XO by Jeffery Deaver || Book Review

I basically picked this book off of my shelves at home because I couldn’t find a good book for my X choice in the A-Z Challenge (I can see a struggle next year).

I’ve had this book for a couple of years already and I honestly can’t remember how I came to be in possession of it. I’m glad I’ve read it because it gave me a good opportunity to compare the writing and some characters to a previous book read by this author, and highlight some differences that caught my attention.

DISCLAIMER: This review could contain possible spoilers based on my opinions. All opinions and views are my own.

Book review: XO by Jeffery Deaver #bookreview #jefferydeaver #mysterybooks #thrillerbooks #booktwt #bookaddict #booktwitter
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Challenge prompt: The letter X in the A-Z Book Challenge 2022
Originally published: 2012

Pages: 408
Format: Paperback

Plot from GoodReads:

Kayleigh Towne is gorgeous with a voice that is taking her to the heights of the country pop charts. Her hit single “Your Shadow” puts her happily in the spotlight, until an innocent exchange with one of her fans leads Kayleigh into a dark and terrifying realm.

The fan warns, “I’m coming for you,” and soon accidents happen and people close to Kayleigh die.

Special Agent Kathryn Dance must use her considerable skills at investigation and body language analysis to stop the stalker—but before long she learns that, like many celebrities, Kayleigh has more than just one fan with a mission.

Thoughts:

The book takes you on a guessing spree to figure out who is responsible? As soon as you think you’ve got it figured out, the plot shifts and you’re left second guessing yourself once more. And so it continues right until the very end. It is actually quite easy to figure out who the culprit is, it’s more about proving it.

The addition to the study of body language was a nice touch except the focus around explanations and the constant repetitive wording around it felt unnecessary. There was no need to repeat ‘kinesics’ to get the hang of it. It proved to be distracting from the story.

I’ve now had the opportunity to read about another antagonist created by Jeffery Deaver and I can compare the two. The antagonist from The Bone Collector is truly terrifying and might leave you keeping awake at night knowing someone like that is operating in your area.

The antagonist in this book came with the stalker element, and although he did some insane stalking and brought along a delusional side, he wasn’t as terrifying to begin with. Sure, there are different levels of stalking but the amount this guy was doing, you’d have expected more to add to the terrifying moments and the build up to the climax of the plot.

While it was overall an interesting and suspenseful read, it lost a star rating due to all the added twists that held no actual connections, they acted as page fillers to throw off the scent but there were just too many to hold any real value. This could have been time better spent working on a creepier stalker element.