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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 American city will be vaporized by a terrorist attack.
Ten days. And Gideon Crew, tracking the mysterious terrorist cell from the suburbs of New York to the mountains of New Mexico, learns the end may be something worse—far worse—than mere Armageddon.
The thrillers of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child "stand head and shoulders above their rivals" (Publisher's Weekly). Coauthors of the famed Pendergast series, their books Relic and The Cabinet of Curiosities were chosen by readers in a National Public Radio poll as being among the 100 greatest thrillers ever written, and Relic was made into a number one box office hit movie. They are also the authors of Fever Dream, Cold Vengeance and Gideon's Sword. Preston's acclaimed nonfiction book, The Monster of Florence, is being made into a movie starring George Clooney. His interests include horses, scuba diving, skiing, mountain climbing, and exploring the Maine coast in an old lobster boat. Lincoln Child is a former book editor who has published four novels of his own, including the huge bestseller Deep Storm. He is passionate about motorcycles, sports cars, exotic parrots, and nineteenth-century English literature.
Readers can sign up for The Pendergast File, a monthly "strangely entertaining note" from the authors, at their website, www.prestonchild.com. The authors welcome visitors to their alarmingly active Facebook page, where they post regularly.
Preston's first job was as a writer for the American Museum of Natural History in New York -- an eight year stint that led to the publication of his first book, Dinosaurs in the Attic and introduced him to his future writing partner, Lincoln Child, then working as an editor at St. Martin's Press. The two men bonded, as they worked closely together on the book. As the project neared completion, Preston treated Child to a private midnight tour of the museum, an excursion that proved fateful. As Preston tells it, "...in the darkened Hall of Late Dinosaurs, under a looming T. Rex, Child turned to [me] and said: 'This would make the perfect setting for a thriller!'" Their first collaborative effort, Relic, would not be published until 1995, by which time Preston had picked up stakes and moved to Santa Fe to pursue a full-time writing career.
In addition to writing novels (The Codex, Tyrannosaur Canyon) and nonfiction books on the American Southwest (Cities of Gold, Ribbons of Time), Preston has collaborated with Lincoln Child on several post-Relic thrillers. While not strictly a series, the books share characters and events, and the stories all take place in the same universe. The authors refer to this phenomenon as "The Preston-Child Pangea."
Preston divides his time between New Mexico and Maine, while Child lives in New Jersey -- a situation that necessitates a lot of long-distance communication. But their partnership (facilitated by phone, fax, and email) is remarkably productive and thoroughly egalitarian: They shape their plots through a series of discussions; Child sends an outline of a set of chapters; Preston writes the first draft of those chapters, which is subsequently rewritten by Child; and in this way the novel is edited back and forth until both authors are happy. They attribute the relatively seamless surface of their books to the fact that "[a]ll four hands have found their way into practically every sentence, at one time or another."
In between, Preston remains busy. He is a regular contributor to magazines like National Geographic, The New Yorker, Natural History, Smithsonian, Harper's, and Travel & Leisure, and he continues with varied solo literary projects. Which is not to say his partnership with Lincoln Child is over. Fans of the bestselling Preston-Child thrillers can be assured there are bigger and better adventures to come.
His brother is Richard Preston, the bestselling author of The Hot Zone, The Cobra Event, The Wild Trees, and other novels and nonfiction narratives.
Preston is an expert horseman and a member of the Long Riders Guild.
He is also a National Geographic Society Fellow, has traveled extensively around the world, and contributes archaeological articles to many magazines.
In our interview, Preston shared some fun and fascinating personal anecdotes.
"My first job was washing dishes in the basement of a nursing home for $2.10 an hour, and I learned as much about the value of hard work there as I ever did later."
"I need to write in a small room -- the smaller the better. I can't write in a big room where someone might sneak up behind my back."
"My hobbies are mountain biking, horseback riding and packing, canoeing and kayaking, hiking, camping, cooking, and skiing."
On page 293 the authors write: "There was an air of desuetude, even abandonment." And they were so right, I could feel it myself. Hundreds and hundreds of readers abandoning this novel before they finished it.
