I stayed up late last night, to finish reading Gideon's Sword ($12.99), by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. The intro starts out with Gideon's childhood, followed by what could have been a novella in it's own right, completing the backstory for Gideon Crew, a chameleon who blends in anywhere (with a bit of help from some stage props) and can lie his way thru nearly any situation, much like Frank W. Abagnale, in Catch Me If You Can. Add in a dash of James Bond, for this is an international thriller, and you start to get the flavor of the novel, which was released today.It's one thrill after another, with twist and turns along the way and you never know when an ally might turn out to be your enemy. It all starts with a routine job (or, as routine as you might get, as independent contractor with DHS, offered $100K for a one week project) to retrieve the plans for a weapon that are being smuggled into the US by an agent who is to arrive within a couple of hours of Gideon's being hired for the job.
I thought the earliest chapters were the weakest of the book, especially when he is supposed to be a brilliant physicist, yet the math in a paper written by his father years earlier is described as "way over his head". Not to mention the likelihood of a master art thief who turned over a new leaf to become a government employed physicist, who fly-fishes in his spare time. But, once past the setup chapters (and after his father has been avenged) and the true story commences. From there on, the action is non-stop and each chapter ended with me wanting to read just one more, until I arrived at the "end", which was, of course, anything but. There are obviously going to be more books in this series and I'll have them on my wishlist for the future. I do see, though, that they'll all have to cover very short periods of time or the leverage that DHS used to get Gideon to agree to work with them will have to be proven false (or a cure found).
You can sign up for a newsletter from Child and Preston, which looks to be published monthly, more or less, to get samples of their works-in-progress or tidbits about the characters that might not make it into the books themselves.
Book Description
Introducing Gideon Crew: trickster, prodigy, master thief
At twelve, Gideon Crew witnessed his father, a world-class mathematician, accused of treason and gunned down.
At twenty-four, summoned to his dying mother's bedside, Gideon learned the truth: His father was framed and deliberately slaughtered. With her last breath, she begged her son to avenge him.
Now, with a new purpose in his life, Gideon crafts a one-time mission of vengeance, aimed at the perpetrator of his father's destruction. His plan is meticulous, spectacular, and successful.
But from the shadows, someone is watching. A very powerful someone, who is impressed by Gideon's special skills. Someone who has need of just such a renegade.
For Gideon, this operation may be only the beginning . . .
If you order the current Kindle edition of Gideon's Sword, you'll also get a bonus download of The Zero Game ($7.99), by Brad Meltzer. I picked this one up when it was under $2 last year. You don't order it separately (and the book page won't show that you own it, which is something I wish Amazon would fix), but a copy of the book just shows up in your library and on the same Kindle where you sent Gideon's Sword.Book Description
The New York Times bestselling author of The Millionaires and The First Counsel returns to Wash-ington, D.C., with the story of an insider's game that turns deadly. Matthew Mercer and Harris Sandler are best friends who have plum jobs as senior staffers to well-respected congressmen. But after a decade in Washington, idealism has faded to disillusionment, and they're bored. Then one of them finds out about the clandestine Zero Game. It starts out as good fun-a simple wager between friends. But when someone close to them ends up dead, Harris and Matthew realize the game is far more sinister than they ever imagined-and that they're about to be the game's next victims. On the run, they turn to the only person they can trust: a 16-year-old Senate page who can move around the Capitol undetected. As a ruthless killer creeps closer, this idealistic page not only holds the key to saving their lives, but is also determined to redeem them in the process. Come play The Zero Game-you can bet your life on it.
A pre-publication, print copy of this book was provided by the publisher/publicist for this review.
