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Jul 27, 2010

Sandra rated it:

This book took me longer to read than most books. The reason? I kept trying to figure out the clues. I am obviously not very good at that. Dave Gurney is a retired detectivce. He has retired and is now spending time with his wife. Unfortunately after suggesting he take an art class with her, his wife is not happy with the path that class has taken. First of all her husband is creating art out of the mug shots of serial killers he put away. Second of all she can tell that the instructor h More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jul 22, 2011

Shannon rated it:

Awesome! Well done! Looking forward to trying anything this author writes! Stayed up way past my bedtime to try to finish and had to pick it up FIRST thing this morning with my coffee!

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Feb 18, 2012

Dee rated it:

I just finished this book and I have to say that I was quite disapointed. I began this book with raving reviews. It wasn't until a was about half way through that I started to rethink how great this book was. I have to confess that I was totally caught up with the mystery of how the killer seems to read minds. Put quite simply, the killer ask the victim, via a letter, to think of a number and the killer professes to know what that number will be. The number is in a sealed envelope. The number is More...

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Oct 01, 2011

Tim rated it:

Having just finished this book, I might rate it far too highly. But it is an incredible read on many levels. I kept thinking that if John Updike wrote a thriller, well, this would be it. It isn't imitative of Updike, but it carries the weight or maybe better said, the angst of developed characters dealing with interior landscapes rarely explored in this genre.

The book is not what I would call a page turner, until towards the end. In fact, there is a plodding sense to the pacing of th More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 27, 2011

Sumando Libros rated it:

Comencemos!

Debo reconocer que ESTE es el primer libro que leo en género policial “al menos a este nivel” y no dudo que termine como película en un par de años mas, ya que atrae tanto como las siguientes:

-El Silencio de los Inocentes/El Silencio de los Corderos
Libro 1988 Thomas Harris.
-Los 7 pecados capitales/ Seven
Pelicula 1995
- El Coleccionista de Huesos
Libro 1997 Jeffery Deaver
[A mi parecer] son las mejores películas en este estilo = asesino v/ More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 03, 2011

Nicola rated it:

Reason for Reading: I love thrillers and this new author's book sounded very interesting. However, I never managed to get around to it and now I have the second book in the series waiting here to be read so thought I ought to get caught up with this one first.

A thoroughly splendid thriller of the serial killer type. Verdon doesn't just bring us your typical serial killer, though, he's got a special, intelligent one, who sets up elaborate crime scenes, leaves messages taunting the pol More...

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Jul 19, 2011

Phil rated it:

It's always nice to begin a new series by a new author, as with John Verdon's 1st Dave Gurney tale. The *matter* of the mystery (its mind-boggling puzzles about numbers thought of, footprints that end without any follow-up prints, etc.) is nice.

The prose is good novel prose, a cut above cookie-cutter whodunits, if not quite up to Conan Doyle standards.

For me, the possible downside is the character of Gurney himself, the mystery of why his wife puts up with his behavior, & th More...

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Jul 15, 2011

Sam rated it:

I made it to page 20 of this mediocre "thriller" before throwing in the towel. I realise that it's not giving it much of a chance, how could any writer bring energy or develop a plot in that time? Well some writers have, notably Michael Connelly and Stephen King, which is probably why they're as famous as they are.

John Verdon is not much of a writer though. Here's some examples of his awful writing that made me put the book down:
"He realised that planting tulip More...

6 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 09, 2011

Barbara rated it:

On the way to reading something else, I was waylaid by this book. I'll just read a few pages, was the last thing I remember thinking. Remember the puzzles that caught your attention in The Da Vinci Code? This book has them as well: puzzles and clues you can actually follow and solve.

First person narrative, too much dialogue, or too little dialogue and lots of chase scenes seem to be the norm these days. Think of a Number is refreshing in its retro use of third person ruminations.
More...

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Jun 18, 2011

Katherine rated it:

David Gurney is a retired NYPD cop who has come to upstate New York to live with his wife Madeleine. Both are still grieving the death of their three-year-old son Danny, who was killed by a hit and run driver who was probably drunk. Gurney was there when the accident happened and knows the killer was driving a red BMW, but despite being the most decorated homicide detective in the NYPD, he never caught the boy’s killer.

In some ways, this book resembles the Scandinavian procedurals b More...

