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Think of a Number (Dave Gurney, #1)
by John Verdon
by John Verdon
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 react?
You open the mail and a letter that would forever change your life has been sent. “See how well I know your secrets-just think of a number,” states the sender. The recipient of this letter is Mark Mellery. Contacting retired NYPD top homicide investigator Dave Gurney is his first step in finding out who sent this mysterious letter and much more. Living in Upstate New York, Gurney and his wife Madeline are drawn into this web of deceit by Mellery. The letters are written in some type of poetry fashion and quickly spark a massive serial murder investigation.
Gurney’s investigative techniques outshine the local police. Each breakthrough he makes moves his opponent closer to destroying not only Mellery but him too. Invading his past and haunting him his marriage, which is running on, thin ice and is about to crack. This person is a remarkable adversary and seems unstoppable.
There is much more. Gurney retired and is trying to start a life with his wife Madeline only to be drawn into this investigation. Encouraged by his art teacher Sonia, he begins taking photos of serial killers and using a photo program to enhance the faces of these killers. This art teacher hangs these photos in her gallery. How haunting and sick is that? Madeline is the one who invites him to attend this art class and he becomes taken with the instructor and his new hobby could prove more than dangerous. Drawn into this case he reads the letters Mellery receives, the poems and the definite threats he instructs him on how to proceed in solving this case on their own without the help of the police. But, can they and will they succeed?
As Dave gets deeper into the investigation another letter is sent and another number is added to the 658. The caller asks Mark to think of another number that just happens to be on the paper in his mailbox. Add 19 to the 658 and he is supposed to know who this person is. As a psychiatrist working with mentally ill patients, he comes in contact with people that are quite capable of creating such events. Dave’s past comes into play as he remembers the event that caused Madeline and himself such pain his feelings towards his son Kyle, whom he resents and feels an intrusion in his life after divorcing his mother.
Added to this Dave’s intuition tells him that Mark is keeping something from him besides being married. There is much more to his past and this plot that the reader will soon learn. As Dave visits the Mellery Institute for Spiritual Revival and observes Mark when lecturing he learns a lot about his program, philosophy and himself too. Imagine having two different personalities within one body. Imagine having one person that views things one-way and the other half of you another. One that blames himself for his wrong doings and the other that feels it is someone else’s fault. Mark Mellery was very complicated and the people he was trying to help had many different problems. Instructing them to write down, as Dave had done, everyone that they were angry with and that had gotten them in trouble in some way. Writing down the list but not blaming anyone for the end result. How did they Open The Door To The Actions that Occurred? Interesting. Unfortunately, Mark would not go to the police to get the help he needed in his case and the end result proves fatal for him thus bringing Dave deeper into the investigation. But, who would kill Mark and why is still uncertain? Why won’t Dave face the death of his four- year old son Danny and why is his marriage to Madeline so strained? Why go to these art lectures with Sonya if Madeline feels uneasy about them? There are still many questions that are unanswered.
What about those numbers that the caller knew beforehand? Is Mark the only one who he is going to target or does Dave has something to do with this too?
Jack Hardwick is the senior detective in charge of the investigation and he wants Gurney’s help to solve Mark’s murder. After showing him the crime scene and other pieces of evidence it is apparent that the killer left many clues and or maybe none behind. As they go deeper into the woods and see the snow prints they think the killer left and other pieces of evidence too, Dave is asked to prepare not only a statement of his involvement with Mark but to assist during the preliminary meeting bringing everyone involved in the investigation up to speed. But, Dave feels that they are asking all of the wrong questions and looking at things but not seeing them in the right light.
Who the killer is still remains unknown to these great minds? When the ME states the cause of death the detectives along with the DA are surprised and the investigation takes a new direction.
Just who is behind this is still unknown. What do the original numbers have to do with this case still has not been solved? Dave becomes more involved, his analytical mind and critical thinking skills so over and above the rest he becomes too embroiled in the case and the killer just might have another target? According to Gurney and the poem found at the murder scene, he hates cops and Hardwick could be next? The plot thickens.
With the precision of my favorite detective Poirot and the deductive reasoning of Perry Mason without Della Street author John Verdon leads the reader inside the mind of a bright and methodical retired police detective who is relentless and will stop at nothing to solve this murder and those that follow.
