Drop By Drop: A Thriller [Kindle Edition]

Keith Raffel (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of our smartest contemporary thriller authors.... A series of explosive events mark the book's conclusion.... Complex, smartly-navigated plotting." -Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter.com 

"An excellent whodunit.... A powerful book to read.... I thoroughly enjoyed this book and believe that readers of all political persuasions will like it as well. I wouldn't be surprised to see this as an upcoming movie. Five stars out of Five." -Lynn Farris, Examiner.com

Product Description

"Intriguing, intense, and with such an insider's knowledge of  the war on terror that I'm surprised it's not classified.   Sinister, scary, and heart-stoppingly realistic - this is a gem of a thriller!" - Hank Phillippi Ryan, Anthony, Agatha, and Macavity-winning author

"No one puts the crosshairs on Washington, terrorism, and intrigue better than Keith Raffel. Do yourself a favor and read Drop By Drop!" - Andrew Gross, New York Times best-selling author and co-author of six #1 thrillers with James Patterson.

Stanford professor Sam Rockman suffers the crushing loss of his wife in a bombing at San Francisco Airport. Casting about to find meaning in the ruins of his life, he accepts an offer to come to Washington, D.C. to work for the Senate Intelligence Committee. What Sam wants out of his stint in D.C. is revenge for the death of his wife. What he gets is danger and betrayal. Secret documents are showing up on his doorstep. Russians are trying to poison him. A renegade CIA asset is strewing nuclear materials up and down Interstate 95. Sam finds allies among a savvy Kentucky senator, a billionaire investment banker, his wife's old rabbi, and the president's national security advisor. Too often, he finds himself thrown together with his counterpart on the other side of the aisle, the whip-smart, six-footer Cecilia Plant. Mourning still for his wife, Sam steels himself against Cecilia's appeal and remains suspicious of her motives.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 327 KB
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0051UA9KA
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,665 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #47 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Political
  • #79 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Political

More About the Author

As counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Keith Raffel held a top secret clearance to watch over CIA activities. As a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, he founded UpShot Corporation, the award-winning Internet software company, and sold it to Siebel Systems. Keith has also been a carpenter, college instructor, candidate for elective office, and professional gambler. These days he stays busy writing his mysteries and thrillers in his hometown of Palo Alto where he lives with his wife and four children. Check the latest news at www.keithraffel.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Offers a generous mix of interesting characters, and complex plotting that results in a fast-paced & satisfying read, August 31, 2011

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drop By Drop: A Thriller (Kindle Edition)

Keith Raffel, as he will tell you, has lived in two worlds (actually three, as we will get to in a moment). One was in Silicon Valley, where he worked for a high-tech firm and later was instrumental in setting up another company that was a pioneer in the field of "cloud" computing. His first two novels, DOT DEAD and SMASHER, were heavily informed by those experiences. Raffel's second world is one in which he lived decades ago, a continent across and a world away from Northern California, when he worked in Washington, D.C. for the Senate Intelligence Committee at the elbow of such luminaries as Barry Goldwater, Ted Kennedy and a gentleman named Joseph Biden.

It is this experience that provides the grist for DROP BY DROP, Raffel's latest novel (and an eBook original), which in turn is a manifestation of his third world, where he is one of our smartest contemporary thriller authors.

DROP BY DROP leaves Silicon Valley behind for the academia of Washington, D.C., though it is a precipitous journey for Sam Rockman. A professor at Stanford University, Rockman is content in his job and marriage until a horrific airport bombing leaves him a widower. He wants nothing more or less than revenge upon those who took his wife from him, and when he receives an offer to work for the minority chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, he jumps at the chance. The mood of the country matches Rockman's, and there is a movement afoot for a Constitutional amendment to enable the current president, a war hero, to stay in office for a third term to handle the crises at hand.

There is also a legislative move afoot to permit the CIA to operate within the United States. Rockman has the opportunity to assist in shepherding this legislation through the Senate, despite the reluctance of his boss to take so strong a step. When nuclear materials, ostensibly stolen from Russia, are strewn across Interstate 95 in Florida, the call for action becomes even stronger. The fact that Rockman, in spite of himself, is also becoming attracted to Cecilia Plant, his counterpart in the opposing political party, only further complicates matters. Yet Rockman, revenge-minded as he is, finds that things aren't entirely adding up in Washington, especially when top-secret files wind up on his doorstep. And when he and Plant travel to Russia to determine how the nuclear materials unleashed in Florida were stolen, they leave with more questions than they started with.

Meanwhile, the country marches toward major changes that could affect it far beyond the current crisis. Rockman is faced with a choice: Should he go with the flow, which may well provide him with the revenge he seeks? Or should be stand athwart history yelling halt? A series of explosive events mark the book's conclusion, making it one of this year's more interesting offerings in the thriller genre.

DROP BY DROP, as with Raffel's previous novels, offers a generous mix of interesting characters and complex, smartly-navigated plotting that result in a fast-paced read and satisfying ending. With regard to the characters, Plant almost steals the book from Rockman; if Raffel would see fit to bring her back in a future work, I certainly wouldn't object. Those who loved Raffel's prior excursions into Silicon Valley will find his treatment of Washington, D.C. enjoyable and worthwhile as well.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Awesome Thriller, May 31, 2011

By 

thefictionalbookshelf - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drop By Drop: A Thriller (Kindle Edition)

Drop by Drop is truly an amazing thriller that gets you were it counts - your gut. Mine was twisted in knots as I read through the pages with a speed like I've never seen before. Keith Raffel, the author, knows how to bait his hook to keep reeling you in until you realize you're finished with the book.

The emotions of the main character, Stanford professor Sam Rockman, was dynamic and well written. For some of the emotions he goes through after the death of his wife may make you cry. I sniffed a few times.

However, it wasn't the chilling emotions that kept me hooked it was the plot itself. It was full of twists and turns. I never could guess what was going to happen next and that's a good thing. If I figure out who has done what halfway through the book I'm no longer interested in the story.

I also like the fact it's a political thriller. I haven't read many thrillers that deals with fictional politicians and Keith made them seem so real. He had me thinking about so many things after reading his work.

This is a MUST read thriller that will keep you on the edge of suspense.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A twisty thriller, September 10, 2011

By 

John U. Zussman - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drop By Drop: A Thriller (Kindle Edition)

Raffel makes good use of his own Washington experience as counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee to write a twisty thriller that makes us feel like a Beltway insider. A college professor, bent on revenge after his wife's death in a terrorist attack, is drawn to support a gung-ho president. But neither the good guys nor the bad guys are necessarily what they seem. Recommended.