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    Edge: A Novel
    Edge: A Novel
    Edge: A Novel
    Audiobook14 hours

    Edge: A Novel

    Written by Jeffery Deaver

    Narrated by Skipp Sudduth

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Crafting a chilling mind puzzle packed with “nifty new tricks” (Publishers Weekly), Jeffery Deaver lifts the curtain of a clandestine intelligence agency, pitting two “ingenious” (Library Journal) opponents in a high-stakes volley of brilliant wits and calculated risks with deadly consequences.

    Behind the well-known U.S. security organizations—the FBI and CIA among them—lies a heavily guarded, anonymous government agency dedicated to intelligence surveillance and to a highly specialized brand of citizen protection.

    Shock waves of alarm ripple through the clandestine agency when Washington, D.C., police detective Ryan Kessler inexplicably becomes the target of Henry Loving, a seasoned, ruthless “lifter” hired to obtain information using whatever means necessary. While Loving is deft at torture, his expertise lies in getting an “edge” on his victim—leverage—usually by kidnapping or threatening family until the “primary” caves under pressure.

    The job of keeping the Kessler family alive falls to a man named Corte, a senior federal protection officer known as a “shepherd.” Uncompromising, relentlessly devoted to protecting those in his care and a passionate board game aficionado, he applies brilliant gaming strategy to his work. For Corte, the reappearance of Loving—the man who, six years earlier, had tortured and killed someone close to him—is also an opportunity to avenge his friend’s death. The assignment soon escalates into a fast-paced duel between Corte and Loving, a dangerous volley of wits and calculated risks.

    As he shepherds the Kesslers to a concealed safe house, Corte must anticipate Loving’s every step as the lifter moves in on his prey, and with the help of razor-sharp investigator Claire DuBois and his longtime ally, FBI agent Paul Fredericks, pinpoint which of Kessler’s seemingly insignificant cases has triggered Loving’s return. As the team digs deeper, each of the Kesslers comes under close scrutiny, and in captivity their family bonds are stretched to the breaking point—as the lifter draws near, Corte must ultimately choose between protecting his charges and exposing them to a killer in the name of long-awaited revenge.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateNov 2, 2010
    ISBN9781442335387
    Edge: A Novel
    Author

    Jeffery Deaver

    Jeffery Deaver is the #1 internationally bestselling author of forty-four novels, three collections of short stories, and a nonfiction law book. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into twenty-five languages. His first novel featuring Lincoln Rhyme, The Bone Collector, was made into a major motion picture starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie and a hit television series on NBC. He’s received or been shortlisted for a number of awards around the world, including Novel of the Year by the International Thriller Writers and the Steel Dagger from the Crime Writers’ Association in the United Kingdom. In 2014, he was the recipient of three lifetime achievement awards. He has been named a Grand Master by Mystery Writers of America.

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    Reviews for Edge

    4.5/5

    27 ratings14 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Contrary to some other readers I thought Jeffery Deaver?s ?Edge? was a great story with more twists and turns than the usual thriller/suspense story.

      Is short this story revolves around keeping safe those in the community who have information or will speak out against the bad guys. Whether based on fact or purely fiction is of little importance as this yarn gives an insight into the life of one who is charged with keeping safe potential witnesses. While the principal character, Corte, seems to have endless funds and is able to move around the country while the bad guys wait for him to arrive before the story continues is, as with most of these genre, a ?minor detail? to be overlooked for the sake of a good story. This is my second Jeffery Deaver book and certainly my favourite. Some will say there is no accounting for taste.

