The Conductor [Hardcover]

Jerry Kennealy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 13, 1995

Thriller packed with non stop action, breathtaking violence and human warmth.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The terrorist El Cabecilla ("the conductor") has exploited the full abilities of his plastic surgeon in an attempt to avoid the Mossad. But the Russians have caught up with him, and the price of their silence is for him to capture a wealthy American on the verge of making a successful bid for Russian oil. This thriller by the author of the Nick Polo mystery series is a perfectly enjoyable action-filled summer read?as long as you don't set your sights too high. The characters are familiar cliches: El Cabecilla is a psychopath (he was raped by priests at school); his sidekick, a vicious lesbian; the hero, a borderline alcoholic cop still recovering from the death of his family. The body count is enormously high, which tends to emphasize the villains' nastiness even as it undermines their credibility as brilliant criminal minds.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

As a practicing California private eye and author of the San Francisco-based Nick Polo series, Kennealy offers his readers a nonstop, action-packed, entertaining detective mystery filled with international characters and intrigue. Police Inspector Jack Kordic is given the task of discovering the relationships among a headless, handless body found floating in the Pacific Ocean, a Hispanic man who has a mild heart attack on a city street and dies suspiciously in the hospital, and a billionaire oil tycoon who is kidnapped and held for ransom. The key is a female attorney, Mary Ariza, who ministered to the cardiac victim and heard his last confession regarding "El Cabecilla," the conductor. Christopher Lane narrates the foreign characters well, and the text moves the plot from the necessary surveillance sequences to the explosive kidnapping/ransom/double-cross and final confrontation. Recommended for detective collections.?Kristin M. Jacobi, Eastern Connecticut State Univ., Willimantic
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Headline Book Publishing (July 13, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747215022
• ISBN-13: 978-0747215028

More About the Author

I'm a native San Franciscan - a rare breed nowadays; a former policeman, fireman, licensed private investigator for more than twenty years, and past Vice President of the Private Eye Writers of America.
Married to Shirley, the love of my life, also a San Francisco native, we have two sons: Frank and Steve, and a grandson, Jake.
When I was struggling to get my first mansucript finished, a friendly, established author encourged me, saying that my background should be helpful, and then he gave me this piece of advice: "Write what you know, and fake the rest."
I've been writing ever since. My first books were all first person private eye adventures, including ten in the Nick Polo series, and most of the action took place in San Francisco.
The following eight thrillers moved around from London, to Madrid, Russia, etc., but usually had a scene or two in San Francisco (write what you know).
Now I'm back in the city with a new series, stating with JIGSAW, featureing an offbeat hero, Mr. Carroll Quint, and entertainment editor for the San Francisco Bulletin.
I'm presently working on STILL SHOT, the second in the Carroll Quint series.
Thanks for reading about me here, and I hope you enjoy my novels.

Jerry Kennealy