Think of a Number

I have to admit I was skeptical and my expectations were not, in fact, very high. New authors are a dime a dozen these days and while to a certain degree they can write and entertain, The Next Great Author virtually never appears. Until now. John Verdon's "Think of a Number" is phenomenal, captivating, engrossing and almost impossible to put down. While the plot is a little far fetched at times, it has more than enough reality to make a convincing and captivating impact. The characters are superbly developed and so realistically created and described that it is not at all difficult to imagine them as people you actually know. The story flows seamlessly with some twists and turns, but these twists and turns are meaningful and realistic -- not just foolish tools to add to the word count. They say that an author gets better with each passing novel he writes. I don't see how Verdon can get any better, but count me in sight unseen for anything else he writes.

What a great read this was! It's a suspenseful, thriller of a read and one of those rare reads that takes you into the true mind of the policeman (in this case retired) and what's going through his mind while working on the case. And not only during the times he's on the case, but also "off times" and how family comes into play. I believe this is what intertwines or I should say how the author brings together the brilliant yet psychotic (what's that saying there's a fine line between brilliance and craziness) mind of the "bad guy." The idea of you getting an envelope in the mail, you not expecting it, and it telling you to think of a number, then you think of one and the number written down is one you actually think of! Very interesting way to start off a book! I'll end in saying we all know this is book is a work of fiction. It's not a book teaching people law enforcement procedures, or such. It's a book filled with cool ideas, an cunning elusive psychopath and a a retired cop with his own issues working on this case. All of this will take up time to and allow your mind to get away from everything for a few hours. A great book!

This book is a nonstop thrill ride! The story opens with the unhappily retired main character, Dave Gurney, receiving an email from a college friend. The friend had heard of Gurney's successful career catching serial killers. When Gurney reluctantly meets with this acquaintance, he learns of his friend's receipt of a letter in which he is asked to think of a number between one and one thousand. After picking a number, the friend opens another little enclosure that correctly guesses the number. This frightening trick of omniscience is only the beginning of a brilliant psychopath's cat and mouse game with Gurney and several local police forces. In his search for the killer, Gurney also works through out a lot of issues buried deep within himself. It's amazing how both the plot and the character development propel the story. The momentum never stops until the last page. This book is great!

In lesser hands - say, the hands of the typical bestselling author - this would be a formulaic, albeit well-crafted, thriller that might adequately occupy your time on a plane flight or vacation. But in the surprisingly capable hands of first-time author Mr. Verdon, the thriller has been elevated to the empyrean of Novelists. Verdon reanimates the skeleton of the mystery thriller formula - good guy catches bad guy while negotiating family issues and office politics - by emphasizing the combination of deductive and inductive reasoning employed by the protagonist, a retired NYPD detective, in solving crimes. And the protagonist brandishes those reasoning skills to full advantage. As the plot has been summarized by other reviewers, I will focus on a couple of aspects that, in my opinion, set this novel apart. Firstly, it is extremely well-written. The language is not ornate, but it is evocative and a pleasure to read. And gripping, as well. There were chapters so propulsive I had to pace myself in order not to race through the book. Secondly, the plot devices were diabolically clever. If you happen to possess knowledge of probabilities, you may tumble to one of the tricks. Nonetheless, I suspect you will find it enjoyable to ponder, as the protagonist does, the "how did he (or she) do it?" puzzles. Thirdly, the relationship between a grizzled ex-cop and his wife is not new terrain, but Verdon illuminates superbly the dynamic of a hyper-rationalist - someone who lives in his head - with a more normal, emotionally balanced partner. This was, in my view, authentically depicted. Okay, enough with the numerically prefaced paragraphs (he did say Think of a Number (*_*). But I do have two more points to make. There is a meeting, the first of two, that takes place with the protagonist and the DA, Chief of Police, and a flock of other law enforcement types. This scene was hilariously spot-on, and so artfully drawn, it alone virtually justifies the purchasing of the book. And then there is a confrontation toward the end (I will be vague to avoid a Spoiler) where the protagonist deploys a technique so psychologically counterintuitive one of the characters, completely realistically, I might add, remains skeptical, even upon explanation. Nowadays authors blithely, even recklessly, create protagonists who purport to "think outside the box" and many, many authors adorn their characters with a variety of minor quirks (drinks too much, smokes too much, drives a Porsche, etc.) to convey the unorthodox hero. But in Think of a Number, Mr. Verdon has conceived an individual who comes as close to actual unconventional thinking as, well, as the public is likely willing to accept in a law enforcement officer. To conclude, this is a thoughtfully rendered mystery/thriller of the first order. I realize that my review dissents from those of some of my esteemed Vine colleagues, and this is my very first Vine review, so please keep these facts

Dave Gurney is a legend, a retired NYPD homicide detective who now lives in the country with his wife. He doesn't like being away from the city, but has found a post-retirement calling as an artist, manipulating images of the killers he's caught. I thought the writing about the interactions between husband and wife were really well done; Gurney's internal monologue is intelligent and insightful, and the dialogue was very good. The action begins when one of Dave's old college acquaintances shows up with a dilemma. He's received several creepy, threatening poems, and he wants Dave to look into them. In the first letter, the author dares the victim to think of any number between one and a thousand -- and when he opens the second envelope, there is his number! The clever and sadistic writer of the notes escalates the rhetoric until eventually someone is killed, and soon we discover that there is a string of killings. Can Gurney solve the case before someone else is murdered? Can he ever forgive himself for putting his wife at risk? This is a well written complex puzzle procedural that really gets inside the head of its protagonist, an interesting detective with a boatload of problems of his own and a wily killer to catch. I enjoyed this very much, and look forward to others by this author.