Think about walking in the woods and following footprints in the snow. As you continue you to follow these prints they come to a halting end leading away from the victim. The killer eludes the police and the footprints do not lead in any direction. But, there is much more. As the DA enlists Gurney as an adjunct investigator and turns it over to him, things begin to heat up not just for the investigation but for him too.
This is a thriller that will keep you edge from beginning to end. As Madeline is drawn into the investigation and they being to reconstruct the crime and the evidence, she alerts him to the fact what you see is not what really is there. The footprints, the gun, the whiskey bottle and the boots are really placed in strategic positions and in a different order than the police and Dave realize. Clarifying many of the unanswered questions he realizes that this killer not only played a game with Mark but him as well. The letters, poems and puzzles are just simple games to taunt Dave who loves solving puzzles. The odd things that happen will intrigue the reader and this killer’s knack for playing now you see me or now you don’t keep not only the reader on edge and involved in this investigation but Dave too.
More murders turn up and one that leads to my stomping ground the Bronx, where Gurney meets with a Detective Clamm who is investigating a murder similar to that of Mellery. Leaving a flower, a peony at the crime scene the two murders take on a familiar flavor.
Madeline appears to have the only clear head in this investigation and appears to make sense out of what he and the police cannot decipher or unravel: The truth behind each piece of evidence, how he comes into play in all of this and why his past will come crashing down on him. Agatha Christie could not have had a better sleuth than Madeline. With keen insight and her intuitiveness Daves solve this and many other murders that appear to be connected in some way. As each murder comes to light one suspect fits the bill. Methodical, diabolical and one step ahead of the police, or was he. You won’t believe who committed these crimes, why or how the person justified committing them. One brilliant retired police officer, several police forces and one smart woman who shows him that what was really there was not and looking at things in a different light or direction might solve the murders.
Just how did the killer come to know that each victim would pick the number 658 that you will have to read for yourself? How does someone guess a number? What means would you use to lure many people into your web using just one number? Think of a number- any number and I will tell you what it is. Maybe you shouldn’t, because you could be next. My favorite number is…….. Don’t want to be next.
This is great thriller filled with so many twists, turns, flashbacks and surprises that you will not find out the outcome until you turn the last page and read the last word.
Fran Lewis: Reviewer
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 react?
You open the mail and a letter that would forever change your life has been sent. “See how well I know your secrets-just think of a number,” states the sender. The recipient of this letter is Mark Mellery. Contacting retired NYPD top homicide investigator Dave Gurney is his first step in finding out who sent this mysterious letter and much more. Living in Upstate New York, Gurney and his wife Madeline are drawn into this web of deceit by Mellery. The letters are written in some type of poetry fashion and quickly spark a massive serial murder investigation.
Gurney’s investigative techniques outshine the local police. Each breakthrough he makes moves his opponent closer to destroying not only Mellery but him too. Invading his past and haunting him his marriage, which is running on, thin ice and is about to crack. This person is a remarkable adversary and seems unstoppable.
There is much more. Gurney retired and is trying to start a life with his wife Madeline only to be drawn into this investigation. Encouraged by his art teacher Sonia, he begins taking photos of serial killers and using a photo program to enhance the faces of these killers. This art teacher hangs these photos in her gallery. How haunting and sick is that? Madeline is the one who invites him to attend this art class and he becomes taken with the instructor and his new hobby could prove more than dangerous. Drawn into this case he reads the letters Mellery receives, the poems and the definite threats he instructs him on how to proceed in solving this case on their own without the help of the police. But, can they and will they succeed?
As Dave gets deeper into the investigation another letter is sent and another number is added to the 658. The caller asks Mark to think of another number that just happens to be on the paper in his mailbox. Add 19 to the 658 and he is supposed to know who this person is. As a psychiatrist working with mentally ill patients, he comes in contact with people that are quite capable of creating such events. Dave’s past comes into play as he remembers the event that caused Madeline and himself such pain his feelings towards his son Kyle, whom he resents and feels an intrusion in his life after divorcing his mother.
