Customer Reviews

Fear (Charnwood Large Print)

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The title of Jeff Abbott's latest novel is well chosen. The psychological impairment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the thread that runs through FEAR; it is the possibility of a cure --- and the profit that might be made from it --- that brings three individuals reluctantly together not only to conquer the condition that is controlling their lives but also to save themselves from shadowy pursuers who seem to be bent upon their destruction.

Miles Kendrick is a former investigator for an organized crime family. Now in witness protection in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Kendrick is being treated for PTSD resulting from the death of his best friend Andy, who literally haunts Kendrick's every waking hour. When Dr. Allison Vance, Kendrick's psychiatrist, offers a new treatment regimen, he's reluctant. However, when Vance's office is destroyed in an explosion just as he was scheduled to meet with her, Kendrick embarks on a wild journey with two unlikely companions who were also being treated by Vance.

Celeste Brant had fifteen minutes of fame as the winner of a reality television show before her husband was subsequently murdered, sending her into a traumatic, self-imposed isolation. Nathan Ruiz, meanwhile, has been traumatized by a wartime experience and is receiving in-patient treatment to help him recover from his recurring nightmares. Both Brant and Ruiz are showing signs of progress with an experimental drug called Frost, which is being used on them without proper experimental protocol.

Millions of dollars could be made from the drug on the open market, but it's Dennis Groote, an ex-FBI agent employed by a pharmaceutical company, who has more than money on his mind as he pursues the Frost formula. Groote's young daughter is a victim of PTSD, and he will do anything to get his hands on it. Convinced that Kendrick engineered the explosion of Vance's office, Groote pursues Kendrick, as well as Brant and Ruiz, in an effort to obtain the formula for his employer and for his daughter. The three patients soon realize that they can trust no one --- and possibly not even each other --- as they are pursued back and forth across the American West by killers who believe, wrongfully, that they have the Frost formula --- which they themselves need in order to conquer the demons that have taken over their lives.

The overriding theme of FEAR is just that, and Abbott ratchets up the excitement (and fear) from practically the first page to the last. While the book is more plot-driven than character-driven, his villains, particularly Groote, are the baddest of the bad. You'll be looking over your shoulder after reading FEAR.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

In Miami Miles Kendrick worked for the Barrada mob, but turned against them leading to his best friend's death and the FBI hiding him inside the federal witness protection program. He lives, a loose euphemism for it because many things are denied him. For instance he no longer drives a car out of a fear of a bombing, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Miles sees psychiatrist Dr. Allison Vance, who is trying to help him cope with what she has diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which developed after he inadvertently killed his best friend while assisting the FBI.

Surprising Kendrick, Dr. Vance asks for his help, but soon after she is killed by an explosion in her office. He assumes the Barrada mob killed her, but learns she was involved with a new miracle drug Frost touted as curing PTSD; he craves trying the drug. However former FBI Agent Dennis Groote turned hitman has other plans for Kendrick, other Vance patients and Frost. If Kendrick fails to control his fears, he will be dead when he and Groote confront one another.

Though fans will need to accept some of the escapades, this is a superb action thriller that grips the audience from the onset and never slows down until the final altercation as the readers do not know how the antihero will react in the crisis due to the crippling fear he feels. Kendrick's desperation to try a potentially dangerous drug to control his fears serves as a metaphor for those with severe illnesses willing to try anything immediately and not wait for FDA approval (besides which their recent record is not to healthy). The story line is action, more action, and super more action as Jeff Abbott provides his fans with a one sitting on the edge of your seat thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Jeff Abbott's Fear isn't actually a bad novel. The main problem is that Abbott starts the book off so well, that the reader only gets more and more disappointed as the storyline devolves into something that we have all read time and time again. As the "twists" pile up, the incredulity on the part of the reader increases at an exponential rate.

