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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A thrilling novel that will have you looking over your shoulder,
By Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fear (Hardcover)
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
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
superb action thriller,
This review is from: Fear (Hardcover)
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
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A promising start is overwhelmed by convoluted plot and predictable ending,
By
This review is from: Fear (Hardcover)
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.
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