Customer Reviews

Broken Wings

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Broken Wings is absolutely intriguing, but what else would we expect from best-selling authors Douglas and Olshaker? These two authors have traditionally written amazing non-fiction books, but I absolutely could not wait, aftering hearing Douglas was coming out with a novel, to delve myself right into reading it! The main character in Broken Wings, Jake Donovan, fulfills Douglas's actual vision by starting up a flying squad that will be ready to fly to the scene of a crime, fully prepared to analyze and solve criminal cases. This novel gets a strong five stars and a pat on the back to Douglas and Olshaker, for another job well done.

This book was great. Typical Douglas, keeping you tense all the way through. Seemingly autobiographical, the plot is very real and beleiveable because it's backed up with actual cases and methods and behavioral models. Only an author with the experience Douglas has could compile such a suspensefula and real story.

If you've ever enjoyed books about crime and behavior, read this book.

Jake Crawford, longtime FBI agent and serial killer profiler, has been forced into retirement after a hostage-type standoff goes south, even though Crawford's not to blame. So ends a brilliant career. Even a tempting, if a bit ill timed, offer from an eccentric widow fails to pique Jake's interest. Discredited, divorced and dejected, Jake crawls into a self-imposed banishment and alcoholic stupor. Just a day or two after Jake's retirement party, agents are at his banging at his door, demanding his presence at Quantico, and not even leaving him enough time to brush his teeth. It seems his former boss, FBI Director Thomas Jefferson Boyd has just eaten the wrong end of a bullet at his home in San Francisco. His old nemeses, now in charge of a real public relations nightmare, plead with Jake to take a look at the crime scene before the local cops foul it up. Jake is immediately dispatched to the crime scene. Even when all the evidence points to suicide and even when delicate photos of the Director and a woman not his wife are found at the scene, Jake can't bring himself to believe the man would end his life this way. Sensing something is terribly wrong, and that whatever it is just might be found within the walls of the FBI, Jake returns to the rich widow, accepts her challenge to put together a team of experts and sets about to crack the case of Director Boyd's suspicious demise. From his long list of contacts, Jake recruits former professors, fellow officers and some disgraced agents, each of them a 'broken wing' (a term for someone no longer able to handle active duty) in one way or the other. With no budgetary or supervisory restraints, Jake and his group are free to look more closely at the events leading up to the Director's death. This is my first Douglas/Olshaker book, but it won't be my last. I liked Jake and his merry band of misfits. I'm sure Douglas' many years at the FBI as a profiler of serial killers helped lend authenticity to the story. However, the authors have a true gift at 'putting it all together' in a believable package. Although I figured out the 'bad' guy right away, I liked all the twists and turns the story took. I also liked Millicent De Vries, the woman who fronts Jake and his group of 'Broken Wings.' The door is open for sequels, and I, for one, can hardly wait to see where Jake will end up in the next volumes! Broken Wings is crackerjack storytelling. Enjoy!

Terry H. Mathews Reviewer

This suspense novel keeps you wondering until the end, and Douglas' incomparable understanding of the criminal mind makes this book as creepily believable as those Hannibal Lechter stories. As good as the authors' nonfiction series. Can't wait for a sequel!

The FBI considers him to be one of its most spectacular manhunters, but this profiler wishes he were somewhere else than where he is. The FBI has laid siege to the compound of the militia group the Wyoming Defenders. The agent in charge decides to attack over the vociferous objection of his on-site profiler Jake, who believes this will become Waco II. Jake is right, as many lives are lost. However, Jake takes the fall for the incident and the FBI Director, the Honorable Judge Thomas Jefferson Boyd "retires" a distraught Jake.

However, one day after his enforced retirement, Quantico recalls Jake to help with an internal crisis. Thomas apparently committed suicide and the acting director wants Jake to investigate the incident independent of the agency so no one can claim cover-up. Jake thinks his former boss is a murder victim. With the backing of wealthy Millicent De Vries, Jake gathers together a cadre of "retired" agents to form the Broken Wings squadron. Their missions are to investigate Thomas' death and to stop Napoleon, an international criminal who took over Millicent's family business. They soon learn that people in high government places needed Thomas out of the way so that Napoleon could play.

Any one who wants to understand profiling in terms of how an expert can get inside the mind of a psychopath needs to read BROKEN WINGS. That is expected from any work that includes John Douglas as a co-author since he is one of the pioneers of the program. The complex investigation is fascinating as readers find themselves needing to complete the plot in one sitting to learn what really happened. BROKEN WINGS is an entertaining winner.

I love true crime and of course, know John Douglas' name well. I ordered this, not realizing until I was running out the door with it in hand to read on the subway that it was a novel. I was a little disappointed, because I generally am more interested in true stories. I did read the whole book and I enjoyed it. I am guessing that there is probably a lot of John Douglas in the main character (Jake Donovan - same initials, even). The idea of the Flying Squad on which the book is based, is fascinating. And, of course, solving the mystery is half the fun. Well written, a good story, believable characters and even a few good chuckles.

After a badly managed standoff between a survivalist group and the FBI, agent/profiler Jake Donovan is forced into retirement as part of a major upheaval at the FBI. Soon afterwards, the Director of the FBI is found dead of a gunshot wound. It looks like a straightforward suicide, but was it? And if so, did the burned photos in the fireplace indicate blackmail which might have provided the Director with a motive? Donovan is summoned back to Quantico and asked to run an independent investigation to ensure (1) that the death was, in fact, what it looked like and (2) whether the Director was the victim of blackmail and, if so, whether the basis of the blackmail could be kept quiet. We all know that "independent" is anathema to a federal buraucracy, and suffice it to say that the book hits the ground running from there. Donovan manages to assemble a team of FBI misfits and rejects, financed by the widow(?)of a missing/dead statesman/crime lord. The team kicks butts and takes names and knows how to get the job done, never mind that nothing is who or what it seems. The novel is replete with intrigue, mistrust, grave robbing(!) [by the good guys!], forensics, sexual chemistry, and plenty of insight into how the FBI operates. I saw a great deal of autobiographical material vis-a-vis John Douglas, which worked superbly to make the pot boil faster. The novel could be construed as a giant nose-thumbing at FBI rules and regulations. I love it! The authors left the door wide open for their next collaboration, and I will eagerly await it.

Once I picked this book up I could not put it down. It had a well developed plot, interesting story line and realistic characters. Douglas and Olshanker give the reader interesting and informative insight into the criminal mind, to create a very real and gripping novel. I recomend this book highly!

Douglas and Oldshaker have written so many non-fiction books, and this work of fiction is wonderfully done - The idea of putting together a group of folks that are considered washed up to investigate situations is reminiscent of the A-Team - just as fun, and as cool.
This book has a sequel that was not the caliber of Wings, but one still hopes for another outing of our Wings cast -
Please, Mr. Douglas???

I have always enjoyed well crafted books; ones that have a beginning, a middle and most important a sucessful conclusion. Too many authors have not learned their craft, Messers Douglas and Block have. The story builds from the beginning, as the characters are developing the inter-relationships. The suspense is heightened during the middle phases, as the reader is teased with alternatives twists and turns of the plot, and the successful end culiminates the story. This is a very good book.