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By Dawn's Early Light: A Novel
 
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By Dawn's Early Light: A Novel [Hardcover]

Philip Shelby (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)


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Book Description

February 26, 2002
From the author of "Days of Drums" and co-author (with Robert Ludlum) of the "New York Times" bestselling "The Cassandra Compact" comes a new political thriller that ricochets across the world stage with implacable force.

Moving from the desolation of North Korea to the oak-and-leather preserves of Wall Street to the subterranean surveillance headquarters in the Pentagon, "By Dawn's Early Light" traces the journey of Sloane Ryder, a young, straight-shooting financial analyst who gets caught in the undertow of large-scale political maneuverings involving the United States' ever-sensitive relationship with China.

While Washington, Wall Street, and Beijing jockey for position in East Asia, Sloane uncovers a plot -- woven by some of the most eminent figures in government -- to murder the first woman president of the United States. As she frantically pieces together a series of strange but seemingly unrelated events, her trail leads her to the Handyman, a merciless killer-for-hire. Suddenly she finds she's playing a deadly game of cat-and-mouse where each move could be her last.

"By Dawn's Early Light" is a Roman candle of interlocking conspiracies, Faustian bargains, and shadowy alliances among unlikely parties. A high-wire act of collusion and double-cross, its shocking plot twists will keep readers reeling till the very last pages.


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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When financial analyst Sloane Ryder blows the whistle on an insider-trading scheme involving her boss at an investment banking firm, she also threatens the success of a traitorous plot hatched at the highest levels of government. Sloane gets fired after the corrupt CEO kills himself, but she's soon recruited by a mysterious government agency investigating payoffs to members of the president's inner circle--insiders who seek to thwart the president's China policy by any means possible, including murder.

This fast-paced, well-crafted thriller features the return of several characters from Shelby's earlier novels (Gatekeeper, Days of Drums), including intrepid Secret Servicewomen Holland Tylo and Hollis Fremont and their nemesis, the vicious assassin known as the Handyman. Without giving anything away, let it be said that the final turn in this twisty plot bodes well for Shelby's next book, as well as for the legion of fans who'll enjoy this one. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly

With each new book, Shelby (who co-wrote The Cassandra Compact with Robert Ludlum) nicks away at one of fiction's last male bastions the foreign intrigue thriller using women as lead characters in the cloaked world of espionage. In this nail-biter about a Chinese plot to kill the U.S. president and retake Taiwan, Wall Street portfolio manager Sloane Ryder finds herself out of a job after she stumbles onto the conspiracy while investigating the dealings of a shady co-worker. Ryder is not unemployed for long: she's hired by a secret government division that has sniffed out the plan to assassinate President Claudia Ballantine. Ryder and her new colleagues soon discover that the conspiracy involves several high-ranking Chinese and U.S. government officials who intend to kill the president in a gruesome, highly creative way. The intent is to create chaos in Washington, D.C., so China has time to storm across the Sea of Taiwan and claim the island for the People's Republic. Somewhat less convincing is the character of Ryder, who remains a hard sell as someone who can trade her Wall Street power suit for a spy's trench coat. Picking up the slack, however, are two of Shelby's former heroines professional operatives Hollis Fremont and Holland Tylo as well as the Handyman, the elusive contract killer from Gatekeeper. With some creative flair, Shelby employs all the standard fiction tools of the espionage trade the rogue militants, the conspiracies within conspiracies, the untouchable behind-the-scenes villains, the flat-footed heroes and all to satisfying effect. Agent, Henry Morrison.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster (February 26, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0684842637
  • ISBN-13: 978-0684842639
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #447,266 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Thrilling Plot to Assassinate the American President, August 1, 2002
This review is from: By Dawn's Early Light: A Novel (Hardcover)
Thrillers don't get much more intense than this one. Sloane Ryder is a New York financial analyst. She stumbles across dirty financial dealing in a major corporation and is fired and blacklisted for reporting it to the SEC. She despairs of finding a job, but is noticed and hired by a secret division of the General Accounting Office. It has detected some disturbing happenings involving the Chinese and high officials in the US government. Soon, with the help of Secret Servicewomen, Holland Tylo and Hollis Fremont, whom Shelby readers will recognize from previous books, an incredible plot emerges. The Chinese government intends to kill the American president and use the confusion as cover to conquer Taiwan. But as Sloane's unit closes in on the American traitors, the Handyman, a professional assassin hired by the Chinese, murders them. The action moves ever-faster to a breathtaking climax. This is a genuine thriller. I usually can put any book aside, no matter how thrilling, until I have time to read again, but I couldn't stop reading this one. Shelby has given us a first-rate story.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting plot, need to read earlier books first., May 7, 2002
By 
A. Burchfield (Conway, Missouri USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: By Dawn's Early Light: A Novel (Hardcover)
I liked the plot and the use of female characters in roles normally associated with men but found myself wanting several things...I've missed a few earlier books, reading them would help establish who's who and what. The Handyman seems both a little too good (in hits and escapes) and yet being so good manages to make some awful mistakes. I found some of the other "bad guy" characters to be much more believeable, Dodge Fench and his unnamed band of profit seeking no matter what types are just so much like what some people really are like. I won't go into details to avooid spoiling the story too much but the Chinese attempt on the President is very good (the weapon delivery is better than the weapon itself) as is her response to their actions concerning Taiwan. One last note, the story seems to be set after the term(s) of the current President Bush yet President Ballantine refers to December 7 1941 as being 58 years ago.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Political Thriller Since the Day of the Jackyl, April 6, 2002
By 
This review is from: By Dawn's Early Light: A Novel (Hardcover)
The Handyman crosses borders and oceans with little difficulty and seldom, if ever, leaves behind any witnesses. He has been hired to facilitate a plan to assassinate the first female president of the United States. The story opens with his trip to an orphanage in North Korea to select a child to be used as a human bomb. It moves to New York to Sloan Ryder, a super smart trader who discovers an insider-trading scheme. When she blows the whistle on her boss, she sets in motion a sequence of events that eventually uncover the plot to kill the president and lead her to the attention of the Handyman.

The suspense is exciting, and the books moves through a series of unexpected plots. ...AND the coverup that takes place could just as well be a new job for some actual character in Washington today.

It's a great read...a hard one to put down until the end which makes way for the next book. Hope it comes along soon.

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