I once read a book backwards. It was a very boring book - the class reader for me as a 12 year old at grammar school - and I thought reading it from last chapter through to first would make it more interesting. It didn't.
I haven't tried the trick since but Jeffery Deaver is one of my top three mystery/crime/thriller writers and I couldn't wait to try his new book, The October List. So, starting at the beginning (page 5, start of chapter 36) I immersed myself in the strange tale of Gabriela, who is caught up in a mystery financial crime and whose daughter has been kidnapped to encourage her co-operation.
There are no spoilers here so I'm not going into great depth in describing the plot but I did wonder how Deaver, famed for his plot twists and his rollercoaster cliffhangers could achieve his usual effects when the whole plot was out there from the start (or should I say end?). I shouldn't have doubted his skills as a master storyteller and soon I was immersed and kept reading for several hours, devouring the whole story at a sitting. It's an amazing achievement to be able to keep up the tension in this way given the strangeness of starting at the denouement but this author can build tension, even backwards!
It's a great read, with all the twists and turns I had hoped for, and reminded me of first viewing The Sixth Sense at a preview screening many years ago. When I had taken in the tricks onscreen (again, no spoilers in case there is anyone out there who hasn't seen this film) I couldn't wait to checkout the DVD and find out whether the script really worked, with no errors which should have made me guess the ending. There were none, and there aren't any in The October List either. The plot works perfectly, but you will be re-reading at the end to check out all the clever twists! Just one further comment: you need to buy this book in hardback. Checking back and forward through the text is a pain if you read it on a kindle as I did, and you certainly won't want to wait until the paperback is published, probably late next year. So, with Christmas coming, treat yourself or a friend and enjoy another masterpiece of suspense from the pen (keyboard?) of Mr Deaver.
By the way, if you haven't yet discovered Jeffery Deaver, try out some of his other titles too. As well as stand-alones such as The October List he currently writes two series of thrillers, one featuring Lincoln Rhyme and the other, Kathryn Dance, which interlock as characters from one series drift in and out of the other according to the needs of the plot. They are always intriguing and I await my annual Deaver fix with delight.
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