Think of a Number: A Novel

Gurney is one of those ultimate tough-guy cops who, when retired, tries to lead a quiet life. He has moved to the quiet countryside from the big city to please his wife. He took an art class with her and is developing a growing reputation recreating mug shots of serial killers that reflect what he sees in their faces. It's a little too close to the life he once led, his wife notes.Madeline has a point. The minute a college classmate contacts him after decades of silence with a poisoned pen puzzle, Gurney's intrigued. Too bad his easily picqued interest may cost either or both he and his wife their lives before the end of John Verdon's debut thriller.From the letter writer knowing what number the intended victim, a successful spiritual lifestyle guru, will choose to the Gurneys figuring out the signatory refers to the hard place in the original spot of being between a rock and a hard place, Verdon shows just how easy it is for his protagonist to slip back into his analytical way of looking at life. Solving the puzzle is what makes this cop tick. And this villian knows how to be clever and tricky.When murder occurs, with clues that lead virtually nowhere, Gurney's even more intrigued. So perhaps it's just as well that a politically ambitious district attorney hires him to help with the investigation.This is where Think of a Number jumps into high gear. Although Verdon's story has been smooth in setting up everything, the pace has been that of a more controlled procedural whodunit rather than the usual high-octane, all-action thriller that is more prevalent these days. Verdon, however, is terrific at giving both kinds of reader substantial entertainment. The chase to find a cold-blooded, calculating killer with an enormous grudge fires on all cylinders.But Verdon also has ideas for readers who like multi-layered fiction that is about characters as much as action. The two sides of a personality is one theme that Gurney wrestles with. The lifestyle guru, for example, talks about the difference between the person everyone thinks they are and the person everyone else sees. Gurney's art reflects the two sides of the quiet neighbors who turn out to be the Gacys and Dahmers of the world. These ideas play into the revelations about the killer.This idea plays right into something else Gurney is told, that life is meant to be lived with others, that life's meaning is to be close to others. Gurney's father was the opposite of a sociable, family man, and perhaps that left Gurney detached enough to make him the great cop he was. And boy, does the reader know what a great cop Gurney was. His ability to crack the hard cases is referred to multiple times. Although it's irritating to keep reading that Gurney was the best of the best, Verdon does a good job of bringing a retired cop into an active murder investigation. Verdon also is very good at describing police procedure and a detective's life, both on the job and retired.At the story's conclusion, Verdon does a great job of bringing together the ideas about Gurney's character and outlook on life with how the case plays out. He does this in such a way that Gurney would be a character worth checking in on again.

THREE AND A HALF STARS (that's "OK PLUS") - maybe an overly generous rating for a book that started with promise, but got tangled-up along the way. Too much repetition. Too much "stuff" that was extraneous to the mystery - like - a whole chapter devoted to the detective watching his wife sitting on a rock? YES, that happens.No spoilers here - but the BIG pick-a-number mind-reading tricks? Baffling? NO! - way too easy to explain. How many times does a magician say: "Pick a card, any card." and he knows (in advance) what that card is. Same stuff going on here. The FIRST thing I would have done, were I Gurney, would be to take a trip to the nearest magic shop and find out about several variations of "the magician's force."All of those professional police meetings to share info? No - mostly just for howling insults at each other, esp. Gurney. All I got out of that was a lot of cops seemed to hate each other and like yelling wise-cracks. I didn't see any productive info exchanges.Plot loose ends? Many - too many to write about. One example - WHY did the bad-guy start his bad-guy doings at this particular juncture of time? No rhyme or reason .... the launch-cause happened decades ago .... so I ask: Why for?I agree with so much of what other reviewers say - lots of weaknesses here. And David Baldacci applauds the book; he says the author "juggled every storytelling ball, character, atmosphere, prose, pace and plot" -- and I agree! There sure was a lot of juggling going on, and every "storytelling ball" seemed to crash into the next one.I usually do NOT need to be surprised to learn "whodunit" -- it's ok with me if I am aware before the detective unknots the plot. But this was so blatantly obvious that I had to wonder about the super-skills of that superlative "Sherlock Holmes" of a retired detective from the big city (constant sarcasm aimed at Gurney - It got old about one quarter of the way through the book.Some of the "logic" defied logic. HOW MANY thousands of beautifully hand-written poetry pieces? Thousands! Really? That a lot of poetry goin' on. And that number's an accepted path to investigate?Since this was a debut effort, I might consider reading another to see if the writer tightened up his work a bit. But I don't want to read another chapter, titled "Madeleine" dedicated to the beauty of his wife sitting on a rock. It's a shame - I think there could be an interesting series hidden under all that insult-slinging.THREE and a HALF STARS for a decent core mystery that just lost its way.

