The Mystery Starts Here

When I saw a new Jeffrey Deaver novel sitting on the shelf of the library, I snatched it without bothering to read the blurb. I generally get eight novels at a time and am delighted if I can read two or three. The instant I got home, I started to read, “The Bodies They Left Behind” and it had a great opening chapter! I really got sucked in. Unfortunately, things went down hill fast from there.

A female sheriff’s deputy and another woman who survived the murdurous attack take off into the Wisconsin woods to escape, with two male killers hot on their trail. That hunt was simply incredible beyond words, to the point that it became almost cartoonish. The heroine tries to trick the villains; the villains figure out it’s a trick, and counter her trick with ANOTHER trick; but she anticipates this counter-trick, and counter-counter-tricks, and…… SHEESH! Too often I found myself saying, “HUH?” or “You’ve GOT to be kidding.”

For instance, it’s night, April, thick trees in a state park but…one killer sees cracker crumbs on the ground! In another “I don’t believe that one for an instant” scene one of the baddies observes a smear of blood on a rock! Yeah, right. There were a lot of twists and turns, but most of them were just too unbelievable. Brynn McKenzie, the deputy was especially annoying. Every time she encountered a challenge, she solved the problem because she had taken a class or gone to a seminar or read a book. My eyeballs were rolling around in my head so much I got dizzy.

So, while “The Bodies They Left Behind” is a fast read, there is just too much Deux ex Machina for me. I sure hope Deaver’s next book is better.