcher, he goes down the path of what-ifs, and soon discovers that things aren’t as clear-cut as the police believed. As Talbot says, “Historians are, at heart, detectives.” So this is quite an unusual experience of seeing a historian dig out information about a possibly shady accident.

The 77 pages story goes by very briskly. Deaver knows how to keep his pulse on the narrative and makes sure that the reader is hooked right from the beginning. The story is written from the first person view of Jon Talbot, thereby making the reader an unwilling insider in Talbot’s mind. To add to this, the narrative comes to us in staccato sentences written in the present tense. So with its intriguing beginning and pacey scene transitions, the entire experience is pretty good. I just wish the ending were a little smoother. It’s too cluttered with information.

Regardless, it is an interesting tale and worth a read. A 4.25 from me.

Thank you, NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories, for the ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

When Jon’s wife, Patience, or Pax, is killed in a car accident at 30, he is devastated and grieving. His grief leads to thinking, and his thinking leads him down the path to find out how Pax really died.

This was a great short story by Jeffrey Deaver. I liked that it wasn’t gory like some of his books are, and it was well written and absorbing. There’s an unexpected twist at 75%, and another at 94%. I don’t do spoilers, this is a quick read so find out for yourself!

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this story, but my opinions are my own.

76 pages

5 stars

This is a remarkably well written short story about a car accident and a professor husband who doubts that it truly was accidental.

It was a delight to read. And Mr. Deaver even worked a few surprises in it.

I highly recommend this book to all.

I want to thank NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for forwarding to me a copy of this great book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This is a short story by the author of The Bone Collector series, which I've never read but have seen the movie starring Denzel Washington.

This was a quick and engaging read about an author and widower named Jon who suspects the death of his wife was not due to a car crash but something more nefarious.

His investigative efforts yield odd clues, a missing phone and laptop, a suspicious man, and fears that his wife may have been unfaithful.

But, Jon will soon discover that we never really know our spouse as well as we think we do, and sometimes that's not a bad thing.

I liked Jon, the narrative was engaging and suspenseful and kept me reading until the end, which was satisfying.

This is a short story from Jeffery Deaver set in Martinsville County, Massachusetts, where History Professor Jon Talbot is grieving the recent accidental death of his wife, Patience 'Pax' Susan Addison, a charity worker and volunteer. Intent on driving home, Pax died after hitting a deer on the road, in what appeared a straightforward RTA. This all changes when a Detective Roland Briggs visits Jon at home, hoping to get his hands on Pax's mobile phone, but it is not amongst the items returned to him, and neither is her laptop. Becoming deeply suspicious as to why a detective is involved in a road accident, Jon talks to Deputy Terry Garner about what he begins to suspect is the murder of his wife.

Initially Deputy Garner, a friend, is far from convinced that there are any grounds for thinking that this is a case of murder, but evidence at the site of the accident and another murder has him warning Jon to be very careful. Jon becomes historian as detective as he slowly begins to learn that there is far more to Pax than he ever knew, knowing he must find out who killed her. This is to bring him far more danger than he ever could have imagined. This is a great short story from Deaver, entertaining, twisty, tense, and intriguing, one that will appeal to his many crime fiction fans and other readers too. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Short but sweet. A fun to read shorty from the author. Page turning twists and turns. A recommendation to all.