I wasn't expecting to like this, but boy, did I! It started a little slow I admit, but the puzzle about the number guessing intrigued me too much to stop. Every character is well rounded and unique. The main character, Dave, is a tormented soul, and I felt for his wife, the wonderful Madeleine. I find they'd make a terrific duo if she ever wanted to join him officially!Some reviewers said the writing was sub-par, which really shocked and angered me. It seems that a lot of people are into the cliché, formulaic, perfect characters,and a movie script writing style (more action and dialogues than narration/emotion) these days. It's sad, but explains this decade's best sellers, most of which are face-palm bad. 50 shades of Grey anyone? Then Twilight maybe? Feel free to take your pick.If you're after proper story-telling, with a fresh and new plot rather than a remake, open and read this book.

I ordered this book on the basis of the largely positive reviews and I'm very glad I did. Although, as others have mentioned, it gets off to rather a slow start it quickly accelerates once the hero, retired NYPD detective, Dave Gurney, takes the `bait' in the form of a phone call from an old college friend.Gurney and his wife Madeleine have moved into the country following his retirement, into what many would regard as a rural idyll. However, to his wife's obvious chagrin, in his mind, Gurney, hasn't retired: he is an inveterate problem solver; a quality, no doubt, that led to him being something of a superstar homicide detective with a host of high profile arrests of notorious serial killers on his CV. This, of course, is the reason his one-time 'buddy' contacts him out of the blue to ask for his help in solving his problem, the form of which arrived through his letter box in the form of a vaguely threatening poem. After receiving a couple more, each of which represent a subtle increase on the `threatening' scale the friend, a kind of spiritual guru, quite understandably, is becoming increasingly distressed.On the whole, this is an excellent `police' procedural but there are a few slight irritations. For example, we have the stock characters of `intransigent, dogmatic, by-the-book, control freak police chief' and `high-flying, whiz-kid district attorney' looking to boost his career with a high profile arrest and conviction to name but two and we are constantly made aware of almost all of the attractive women with whom our hero comes into contact and why they are so! Nevertheless, the puzzles set by the villain together with the confidently crafted narrative make for a very entertaining novel: may it be the first of many!

"Think of a number" is the debut novel of John Verdon and the inside cover is liberally sprinkled with glowing praise from other well known thriller writers, for once the praise is justified. Verdon has crafted an absolutely stunning novel in this book, which from the first page had me gripped with the beautifully worded narrative, which is full of wonderful dialogue and memorable characters who practically leap from the page with life. Some of them are also quite amusing in a subtle way, particularly some of the investigation team such as Hardwick and Blatt but otherwise this a pretty serious subject matter with a killer who has a an ingenious method of finding his victim's which will leave the reader totally perplexed until all becomes clear. Yes this is certainly a thriller to get the brain cells working, but an amazingly enjoyable one too and to think it's a first novel, can't wait for further output from Verdon and I will be so bold has to say that this is the best novel I have read this year and that's saying something because I have read quite a few. To sum up, if you love serial killer thrillers don't miss this one, it's fantastic.

I agree with other reviewers that this was slow to start, with detail about the personal life of the main character. Stick with it. I did work out who the killer was about halfway through (years of watching and reading mysteries, I’m afraid, and I always have to try) but that didn’t detract from it at all. There were some interesting twists and turns. I enjoyed it.

Packs a terrific punch!!!Just finished reading the first book of John Verdon:"Think of a number" and I have to say it is so spectacular , such a brilliant debut, addictive and definitely one of the best thriller- crime ever read it. I highly recommend it, it's well worth it reading, grasping your mind brilliantly .Everything begins with a letter...The letter contains a request- think of a number, any number and a sealed envelope; inside the envelope is the number you thought about it......and the rest will follow.I have to admit that almost at the end, I had a hunch about the killer's identity!I think it's a stunning debut! His next book will appear in July; can't wait!