Cheater [Hardcover]

Kenneth W. Goddard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1996

Henry Culver, a disillusioned cop and retired CIA agent, and French Lt. Col. Charles L'Que join forces to find a psychopathic killer, computer-hacker whiz, and possible CIA agent responsible for a series of murders of young children in the rural D.C. suburbs.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A new Goddard hero?Virginia cop Henry Culver, late of the CIA?makes his debut here, but the story that brings him to muscular life is every bit as hectically violent as those that entrapped the author's previous men of action (Wildfire, Prey, etc.). Pitted against Culver in this unflagging thriller are some of his former colleagues, a few new ones and, most lethally, the madman and computer expert known as Digger, who is shown in the novel's opening pages employing a particularly frightening means of breaking into a private home in order to murder the residents. The kicker is that Digger is an "asset" of a CIA faction that plans "a grasp of international power on a scale that has the potential to dwarf every industrial and social revolution in recorded history." The power grab revolves around an upcoming international gathering on the environment in Washington, but this premise serves only as the narrative's sparkplug?the turbine is composed of the action itself, which spins ever faster as Culver, soon joined in his quest by a vengeful French military man, dodges death and kills in turn as he seeks to take Digger down. Goddard has a habit of ending chapters on cliffhangers and later revealing what happened almost as a passing aside, but most readers, flipping the pages to enjoy the next tense thrill, are not likely to care.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

There's merry hell to pay when a high-level CIA plot to gather illegal intelligence at a conference on the global trade in endangered species comes undone--in a bizarre but lively sixth thriller from Goddard (Wildfire, 1994, etc.), currently the director of the National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory . To the despair and frustration of agency officials, one of their prized assets has gone into business for himself. Known only as Digger, the rogue operative is greatly esteemed for his ability to break into almost any building or computer system. Unfortunately, though, Digger (whose sobriquet derives from his tunneling expertise) is also a sociopath who delights in killing pets and people while burgling upscale homes in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. Arrested for murdering a German Interpol officer and his family, Digger is sent to a mental institution for observation. In the course of the commitment proceedings, he becomes convinced that Henry Culver, the Fairfax County criminalist whose testimony has kept him in custody, did not play fair with the evidence. When CIA mercenaries spring Digger from the asylum, his twisted sense of equity sets him on a vendetta. Meantime, Culver's new boss, a bent cop named Theodore Gauss, has purloined Digger's PC, cracked its software codes, and assumed command of the housebreaking crew the artful dodger directed via computer. Then Digger begins taking revenge on those he believes have done him wrong. Despite leaving a bloody trail, the fugitive psycho keeps at bay both his erstwhile masters at the CIA and the local police force (confused by the unsuspected perfidy of Gauss). With an assist from Charles L'Que (a French colonel assigned to security duties at the wildlife conference), the cerebral Culver eventually tracks Digger to his lair in a subterranean cavern and arranges appropriate comeuppances for other villains of the piece. A wealth of violent action, outer-edge plotting, and authentic detail on what lab guys really look for at a crime scene. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 415 pages
• Publisher: Forge; 1st edition (May 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312859457
• ISBN-13: 978-0312859459
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,527,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Deja-vu, August 21, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Cheater (Paperback)

I loved the story the first time it was published. Mr Goddard must be into the recycle program, as the novel "Digger" appears to have been recycled into "Cheaters". In fact, the first couple of pages are taken exactly word for word from his earlier novel. It will be a most interesting experience to finish reading "Cheaters" to find out how much of the story has been recycled.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Thank God I finished It, August 1, 2005

By 

Crime Connoisseur "Brick" (CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cheater (Paperback)

This is a not a worthwhile read but I was determined to stick it out. My final thoghts were - I just want this to be over -How could all these people be so stupid? Very jerky plot - too many villians without believeable motives and shallow characters with no development. Seemed like just another attempt to out horror the current horrorers. (Is that really a word?) If this is typical Goddard, this is my first at last attempt at him. Thank heavens I got it a the used book store and didn't pay full price.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I great, great thriller with no predictable ending, March 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cheater (Paperback)

I loved this book. It is one of the few books I have ever read that doesn't give away the end until its time. Henry Culver is a great hero and cop. A MUST READ!!!!