It was around page 138 that I began to think of abandoning it myself,only to then be rewarded with a few pages of Gideon and his partner having dinner. They were having kidneys, but the partner didn't want to eat them. Then he did, and guess what? He liked them. Yes, indeed, this is quite a thriller I am reading. For some odd reason, I finished the book, although I admit to glossing over some pages. It's really boring, and not much of interest happens after the first few pages. Even the big scene toward the end is a letdown. People were getting shot and I was saying "Hey, over here. Put this book out of its misery!"
7 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 19, 2012
While Gideon grows as a character the plot line and general premise was a bit unbelievable coupled with unlikely resolutions to some of the obstacles presented to Gideon. A bit of a disappointing sequel
6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 28, 2012
This book is getting some pretty bad reviews and I don't know why. These two authors write fast paced, well researched action novels. And they do it pretty well time and time again. The novel is not perfect but the character, Crew, is engaging and a joy to follow. You can tell the love that the authors have for both Holmes and Bond and they show such joy in writing these adventures. These two are still some of my fav story tellers in the genre. More of Pendergast, and yes! More Gideon Crew please.
4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 15, 2012
Gideon's Sword was not bad, but the sequel is terrible! I can not believe it was written by Preston and Child as I enjoyed the entire Pendergast series. I am 3/4 the way through and it has been torture to try to reach the end.
4 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 24, 2012
This book is actually really good... this desperately NEEDS a movie. This has gotten a raving review on the New York Times... hint hint!
Anyway, for those of you who are thinking of buying the book and looking at BOTH editorial and customer reviews, do it. It's really worth the damn money. It has a lot of strong language, so I really only don't reccomend it to those who are sensitive about that kind of stuff.
But still,
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 13, 2012
Whoa! This can't be a Preston Child book. It's way bad.
3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 5, 2012
As a long time fan of Preston/Child, I was hesitant to start this series based in the reviews. But Gideon Crew is growing in me and I thoroughly enjoyed the progression of his character in this installment. The story was paced well and good piece of escapism.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I am a fan of the Preston/Child novels, specifically the Pendergast series. I did enjoy this one as well, as a matter-of-fact, I preferred the second Gideon novel over the first.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 25, 2012
Looks as though I am in the minority, but I couldn't put the book down! Really feel it would make a great movie and enjoyed it very much. Preston and Child wrote a great book. Give it a try, you might just like it!!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 3, 2012
Always a great read fasr fun and smarr
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 22, 2012
The Pendergast series is absolutely incredible and I think the Gidron series has a lot of promise. Right now I just dont think Gideons character is fully developed. On its own this is a very good read and well worth the time
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 22, 2012
I was so disappointed withe the first book I figured it had to be a fluke. P&G are to good to put out two awful books in a row. Well I was more wrong than I ever imagined I could be. The second was just as awful as the first. I listened to this on audiobook during my commute and was so completely bored I would find myself daydreaming about...well anything! Gideon Crew needs to sent of into the sunset or better yet, killed in some horrible, awful way that will make me feel better about having wasted dozens of hours of my life on these books that I will never get back.
2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 14, 2012
This book was far and away better than the first of this new character.
This story was pretty decently paced with some good imagery... as expected from the guys.
Gideon seemed more of a filled in character and the characters that were brought in were better thought out I felt.
I had gone in to this book disappointed in the first and was thinking that I wouldn't get any more Gideon books if this one was crap too. I was pleasantly surprised and felt the need to keep at it once he got on a roll.
Obviously, it's nothing like any Pendergast book, but pretty solid after the first (disappointing) Gideon book.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 6, 2012
Disappointing
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 10, 2012
Fastpaced but still not as good as gideons sword
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 9, 2012
Like most all Preston & Child books, this one is a roller coaster of suspense, complex story lines, great characters, and cliffhangers. It was hard to put down. I would have to re-read Gideon's Sword to see which one I liked better. I won't review the story, you can get that elsewhere
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 24, 2012
Being of the same supposed age of gideon in the novels, i would like to tell the authors that he is not cool. He's touted as cool but in no way is a ponytailed, jazz listening recluse with a penchant for whores cool.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 15, 2012
Preston & Child can crank them out and this one is a great read. Another in the Gideon series that will keep you reading.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 26, 2012
Couldn't put this down
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 17, 2013
This is a good read for a rainy evening. Did not care for the ending. Too abrupt, and too many unanswered questions. Still one of my favorite mystery writers.
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Overview
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 American city will be vaporized by a...