Gideon

Rating:
Summary: ...and then there were none
Review: If you don't know the meaning of "body count", you will find out rather soon when reading this gripping, fast, interesting, well written book.

The story is about a ghost writer who obviously knows too much about a person playing an important role in the society, although he doesn't know his name. Soon, writer Carl is suspected to be the murderer of his editor and his neighbor. On the run, he takes refuge with his ex-girlfriend Amanda. After two more dead bodies they are forced to find the truth about the story Carl was writing. But obviously a killer follows them closely (is that the reason why this guy is called "Closer?").

Finally, they find out what happened in the life of this important person (with some more dead bodies being piled up around them) and return to confront the responsible people with their knowledge. Knowledge is power, and that is known also by a multi-billion media tycoon who plays an important role in the book.

The page-turning style and high speed of this novel keeps you going from the start until the end. This of course makes it possible for you to forget the usual questions which come up when it comes to thrillers: Why don't killers simply shoot their targets but usually try to talk to them or make some "show" (bombs, unusual dresses,...)? The true story about the "popular person" can surely kill a political career, but is it the reason to commit suicide? Why are fired former policemen always fat and sweating? Especially, the murder of the two women at the very beginning is even after the end of the book not fully understandable.

But - excluding the body count which is comparable to typical James Bond movies - the story was really fun to read. The author won't get the Nobel Prize for that, but you can have some entertaining hours with this novel.

Rating:
Summary: like eating chocolate without the filling-a guilty pleasure
Review: Gideon is one of those books that grabs you from the start and insists on being read in one sitting. However, by the time you've realized you've been conned, it's too late. Russell Andrews is the pseudonym for two male writers: Peter Gethers and David Handler. I am familiar with Gethers's adventures with Norton, his Scottish Fold (now sadly deceased), and I found those books charming. However, there is nothing charming about Gideon. It is populated with every stereotype under the sun. Outside of the protagonists, most everyone else is either stupid or fat and eventually winds up dead. Clearly, Amanda is the hero here, and while I applaud having an intelligent female character, I am somewhat tired of the cliched romance angle. You know the one: can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Wouldn't it be nice if someone could actually write a book where a woman and a man work together without hooking up? And then we have poor misguided Carl, who needs a good woman by his side to keep his act together. Maybe that doesn't annoy most men, but that is as much of a cliche as the relationship stuff.

Gideon is a paint-by-numbers thriller that seems destined for the big screen. It has a *few* (notice I emphasize the word few) twists and turns, but by story's end, you realize that the characters have no depth and the plot is no thicker than the candy shell on an M&M. I give these guys an A for entertainment and a C for plot.

Rating:
Summary: Power House Thriller...!!!
Review: I picked up this book at a used book store. Only its not the book that was out after they printed it. This book is an unrevised proof, and not the real thing. I found some cute mistakes and misspelled words and loved it!! Great book to add to a collection, boy was I lucky. Great action packed thriller, sorry, you DO have to READ this for YOUR self!!

Rating:
Summary: To use an overused cliche...it kept me turning the pages
Review: It's been a while since I've read a straight out thriller, and I didn't regret reading this one. To be honest, I'm the kind of reader who tends to "lurch" through books...read 50 pages, set book down for a few days, read another 50, etc. Gideon had me turning the pages and coming back every day until I finished it, so I must say that I found it engrossing.

The plot had some good twists but wasn't so complicated that I needed 3x5 cards to figure out what was going on. There were a few memorable characters, good villians, decent hero...if a bit stereotypical. Good action, high body count. Overall, I think most people would find it very entertaining.

One other opinion...the identity of the Closer was laughable. Still makes me chuckle when I think about it.

Rating:
Summary: WOW!!!! THIS REALLLLLY IS A THRILLER!!!!
Review: i have no idea what book 'just average' from ny read but it certainly wasn't THIS one!!!! this was non-stop action!!! i wanted to devour this in just one sitting but i FORCED myself to slow down and to savor each and every word of this literary roller coaster....amazingly original plot and you actuallly get 2 for 1.....a book within a book.....i got so hooked on the one that he was ghostwriting that i almost didn't care to get back to the real book...almost.....and what characters!!! each one was developed more completely than in any other book i've read in years...and i read 3 books a week on the average!!! just when you think that you've got it alllllll figured out, whammo!!!! you get hit between the eyes and scream out WHAT???? holy cow, these two guys had better hurry up and get their next one, SLASH, out soon....verrrrry soon!!! only bad thing about this book is the fact that the publisher is doing virtuallly nothing to promote which is reallly dumb when they've got a complete total gem of a book on their hands....guys, if i were you i'd renegotiate my contract as far as promotion!!! then again, this book is gonna go to the top fast just thru word of mouth....MY verrrrrry big one!!! thanx peter & david for such an amazing book!!!! write faster!!! please??

Rating:
Summary: Not to read if you want to sleep...
Review: This book kept me not only awake but thinking about the story when I wasn't actually reading it. I'd find myself working on my laptop and my mind drifting toward the story and hungry to get back to it as soon as I possibly could. Definitely could not put this one down! I'm looking forward to reading more of what this team has put together already.

