Fever [Hardcover]

Sean Rowe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 12, 2005

Matt "Loose Cannon" Shannon is an ex-FBI agent turned security chief for the world's largest cruise line. It's a career move that owes more to personal weaknesses than his fondness for the Miami sun. In this novel's explosive opening, Shannon's stepbrother, Jack Fontana, puts his back against the wall. At a waterfront reunion, Fontana gives Shannon what looks like a game controller - and before he knows what he's done, Shannon has sunk a freighter in Miami's shipping lane and his fingerprints are all over the device that sent the signal. Only once he's cornered does Shannon learn his stepbrother's real plan- a cruise ship job that could make enough money to last their lifetimes. Shannon thinks he's only providing backup and intelligence. And by the time he learns what's really going on, he's in too deep: the cruise ship has been hijacked and several people are already dead. "Fever" is the story of Shannon's race to unravel the deadly labyrinth that's grown up around him. With the help of a mysterious woman and his own instincts, he might find the one path that could allow him to survive.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dufris, an award-winning narrator with more than 200 audiobooks to his credit, transforms much of this unabridged production of Rowe's striking debut fiction into riveting sequences that come close to simulating a full-cast recording. The relentlessly paced heist yarn follows a ragtag group of hijackers hoping to get their mitts on $30 million in drug money hidden aboard a cruise ship. Much of the novel focuses on their plotting and bickering and, in the case of its protagonist, ex-FBI agent Matt "Loose Cannon" Shannon and a sexy, mysterious beauty named Julia, building up to a romantic showdown. Dufris has been careful to create distinctive voices for nearly all concerned—including Shannon's sick and weary half-brother, who drags him into the scheme; an edgy ex–Black Panther; and an aging, deeply cynical soldier of fortune. Oddly enough, the only voice that doesn't quite hit the bull's-eye is Shannon's. One would think that a depressed former Fed who drinks "a fifth of Maker's Mark a day" would have a rougher, deeper delivery. It's a minor annoyance that becomes even less significant once the gang carries out the robbery and Shannon has to face the consequences, with Rowe hitting him with one shocking surprise after another.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Review

* 'Read the first page with caution; you better not have any plans for the rest of the day.' - Jeffery Deaver * 'I read an awful lot of books, hoping for, waiting for, one like Fever to come along. Sean Rowe does just about everything right in this novel.' - James Paterson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (September 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316011746
• ISBN-13: 978-0316011747
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,880,880 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read!, September 13, 2005

By 

L. Mancour "Terry Mancour" (Durham, NC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fever (Hardcover)

The book is extremely well plotted, fast-paced, with very well-drawn characters. Excellent use of language. I'm not usually a fan of crime-drama, but this thing had me up all night. Very gritty read. Highly reccomended!

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "The Vanishing Jack", September 4, 2005

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fever (Hardcover)

When Matt Shannon runs into his half-brother, Jack Fontana, at a Miami brew pub, the two men sit on the patio with their drinks, watching the flow of ships through the waterway. Fontana has just been released after three years of hard time, although he intimates that he took the fall for Matt. While discussing a freighter just passing, Jack hands Matt what looks like a small video game to try. As soon as Matt activates the game, the word "bang" appears on the screen and the freighter they were watching blows up, sinking immediately and blocking the channel. After the shock of the explosion, Matt looks around for the game, but realizes it has disappeared with his fingerprints all over it.

The agencies on site are looking at terrorism and a Cuban-related protest among other options. All the while, Matt knows he is the cause of the explosion, thanks to Jack: "Jack was the trickster, the jack-in-the-box, the carnival barker." As the ingenious plot unfolds, Matt is drawn into a heist of monumental proportions, one involving the robbery of a Festival Cruise Line vessel, the company that employs ex-FBI Shannon as Head of Security. Jack has prepared for every contingency, bringing in a few others with particular skills, even a young woman who caught Matt's eye on the day he met with Jack to discuss the deal. Wracking his brain for an escape plan, Matt is trapped by rapidly evolving circumstances. Matt knows that no matter how well any operation is planned, the unpredictable is expected, in this case a formidable adversary who will stop at nothing to protect her investment. The heist goes as planned, almost. But the collateral damage leaves few survivors of Jack's team.

Fast-paced and well-plotted, this energetic suspense novel rolls downhill toward a dangerous and bloody confrontation. Along the way, Matt Shannon is forced to re-examine his past assumptions, accept some difficult truths and get out of Dodge before he's the last man standing. Luan Gaines/ 2005.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A new voice in the crime thriller!, September 20, 2005

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fever (Hardcover)

Matt Shannon is an ex-FBI agent turned cruise line security chief. He enjoys women, loves booze and has a painful past that isn't healing due to ongoing poor life choices. Shannon also has a stepbrother, Jack Fontana, newly released from an unpleasant stint in the penitentiary, who is calling in an IOU from Shannon.

Fontana wants Shannon to help him out with a heist that involves one of the ships from the cruise line Shannon he works for. Everything that can go wrong does, and people are losing their lives in the most brutal of ways. If Shannon doesn't catch a break, it may mean his own life or that of his stepbrother, or even the mysterious woman who seems to have a strong connection to Shannon and Fontana.

Sean Rowe's debut novel Fever is a crisp, fast-paced thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat, grimacing at the depravity of human beings, but begging for more. The story is gritty and a bit edgier than the novels I usually read. But Rowe's masterful language skills gives us just enough before he pulls back and allows us a bit of rest before hitting us once again with the raw ugliness of the underworld.

Armchair Interviews predicts that Rowe will be a force to reckon with in the world of the crime thriller and we can't wait to read the next installment.