Added to this Dave’s intuition tells him that Mark is keeping something from him besides being married. There is much more to his past and this plot that the reader will soon learn. As Dave visits the Mellery Institute for Spiritual Revival and observes Mark when lecturing he learns a lot about his program, philosophy and himself too. Imagine having two different personalities within one body. Imagine having one person that views things one-way and the other half of you another. One that blames himself for his wrong doings and the other that feels it is someone else’s fault. Mark Mellery was very complicated and the people he was trying to help had many different problems. Instructing them to write down, as Dave had done, everyone that they were angry with and that had gotten them in trouble in some way. Writing down the list but not blaming anyone for the end result. How did they Open The Door To The Actions that Occurred? Interesting. Unfortunately, Mark would not go to the police to get the help he needed in his case and the end result proves fatal for him thus bringing Dave deeper into the investigation. But, who would kill Mark and why is still uncertain? Why won’t Dave face the death of his four- year old son Danny and why is his marriage to Madeline so strained? Why go to these art lectures with Sonya if Madeline feels uneasy about them? There are still many questions that are unanswered.
What about those numbers that the caller knew beforehand? Is Mark the only one who he is going to target or does Dave has something to do with this too?
Jack Hardwick is the senior detective in charge of the investigation and he wants Gurney’s help to solve Mark’s murder. After showing him the crime scene and other pieces of evidence it is apparent that the killer left many clues and or maybe none behind. As they go deeper into the woods and see the snow prints they think the killer left and other pieces of evidence too, Dave is asked to prepare not only a statement of his involvement with Mark but to assist during the preliminary meeting bringing everyone involved in the investigation up to speed. But, Dave feels that they are asking all of the wrong questions and looking at things but not seeing them in the right light.
Who the killer is still remains unknown to these great minds? When the ME states the cause of death the detectives along with the DA are surprised and the investigation takes a new direction.
Just who is behind this is still unknown. What do the original numbers have to do with this case still has not been solved? Dave becomes more involved, his analytical mind and critical thinking skills so over and above the rest he becomes too embroiled in the case and the killer just might have another target? According to Gurney and the poem found at the murder scene, he hates cops and Hardwick could be next? The plot thickens.
With the precision of my favorite detective Poirot and the deductive reasoning of Perry Mason without Della Street author John Verdon leads the reader inside the mind of a bright and methodical retired police detective who is relentless and will stop at nothing to solve this murder and those that follow.
Think about walking in the woods and following footprints in the snow. As you continue you to follow these prints they come to a halting end leading away from the victim. The killer eludes the police and the footprints do not lead in any direction. But, there is much more. As the DA enlists Gurney as an adjunct investigator and turns it over to him, things begin to heat up not just for the investigation but for him too.
This is a thriller that will keep you edge from beginning to end. As Madeline is drawn into the investigation and they being to reconstruct the crime and the evidence, she alerts him to the fact what you see is not what really is there. The footprints, the gun, the whiskey bottle and the boots are really placed in strategic positions and in a different order than the police and Dave realize. Clarifying many of the unanswered questions he realizes that this killer not only played a game with Mark but him as well. The letters, poems and puzzles are just simple games to taunt Dave who loves solving puzzles. The odd things that happen will intrigue the reader and this killer’s knack for playing now you see me or now you don’t keep not only the reader on edge and involved in this investigation but Dave too.
More murders turn up and one that leads to my stomping ground the Bronx, where Gurney meets with a Detective Clamm who is investigating a murder similar to that of Mellery. Leaving a flower, a peony at the crime scene the two murders take on a familiar flavor.
Madeline appears to have the only clear head in this investigation and appears to make sense out of what he and the police cannot decipher or unravel: The truth behind each piece of evidence, how he comes into play in all of this and why his past will come crashing down on him. Agatha Christie could not have had a better sleuth than Madeline. With keen insight and her intuitiveness Daves solve this and many other murders that appear to be connected in some way. As each murder comes to light one suspect fits the bill. Methodical, diabolical and one step ahead of the police, or was he. You won’t believe who committed these crimes, why or how the person justified committing them. One brilliant retired police officer, several police forces and one smart woman who shows him that what was really there was not and looking at things in a different light or direction might solve the murders.
Just how did the killer come to know that each victim would pick the number 658 that you will have to read for yourself? How does someone guess a number? What means would you use to lure many people into your web using just one number? Think of a number- any number and I will tell you what it is. Maybe you shouldn’t, because you could be next. My favorite number is…….. Don’t want to be next.
This is great thriller filled with so many twists, turns, flashbacks and surprises that you will not find out the outcome until you turn the last page and read the last word.
Fran Lewis: Reviewer
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