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Gideon's Corpse (Gideon Crew #2)

3.57 of 5 stars 3.57 · rating details · 2,613 ratings · 379 reviews

A top nuclear scientist goes mad and takes an innocent family hostage at gunpoint, killing one and causing a massive standoff.
A plume of radiation above New York City leads to a warehouse where, it seems, a powerful nuclear bomb was assembled just hours before.
Sifting through the evidence, authorities determine that the unthinkable is about to happen: in ten days, a major...more

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Published January 10th 2012 by Grand Central Publishing (first published January 1st 2012)

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Mar 20, 2012 Tim rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really wish you could do half stars...because this would be 2.5 if I could. I am feeling generous today.

I know that it is sometimes necessary for a character to do "something stupid" in order to advance the plot. But something-stupid should not be relied upon as a regular plot device as it was here. It especially shouldn't be relied on to such an extent when your character is supposed to be quite intelligent.

Also I like my thrillers with a whiff of reality to them and a sprinkling of logic. I...more

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Jan 17, 2012 Sbeam rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Phew! What a stinker.

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Dec 14, 2012 Chris Sosa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What was that? This is among one of the least believable novels I've ever read, to the point that suspension of disbelief on a grand scale may have been an authorial objective. One can only press on wide-eyed as our protagonist literally gets in a chainsaw fight with a cult that advances on him as a military unit with electrified cattle prods. And this is among the more plausible situations Gideon inexplicably survives.

Despite the unbelievability of it all, the plot itself is startlingly predict...more

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Nov 19, 2012 VaultOfBooks rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

By Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. Gideon Crew #2. Grade: C

I still can't believe it took two, not one, very talented writers to pen down this particular piece of disaster.

A top nuclear scientist goes mad and takes an innocent family hostage at gunpoint, killing one and causing a massive standoff.
A plume of radiation above New York City leads to a warehouse where, it seems, a powerful nuclear bomb was assembled just hours before.
Sifting through the evidence, authorities determine that the un...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 24, 2012 Amy Gennaro rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: action-adventure, fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 10, 2012 Alex rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Gideon's Corpse (pub. Jan 2012) is the second book in the 'Gideon' series by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. It is the best page-turner the brilliant team have written in the past couple of years, IMO. I read it in big chunks in less than two days.

The story blazes nonstop with all the stuff we love in our thrillers: high tension, crazy fast pace from page one, things blows up, guns and chases; but it also brings more character-intense scenes to the table than the standard thriller formula....more

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Mar 22, 2012 Susan Tunis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A toss-up between entertainment and frustration

Gideon Crew is back. After a lukewarm reception from Preston & Child fans—and that’s putting it charitably—their new series here makes his second outing. Now, these gentlemen haven’t written a book I didn’t enjoy yet. Still, I do understand some of the frustration that other readers have been so vocally expressing. But first, a few words on the plot…

After reluctantly completing his job for Eli Glinn and Effective Engineering Solutions, Gideon wa...more A toss-up between entertainment and frustration

Gideon Crew is back. After a lukewarm reception from Preston & Child fans—and that’s putting it charitably—their new series here makes his second outing. Now, these gentlemen haven’t written a book I didn’t enjoy yet. Still, I do understand some of the frustration that other readers have been so vocally expressing. But first, a few words on the plot…

After reluctantly completing his job for Eli Glinn and Effective Engineering Solutions, Gideon wants nothing further to do with the man. Facing his own mortality, all he wants to do is head home for some R & R. Glinn has other ideas. The U.S. is facing “a national emergency of the highest order.” Reed Chalker, a former colleague of Gideon’s at Los Alamos has died violent and raving of radiation poisoning as the book opens. Per Eli, “It seems clear that Chalker was involved in preparing a terrorist attack with a nuclear device. During these preparations, something went wrong and the uranium went critical. Chalker was irradiated. It also appears likely to our experts that the remaining terrorists spirited off the bomb, leaving Chalker to die.”

Of course, Gideon is the only possible man to track down the missing nuke and disarm the threat. Except, Gideon doesn’t care. He wants a second opinion about his so-called terminal illness, and he doesn’t trust Eli as far as he can throw him. And he wants to believe that he doesn’t care about all of the endangered innocents, but he knows it isn’t true. He can’t turn his back.

