The Never Game (A Colter Shaw Novel Book 1)
<b>A <i>New York Times Book Review</i> Top 10 Crime Novel of the Year <br /><br />From the bestselling and award-winning master of suspense, the first novel in a thrilling new series, introducing Colter Shaw.</b><br /><br /><i>"You have been abandoned."</i><br /><br />A young woman has gone missing in Silicon Valley and her father has hired Colter Shaw to find her. The son of a survivalist family, Shaw is an expert tracker. Now he makes a living as a "reward seeker," traveling the country to help police solve crimes and private citizens locate missing persons. But what seems a simple investigation quickly thrusts him into the dark heart of America's tech hub and the cutthroat billion-dollar video-gaming industry. <br /><br /><i>"Escape if you can."</i><br /><br />When another victim is kidnapped, the clues point to one video game with a troubled past--<i>The Whispering Man</i>. In that game, the player has to survive after being abandoned in an inhospitable setting with five random objects. Is a madman bringing the game to life?<br /><br /><i>"Or die with dignity."</i><br /><br />Shaw finds himself caught in a cat-and-mouse game, risking his own life to save the victims even as he pursues the kidnapper across both Silicon Valley and the dark 'net. Encountering eccentric game designers, trigger-happy gamers and ruthless tech titans, he soon learns that he isn't the only one on the hunt: someone is on his trail and closing fast.<br /><br /><i>The Never Game</i> proves once more why "Deaver is a genius when it comes to manipulation and deception" (Associated Press).