🔪 Book Review: The Pain Hunter by Jeffery Deaver (Kindle Edition, The Broken Doll Book 1)
A taut, psychological thriller packed into a short, high-stakes ride—Jeffery Deaver launches his Broken Doll series with a gripping story of survival, ethics, and the twisted bond between predator and prey.
🧠 Overview
Published in December 2022, The Pain Hunter is a 61-page novella and the first entry in Jeffery Deaver’s Broken Doll collection—a series of interconnected short thrillers exploring killers, victims, and the blurred lines between justice and revenge.
The story opens with a violent jailbreak that spills into a Wisconsin street fair. Amid the chaos, a getaway van speeds down a rural highway carrying two men: Paul Offenbach, a sadistic crime boss with a bullet wound, and Dr. Stuart Collier, his hostage. As they race toward an unknown destination, a chilling battle of wits unfolds. Offenbach is obsessed with pain; Collier is sworn to heal. But survival may demand more than ethics can allow.
🔍 Key Themes & Highlights
- 🧠 Ethical tension: Collier’s internal struggle between his oath as a doctor and his instinct to escape adds depth
- 🔥 Psychological warfare: The story thrives on the mental chess match between captor and captive
- 🚐 Claustrophobic setting: Most of the action takes place inside a van, intensifying the suspense
- 🧩 Series setup: Introduces the tone and thematic threads of the Broken Doll collection
“From internationally bestselling master of suspense Jeffery Deaver comes The Pain Hunter, part of The Broken Doll collection… a series of interconnected short stories about killers and prey, justice and revenge…”
💬 Reader Reception
- ⭐ Goodreads rating: 4.03/5 from over 9,000 ratings
- 📖 Readers praise the story’s tight pacing, moral complexity, and cinematic tension
- 🧾 Some felt the ending was abrupt or wanted more backstory, but most found it a satisfying thriller in miniature
- 💬 “Deaver weaves a detailed, compelling story. You think you know what’s going on, and then he delivers an unexpected surprise at the end.” — StoryGraph reviewer
⚠️ Considerations
- 📄 Short format: At just over 60 pages, it’s a quick read—ideal for fans of bite-sized suspense
- 📚 Series continuity: Works as a standalone, but sets the tone for future Broken Doll installments
- 🔞 Dark themes: Includes violence, psychological manipulation, and moral ambiguity—recommended for mature readers
🏁 Final Verdict
The Pain Hunter is a lean, intense thriller that showcases Jeffery Deaver’s mastery of suspense in a compact format. With its ethical dilemmas, psychological tension, and pulse-pounding pace, this Kindle edition is a compelling start to the Broken Doll series—perfect for readers who crave smart, fast, and morally complex crime fiction.