The plot of the novel is so hard to follow, but the basic situation at the very start of the novel is this: Miles Kendrick is a mob-informant who is currently undergoing psychiatry for post-traumatic stress disorder. He's had this disease ever since shooting his best friend Andy, and Andy haunts him ever day, in fact, Miles can literally see Andy and talks to him. Miles has a doctor, Allison Vance, whom he thinks can help him, until she sends him a mysterious note asking him for help, and then she is blown up in her office while Miles is on his way to see her. From there, we are introduced to a wide range of characters, who are involved some way or another in a large plot to get a new drug on the pharmaceutical market. The new drug, dubbed Frost, supposedly cures PTSD, but the problem is that the research used in finding the drug was illegal, so Miles is forced to unravel the mystery of how Allison was involved with Frost, all while protecting himself and his friends from constant danger from almost every party involved in the illegal drug deal.

Not a bad plot, huh? Well, at first I thought the book would be a clever examination of PTSD, with a good mystery plot interspersed throughout. But the book quickly degenerates into a by-the-numbers thriller, which really is too bad. And with all the different characters, it's almost impossible to keep track of who is on whose side without reading some entire pages (or chapters) over again. We are mercifully given one character to root for, Miles, but he fits into the role of "hero" just a little too easily. For someone who is supposed to be "suffering," Miles is a surprisingly calm, calculating individual who knows how to get himself out of just about any situation. And all the disease does to Miles throughout the novel is annoy him, he never has a moment where the disease almost cripples him, as all the other characters do.

For a quick, entertaining read, Fear isn't bad. But if you are looking for something more, move to the next book on your list.

Jeff Abbott is one of those wonderful thriller authors whose penchant for and skill in putting action on every page overcomes any gaps in their plotting. In "Fear" the plots and sub-plots keep the reader guessing to the very end. In short, "Fear" is a page-turner, as I learned when the numerals on the digital clock weren't the only thing glowing: so was the sky as the sun rose - it was just after 5 a.m. when I finally put this book down hours after planning to read just a few pages before falling asleep.

Miles Kendrick, living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has yet another argument with his friend Andy. Friends often argue, of course, but this situation is just a bit different: Andy is dead. In fact, Miles believes he killed Andy. Miles is a more than a bit troubled.

In another life he was a private investigator in Miami, roped into working for a criminal gang because of his late father's gambling debts. Now he's in the Witness Protection Program waiting to testify against the Barradas, a criminal enterprise that employed the unwilling Miles Kendrick and his willing friend Andy. Miles, living under a new name, is seeing Allison Vance, a psychiatrist specialzing in PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Miles is a shell of the man he once was; afraid to drive, plagued by visits from his dead friend Andy and very, very frightened of losing what is left of his mind. Now he works under his assumed name at a Santa Fe art gallery and relies heavily on DeShawn Pitts, a U.S. Marshall who is responsible for Miles in the WITSEC program.

Life gets complicated quickly as author Abbott starts piling it on. Dr. Vance springs a new doctor on Miles, someone named James Sorenson. Something doesn't add up about Sorenson. Miles starts running scared and, as it turns out, with good reason.

Dr. Vance's office explodes. Miles has reason to believe that Sorenson is involved.

Things start happening fast now and the reader needs to keep track of all the characters Abbott feeds into the story. Quick-witted Joy Garrison, the art gallery owner, and her son Cinco. Dennis Grote, the less-than-kind hearted former FBI agent turned hitman, who pursues Miles. Nathan Ruiz, an Iraq war veteran suffering from PTSD; Celeste Brent, the $5 million winner of a TV reality show who was tortured by a demented fan and made to watch the murder of her husband, who is also suffering from PTSD. Dr. Hurley, who you definitely don't want as your psychiatrist; and an assortment of other characters, none of whom are particularly pleasant except for Victor Gamby, who operates Internet chat groups and forums to help those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorders.

At the heart of the action is Frost, a potential cure for PTSD. The formula for the drug and the research results are up for grabs. Grote wants it and will kill for it. Sorenson wants it and apparently will kill for it. Corpses start piling up quickly as the action moves from artsy Santa Fe to California to Austin, Texs. The plot is convoluted and the loyalties of each character appear to shift like dunes in the desert.

Miles Kendrick is the center of the action, with the whirlwinds of Brent, Ruiz, Grote, Sorenson and others swirling around him. Sometimes some of the characters want Kendirck to live; sometimes they want him to die. The combination keeps the reader guessing through one surprise after another.