And so another misadventure begins. I won’t reveal more because the fun is in the twists and turns within the plot. And Preston & Child are masters at plotting. Occasionally, there would be a stroke of genius. Unfortunately, almost as often, there would be some story element that would truly beggar credulity. There was a romantic subplot that just made me want to groan. Why? Why? Why do thriller writers shoehorn in ridiculous, utterly unbelievable romances into their novels? It’s painful. And there were other moments of frustration with the story-telling that can’t be discussed without spoilers. But these were balanced by a lot of fun, excitement, and a confoundingly convoluted mystery.

I still think that Gideon Crew is a character with potential, but I do wish the authors would hold his tales to the high standard of their other work.(less)

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Feb 21, 2012 Terri rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If you read the first book, you need to know up front that the title of this second book does not mean that Gideon dies! I started it thinking that this was going to be a very short mystery series. I find these novels, while not in the least bit cheery, to be much less heavy in feel that the Pendergast series. Much of this book is set around the Santa Fe area of New Mexico, which is in actual distance not very far from where I live. In culture and topography, however, it is a world away, but sti...more

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Feb 05, 2012 Ray Palen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

With the introduction of Gideon Crew, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have created one of the most unique protagonists in modern fiction. First seen in the novel, GIDEON’S SWORD, Gideon Crew jumped off the pages with a background utterly unique. Not only is he a brilliant nuclear scientist but he also suffers from a rare form of brain aneurysm and has been diagnosed with less than a year to live.

Actually, it could be anywhere from a few months to a year. All Gideon knows is that when his time...more With the introduction of Gideon Crew, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have created one of the most unique protagonists in modern fiction. First seen in the novel, GIDEON’S SWORD, Gideon Crew jumped off the pages with a background utterly unique. Not only is he a brilliant nuclear scientist but he also suffers from a rare form of brain aneurysm and has been diagnosed with less than a year to live.

Actually, it could be anywhere from a few months to a year. All Gideon knows is that when his time comes it will be sudden and extremely painful. Needless to say, Gideon has both a huge chip on his shoulder and the determination to do as much good as he can before his time is up. In GIDEON’S CORPSE, he is called into action immediately by his mysterious benefactor, Mr. Glinn. Glinn runs an organization in the meat-packing district of NYC known simply as Effective Engineering Solutions. This is an obvious front for a group that gets involved in some deeply important and underground stuff on behalf of the U.S. Government.

Gideon’s latest assignment is simple --- infiltrate a hostage crisis taking place in Queens, New York. The alleged hostage taker is a former Los Alamos colleague of Gideon’s by the name of Chalker. Gideon enters a street scene filled with all forms of law enforcement and scientific teams who are on the ready to take down Chalker. As Gideon gets close enough to speak with Chalker through the front door of the Queens home, he finds the formerly mild-mannered scientist to be delusional, paranoid and screaming that he is ‘burning up’.

Gideon helps to eventually resolve the situation --- but Chalker is killed and the burning feeling he professed so loudly about was a fear of radiation poisoning. Everyone involved is quarantined and cleaned. Upon release, Gideon is teamed up with an FBI Agent named Stone Fordyce and put on the trail of a nuclear bomb. Where did this bomb come from? After examination of Chalker’s tiny basement apartment, it looks like Mr. Chalker may have built a nuclear weapon for a group of Islamic terrorists. It also appears that Chalker himself has converted to Islam and may have been part of a Jihadist sect.

With fear running rampant that a nuke will be set off in either NYC or the Capitol in D.C., Gideon and Fordyce must work quickly to find out where the bomb is and who else is behind it. By the diary found in Chalker’s apartment it seems like there are only 9 days until the terrorist attack. What occurs next is a race against the clock thriller that does not let up until the final page is turned. Gideon and Fordyce chase down all potential leads including a subversive militant group in the Midwest, a potential leak within Los Alamos and a famous fiction writer named Simon Blaine.

It is Simon Blaine who is the most confusing suspect as he is an internationally famous writer that Chalker seemed to read a lot of (even possessing several personalized signed volumes of his work). Gideon and Fordyce find it hard to see Blaine’s involvement in this mess. Additionally, Gideon finds himself entangled with Blaine’s daughter, Alida --- a feisty and headstrong young woman who teams with Gideon to clear her father’s name and help find the real culprits.

