Customer Reviews

Dead Watch

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(30)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

As a die-hard John Sandford fan (I read the entire Prey and Kidd series in about 4 months or so) I was disappointed that a new Kidd or Lucas novel was not out, but was very interested to see his construction of a political thriller. I bought it and finished it in a day, and it was, in a word, OK.

I think the thing that makes certain political thrillers work and others fail is character construction, and for me, there were far too many characters (and their motivations) to keep track of, and it's a fairly convoluted plot. I think the main character, Jake Winter, has a lot of potential, as too many characters that we see are law enforcement, in one form or another, but for him to be a "forensic bureaucrat", as he is called, is a unique approach for a protagonist and one that could open up a new avenue for Sandford.

All in all I give it 3 stars; it kept me interested, and was a quick and easy read, but at times was a bit hard to follow, like the conversation on a fast-paced episode of "The West Wing" where they reference people and events and places with which the listener is unfamiliar.

I, too, look forward to the return of Kidd or Lucas, but I would read another Jake Winter novel, and I suggest you give it a try. Sandford is a great writer, but this isn't his best showing.

I won't rehash the story line, as you can read that in the editorial reviews.

I'll preface by saying that I've long been a fan of Sandford's, especially his "Prey" series. His Lucas Davenport character does for the Twin Cities what Connelly's Harry Bosch does for LA; a brooding and introspective look at the dark underbelly of society.

In this book, Sandford takes on the political melieu of Washington with, at best, mixed results.

He tries to weave a tale of murder into one of political intrigue, and unfortunately fails to fully succeed at either.

There are many examples of success to which we can compare: probably one of the all-time classics is the 60s novel "Seven Days in May". Drury's works. Those of David Baldacci, such as "Absolute Power", a terrific novel and a pretty good Clint Eastwood movie.

It's hard for me to exactly pin down why this book doesn't succeed, but it doesn't. Some elements come to mind.

1. The presidential-level political aspects just didn't work; there was no sense of the immense power or potential menace of the office.

2. The lead character (Winter) struck me as a muddled and inconsistent mess. There's an implied backstory involving his ex-wife that seems purposeless, and isn't developed. His experience as a Special Forces soldier seems inconsistent with his capabilities, and simply thrown in to make the character a "tough guy".

3. The whole nature of the murder plot - and I won't expound more on the details so as not to create a spoiler - seemed incredible and was created more for sensationalism than anything else.

4. The actual perpetrators seemed like something out of "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight", and diluted any sense of real menace they may have been intended to convey.

5. I also had problems with his Watchmen. Obviously, Sandford is using them to convey his own disapproval of the real life Minutemen, and whether or not you agree with him (and I don't) this was executed very ham-handedly.

Anyway, there you have it. I consider this an interesting experiment that failed. Two and a half stars. Now Sandford owes us a REALLY good Prey novel.

John Sandford's got his Mad on. About the dirty world of politics and spin control, about a sensationalist, rude media --ironic since Sandford's real personae is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. Everybody lies, everybody manipulates, there are no pure hearts, there's no innocence in DEAD WATCH.

Former Senator Lincoln Bowe is missing, then found dead. Decapitated, shot, burned and tied with barbed wire, no doubt the victim of Democratic Party politics -- unless the Republicans did it. The president calls in Jake Winter, forensic political fixer, to sort out the mess and keep the president's underwear clean. Is the dead senator a victim of the Democratic Party's storm troopers, the Republican Party's election planning, or was he killed by a gay lover? Winter knows the answers lie deep within the layers of election planning bureaucracies of the two political parties. A scandal is about to leak, and each party is planning its stain. People will die, people will go to jail. Who's to blame, or is everybody to blame?