Overall, a very satisfying thriller, though the very squeamish may find a few of the scenes difficult to deal with. Author Abbott does a more than credible job of depicting the agonies of post traumatic stress disorder. Miles Kendrick and Dennis Grote are particularly interesting characters. Kendrick, in fact, could indeed live on in subsequent novels. He's a savvy, street smart operator who doesn't shrink from violent confrontation, but remains a guy who doesn't want to inflict unnecessary damage.

Full disclosure requires that I acknowledge (with no small degree of pride) that I assisted the author with his tech questions.

Jerry

The earlier reviewers have done a good job of outlining the plot. Suffice it to say here that the race to secure the medical research behind the drug "Frost" -- a cure for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder -- is intense and convoluted. The good guy in all of this is Miles Kendrick, a former mob spy turned states evidence and in the Federal Witness Protection Program and a PTSD victim, himself. He joins forces (sort of) with two other PTSD on the side of good vs. evil (or not).

I suspect that the author knows a thing or two about PTSD, as he portrays its victims with great sympathy and understanding.

The story is genuinely interesting and entertaining, and none of the characters is 100% good or 100% evil.

FEAR is a very good read.

*** Could be some small spoilers***

If you could forget the worse memory you had, would you want to?

That's the main question in the book. Anyone who has suffered from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), no matter how they get it, could get rid of it with a pill, and make the PTSD manageable. The Drug is called Frost.

The main characters, all have it, or knows someone who does. We have MIles who sees his dead friend, the one he thinks he killed, Celeste who can't go outside (you'll have to read it to find out why, Nathan who is an Iraq war vet and Groote who's daughter has PTSD. The drug they all want is Frost. Frost isn't in the open market, or even at the experimental stages.

The problem comes when Miles' doctor is killed, and he wants to find out why she was killed and who killed her. During Miles' investigation, Groote finds out that Miles may have the information that he needs to get his daughter Frost. The thing is that Groote is an assassin, and will stop at nothing in order to find Miles' and make him give up Frost. He'll kill and torture anyone who stands in his way. Along the way, Miles teams up with Nathan and Celeste. Now, Groote is after them as well.

That's all I really want to say about the plot. The plot is a lot more complex that what I said. At times, you really need a road map to follow it. I guess that's part of the problem I had with it. The plot was complex (overly so) and seemed to go all over the place. Again, if I say how it was, it would contain a lot of spoilers. It was just bogged down, and part way through it, I kind of lost interest. I did read it all, and it picked up a bit at the end, but the middle was a bit slow.

The characters were okay. I liked Groote the best. Miles and Celeste were okay, but Nathan was really annoying. For me, Nathan took away from the story, I guess I know why Abbott made him the way he did, and tried to make him a sympathetic character, but it didn't work.

Overall, I say go ahead and read it. It wasn't a bad read, just read better.

The first half of this book was extremely suspenseful and intriguing, and provided an interesting look at the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. Though some of the characters were innovative (the reality T.V. show character who had become agoraphobic was well drawn, and the main character with his ghostly visitors), most of the others seemed like stereotypes. When the book degenerated into a murderous, car-chase, shoot-em-up, though, I got bored. When Abbot threw in a concocted and unsubstantiated plot twist at the very end that really felt like a betrayal of the reader and was just completely unbelievable, I got both bored and annoyed.

It seemed like a book written to be a gun movie, and written after watching a bunch of gun movies, by a guy who likes gun movies, and has a little more imagination than most gun-movie oriented novelists, but not by much. Something very paint-by-numbers about it, especially toward the end, and I did not feel satisfied when I finished it.

Still, all in all, not a bad way to pass the time while doing housework.

Read by L.J. Ganser, who did an excellent job building suspense and providing voice characterization.

I review only audiobooks. Check out my other reviews, then download, plug in, and never be bored again.

Just picked this one up at the library at the last minute. L.J. Ganser does of fine job of narrating.
The story moved in a fairly steady manner. As mentioned, the plot seemed a bit convoluted, but as you get further into it, it kind of came together. As far as the listening went, it was an average thriller.