Things take a startling turn when Gideon is exposed by the U.S. Government as being involved with Chalker in the plans for the terrorist attack. A series of emails are discovered between Gideon and Chalker outlining their support of Islam and professing a destiny of Hellfire for all Muslim enemies. Gideon knows these are false --- but now has his own partner, Fordyce, on his trail. He also has Alida doubting his actions and faces a solitary battle to prove his own innocence, uncover the set-up that has been perpetrated against him at the highest level of government and stop the terrorist attack before time runs out.

It is during Gideon’s own crusade that he uncovers something far worse than a nuclear attack. What if that alleged attack was a smoke-screen hiding the true deadly intent of the villainous group behind this panic? A file called OPERATION CORPSE is found on author Simon Blaine’s laptop. It is the outline for a proposed novel about the release of the smallpox virus upon mankind and the devastation that could cause. Gideon realizes that someone is looking to turn fiction into reality and cause destruction on a global viral scale!

After reading and thoroughly enjoying the first novel in this series, GIDEON’S SWORD, I still longed for Preston and Child to return to their heralded Pendergast series. Now, with the completion of GIDEON’S CORPSE, I am more than happy to patiently await the continuation of the Pendergast series AFTER they finish up the saga of Gideon Crew. Gideon is a thoroughly engaging character who will instantly appeal to all readers fortunate enough to dive into his adventures and Preston and Child are masterful storytellers at the top of their game obviously enjoying uncovering the layers of their complex and driven new protagonist. Bravo!

Reviewed by Ray Palen for New Mystery Reader

(less)

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Jan 13, 2012 Adam Wilson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For a while now, Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston have been a pair of some of the most reliable authors I have ever read. Whenever I can't decide what to read or if I ever want to get out of a chain of three and two-star reads, I find a book by the pair and easily break into the wonderful world of good ratings. For some reason, the first Gideon Crew novel didn't seem to make much of a splash for readers, but I enjoyed it quite a lot. With the release of Gideon's Corpse, however, Child-Preston h...more

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Jan 08, 2012 Criminal Reads rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Character Development: The main character - Gideon - was well written here, but try as I might, I couldn't find enough in me to care about him. Even after several chapters of learning more about him, how he lost his father and how he works with others, the title didn't rise anything in me. I didn't care that he would be a corpse and didn't care to find out how.

Story Line: Living in a post 9/11 world, the FBI and like government offices work hard every day to thwart attacks. Whether they be by fo...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Robert Zimmermann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-books-of-2012

Gideon’s Corpse is the second book in Preston/Child’s Gideon Crew series. I read Gideon’s Sword (the first book in the series) late last year and was blown away by it. I was happy to finally get my hands on a copy of this book, so I could continue following along with Gideon’s story.

This book had everything I expected and more, based on my enjoyment of book one. There was action, many moments of disbelief, unexpected twists. You name it, Gideon’s Corpse had it. Preston & Child proved that on...more Gideon’s Corpse is the second book in Preston/Child’s Gideon Crew series. I read Gideon’s Sword (the first book in the series) late last year and was blown away by it. I was happy to finally get my hands on a copy of this book, so I could continue following along with Gideon’s story.

This book had everything I expected and more, based on my enjoyment of book one. There was action, many moments of disbelief, unexpected twists. You name it, Gideon’s Corpse had it. Preston & Child proved that once again they are some of the greatest writers in the genre.

I was already a fan of Gideon’s character from the first book, but I think by the end of book two that I really grew to appreciate just how bad ass he is. He’s a nuclear physicist, former art thief, master of disguise, and on top of all this he has gained some friends in high places. He’s not a trained James Bond type special agent. Gideon is closer to the average man than many “heroes” character’s I’ve read…keep in mind the average man doesn’t have his brains or experience in certain areas, but he is still believable and likable. He’s not over the top “I can get out of any situation because I’m perfect either.” I also enjoyed having Special Agent, Stone Fordyce along for the ride. This FBI agent surprised me many times during the book with his actions, both good ones and questionable ones. Together they made a great team.

I could go on and one about the twists and turns the plot took, but I’d just be giving everything away. I’ll say that it was well done in that it kept moving along at a great pace that wasn’t too fast and wasn’t too slow. It also wasn’t predictable for the most part. Obviously there won’t always be parts that come out of nowhere, but the real shockers, were just that. They really shocked me, and made me smile because I was caught off-guard.

