More Twisted

“THERE IS NO THRILLER WRITER TODAY LIKE JEFFERY DEAVER.”
    —San Jose Mercury News
    Praise for the stories of
    MORE TWISTED
    “Highly enjoyable . . . . Within the fast, shocking limits of the suspense puzzle, Deaver’s a magician who provides the most pleasure when you’re watching him most closely.”
    —Kirkus Reviews
    “Clever and concise thrillers.”
    —Publishers Weekly
    “Every one of these gems . . . feature[s] Deaver’s sharply observed dialogue and jackrabbit pacing.”
    —Booklist
    TWISTED
    “A mystery hit for those who like their intrigue short and sweet . . . [featuring] tight, bare-bones plotting and the sneaky tricks that the title promises.”
    —The New York Times
    “[A] wicked collection . . . . The Rhyme/Sachs entry, “The Christmas Present,” is the cherry on the tart . . . . A snappy volume.”
    —Publishers Weekly
    More Twisted is also available from Simon & Schuster Audio
    “ Twisted lives up to its title . . . . These stories are polished gems, beautiful examples of what splendid intricacies can be wrought in a small space . . . . For any reader who likes that little thrill you get when a story takes an unexpected right-angle turn, this one’s an absolute necessity.”
    —Booklist
    Acclaim for Jeffery Deaver’s bestselling Lincoln Rhyme novels, “masterpieces of modern criminology” (Philadelphia Daily News) that keep readers spellbound!
    THE COLD MOON
    “The pyrotechnics of the murder plot are dazzling . . . .”
    —The New York Times
    “Ingenious . . . . Deaver is a mastermind of manipulation.”
    —Library Journal
    “Spending time with the likeably crusty Rhyme is always a delight . . . . Devilishly intricate.”
    —Booklist
    THE TWELFTH CARD
    “Absorbing . . . . Like the CBS hit CSI, Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme books have nearly fetishized crime-scene procedures and technology.”
    —Entertainment Weekly
    “Deaver has no trouble getting inside the tormented mind of a killer.”
    —The New York Times
    More stunning acclaim for the bestselling crime fiction of Jeffery Deaver, whose “labyrinthine plots are astonishing”*
    “A thrill ride between covers.”
    —Los Angeles Times
    “This is prime Deaver, which means prime entertainment.”
    —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
    “Deaver must have been born with a special plot-twist gene.”
    —Booklist
    “Keeps the pulse racing while challenging the emotions . . . . Deaver does a masterful job of conveying incipient evil.”
    —The Orlando Sentinel (FL)
    “Deaver pulls out all the stops in building up the suspense . . . . [A] page-turner.”
    —The Denver Post
    “A fiendish suspense thriller . . . . Leaves us weak.”
    —The New York Times Book Review *
    “High-tension wired . . . . Deaver . . . fills every keystroke with suspense.”
    —People
    “Devious and heart-stopping.”
    —The Ottawa Citizen
    “A crackling thriller.”
    —Chicago Sun-Times
    “This is as good as it gets.”
    —San Jose Mercury News

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To John Gilstrap

P REFACE

    From time to time I do something even more terrifying than write sick and twisted novels and stories; I grab a microphone and get up in front of a roomful of people.
    No, I’m not talking American Idol ; I’m referring to teaching writing.
    One of the most often asked questions when I’m playing professor is this: Should I start writing short stories and then work my way up to novels? My answer is no. It’s not like starting to ride a tricycle and then graduating to a bike. Forgive my clumsy mixing of metaphors, but short stories and novels aren’t even apples and oranges; they’re apples and potatoes.
    Novels seek to emotionally engage readers on all levels, and, to achieve that goal, authors must develop characters in depth, create realistic settings, do extensive research and come up with a structured pacing that alternates between the thoughtful and the rip-roaring.
    A short story’s different. As I said in the introduction to my first collection of stories,
    The payoff in the case of short stories isn’t a roller coaster of plot reversals involving characters they’vespent lots of time learning about and loving or