      While the main plot was concluded earlier than expected the ending was still a surprise and tied up a few lose ends. The ?Edge? is highly recommended for anyone who likes suspense, thrillers and action novels.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I'd gone off Deaver a novel or two back but he grabbed me with this one. Loved the characters and how he used them, loved the storyline, loved his twists and turns.Keep it up Jeff.
    • 3/5
      To my mind, a good read. Not outstanding, but a good read. He did say one thing a couple of times that is worth repeating and relevant to today's politics. "Look at the anger out there, look at the partisanship. People seem willing to do whatever they need to for their side to win." Too much screaming in Congress. Too much screaming everywhere. This was a good "puzzle." Never would have guessed who it was in the end.
    • 5/5
      Corte is a shepherd, but is the the proverbial shepherd who guides and protects the herd or is he more like the sheep dog, not only guiding, but also going after the threat(s).. He protects the principals from hitters or lifters... Corte, the shepherd, is the step between going from your everyday life to witness protection while having the Primary (the bad guy) sending someone (a hitter or lifter) to kill or get information from you. An Edge is what you keep the other guy from gaining... an edge would be when the primary's family is taken by the hitter to cause the primary to give-up.In [Edge], Corte lives a solitary life as a Shepherd. He wants revenge on a Hitter, Henry Loving, for the murder of another shepherd whom Corte was protege to. But he also need to protect the principal(s) from an unknown Primary. The race and chase is on from safe house to safe house, with shoot-outs, car chases left and right. Add to that the detective work of Corte's protege who is trying to find out why this family has been targeted and who has sent the Hitter after them. Many surprises with some game playing strategies thrown in and an ending that you won't see coming!
    • 1/5
      As other reviewers have suggested, the protagonist seems to be a stand in for the author, And if this is the case, the author must be, as the protagonist is, a total bore.He wants to provide little grammar lessons along the way. Only problem, Deaver can't come close to Strunk & White or Eats, Shoots & Leaves. He begins on p. 18 by giving the grammar once over to an email. "Grammar, spelling and punctuation are good," he says. "Proper use of "per." , , , I didn't explain that 'as per,' what most people says, is redundant. . . . And matching commas around the appositive, after 'details, which you hardly ever see." Is this guy kidding. He is not going to explain "as per" by explaining it, and in fact commas around appositives are readily found in work other than Deaver's own. He can't even use grammar properly. On p.g 78 he describes "Barbara, a single mother of 50." Barbara must be really something to have birthed 50 children. Enough with the patronizing and condesending attitude Deaver; stick to what you know. I am hard pressed to say what that might be, but I can positively say it is not grammar or for that matter writing compelling fiction.
    • 5/5
      Jeffrey Deaver is best known for his insufferable creation Lincoln Rhymes, the quadriplegic criminologist and polymath whose brilliance is matched only by his bitching and bolshiness. If forensics and the minutiae of life as a quadriplegic crime buster bore you, you might be tempted to avoid Deaver?s books ? but this would be a massive mistake, as I discovered when I eventually got around to reading edge. ?Thriller? is one of the most overused, not to mention misused descriptions of all time: for example, the Lincoln Rhyme books are described as ?ticking-clock psychological thrillers. I think not! Take it from me however, Edge really is completely and utterly thrilling. Unusually for a Deaver hero, protection officer Corte has full use of all his limbs and is both an intellectual and a man of action ? as opposed to those who hang over microscopes hunting down forensic clues in a laboratory. Henry Loving, who is notorious for his ability to extract any information from anyone by any means possible, is after police detective Ryan Kessler, and Corte has been assigned to protect him and his family, escorting him to a ?safe house? and keeping them secure while trying to apprehend Loving and discover who hired him, and why?Corte manages to keep the Kessler?s safe, but only just because whatever move he makes, Loving is either right behind him or several steps ahead. Clich?d although this sounds, Deaver ha created a story where nothing is as it seems, where ruthlessness meets relentlessness, and where the only thing you can be sure of is that this book will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
    • 4/5
      Once again Jeffery Deaver has crafted the perfect thriller. As we follow a protection officer, also referred to as a "shepherd", named Corte on his assignment to protect a police officer and his family, we, like Corte, attempt to pull together all of the clues to determine the identity of the threat.As Corte engages in a strategic battle against Loving, the "lifter" hired to extract information from one of the family members on behalf of his mystery client, we methodically try to determine the family member at risk and stop Loving before it's too late.Nothing is obvious, and just when you think you have it figured out...you realize you don't. Great pace and interesting characters.Recommended read!
    • 4/5
      This doesn't have the usual twists upon twists I have come to expect from Deaver, but I loved it anyway, especially the main character who loves to collect board games.
    • 4/5
      a well written mystery that has unexpected twists and turns as a man who works for a personal security firm of the US goverment attempts to keeps his charges safe and alive. kept me intrigued throughout.
    • 4/5
      'Edge' is a stand-alone thriller about an American Protection Officer whose job is to keep safe anyone under threat. In his present assignment he is given the job of protecting a Washington police detective and his family from a killer and torturer whose name,strangely,is Loving. Our hero,Corte,is a complex man who does not quite ring true and the fact that he is a collector of board games struck me as being rather geeky considering his macho-man image. Yes I know it's all about games playing,but come on,board games.There are several extremely exciting set-pieces as the story progresses but on the whole this is not one of Mr Deaver's better efforts. Come back Lincoln Rhyme and Kathryn Dance for goodness sake.
    • 4/5
      Henry Loving is a ruthless "lifter" who will stop at nothing, not even murder, to acquire the information that his contract requires. In the past he has even tortured and killed federal agents who've got in the way.Loving is an expert at infiltrating organisations like the FBI that should be secure, planting moles, so that you are never really sure that everyone is who they purport to be. He operates on the idea that everyone has a price.Deaver tries to base this novel on game technology - rock, paper, stone - but frankly that left me a bit cold. Agent Corte tries to work out why Ryan Kessler is being targeted by Loving, what information he has, and on the face of it there seem to be plenty of reasons. But then it seems that Kessler will give Loving the "edge" over another family member. The other important part of what Corte needs to find out is who has employed Loving.I got a little tired of this plot being recycled as we worked our way through one after another of the family working out who is the real target. Corte frequently takes his eye off the ball, gets himself into yet another tight situation, and makes yet another mistake.All of this gives Deaver the opportunity, and the excuse, to explore a bit more detail, another scenario, to expand the book. I came away with the feeling that it could have done with quite ruthless editing.Skip Sudduth does an excellent job with the narration, but even with that, I was dying for at least the last 2 CDs for this story to get to an end. Nearly 15 hours is a long time.
    • 5/5
      A stand-alone novel that is the equal of an entry in either of his series.
    • 3/5
      Spannend, gut durchdacht und intelligent.
    • 4/5
      ?This is a test. I believe there is an unlimited amount of space for a review. I will test this by making use of some jibberish. I apologize in advance for the text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.