If you’re a fan of a great thriller, with believable characters and a plot that barely touches on being impossible in real life, Gideon’s Corpse might be the book for you. Don’t forget to start with Gideon’s Sword though. I’d say that book 1 isn’t necessary to understand everything book 2 has, but I think knowing Gideon more will help with the enjoyment of this book.(less)

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Nov 29, 2012 Amy Brown rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-from-mum, fiction

Oh god.... what did I think? This is a pretty bad book. The logic is bad, the plot is bad. It's basically written for someone who won't be engaging their brain as they read. And for that it's pretty good; I got caught up in the plot in the middle for a while. But then a character got root access on the bad guy's BSD machine (why he's running BSD we'll never know) because the bad guy forgot to change the root password from "root" (even though he's supposedly a security nut). Having root access, t...more

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Apr 21, 2012 Claudia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am a huge fan of these two authors. I absolutely adore their other on-going series about Special Agent Penderghast. The current Gideon series is fantastic.

Gideon’s character is exquisite. He is a smart-ass to the core, wickedly intelligent, and enormously skilled in various areas – including espionage and self-preservation. This novel finds Gideon in a very difficult situation, one which makes him go full-throttle to get out of. He meets many interesting people along the way, and a couple very...more

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Apr 10, 2012 Kristin Lundgren rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: megalomaniac, thriller

Gideon's Corpse, the second in the Gideon Crew series is from the fabulous writing team of Preston/Child, home to the Pendergast books, as well as thrillers written by themselves individually. Gideon Crew was a good, but somewhat small-time art thief, who stole because he liked the thrill, he hated to see paintings wasted, tucked away from the public eye, and because he liked a piece. He left that life, and went on to become a physicist at Los Alamos, from where he was recruited by a somewhat el...more Gideon's Corpse, the second in the Gideon Crew series is from the fabulous writing team of Preston/Child, home to the Pendergast books, as well as thrillers written by themselves individually. Gideon Crew was a good, but somewhat small-time art thief, who stole because he liked the thrill, he hated to see paintings wasted, tucked away from the public eye, and because he liked a piece. He left that life, and went on to become a physicist at Los Alamos, from where he was recruited by a somewhat elusive group known as EES - Effective Engineering Solutions - they go around to disasters and figure out what went wrong. They also take on selected jobs for clients, including the government, to help stop problems from arising, such as terrorists.

The book starts out just like the first book closed - with a fellow Los Alamos scientist holding a family hostage and raving about conspiracies. They think Gideon is the right man for the job of talking him down as he knows him and is there, in DC. So Gideon tries and is somewhat successful. After that, they ask him to take on another small matter of a terrorist plot they stumbled on from clues on the mad scientist hostage taker. Gideon, as usual, is on his own, although this time he is partnered up with an FBI liaison. NEST, the nuclear response team, is taking lead, but they are creating a logistical tangle, and some think that Crew could do what others can't, since he thinks outside the box. The book follows his attempts to unravel the clues, follow up on leads, and fighting for his life. An exciting chase through New Mexico, with a clock ticking over his head - not just from the deadline for the plot, but from a medical diagnosis he's been told he has that is terminal. All in all, a fun thriller with twists and turns and backstabbing galore. The only problem I have with this series, is that at times it is hard to root for Gideon - first of all - he is date-stamped with an expiration. Second, he is brash, rude at times, and doesn't take other people's feelings into account. He does what he thinks is the thing that will accomplish his goal, regardless of the consequences. (less)

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Mar 27, 2012 Mark Janveau rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A frustrating read for those who know what these two authors are capable of. It seemed to have much potential but instead felt contrived and shallow. Seemed, unfortunately, to be a check list book...

