Detour (Mass Market Paperback)

by James Siegel (Author) "Buenas tardes..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, Jersey City, Manuel Riojas (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Siegel's acclaimed debut, 2001's Epitaph, was eclipsed by last year's electrifying thriller Derailed (to be a feature film starring Jennifer Aniston), which reached bestseller lists and marked Siegel as an author with serious chops. It's no surprise that Siegel's third novel offers yet another exhilarating ride, albeit not quite up to the bar set by Derailed. The premise is terrific. Paul and Joanna Breibard, childless Manhattan professionals, travel to Colombia to adopt a baby, but are kidnapped by left-wing militia who make an offer they can't refuse: Paul must swallow 36 condoms stuffed with cocaine and deliver the contraband to a contact in New Jersey within 18 hours; if he fails, Joanna and the baby will die. But in New Jersey, Paul finds a burned-out shell of a house at the contact's address. For help, he contacts Miles Goldstein, the Orthodox Jewish lawyer who arranged the adoption, and when a further delivery attempt ends in gunplay, Paul and Miles turn to Moshe Skolnick, a Russian mobster; later, a DEA agent steps in. Meanwhile, Joanna is held hostage in a country house whose walls are stained with blood. Siegel keeps tension at a steady high throughout, in part by employing short chapters and paragraphs à la James Patterson. He makes great use of local color, not only of the easily exotic Colombian settings but also of the no less unusual Brooklyn Jewish and Russian enclaves where Paul finds himself. The novel features some smart twists, although a key one will be spotted by veteran thriller readers from the first page of its setup. Overall, this is first-rate entertainment, not quite as fresh as Derailed, but sure to brush bestseller lists as well as become a favorite airplane read both in hardcover and, eventually, mass market.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
After five years of unsuccessful fertility treatments, Joanna and Paul Breidbart fly to South America to adopt a baby girl; after spending less than a day there, however, Paul is convinced that Colombia "wasn't Third World as much as fourth dimension." Then things go seriously wrong. Their Colombian nurse and chauffeur, provided by the adoption agency, kidnap the couple and their baby and deliver them to a revolutionary cartel. Paul is told that the only way to free his wife and daughter is to smuggle $2 million worth of cocaine into the U.S. His attempt to deliver the goods, however, is sabotaged, and after losing the drugs and the money, he must scramble to come up with an alternate plan. The familiar formula--ordinary man (Paul is an actuary) forced to deal with a nightmarish scenario--is given plenty of twists by the inventive Siegel (Derailed, 2003). Crisp prose, a breakneck pace, a surprisingly tart sense of humor, and some pointed social commentary give this thriller a good deal of bite. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (April 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446617067
• ISBN-13: 978-0446617062
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #391,189 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forget It..., October 18, 2005

By	Gary Griffiths (Los Altos Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Detour: A Novel (Hardcover)

Forget your job. Your family. Plans for the weekend. Forget it all if you decide to pick up James Siegel's "Detour". Once you start, consider your life on hold till you finish.

Like Siegel's "Derailed" of two years ago, "Detour" is a high adrenaline rush of terror for the ordinary guy who finds his life spinning violently out of control. This life is that of Paul Breidbart, an insurance actuary, and his wife Joanna. Wanting nothing more than to adopt a child, Paul and Joanna find themselves in a nightmare of South American drug cartels, crooked lawyers, and the ubiquitous Russian mobsters seemingly obligatory in pop thrillers. As an actuary, Breidbart views life in probability and risk - a skill that comes in handy as he finds himself facing so many successive steroid-class catastrophes that an alien invasion would not have occurred improbable. Unthinkable brutality and enough twists to qualify the title, this is one mean read.

As with "Derailed", Siegel's lean prose wastes no time as it moves at the pace of the best thriller films, giving neither characters nor readers much chance to catch a breath along the way. If Paul Breidbart were to handicap "Detour", I suspect he'd calculate a 98% probability of unqualified entertainment. Bravo!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO SAVE THOSE YOU LOVE?, March 11, 2005

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: Detour (Audio CD)

The question resonating throughout the latest spine-tingler from James Siegel is "Just how far would you go, what would you risk to save the person you love?"

Stage, film and television actor Holter Graham gives an accomplished reading to this story of a man caught in a life or death struggle.

Paul and Joanna Breidbart are a devoted married couple. Their lives are happy and complete save for the absence of a child. The waiting list to adopt a child in America is lengthy, so they decide to fly to Colombia to adopt a baby there. Their happiness is all too brief as Joanna and the baby are kidnaped; they're in the hands of drug dealers who will stop at nothing to achieve their ends.

Paul is told that in order to secure the release of his wife and baby he must smuggle cocaine worth millions into the U.S. and turn it over to a mysterious person in New Jersey within one day. If he does not do this, Joanna and the baby will both die. But, when Paul arrives at the meeting site in New Jersey the house has been destroyed.

What will he do and where will he turn in order to save his wife and child?

Siegel, the author of Derailed which Miramax has optioned for a major motion picture, delivers his story a bit like gunfire, in staccato bursts. And, it's frightening. If a fast-paced thriller laced with memorable characters is your pleasure, Detour is for you.

- Gail Cooke

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, March 26, 2005

By	Seaside Booklover (Wrentham, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Detour: A Novel (Hardcover)

This book is exactly what it is meant to be, entertaining. A mystery with many plot twists and turns. A great stand alone read. It does not have any returning characters, long courtroom dramas or police procedures to weigh it down. It moves at the speed of light and leaves you satisfied at the end.