Reviews

The Goodbye Man by Jeffery Deaver

hummel99's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

clak5686's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I really enjoyed this book.  It has a great mystery and a wonderful protagonist.  Colter Shaw is a very interesting character.  He is a "rewardist" who makes his living collecting rewards.  One great characteristic is that he truly cares about the situation and people involved.  I would highly recommend this book.  I do believe that it is best enjoyed if read in series order.

mega_randomer's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

mugsandmanuscripts's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.75

I read this because I liked the first in the series and wanted to hear more about Colter Shaw, but I felt like this one was a little unwieldy. The twists and turns were good, but I felt like the book got a bit stuck in the cult that was the object of Shaw's investigation. I think the novel would have been better with fewer pages spent on the speeches of the cult leader and the "therapy" involved in the cult. I also just didn't find the cult leader as believable (as a character) or his espoused belief system as believable as those of other similar novels.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

andievan's review against another edition

3.0

I enjoyed many aspects of the book. The cult storyline was engaging, and the cult leader (obviously modelled after a certain one term US President) was wonderfully hatable. I didn't read the first Colton Shaw novel, though, and I guess for that reason, the ending, which apparently touched on things that happened in book one, kind of seemed disconnected for me. But a good read overall.

char931's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

chri5ti's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

spestories's review against another edition

4.0

An excellent follow-up to the first book. I enjoyed the first so much and wondered where would Deaver take Colter Shaw in the second. Wonderful to see him find a potential love!

rachhenderson's review against another edition

4.0

In this second Colter Shaw book, a search for two wanted young men leads Shaw to an undercover stint in a cult. Meanwhile, he uncovers more about what led to his father's death.

Definitely still "exclamation mark" fiction but I enjoyed it.

nickmasters's review against another edition

5.0

The second novel in a series that follows the new type of justice fighter in the reward seeking Colter Shaw. And as far as I am concerned, the series is going from strength to strength.

After enjoying ‘The Never Game’ last year, I quickly engulfed the two related short stories as soon as I was aware that ‘The Goodbye Man’ was out. On hindsight this was a great approach to the novel, not only did it provide a succinct re-introduction to Colter Shaw, the short stories (which, to be 100% honest, weren’t awe inspiring as far as short stories go) left me hungry for more.

Jeffery Deaver and ‘The Goodbye Man’ certainly delivered. The plot was great (cult stories seem to be trending lately, but the chill they deliver never subsides. I am still battling to get the image of Smallvilles’ innocent Chloe out of mind when someone mentions ‘cult’) and the character development and Shaw’s continuation of his personal mission were both intriguing and enjoyable.

Thanks NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a review copy.