We must make Gideon a complex character.
Nuclear scientist - CHECK
Art thief - CHECK
Social engineer - CHECK
Gourmet chef - CHECK
Traumatic death of parent - CHECK
One year to live - CHECK

FBI buddy must be by the book. And then not - CHECK
FBI buddy must trust Gideon, then not, then trust again - CHECK
FBI b...more

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Jan 04, 2013 Bradley Hartman rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

We have all heard about those books that once you start to read them, you cannot put them down, well this is that book! Preston and Child have thrown everything into this one i a way that makes you feel like you are on a roller coaster ride with a endless track that loops and weaves, leaving your senses reeling. Every time you think this is it, and those times would be it in any other novel, Preston and Child turn you on your ear as you audibly gasp "NO WAY!" Let me put it this way, you know tho...more

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Feb 24, 2012 Chris Bauer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm honestly not sure what to make of this new series from the dynamic duo of Preston & Child. Read the first book, Gideon's Sword, and enjoyed it. The second book in the series is more of the same. Characters were overall created and maintained very well with interesting complications and nuances throughout. The plot was okay -- nothing mind blowing. There were points in the book where the authors took the "old school" thriller route of ample red herrings and misleading plot direction, whic...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Paul Lunger rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The 2nd book in Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child's Gideon Crew series, "Gideon's Corpse" picks up where the prior book left off & is just as entertaining a thriller as the previous one. This time around Gideon is sent to NYC to fend off what is supposed to be a rogue nuclear bomb attack & then heads home to New Mexico to get away from the EES & live out his final days. That does not happen as what happened in NYC follows him home & he becomes involved in a threat that could ha...more

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Feb 05, 2012 Randy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another top notch thriller from the writing team of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, two of my favorite writers whether together or separately.

Gideon Weeks is pulled from a fishing trip to help out in a tense situation. A nuclear scientist he once worked with at Los Alamos has had some sort of breakdown and had taken a family hostage, a mna, his wife, and two kids.

Gideon is wanted to help defuse the situation and he's not happy about it. A formation in his brain had been found, not operable,...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Stefan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries-and-thrillers

Once again, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child manage to take an uninspiring premise and make it into a most exciting and unusual thriller. Gideon's Corpse continues the strange chronicle of Gideon Crew, an art thief turned nuclear physicist turned intelligence operative. The plot sounds bland and outlandish at first (the race to uncover a hidden nuclear bomb...how original), yet manages to shine in its own unique way. Much like Preston & Child's Pendergast series, I found myself mildly surpr...more

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Nov 19, 2012 Samantha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Preston & Child's Pendergast series has had me hooked since book one and I have to say, I am really enjoying Gideon Crew as well, only in a laugh-out-loud sort of way. Gideon is one of the most inventive liars I think I have ever read about. He is always in way over his head but somehow manages to come out on top of every situation. In this Gideon's Crew novel, Gideon is called into action to "talk down" a colleague from his Los Alamos job as a nuclear physicist. It seems this acquaintance h...more

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Jan 30, 2012 Bill rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Gideon Crew is back for another crazy out there adventure that defies all laws of probability.

Here we have Gideon Crew picking up where the last book left off. We learn Gideon has a friend holding people hostage and rambling like a maniac. The story unfolds into a massive threat to the United States. The pace is fast, the storyline interesting and the actions Gideon gets away with are absolutely ridiculous.

I gave this book three stars because I still like Crew and feel his character is very refr...more

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Jan 07, 2012 Mary Chrapliwy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley-books

This is the second book in a series about Gideon Crew. I read the first book, Gideon's Sword, and was immediately hooked, so I was thrilled to get my hands on this book. Though this book is an excellent thriller, it's not quite as good as the first book in the series.

Gideon has a top secret position with the government. He also works for a shadowy company that serves as a subcontractor for the government. When he is summoned by the subcontractor to go help the police with an urgent hostage situa...more

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Apr 10, 2012 Bob Corrigan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Two stars seem like a harsh rating, but 2 stars = 'it was okay' ... which is about right for this read. I've enjoyed others by this writing duo better.

My main problem with this book? It verges on the preposterous. No, make that ... it IS preposterous. The kind of thing that sounds clever and witty and exciting if you were the author writing a sketchy outline, but the actual written product just strains credulity too much for my taste. I guessed the 'surprise' ending early on, because I just saw...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Laura rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-authors

Gideon Crew is back in action. This time he's up against the clock trying to track down a potential nuclear threat...or so he thinks. While wrapping up his last mission Glinn asks Crew to stop in and see a former co-worker Los Almos who has seemingly gone mad and is holding a family hostage. A reluctant Crew accepts the task and tries to help defuse the situation, only things go from good to bad to worse. Crew begins the journey across the country and back trying to help out and finding out more...more

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Feb 07, 2012 Andres rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

This sequel to a book I considered bad (or at least sub par to the two authors' other series) is a bit of an improvement in one way but is actually worse than the previous book.

