Skinner, the hero of this exceptionally smart thriller from Huston (Sleepless), gets his name from having been raised for the first 12 years of his life inside a Skinner box—a chamber devised by 20th-century psychologist B.F. Skinner to conduct behavioral psychology experiments on animals. A former CIA agent whose early isolation has made him particularly suited to the trade of killing, Skinner is now a highly paid security technician who specializes in guarding clients, known as “assets.” One such asset is Jae, a genius analyst who likes to spend her time wandering an unnamed desert taking drugs and building tiny robots. The mysterious Terrence, who used to run the security firm Kestrel Dynamics, has worked up a solo operation for Skinner and Jae, which eventually leads them to a momentous discovery in the streets of Dharavi, a slum in the city of Bombay. Stunningly original characters, wildly surprising twists, and an ending that’s both unexpected and moving make this an extraordinary genre stand-alone. This is the sort of book you want to reread just to see how the trick was done. Agent: Simon Lipskar, Writers House. (July)
PRAISE FOR SKINNER AND CHARLIE HUSTON:Wall Street Journal Skinner is of the moment. . . . While Skinner has its share of bone-crunching fight scenes, Huston channeled [his] anger into a book with a highly complex picture of how people live at opposite ends of the economic spectrum."—Los Angeles Times USA TODAY Booklist (starred review) Skinner is an up-to-the-second thriller, combining big ideas, gouts of blood and a fascinating mix of damaged characters."—Cleveland Plain-Dealer
"Skinner is an up-to-the-second thriller, combining big ideas, gouts of blood and a fascinating mix of damaged characters."
"Fun and inventive . . . An espionage thriller for the information age with echoes of John Le Carre and William Gibson."
"Its fluency with both the world of spies and of high technology, like Olen Steinhauer by way of William Gibson, makes it a gripping read, [and] the humanity Skinner finds in himself is genuinely touching."
"Skinner is of the moment. . . . While Skinner has its share of bone-crunching fight scenes, Huston channeled [his] anger into a book with a highly complex picture of how people live at opposite ends of the economic spectrum."
"A thriller for the Edward Snowden Summer . . . Mr. Huston is renowned for making the fantastic believable."
"Skinner is an up-to-the-second thriller, combining big ideas, gouts of blood and a fascinating mix of damaged characters."
"Mind-bendingly original, from the characters, to the dialogue, to the sensory-overloaded world. A tour-de-force. Add Huston to the A-list."
Booklist (starred review)
"Its fluency with both the world of spies and of high technology, like Olen Steinhauer by way of William Gibson, makes it a gripping read, [and] the humanity Skinner finds in himself is genuinely touching."
"Charlie Huston's excellent new thriller [feels] two steps ahead of the present moment even as it encapsulates everything that's freaked us out in the last decade. . . . Skinner doesn't just borrow from the headlines—it critiques them, in the service of a well-plotted and ultimately character-driven story. It's a hell of a book."
"SKINNER could easily be credible as pages ripped from the latest newspaper headlines....This book will leave you breathless."
The Tampa Bax Examiner (Top Five Summer Must-Reads Pick)
"Charlie Huston writes crime fiction for a new century but does so in the tradition of the masters. Skinner specializes in 'asset protection' and his skills are tested here to their fullest."
Huston’s (Sleepless; The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death) new stand-alone thriller is scary in its timeliness. Skinner is a hired gun whose sole job is to protect his “asset.” His maxim is “the only true way to secure an asset is to ensure that the cost of acquiring it is greater than its value,” and he is willing to die for it. His current assignment is Jae, a young robotocist who can see the patterns in anything and everything. She once worked for Kestrel, a private contracting firm, but left when she was betrayed. Now she’s been asked by her former handler, Terrence, to take on a new assignment from Kestrel. Along with the assignment comes Skinner. A man who will do anything—and already has—to get the job done.
Verdict To say much more about the plot would ruin it for readers. In order to enjoy the suspense, Huston’s careful layering of the story should be read without much foreknowledge. Suffice it to say, the recent revelations about data mining are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what is going on in the world of spying. Add in missing nukes, hacking, drones, terrorists, and a host of other threats, and readers may come away from this novel a bit more paranoid: it’s all just too plausible. This is a must for fans of John le Carré and Olen Steinhauer.—Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI
Jay Snyder's practiced voice engages the listener quickly in this techno-thriller, and his experience shines throughout the entire adventure. Whether it's his staccato pacing as the bodyguard Skinner displays his methodical and deadly fighting skills or his warm voice as two lovers walk in the evening in Mumbai—Snyder's range, pacing, and timing demonstrate his skill with audiobooks. Snyder deftly transitions between the male and female protagonists and adroitly manages multiple international accents. Some listeners may not appreciate the abrupt writing style that drives the audio presentation, but Snyder makes the most of the literary technique. Addressing income inequality in a thriller whose protagonist kills quickly, efficiently, and often is an unusual approach. Huston demonstrates again that he is no ordinary writer, and Snyder does his work justice. M.L.R. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine
A cyberterrorist attack against America looms in this grim, hard-edged thriller from Edgar Award–nominated author Huston. The scenario at the core of this latest from Huston is time-honored: A plot is afoot that may bring down the U.S. But Huston brings his end-of-the-world cliffhanger solidly into the 21st century by centering it on cyberterrorism. It seems that culprits lurking in the Ukraine are plotting to disable the U.S. computer grid. Missile launching systems have also been sighted in the vicinity, and already they've possibly done a test run that blacked out parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania and took five lives. An independent security agency contends that only a woman named Jae can ferret out what's afoot. She's their "asset," and they'll put her in motion only with an "asset protector." Enter Skinner, whose maxim is, "The only way to secure an asset is to ensure that the cost of acquiring it is greater [than] its value." The two are off to Europe in a pursuit suffused with treachery, violence and double cross. While much of what follows is essentially drawn from the le Carré playbook, Huston kicks it up a step with characters whose hearts of concrete make Smiley and Company look like sob sisters. Skinner's demented parents kept him in a box for the first 12 years of his life, breeding a killer. Jae is a crack roboticist who is often high on amphetamines and psychedelics. Realizing Skinner may be falling for her, she bolts herself in a bathroom stall and screams obscenities. Meanwhile, in contrast, intervening chapters are suffused with warmth (and some of Huston's better writing) as they follow a young Mumbai boy and his family, whose activities eventually intersect with Jae and Skinner's as the doomsday clock ticks away. Huston indeed evokes a bleak, apocalyptic world, but the book is slowly paced and weighted down by a prolix, elliptical style. A tale that may enthrall technogeeks while sending their elders scrambling through Hacking for Dummies.
