Blood of the Albatross (Center Point Premier Fiction (Large Print)) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Ridley Pearson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2001 | Series: Center Point Premier Fiction (Large Print)

Seattle sailing instructor and rock musician Jay Becker is suddenly set adrift on a deadly sea of stolen U.S. defense secrets, high treason, and the cold savagery of a shadowy figure known only as "Albatross". Ties in to the March hardcover release of Pearson's Probable Cause.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This second thriller by the author of Never Look Back has lots of potential but never manages to catch fire. The book opens crisply with the murder of a CIA agent in Germany who has passed information about a mole in the FBI to a courier, a woman agent who must evade capture. The plot turns sluggish when it shifts to Seattle where a middle-level FBI man becomes a pawn in a ruse to gain sensitive military secrets. Innocently caught in the intrigue is Jay Becker, a rock musician and sailor, who is hired to teach a young German woman how to handle a boat. Becker falls for the woman, an electronics expert, who, he learns, is being used by the spy ring to assess the material being received. The book is best when the author crosscuts back to Europe and the CIA courier's escape with the information, but the bulk of the action is padded, slowing the narrative pace.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In Seattle, the ordinary life of Jay Becker (part-time sailor, bicyclist, and musician) is shattered by violence and international intrigue as he becomes involved with a mysterious German woman to whom he is giving sailing lessons. When Roy Kepella (an alcoholic Seattle-based CIA agent) participates in an internal sting operation by stealing top secret data, Becker is only one of the many players drawn into the vortex of Kepella's staged downward spiralleaving Kepella to wonder who is friend, who is foe. Meanwhile, the CIA "mule" with information vital to the Seattle operation is trying to evade enemy agents in Europe in an attempt to reach the U.S. Pearson skillfully spins this thriller with sense-of-place, breakneck pace, and economically drawn, believable characters. V. Louise Saylor, Eastern Washington Univ. Lib., Cheney
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Center Point Large Print (August 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585471275
• ISBN-13: 978-1585471270
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,960,300 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ridley Pearson (www.ridleypearson.com), the first American to be awarded the Raymond Chandler/Fulbright Fellowship in Detective Fiction at Wadham College, Oxford University, is the bestselling author of over 35 novels including, Peter And the Starcatchers (co-written with Dave Barry), the young adult novel, The Kingdom Keepers, and two dozen crime novels including: Probable Cause, Beyond Recognition and Killer Weekend (July 2007). His novel The Diary Of Ellen Rimbauer, a prequel to a Stephen King miniseries, was a New York Times #1 bestseller, as was Peter and the Shadow Thieves (#1 for 6 weeks). Ridley adapted The Diary Of Ellen Rimbaurer for ABC Television; it aired in 2003.

Peter and the Starcatchers is to open as a stage play, off-Broadway in March 2011, under Disney Theatrical.

Ridley is a founding member of, and plays bass guitar in, the all-author rock band, The Rockbottom Remainders (www.rockbottomremainders.com), with Dave Barry, Stephen King, Scott Turow, Mitch Albom, Amy Tan and Greg Iles. The band has raised over 2.5 million dollars for charities over its 18 year history.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible. Hard to read. Disconnected., October 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Blood of the Albatross (Mass Market Paperback)

I've read other books by Ridley Pearson that I enjoyed. This book ,however was sophomoric writing.Poor research and a disconnected story line. I struggled to control my annoyance enough to complete the book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not one of his better books., May 2, 2000

By 

Old Fisherman "Jim" (Orange, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood of the Albatross (Mass Market Paperback)

Jay Becker, sailing instructor and part-time musician, takes on the beautiful, but aloof Marlene as a new student. Soon Jay finds himself engulfed in an FBI sting operation with discredited agent Roy Kapella, and shady German spy Iben Holst. Will Jay survive as Iben Holst sends his trusted Chinese henchman, John Chu, after Jay to silence him permanently? Will Roy Kapella be able to trap Holst and his shadowy boss, the notorius Wilhelm? It all hangs in the balance until almost the last page.

Did I like this book? Well...not as much as other of Mr. Pearson's books. The plot seemed unecessarily convoluted to me and at times seemed to wander. Another reviewer wrote that this was Ridley Pearson's second book, and I can believe it. It doesn't show much of the style of his later works, especially the well-written Lou Boldt novels. It's possible my problem with the book is more the genre than the book itself since this book is more a spy type novel rather than a mystery. I've never really been partial to spy novels. My recommendation? Give it a try. Mr. Pearson is still a good writer, better than many out there.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Once a Pearson fan, Always a Pearson fan, May 30, 2000

By 

Reader (WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood of the Albatross (Mass Market Paperback)

It is one of his earlier books, and you must appreciate the late 1980's setting. I enjoyed some of his (Nelson)Demille-esque spy-chasing, and giggled at the name of the band. It conjures up images of a big haired and sweat-banded singer. Seriously, though, It is a good tale with several different story lines running throughout which finally meet. The international scope is welcome after his more recent domestic series. The bottom line is that it is a good read, Still Pearson, and is a testament to the talent he has.