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Feb 17, 2011

Mark rated it:

Author John Verdon’s debut novel, Think Of A Number, is a gold mine for mystery readers seeking a novel that captivates one’s imagination. This catch-me-if-you-can plot makes readers guess until the very last pages. Forget about figuring out who-done-it. You will wind up stumped. John’s main character, Dave Gurney, is a retired NYPD homicide detective leaving a police career spattered with successful, media-intensive successes in his wake. Gurney’s illustrious career resulted in the capture of o More...

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Dec 30, 2010

Tony rated it:

Verdon, John. THINK OF A NUMBER. (2010). ****. Verdon was an advertising executive who changed his life style and moved to upstate New York. This is his first novel. It’s a novel about a serial killer, but one like you’ve never read before. It is a fast-paced thriller that involves a retired New York City detective in a strange series of events that are occuring to a former college friend of his who is now a neighbor in his business of self realization. His old buddy begins to receive a More...

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Nov 30, 2010

Kathleen added it

Think of a Number, by John Verdon, A-minus, narrated by George Newbern, produced by Random House Audio, downloaded from audible.com.

Dave Gurney has just retired from the NYPD after 25 years. Because his wife, Madeline, wanted to live in the country, they moved to upper state New York. While Madeline is happy with her gardening and her clubs and her more serene life, Dave finds he is getting bored. When someone he knew in college calls him up seeming really scared, and pretending a More...

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Nov 21, 2010

Pam rated it:

Another 24 hour book - it is a must read for someone who is just dying for a good curl up by the fire and enjoy the snow or cold weather with a book. I'm cheating a bit here because I know three things about this book that make me confident that it is that good. First it has been nominated for both the Edgar first novel and Edgar best mystery of the year. Second, it came personally recommended by Harlan Coben (2 degrees of separation), who said this is the new up and coming author. Lastly, I More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 22, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

I love a good mystery. I grew up on Agatha Christie and Elizabeth Peters. When I watch "whodunit" TV shows with my husband, we place bets on who did it and why, and usually we've figured it out within the first 15 minutes of the show. Lately that's how I have felt while reading mystery books. However, while reading "Think of a Numb3r", I found my theories repeatedly disproved. This, and the puzzling nature of the "think of a number" puzzle, kept me very involved in More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Aug 16, 2010

Fran rated it:

Think Of A Number
Author John Verdon

Think of any number and I promise you that I will know which one you picked. Sounds like a parlor trick or a card trick. No so! This is more serious. Imagine receiving a note and several unsigned poems from an unknown source telling you that you will pay for what you have done, for your past and for your sins. What if you guessed a number in your head and opened an envelope sent with this poem that told you the number you picked. How would you More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 10, 2010

Meg rated it:

Think of A Number is a fairly strong debut. At its center, we have Dave Gurney, retired NYPD homicide detective extraordinaire. He's retired fairly young and is living in the beautiful Catskills (in a nice, subtle touch, the weather in the novel and the landscape changes to reflect the events going on plot-wise and psychology-wise). He lives with his extremely intelligent and complicated wife, Madeline, and has a touchy relationship with his son from his first marriage, Kyle. In his spare time, More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 31, 2010

Marissa rated it:

Think of a Number is an enthralling page turner, that will have you on the edge of your seat. I have always loved a good suspense novel and Think of a Number was perfect. It is definitely one for the keeper shelf.

Dave Gurney a retired police detective who has captured a number of big serial killers, is settling into the country life with his wife, until a college friend contacts him with some spine-chilling notes. The first note begins with, “Do you believe in Fate?”. This questio More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 23, 2010

Becky rated it:

When he was still on the force, homicide investigator David Gurney was featured in New York magazine as an NYPD "Super Detective." He'd brought down several infamous serial killers (including Peter Possum Piggert, an Oedipal killer if ever there was one, who at the age of fifteen killed his father, replaced him as his mother's consort, then fifteen years later killed his mother and replaced her with the two daughters they'd had together) and earned a reputation as the department's top More...

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Jul 14, 2010

Gaby rated it:

NYPD homicide investigator David Gurney retired to a beautiful and remote town in upstate New York with his wife Madeleine. While Madeleine loves the change of pace and scenery, Gurney is finds it difficult to adjust. He's spent the last twenty years putting homicide cases first, a fact that hasn't been lost on his wife. Madeleine has clear ideas of how they can enjoy their new life together and her frustration and annoyance is quick to rise to the fore. When she encourages him to take art More...