Again, I'm amazed that people who are familiar with the Pendergast series can read the Gideon books and say with a straight face that they are the same in quality and caliber. The writing here is a bit better than the previous book, though because this isn't exactly reinventing the escapist thriller that isn't quite the c...more This sequel to a book I considered bad (or at least sub par to the two authors' other series) is a bit of an improvement in one way but is actually worse than the previous book.

Again, I'm amazed that people who are familiar with the Pendergast series can read the Gideon books and say with a straight face that they are the same in quality and caliber. The writing here is a bit better than the previous book, though because this isn't exactly reinventing the escapist thriller that isn't quite the complement it might be otherwise. But escapist thrillers don't have to be written or plotted terribly---there is great, good, and bad with all genres, and this qualifies for the lowest ranking possible. This is undemanding fluff (as in lint) that doesn't bear up to much scrutiny, so it's a perfect way to kill time and brain cells, and maybe to even out any uneven leg on a chair or table.

Here's a laundry list of complaints:

-Gideon is still an unbelievable character. Unbelievable as in "Puh-leez!", not "Wow!". It's explained to us all over again his terrible childhood and how he turned himself around to earn a Ph.D. and all that. With his never witty remarks and snarky attitude, he comes across as a sullen teen and never as an accomplished adult. The authors try over and over again to present him as a rebellious adult but he's just an overgrown child. A snotty overgrown child is just as annoying as an actual snotty child.

-For having a Ph.D, Gideon sure is dumb. In fact, a lot of the characters are prone to ask stupid questions (What's going on? What's that? What does that mean?) when it's perfectly obvious what's going on, what that is, or what that means, but for some reason the authors feel it necessary to provide an unexciting and redundant info dump or explanation of the obvious. It gets boring fast when the characters are dumber than the reader.

-There is reference to the "love interest" of the previous book, who met a grisly end, and Gideon apparently still feels guilt about that. But then here comes another lady who initially can't stand Gideon, then after an appropriate number of pages falls head over heels in love with him, even so far as talking about marriage and living together forever only hours---hours!---after swearing to turn him in. It's so fake it's laughable. So is the inexplicable about face she does later, though it all makes sense when it falls under the "The Authors Need It To Happen" umbrella.

-Big Gaping Plot Problem: During Gideon's questioning of a couple of people about a certain group, one character says "Hmm, that group huh?" and the other character, fully hearing this conversation, says nothing. Much later on at a crucial point in the story Gideon again brings up the group, and that previously silent second character pipes up and says, "Oh, that group? Oh yeah, that other character was involved with that group. He loves that group. He's been involved with them for years!", etc. Of course everything hinges on this little fact but, within the context of the story and situations, there was absolutely no reason why this character wouldn't have said anything beforehand---there was no attempt at concealment or anything, and in fact this character volunteered other information at the previous questioning, so it becomes blatantly obvious with a little scrutiny that it didn't happen because the authors needed it to not happen or the story would be over too quickly.

And this is typical of the book. Lots of things that don't make sense happen because the story demands it, and it becomes frustrating and obvious because common sense flies out the window and the story becomes unbelievable. Sure, there's a certain amount of suspension of disbelief with any thriller, but here it's stretched till it bursts.

I would say I don't want to read the next book but since it apparently involves the theft of a highly renowned piece of art, I'm wondering if the authors will finally be injecting some of the smarts of their other series to salvage this terrible one. I won't know till it comes out, but I cannot say with enough emphasis:

This is a terrible book.(less)

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Mar 24, 2012 Kris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: from-the-library, read-the-50-states

Preston and Child - one of my favorite writing duos. I love the Pendergrast series and am now officially hooked on the Gideon Crew series too. I do see this series with a short life expectancy though, since Gideon has a expiration date. That's all I'm going to say about that....

Political intrigue, crazy terrorist plot, government involvement. Shooting, running hiding. All the things that make a thriller a thriller. Well written and always leaving me wanting the next book now! If I had to say one...more

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Feb 17, 2013 Alex Larragoity rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Es una novela muy sencilla de leer y de entender. Se puede leer a velocidad alta y no te pierdes ningún detalle.

A pesar de que el dúo Douglas Preston y Lincoln Child están en mi "Top 5" de autores favoritos, esta serie de Gideon Crew no me está convenciendo por completo.

