This was a lot of fun! Fifteen different authors each writing a single chapter (Jeffrey Deaver wrote two - first and last), with no idea how the story was to proceed. That means they took what was written, built upon it, then passed it on to the next.

One of the most fascinating things about this project was the vast differences between the authors, in tone, writing style, and direction. At the end of the book, there's a great interview with several of the authors explaining the process and their thoughts.

I'll definitely be reading/listening to the rest of these books! ( )

Interesting concept with mixed results. Too many cooks overegged the pudding. ( )

Toward the beginning I thought I might keep track of which chapters I liked and disliked, so I could try out those authors' solo works afterward, but after the first few chapters I realized there weren't really any I liked enough to look into. Most, in fact, I thought were kind of terribly written. And the denouement, the big reveal, was actually like ninety different reveals, none of which seemed remotely plausible.

I was at least intrigued by the plot for about the first half, but eventually there were way too many ridiculous complications and too much awkward, slangy action-movie text. The problem is I can never tell whether it's just the genre that doesn't work for me, or if I haven't read any truly good examples of it. But this did not make me want to seek out any more.

Audiobook. An interesting exercise. Some dozen plus thriller writers did this. Someone set the beginning chapter. Each then wrote the next chapter. No overall planning they see. Interesting because you see the gears of the genre. Some accomplished practicioners playing double dare. Learned as much about how the genre is put together as anywhere else. This is like performance art. A passable book. Interest mostly in the process.

Preview. The second time they did this with Copper Bracelet was getting old.

Did you ever play that game where one person starts a story and at a critical point, passes the role of storyteller onto the next person to finish? Well The Chopin Manuscript is just that type of book. The first chapter is written by best selling mystery author Jeffery Deaver. He sets up the overall plot, main characters, and passes it on. In all, 14 different mystery authors each get 1 chapter in this book, with Jeffery Deaver having the difficult task of tying everything up in the final 2 chapters. Some great authors contributed to this book - Lee Child, Lisa Scottoline, Joseph Finder and more. Was the plot choppy with a mish mash of styles? Absolutely - but what a fun audiobook. This book is only available in audio or in the Kindle format - perhaps a precursor to how books will be released in the future? Although this won the 2008 Audie Award for Best audiobook of the year, I don't think the writing style (or more accurately, styles) was stellar. But, what a fun listen. And with the constant changing plot, there was no way that you could guess the ending - even the authors didn't know the ending! ( )