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Jul 09, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

My Rating: 3.5 stars (A mystery that is a cut above average!)

Story Description

Dave Gurney is a retired NYPD homicide investigator credited with catching numerous serial killers during his illustrious career. But he's been retired for the past two years and trying to live a quiet life with his wife Madeline in a little town in upstate New York. When an old college buddy, Mark Mellery, contacts Gurney about a disturbing letter he's recently received, Gurney's interest is pi More...

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Jun 28, 2011

Mary rated it:

Great book, well written and intelligent. The lead retired Detective, Dave Gurney, is a troubled individual, who seems to to going through the motions of his life after the force. Not entirely happy in his new home and surroundings in the Catskills, and not in tune with his wife, in fact, their relationship is completely lacking any physical contact and closeness, and we discover the reason why eventually, that the death of their 4 year old son, has left them drifting in opposite directions. Apa More...

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Jan 20, 2011

Andrea rated it:

Note: SPOILERS!! Don't read if you want to be surprised by who the killer is!!

I borrowed Think of a Number from my grandmother to read and I finished it fairly quickly. I'm not usually a big fan of mystery novels but this one drew me in with the interesting number trick. The whole time I was reading the book, I just wanted to know how the killer had done it! How could he predict what number out of a thousand a person would think of?? It drove me nuts enough to keep reading until I fo More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 02, 2011

Robert rated it:

You have the keys to the Ferrari in your hand. As you step in and shut the door behind you your eyes sweep over the gauges. You place the key in the ignition. Wait for it, wait for it. You turn the ignition to the on position. The engine starts up with a throaty growl. You feather the gas. VROOM! VROOM! With sweaty palms and trembling hands you grab the shift knob and start working through the gears. Your eyes glance at the speedometer as the world starts to spin past your windshield. 60. 90. 12 More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 10, 2010

Kelly rated it:

This is a debut novel but it reads like part of a series--there are a lot of references made to prior cases that the main character (retired detective Dave Gurney) solved--and wow, I would like to read more about them*.

I love the premise of this book--a killer sends his victims creepy letters and poems that get increasingly menacing. He tells them he knows them so well that he can correctly guess the same random number they think of when told to pick a number between one and a thous More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 19, 2011

Pauline rated it:

First book that I have read by John Verdon and I have to say it was a good one. The pacing of the story was very well partitioned and kept me guessing as to how/who the murder was up till the very end. There were just enough clues and hints to keep the reader engaged but most of the time I had no clue. There were a few revelations that I successfully predicted towards the end but not many. Maybe someone who is better at figuring out puzzles would be better/faster and discovering how the killer w More...

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Oct 29, 2011

Sharon rated it:

Think of a Number is a solid, nicely intriguing mystery- quite different (in a good way) from the typical action-based, almost frenetically-paced books in the same genre. Number requires a bit of patience from the reader, an acceptance that this is a thinking crime novel- the journey to solving the puzzling mystery is as important as finding the culprit. I enjoyed the slow, detailed and atmospheric tone of the first half of the novel as much as the latter half where things really hum along and More...

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Jul 13, 2011

Katherine rated it:

Another first reads giveaway and the first thriller by this author, thankfully not his last, with another to be published in August. Combine a retired, highly successful NYPD homicide detective with a poetic, strange tormentor who eventually kills and you have a plot filled with mystery and dead ends. Add to that an author whose narrative smoothly weaves the main story with the backgrounds of the two protagonists and you have a book that is difficult to put down. It resonated also because thoug More...

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Sep 04, 2010

Stephanie rated it:

Think of a Number by John Verdon came with some very impressive blurbs. I'll just give you the most memorable one, from John Lescroart: "one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a lifetime of thriller reading." What an endorsement!

Was Think of a Number the best thriller I've read this year? As far as police procedurals go, yes. But thriller? No. Read my review of The Whisperers by John Connolly.

Oddly enough, I was drawn more to the emotional scenes rather than th More...

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Aug 04, 2010

Jessica at Book Sake rated it:

John Verdon does an excellent job of developing the storyline in this thriller that is based on the life of a retired detective who tries to solve the mystery of a killer who appears to be able to read minds. The main character, David Gurney is a retired detective who wrestles with his personal demons while trying to solve the murder of his old college friend.

The author does a great job of richly developing each of the characters in this novel, allowing the reader to fully understan More...

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