Gideon’s Corpse by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
Book two of the Gideon Crew series picks up with Gideon having completed the assignment he took on for Effective Engineering Solutions, a top secret agency that subverts terrorism in the U.S.
Gideon is eager to return to his life as a nuclear scientist who likes cooking himself a nice meal after a long day of fishing. Unfortunately, things can’t be that simple. Gideon now lives with the knowledge that he has a rare brain aneurysm and has less than a year to live. The question is whether or not Gideon can rely on the source of this news, that source being Eli Glinn, the head of Effective Engineering Solutions. Did Mr. Glinn use the news of Gideon’s impending doom to manipulate him into doing the job? Gideon needs to know, so he seeks a second opinion.
Any plans Gideon might have about returning to his old life are also put on hold as he is manipulated into taking on another assignment. This time he is sent to assist the FBI in stopping former colleague Reed Chalker, who seems to have turned into a conspiracy theorist gone mad and has taken an innocent family hostage. He teams up with FBI agent, Stone Fordyce. The situation turns from bad to worse when Chalker dies and it is discovered that he had extreme radiation poisoning, the kind that comes from being in contact with a nuclear bomb.
Further investigation reveals that Chalker converted to Islam and was helping a group build the nuclear bomb in question. Now the real question becomes what happened to the nuclear bomb, where is it and when is it scheduled to detonate? Crew and Fordyce must race to find out before the unthinkable happens! This story has so many twists and turns you’ll hurt your neck!
This series is very different for devoted Preston & Child fans. Gideon has his hidden depths but he is not as deep and dark as their most well-known character, Aloysius Pendergast. Crew is a simply a likeable hero who has his heart is in the right place. Following Gideon around is a non-stop thrill ride in the tradition of Bruce Willis’s character, John McClane in Die Hard. He takes on the bad guys left and right, gets pretty banged up in the process and uncovers massive conspiracies that go way over his head. The only thing that might stop him is that nasty brain aneurysm.
Don’t take this stuff too seriously folks, just sit back and enjoy the ride! The Gideon Crew series is quick, light action-adventure reading that will leave you breathless!
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