One might think that Winter has few allies tip-toeing through this political sewer. Au contraire. Seemingly, everybody wants to help: Party honchos; the governor of Virginia; the leader of the Watchmen, the Democratic Party's Storm Troopers, even the hot and [...] widow of the gay dead senator. But everyone's got an agenda, and Winter must choose his bedmates carefully, or it could be his life next turned to goo. Winter may be cold and ruthless, but man, the guy can cut red tape. This is a dark thriller, at least as dark as Sandford's Prey series. And many of the characters are similar: Jake Winter smacks of Lucas Davenport; Danzig smacks of Rose Marie; the characters still say "Ah, man" and "Ah jeez." Only this time, there's no top 100 list of Rock 'n Roll.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as Sandford's Prey or Kidd series. While I'm just as disgusted with the media, spin and electioneering as Sandford apparently is, this book exaggerates those realities, and it has the feel of a disgusted author shouting, "ENOUGH!" It's a good read, though, no doubt about it -- it's Sandford after all. But I'm hoping this is a stand-alone, not the birth of a new series.

With "Dead Watch", Sanford has delivered a political thriller that is fully worthy of mention alongside his popular police-procedural Prey series. I share the Booklist reviewer's sentiment that Sandford has produced a D.C. intrigue reminiscent of Ross Thomas (a VERY good thing!).

My biggest beef with Dead Watch is the bland characterization of Jake Winter (though Sandford does do a good job of making Winter not be Lucas Davenport); nearly every other character has more personality-pizzazz. Not to worry though, the Madison Bowe character and the breakneck speed of the story more than make up for that shortcoming. If I'd been turning pages any faster, I'd have probably started a fire.

In this novel of political dirty dancing and murder, a different side of John Sandford's evil genius emerges. This is not a "Lucas Davenport" thriller. That does not mean this is not a terrific political thriller in it's own right!! This novel is replete with all the intrigue, back-stabbing and conspiracy that could occur in the darkest of political worlds.
When an up and coming Senator disappears with out a trace, when his wife calmly and methodically deals with situation and when rivals scurry in the dark shadows, the intricacy of the plot expands. The investigation is loaded with danger and the need to prevent political fall-out is deemed vital.
John Sandford has created the ultimate political thriller, with what seems to be an "inside the beltway" knowledge off the possible darker side of politics.

John Sandford took a new path and got lost! If Jake said "Ah Jeez; oh boy; oh man; once, he said it a hundred times. What is this guy - high school?

I did not like this Jake Winters; I did not like Madison Bowe but the side characters were what kept me reading til the bitter end. A political thriller it was not! I almost feel insulted. This is a terrible thing to say: I'd rather have read a romance novel.

Really did not care what happened to any of them. I left this brand new book on a Delta red eye flight and it will probably stay there.

I will wait for Robert Crais, Lee Child and Harlen Coben for some gritty work!!!!!

I would never have read this book if anyone else had written it. But Sandford wrote it, so I read it. I'm glad that I did. While the subject matter wasn't something I'd typically go for, the writing was first rate.

This book is about Jake Winter, a 'researcher' for the White House. Jake is asked to look into the disappearance of a former senator, which starts the journey - which is interesting, if a bit confusing at times.

BTW, the next Prey book - Invisible Prey - is due out in May of 2007.

I bought this book because it was written by John Sandford, only to find it very S l o o w and it's main character, Jake Winter, a very uninteresting character. I just couldn't get into it, kept putting it down, picking it up in hopes the plot would get more interesting, to no avail. I don't care about politics or politician, they are mostly manipulators, liars and spin doctors. Perhaps he should have spent his writing time on another Kidd book, if he was tired of Lucas Davenport. All that being said, I do love John Sandford books, just not this one, and will absolutely continue reading them. I will only make sure that the next one I buy is NOT another Jake Winter story.

Very predictable ending, tedious plot and paper thin characters in this novel. Any other author, I probably would have given him/her 3 stars but I like to hold Sandford to a different standard because his "Prey" series novels are very well written with realistic action scenes and great dialogue. I couldn't identify with any of the characters in this book.

Like some other readers, I really enjoy the Prey novels, and so I wasn't sure whether I'd like this one. As it turned out, I thought this book was extraordinary. All the characters have sharply-drawn but conflicting motivations. That allows Sandford to provide remarkably interesting insights not only into politics but also about how humans struggle against each other. The main characters are very appealing, the plot structured very cleverly, and the writing, well this is John Sandford so the writing is constantly compelling. I hope this book is the start of a new series for the author.