Finally, a Dave Gurney book where he doesn't almost die near the end. Of course, he does come fairly close, but this time, he doesn't even get wounded. Too bad his "buddy" Hardwick can't say the same. I guess it was his turn this time.

This story had a pretty interesting solution, and I must say, pretty satisfying, too. It was as if the God of Karma came to town, so people got what they deserved for a change. But it could have gone much differently when Gurney decided to shoot an possibly unarmed teenager on a hunch.

The only thing that always bothers me with this series is how Gurney seems to put together plans to catch very dangerous and deadly criminals using a plan where it's so easy for something to go wrong, with no backup plan. But I guess that adds to the excitement. ( )

It's not a mystery book, not for me.

I liked the first part of it, it was enjoyable read. The rest was painful and disappointed, too repetitive thoughts and dialogs.

I don't think it's a page-turning book.

It's good not great. ( )

"No hay nada en la vida que importe, salvo el amor".

Esta excelente frase de cierre da por concluido uno de los mejores libros que he leído, el primero al que me atrevo a dar la calificación de cinco estrellas.

Este es el cuarto libro que leo de este autor. El primero de ellos Sé lo que estás pensando fue una grata sorpresa. Me encontré ante un autor que sabe como manejar el hilo narrativo, capaz de realizar ciertos saltos en el tiempo que, poco a poco van tomando forma y adquiriendo sentido, aunque el final resultara algo abrupto, decidí que este autor merecía, definitivamente, una segunda oportunidad. Tal es así que no dudé en leer el segundo libro que publicó No abras los ojos, también es un libro excelente así como el tercero Deja en paz al diablo.

No obstante su incuestionable calidad literaria, los dos últimos títulos padecen un gran defecto, resultan algo previsibles en el desarrollo de la historia, la cual conduce a un final abrupto dejando la sensación que la historia podría contarse de una manera más coherente, ello a pesar del excelente manejo que hace el autor de los recursos literarios que posee a su disposición. Esta situación, unida al carácter detestable del protagonista desde el segundo libro contribuyó a cierta sensación de que este autor - John Verdon - a pesar de su incuestionable calidad, aún adeudaba algo...un no sé qué, que lleve a decir WOW.

Ello es exactamente lo que ocurrió con esta cuarta entrega. En esta, puede decirse que lo bueno se inicia ya con el título, algo atractivo como No confíes en Peter Pan. En la misma, igualmente, el carácter del protagonista ya no resulta tan detestable ni está tan irritable. Excelente manejo de los tiempos, de los recursos literarios e incluso de las interjecciones. La historia perfectamente estructurada de inicio a fin mantiene la tensión durante todo su desarrollo. El final para nada abrupto constituye la guinda que corona un excelente libro y constituye un cierre perfecto habida cuenta de la manera en que el libro se desarrolló.

Con este libro, considero que el autor ha superado el grave defecto que han padecido sus libros 2 y 3, cuyos títulos ya he citado, su carácter predecible y los finales abruptos que privaban a la historia de un mejor desarrollo y un acabado más pulido. Considero que el mismo se ha reivindicado, por lo que sí o sí su siguiente obra Controlaré tus sueños estará en mi grilla de lectura.

No obstante lo dicho, recomiendo todos los libros de este autor. Es excelente y esta cuarta entrega, la mejor de todas...al menos hasta ahora. ( )

This was my first book of John Verdon. I like to read the crime/mystery/thriller novels and this book was satisfying. The story makes you to read another page to find out the rest of the ongoing event. Just it is good to mention that the final 20 pages of the book contains the result and before reaching to that point, the story, events and findings are explained a little bit slower than what you might expect. Although there are 2 chapters in the book that completely don't relate to the main story and are about preparing a place or shelter for the animals and you can easily ignore those chapters without any hesitation. I looked for special relevance between those chapters and the main story from start to the end but there was nothing. Some authors used to put the small stories inside the main story, but i like to see a small or even very small relevance or application of the sub-story at the end to the whole picture, but i did not managed to find a thing.
Anyway the story was good and i will go for the second one in the series. ( )

From Amazon:

Ingenious puzzle solver Dave Gurney brings his analytic brilliance to a shocking murder that couldn't have been committed the way the police say it was. The daunting task that confronts Gurney, once the NYPD’s top homicide cop: determining the guilt or innocence of a woman already convicted of shooting her charismatic politician husband -- who was felled by a rifle bullet to the brain while delivering the eulogy at his own mother’s funeral. Peeling back the layers, Gurney quickly finds himself waging a dangerous battle of wits with a thoroughly corrupt investigator, a disturbingly cordial mob boss, a gorgeous young temptress, and a bizarre assassin whose child-like appearance has earned him the nickname Peter Pan. Startling twists and turns occur in rapid-fire sequence, and soon Gurney is locked inside one of the darkest cases of his career – one in which multiple murders are merely the deceptive surface under which rests a scaffolding of pure evil. Beneath the tangle of poisonous lies, Gurney discovers that the truth is more shocking than anyone had imagined.

My Thoughts:

The sleuthing and suspense were really good for the most part. I did think the events at the fair were over done and beyond believable. Some of the other scenes were way too drawn out. All that being said, it was still an extremely enjoyable read. I like John Verdon's' writing style and I hope we see Dave Gurney at work in the future. ( )