El libro empieza con un motivo que ya se ha leído en muchos otros libros, y después da un giro en la historia que lo hace muy interesante. Una propuesta sencilla para destruir uno de los países a los que más le teme el mundo en...more

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May 20, 2013 Burt rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was completely underwhelmed by this work, my first read of a Preston and Child thriller. I did not read the first of the Gideon Crew stories, which may have hindered my understanding of the character, but when one of the reviews suggested that it was a good as a stand-alone read, I figured I'd go ahead. The story gives you no sense of how Gideon came to have the physical personal defense skill set that he seems to have or how he came to have such an intimate working knowledge of individual wea...more

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About Douglas Preston

Douglas Preston was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1956, and grew up in the deadly boring suburb of Wellesley. Following a distinguished career at a private nursery school--he was almost immediately expelled--he attended public schools and the Cambridge School of Weston. Notable events in his early life included the loss of a fingertip at the age of three to a bicycle; the loss of his two fr...more Douglas Preston was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1956, and grew up in the deadly boring suburb of Wellesley. Following a distinguished career at a private nursery school--he was almost immediately expelled--he attended public schools and the Cambridge School of Weston. Notable events in his early life included the loss of a fingertip at the age of three to a bicycle; the loss of his two front teeth to his brother Richard's fist; and various broken bones, also incurred in dust-ups with Richard. (Richard went on to write The Hot Zone and The Cobra Event, which tells you all you need to know about what it was like to grow up with him as a brother.)

As they grew up, Doug, Richard, and their little brother David roamed the quiet suburbs of Wellesley, terrorizing the natives with home-made rockets and incendiary devices mail-ordered from the backs of comic books or concocted from chemistry sets. With a friend they once attempted to fly a rocket into Wellesley Square; the rocket malfunctioned and nearly killed a man mowing his lawn. They were local celebrities, often appearing in the "Police Notes" section of The Wellesley Townsman. It is a miracle they survived childhood intact.

After unaccountably being rejected by Stanford University (a pox on it), Preston attended Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he studied mathematics, biology, physics, anthropology, chemistry, geology, and astronomy before settling down to English literature. After graduating, Preston began his career at the American Museum of Natural History in New York as an editor, writer, and eventually manager of publications. (Preston also taught writing at Princeton University and was managing editor of Curator.) His eight-year stint at the Museum resulted in the non-fiction book, Dinosaurs in the Attic, edited by a rising young star at St. Martin's Press, a polymath by the name of Lincoln Child. During this period, Preston gave Child a midnight tour of the museum, and in the darkened Hall of Late Dinosaurs, under a looming T. Rex, Child turned to Preston and said: "This would make the perfect setting for a thriller!" That thriller would, of course, be Relic.

In 1986, Douglas Preston piled everything he owned into the back of a Subaru and moved from New York City to Santa Fe to write full time, following the advice of S. J. Perelman that "the dubious privilege of a freelance writer is he's given the freedom to starve anywhere." After the requisite period of penury, Preston achieved a small success with the publication of Cities of Gold, a non-fiction book about Coronado's search for the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola. To research the book, Preston and a friend retraced on horseback 1,000 miles of Coronado's route across Arizona and New Mexico, packing their supplies and sleeping under the stars--nearly killing themselves in the process. Since then he has published several more non-fiction books on the history of the American Southwest, Talking to the Ground and The Royal Road, as well as a novel entitled Jennie. In the early 1990s Preston and Child teamed up to write suspense novels; Relic was the first, followed by several others, including Riptide and Thunderhead. Relic was released as a motion picture by Paramount in 1997. Other films are under development at Hollywood studios. Preston and Child live 500 miles apart and write their books together via telephone, fax, and the Internet.

Preston and his brother Richard are currently producing a television miniseries for ABC and Mandalay Entertainment, to be aired in the spring of 2000, if all goes well, which in Hollywood is rarely the case.

Preston continues a magazine writing career by contributing regularly to The New Yorker magazine. He has also written for National Geographic, Natural History, Smithsonisan, Harper's,and Travel & Leisure,among others.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/dougla...(less)

More about Douglas Preston...

Books by Douglas Preston

The Cabinet of Curiosities (Pendergast, #3)

Brimstone (Pendergast, #5; Diogenes, #1)

The Book of the Dead (Pendergast, #7; Diogenes, #3)

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