The Watchmen

Rating:
Summary: A psychological yawner
Review: "The Watchmen" is an excellent bedtime read: it will put you to sleep.

Everyone in this book is haunted by their memories of past failures and shortcomings. John Altman has attempted to color his characters with their strivings, yearnings and regrets.

He fails.

Dr. Louis Finney is called upon by a former colleague, whom he feels led him into monstrous deeds, to assist in the interrogation of Ali Zattout at a CIA safe house. An assasin without a name, but with his own set of psychological problems is murdering everyone in an Al Queda cell as he works his way to his final quarry. Guess who?

I refer to attempted thrillers like these as "Lego books": it's as if the author reached into a bucket of Lego blocks, each inscribed with a cliche of dialog or plot twist and put together his novel.

The prime movers here are simply unbelievable. The cleverer-than-thou assassin able to disappear in an instant. The dumber-than-dumb CIA operative who can't see the obvious. All the characters are thinner than paper. The plot twists are clearly inventions arrived at to move the author over rough spots.

All in all not a very satisfying read. Not a horrible read, but not one that leaves you breathless, interested or awake.le

Jerry

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Summary: BOMC says " I adored John Altman's The Watchmen"
Review: '.... For years, I've waited for a thriller with the depth and texture of John Le Carre's Little Drummer Girl. Now, I've found it.... This is perfect pleasure. Altman has not had a bestseller for reasons I can't fathom. But you will love him. Yes, I've said this before, about The Way the Crow Flies and The Enemy. I meant it then, and I mean it now. It's the texture of The Watchmen (see page 6) that gets me. The terrorist at the center is so well drawn, you almost root for him (God forbid). There's a scene with the daughter of a motel owner that is simply one of the most affecting and terrifying scenes I've ever come across. The people in Altman's world are three-diminsional, original, completely outside the stereotypical cardboard of most suspense these days. So, once again, if you like the occasional thriller, if you long for something that will not insult your intelligence as it fixes you to the edge of your seat, read The Watchmen....' Victoria Skurnick, Editor-in-Chief, Book of the Month Club

Rating:
Summary: The Watchmen
Review: Another riveting novel by John Altman. If you enjoy reading Tom Clancy or Lee Child (Jack Reacher series), you'll enjoy Altman's latest book. The Watchmen kept me on the edge of my seat and caused me stay up until 2:00 a.m. to finish the last sixty pages.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Dr. Louis Finney has not been in the game for over two decades, ever since he saw the results of his mentor Dr. Arthur Noble's research on people that were expendable like mentally ill human beings. Their research was instrumental in creating the techniques used today to get a spy to open up their minds and spill their secrets without breaking them entirely.

Unexpectedly, Noble calls on Finney to observe the techniques that are used on Ali Zattout, a terrorist in the Al Qaeda organization. Noble is rushed to the hospital leaving Finney to be the only watcher to judge the effectiveness of the techniques. There is a mole in the unit that the prisoner is in and when he is killed, Dr. Finney takes over the interrogation. Louis has more to worry about than breaking one terrorist for Al Qaeda is worried about the secrets he could reveal. They send over an assassin who systematically kills everyone in the prison's terrorist cell before he makes a daring move on the command center where Zattout is held

John Altman fills the place that John Le Carre has held for so many years and has made it uniquely his own. The prose is stark and gritty reflecting the claustrophobic cell in the compound. The actions takes place on two levels: the authorities try to run the assassin to ground while the doctors need to break the subject mentally so he can spill their secrets. THE WATCHMAN is a spy story for the twenty-first century.

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: LIKE HIS ASSASSIN, MR ALTMAN IS A MASTER
Review: How many countless thrillers have been written about Nazi villans and how few about Communist evildoers? Which shows the leftist slant of our literatti. To my knowledge THE WATCHMEN is the first novel about Al Qaeda so I was eager to read it. Despite a slow start, THE WATCHMEN did not disappoint. The writing is taut, spare, gritty and tough, the mood shadowy. Mr. Altman tries his best to give a human face to the Al Qaeda characters yet he remains on the American side of the fence. "Men sleep peacefully in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." George Orwell, had he written that today, could have been talking about the the interrogators or watchmen who are necessary to gain information in the fight against radical Islam which would destroy the West. Some of the philosophical conflict in THE WATCHMEN concerns appropriate or ethical interrogation techniques. But mostly THE WATCHMEN is a straight line thriller about an assassin hired to kill an Al Qaeda prisoner kept in a safehouse in the cold and wet American Northwest, a safehouse that is more fortress than house. And the assassin is no ordinary assassin but a master of the dark art, skilled at stealth and the blade. If you're a guy you'll love the action and no-nonsense plot. There is little romance or love interest here to soften the story for the ladies but the characters have dimension within their job descriptions at least. The fast-moving plot doesn't allow much tarrying to flesh out full lives but THE WATCHMEN is thriller genre, after all. Like his assassin, Mr. Altman is a master, so hang on for a good ride.

Rating:
Summary: Altman's Best Since "GATHERING OF SPIES"
Review: I enjoy the spy thriller genre and have read all of John Altman's books. Until now, his first book was my favorite but this newest one is definitely the best. This tale of the interrogation of an Al Quada terrorist by the CIA using sophisticated interrogation methods was fascinating and highly relevant to today's headlines. The side plots were interesting as well. I couldn't put this book down once I started it.

Rating:
Summary: Eerie, edgy, disturbing
Review: The phenomenon of "hidden personality" whereby more than one persona inhabits a body (or brain to be more precise) is a controversial subject. What if, for "security" reasons, we have delved into the task of creating such personalities through a combination of drugs and torture, psychological and physical? This is a backdrop to the real story which involves two plots, both superbly realized.

The first involves a CIA-trained "watcher" who notes the small, unconscious habits of people that indicate their true thoughts. In the past, he and his mentor, now near death, successfully created a second personality in a young woman through unorthodox methods. Their strained relationship introduces us to the moody, dark world of intelligence.

A terrorist is captured and the watcher is called to make the determination - is he telling the truth? Simultaneously, a ruthless Arab assassin is methodically murdering all members of a sleeper cell. His real mission is to kill the terrorist before he reveals secrets. Action alternates between the watchman and the terrorist who is both devout and sociopathic, killing at the drop of hat, without remorse, a machine of death. Slowly but surely the two are drawn towards each other and the result is explosive, deeply unhinging and yet satisfying. This is a disturbing novel with a relentless, brooding atmosphere.

Rating:
Summary: THRILLER
Review: The Watchmen is an engrossing novel that captures and holds your attention from the first page to the last page. It is a definite "must read."

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Be More Timely !!
Review: With Al Quada front and center in the news on virtually a daily basis, this book is timely and extremely entertaining. It's a psychological thriller that is at the same time very fast paced, an Altman trademark. I was a big fan of his first book, "A Gathering of Spies" but didn't love the next two. This one, however, is by far his best. The relationship bedtween the two psychiatrists, Noble and Finney, is particularly well drawn. Definitely 5 stars. I'd give it 6 if I could!