The Goodbye Man is another well written, original story by a master craftsman.

It’s the second book in the series about Colter Shaw, a fascinating character.

Shaw is an itinerate “reward-seeker,” traveling the country to help police solve crimes and help private citizens locate missing persons.

He does this for the reward offered.

Shaw refuses to call himself a bounty hunter — he’s an expert tracker — and goes to great pains not to use firearms. I appreciate that.

In Goodbye Man, Shaw signs up for a 3 week course at a mysterious, remote cult retreat called The Foundation. Cost $7500.

It’s creepy. More creepy than Nicole Kidman’s in the TV series Nine Perfect Strangers which I was watching at the same time.

Colter Shaw is in the retreat investigating what happened to one of the young men he as tracking in a previous case, accused of defacing a church with neo-Nazi slogans.

Personally, I preferred book #1 – The Never Game.

This book is very good. But had fewer twists and surprises than the usual Deaver plots.

It was muddled in places, as well, with flashbacks at inappropriate times.

The plot was interesting, but some of the incidents highly unlikely.