Grand Central Publishing, 2012
This was my first Preston and Child book featuring Gideon Crew, a nuclear physicist on loan to the FBI. I may have read another Preston and Child book from their Pendergast series (Jett tells me I have), but if so I can’t recall it. Preston and Child are one of Jett’s favorite authors, so I borrowed this one after she finished it.
You can read the synopsis yourself.
The plot reminded me a bit of the kind of plot you would find in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child (no relation?): an over-the-top, the-nation-at-risk threat, thwarted by the actions of a single man. But the Reacher plots are, somehow, believable. I had a hard time believing this one – a man on the run from 22 federal agencies, involving tens of thousand of people, yet he is able to move freely around New Mexico, drive cross-country to Maryland and pass easily through security at both Los Alamos and Fort Derrick. Yeah. Either he was really lucky or our security agencies are totally incompetent.
I was also surprised at the Indiana Jones flavor of the action. Crew goes from one life-threatening predicament to the next with barely time to catch his breath. The surprise was the Jett enjoyed this as it just doesn’t seem like a plot she would enjoy. She told me afterward that she prefers the Pendergast series, but that the Crew series was “ok”. Well, in my view “ok” is a compliment.
4 on a 10 scale.