Rating:
Summary: A thriller that delivers
Review: When struggling writer Carl Granville is approached by a successful editor at the funeral of his agent he is excited to learn that she has a project in mind for him, if he chooses to accept it. She wants him to ghost-write a fictional novel based on real events that will potentially earn him a fortune. The only problem is that she wants it done fast. Real fast. He will have to turn a series of diaries, letters and articles into explosive fiction within just a few weeks. Carl accepts.

However, within a few days, Carl begins to get uneasy. He's not entirely comfortable with what the diaries are disclosing - in effect, the murder of a small child - and is unsure whether he really wants to continue. But then, two people close to Carl and brutally murdered, including the editor who originally approached him, and Carl, with no evidence at all to support his claims and no alibi, finds himself to be the prime suspect. Carl quickly realises that he's in great danger...there's someone out there who doesn't want this book written, and they're prepared to go to grave lengths to ensure that it isn't...

Excellent thriller. That's really all I can say. Human characters, great writing, and an absolute snake of a plot. It twists and turns and shocks in ways that would make Jeffery Deaver proud. The plot is original enough, and adds a nice twist to the accepted "innocent-man-on-the-run" formula. The protagonist is a wonderful every-man, and very easy to like. I can only applaud this tense, exciting thriller from the pen of David Handler and Peter Gethers. It's very rare that books written by two people actually work, but Gideon is certainly one of the exceptions. This book should please all thriller fans, and I'm very much looking forward to reading "Icarus", which sounds equally thrilling...

Rating:
Summary: AWESOME BOOK
Review: This is the kind of book a good thriller fan devours. "Gideon" is one of the most suspenseful, intricate, and chilling novels I've read in a long time. Without going into a rehash of the plotline, suffice to say Russell Andrews has woven a tale of deception, intrigue, murder, betrayal, you name it..it's in there!
The novel opens with a mysterious suicide, and then goes on in so many different directions, your head spins. But it's done so well, you can't help but get involved. The characterizations, I think, rather than being cliche, are wonderfully original. Take the hero, Carl Granville...he's so desperate he gets into something he knows very little about. But once he gets fully involved, he takes the bull by the horns and as any good hero would do, he sticks it out and comes out just fine in the end.
Momma One Eye is beautifully drawn. Although she's not in the novel a lot, her presence is so essential, you can almost hear her chanting her psalms. Then we have Harry Wagner, a very different villain...cold-hearted of course and irreprehensible, but there's a softness in him that makes you like him, just a little. And then, of course, there's President Tom Adamson and his wife, Elizabeth. Now here we have a different take on the president and his wife. Tom Bickford, the vice president, stricken with Bell's palsy; Amanda Ways, Carl's ex-girlfriend who finds herself getting involved; Toni, the would-be actress who lights up Carl's life briefly; The Closer, a cold-hearted villain that you can't find ANY good in; Father Patrick Jennings, a priest who hears a horrifying confession; Nora Adamson, the president's mother, whose one scene is riveting; on and on, throughout, this novel cooks, and has some real shockers in it, too.
Wow, this book blew me away.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Rating:
Summary: Stale formula and a ton of cliches
Review: Got this book second-hand and it is about the only good thing I can say about it - didn't have to pay the full price. It IS a fast read - because there's nothing to read, actually: it's like watching a movie on fast forward.
The plot... well, some of Ludlum's novels featured pretty [bad]conspiracies, but this is far worse. The bad guys kill a ton of people, though the simplest solution would be to send somebody into the boonies with a spade and a can of gas, to dig out the body and burn it. Which would leave us without this sorry excuse for a novel, though. The cast? The writer, whose only qualification that I noticed was that he was handsome. His girlfriend with much-declared brains (left'em with luggage at the bus depot, I guess), and her "hacker" co-worker (now that's sidesplitting - and so cliche!). The bad guys? A chameleon (now babe, now hunk, now dead, now alive), a bad cop (down to K-Mart clothes and bad breath) and the American Hercules with penchant for male bonding.
Avoid this book.
For health reasons.

Rating:
Summary: Great Premise that Fizzles
Review: Carl Granville is a talented young writer, living in NY, struggling to get his first book published. When his agent dies, he surprisingly is approached by any writer's dream agent who has an interesting propostion for him. He will be given someone's secret diary and he will fictionalize it within 3 weeks. A guard will accompany the installments of the original manuscript to ensure that Carl does not copy it and at the same time, deliver the finished fictionization to the agent. For doing this, Carl receives $50k up front, $50K when he finishes and the guarantee that his first book be published and seriously marketed. Carl readily accepts, burning the midnight oil to fulfill his end of the deal, but when his new agent and a female neighbor mysteriously end up dead, Carl finds himself out on a limb from which he cannot possibly survive, as he is thought to be and labeled by the media a serious killer on a mission.

Sound fascinating?

It is----but sadly, once the actual diary is read and transformed into Carl's manuscript, the killings are executed and Carl has no where to run, the book just loses steam fast. Suddenly the interesting premise transmogrifies into formula--Carl's ex-girlfriend (conveniently a Wash. Post journalist) becomes involved and the reader follows the actions of a ring of outsiders whose histories eventually tie together to lead to the plot's denouement. Problem is, it is just too formula to be fresh and lead to disappointment even when reading the book's most startling revelations.
I picked this book up after reading this writing teams' latest offering, "Icarus". Although, I found "Icarus" to be a moderate-to--superior suspense type yarn, I expected Gideon to be better based on its reviews. I was disappointed.