Gatekeeper [Mass Market Paperback]

Philip Shelby (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1999

"Gatekeeper" features a labyrinthine setting -- from the chambers of the American embassy in Paris to the stoops and back alleys of New York City -- stocked with characters whose ambition, cunning, and technological sophistication are intolerant of any threat to their conspiratorial will to power. Hollis Freemont has arrived in Paris to begin her job at the American consulate. Her return to Paris forces her to revisit tragedy: the assassination of her parents by a sniper's bullets fifteen years earlier. Hollis, a beautiful young woman, soon attracts the notice of Paul McGann, deputy chief of mission, whose ardent attention to Hollis is matched by his violent temper. Hollis's involvement with McGann leads her into the anals of the clandestine paragovernmental alliances colluding to create a new world order at the expense of certain high-level officials and unfortunate individuals, such as Hollis herself, who stray into the sights of a hired assassin -- the Handyman. As she struggles against all odds to elude the Handyman and his colleagues, it becomes evident that she can trust no one, not even those whose confidences she holds most dear. From the opening scene in an assassin's hideout to the stomach-churning climax at the Statue of Liberty, "Gatekeeper" is electrifying.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's no coincidence that Philip Shelby's thrillers (Days of Drums and Last Rights) caught the attention of readers just as old masters like John Le Carré and Frederick Forsyth were winding down. There's nothing like an expertly crafted, essentially moral story of intrigue and espionage to quicken the blood and restore order to a chaotic world. What Shelby brings to the table once again in his latest book is a righteous heroine plunged almost accidentally into the center of a dangerous situation. Fans of Eric Ambler will recognize U.S. Foreign Service officer Hollis Fremont as a modern descendant of his trademark lead characters--people who are smart, resourceful, and not quite as innocent as they first appear. Conned by her lover into sneaking a hired assassin known as the Handyman back into America for a high-level hit, Hollis then joins forces with Sam Crawford (the titular Gatekeeper, who works for an agency known only as Omega) to keep the killer from his appointed rounds. Despite the self-parodying nicknames, Shelby's work is full of intelligent suspense and satisfying resolution. --Dick Adler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Clever, atmospheric and adroitly paced, Shelby's new thriller (after Lost Rights) features yet another plucky heroine caught in the toils of intrigue. Hollis Fremont, a functionary at the American embassy in Paris, is duped by her superior and boyfriend, Paul McGann, into accompanying a man she believes to be a small-fry criminal back to the States for country-club prison incarceration. In fact, the rumpled expat turns out to be "the Handyman," a freelance assassin on a mission. At Kennedy Airport the Handyman bolts and disappears, and Hollis falls under the protective wing of Sam Crawford (the Gatekeeper of the title), who is an agent for the mysterious Omega group. While the Handyman stalks his quarry around the Statue of Liberty, Hollis and her "friends" (Crawford, gruff NYPD officer Harry Jacoby, longtime surrogate father Dawson Wylie and McGann) try to track him down. As the Handyman closes in on his victim, Hollis learns more truth than she's prepared for about the death of her father, and about her family's ties to Omega and the Handyman himself. Shelby's intelligence insiders are a throwback to the heyday of le Carr? and Forsyth (albeit a simpler, less polished crew). With its transatlantic, high-speed Day of the Jackal chronology and sympathetic heroine, an ordinary woman of extraordinary resilience playing her small part on the world stage, this thriller is just the ticket for readers with international-conspiracy paranoia.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Pocket; Reprint edition (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671013920
• ISBN-13: 978-0671013929
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,041,051 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite Entertaining, March 15, 2001

By 

Yaakov Chase (Lakewood, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gatekeeper (Mass Market Paperback)

Written in the John Grishim way, easy and fun to read.

A few things you will find about Shelby's titles:

1. His characters are more analytical than emotional. 2. There is always a super villian, a man, run by a powerful organization/person. 3. A woman who has a mentor and is the target of the villian. 4. Fast paced action with almost every form of killing imaginable included.

All in all, very entertaining. I enjoy Shelby. He keeps me up at night. His stories should be made into movies.

By the way, I liked GateKeeper more than Days of Drums.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gatekeeper is a keeper!, February 29, 2000

By 

RS (NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gatekeeper (Mass Market Paperback)

Phillip Shelby has to be one of the best writers of our day! His writing style is superb. I felt as if I knew Hollis Freemont personally at the end of the book. It is a rare gift for a writer to be able to bring so much life to each individual character within the confines of a book of less than 500 pages. Additionally, there were moments while reading when I felt as if I could hear the sounds, smell the aromas, and feel the winds blow as Shelby intricately described each setting. The book is a page turner from start to finish. The action rarely relents. The plot twists are very clever. A must read. I will be anxiously awaiting all of his future works.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars ran out of gas..., November 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Gatekeeper (Mass Market Paperback)

This was my first time to read a book by Shelby and I think he had woven a good plot,then all of sudden he ran out of ideas and he just killed the story which I think was very irresponsible of him.This is how you can murder a good storyline if you loose your motivation or whatever happened to the writer.I hope Shelby will come up with something better in the future.Don't waste your time reading this book.:)