by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, 355 pages
I'm guessing part of the reason Preston and Child have created a new character and series is to appeal to a younger demographic. Gideon Crew is younger than their Special Agent Pendergast, my favorite literary FBI agent (Fox Mulder is still my fave TV FBI guy). The Crew character is a former physicist at Los Alamos. Brilliant and troubled, he becomes a reluctant free-lancer for a secretive security firm in New York. Part of the reason he goes along on these dangerous assignments is that he's been told he has a fatal brain defect which will kill him in a year or two.
This time Gideon is hauled away from his New Mexico mountain retreat to deal with a former colleague who has apparently become a nuclear jihadist. The deranged scientist is holding hostages and ranting about being dosed with radiation and tortured. When the scientist is killed, the authorities find evidence that Washington DC will be hit with some sort of nuclear attack. Soon Gideon comes under suspicion himself, and has to go on the run. He still tries to figure out who the real terrorists are and stop them in time.
This is the type of book they tend to call "adrenaline" because the action never stops. The technology is cutting edge and plot elements are ripped from current headlines. Not much time is spent on character development or relationships. They have almost a cinematic pace and some of the "stunts" are more than a bit over the top. I would recommend the series if that's the sort of pacing and thrills you enjoy. I prefer the Special Agent Pendergast series---they are still thrillers, but I love the Pendergast character. He's like a super-strong Elven Sherlock Holmes. Now that's a detective to (almost) die for.
I'm guessing part of the reason Preston and Child have created a new character and series is to appeal to a younger demographic. Gideon Crew is younger than their Special Agent Pendergast, my favorite literary FBI agent (Fox Mulder is still my fave TV FBI guy). The Crew character is a former physicist at Los Alamos. Brilliant and troubled, he becomes a reluctant free-lancer for a secretive security firm in New York. Part of the reason he goes along on these dangerous assignments is that he's been told he has a fatal brain defect which will kill him in a year or two.
This time Gideon is hauled away from his New Mexico mountain retreat to deal with a former colleague who has apparently become a nuclear jihadist. The deranged scientist is holding hostages and ranting about being dosed with radiation and tortured. When the scientist is killed, the authorities find evidence that Washington DC will be hit with some sort of nuclear attack. Soon Gideon comes under suspicion himself, and has to go on the run. He still tries to figure out who the real terrorists are and stop them in time.
This is the type of book they tend to call "adrenaline" because the action never stops. The technology is cutting edge and plot elements are ripped from current headlines. Not much time is spent on character development or relationships. They have almost a cinematic pace and some of the "stunts" are more than a bit over the top. I would recommend the series if that's the sort of pacing and thrills you enjoy. I prefer the Special Agent Pendergast series---they are still thrillers, but I love the Pendergast character. He's like a super-strong Elven Sherlock Holmes. Now that's a detective to (almost) die for.
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