The Edge / Jeffery Deaver / 397 pages

I for one am proud to claim Jeffery Deaver as a fellow graduate of Mizzou. Maybe we were even on campus at the same time...did I hear him play folksongs, were we in the same class, did he see Tiger basketball coached by Stormin' Norman at Brewer Fieldhouse? Okay, enough with the Mitch Albom five people thing. I am never disappointed, bored or unsurprised with any of Deaver's books and The Edge is no exception. He creates a new, fascinating character Corte, who is a protection agent for the government and a serious game player...real games not videogames. The book centers on Corte's out-playing the ultimate "lifter" hired to torture and assasinate. (Eeew....that alcohol and sandpaper thing still has me cringing.) As always, in the end, Deaver will play with the reader with unanticipated plot and character twists. Oh, please, please, please forget the James Bond book and give us more Corte!