Gideon [Mass Market Paperback]

Russell Andrews (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 6, 2000

Gideon. An identity shrouded in mystery - the anonymous source who holds the key to an explosive secret. In a clandestine meeting, writer Carl Granville is hired to take the pages of an old diary, articles, letters, documents in which all proper names and locations have been blacked out - and turn them into compelling fiction. He will be paid a quarter of a million dollars. But he can never tell a soul.

As he is fed information and his work progresses, Granville begins to realize that Gideon's book is more than just a potential bestseller. It is a revelation of chilling evil and a decades-long cover-up by someone with far-reaching power. He starts to have second thoughts. How will his book be used? Whose lives will be shattered? What is the truth behind the story - and who is the true storyteller?

Then someone close to Granville is bludgeoned to death. Another is savagely murdered. His apartment is ransacked, his computer destroyed, all his records stolen. Suspicion falls on Granville. He tries to explain the shadowy assignment. No one believes him. He has no proof, no alibis...

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Gideon is a high-concept political thriller by Russell Andrews (the pen name of a partnership between book editor Peter Gethers and mystery novelist David Handler).

When a promising New York writer named Carl Granville is paid a quarter of a million dollars to produce a novel called Gideon, he thinks it's his lucky break. The book is to be based on the material of an old diary--which Carl is allowed to look at, although certain dates and names have been blacked out. The diary and novel involve a 10-year-old Southern boy who killed his brain-damaged baby brother. Carl, baffled but glad of the huge payoff, gets on with translating the diary into a bestseller. But when the editor who commissioned the book is murdered, and nobody at the publishing house knows anything about the Gideon project, the writer realizes that sinister forces are at large. Just to add to his troubles, Granville is accused of the editor's murder and is forced to go on the run to escape the FBI and an assassin. His only chance for clearing his name is to reveal who wrote the decades-old journal.

Gideon is an invigorating read with a remarkably fresh plot and a highly likable and believable protagonist.

From Publishers Weekly

The president of the U. S. has a secret so horrifying it even terrifies the priest he confesses to, in this debut thriller pitting ambitious, fallible politicians against a diabolical media mogul. Unsuspecting ghostwriter Carl Granville is enlisted by super-agent Maggie Peterson to take a hand-scrawled, stolen diary and turn it into a million-copy expos?Abut Carl is kept in the dark about whose story he's writing. The book is known only as "Gideon" and when Carl's apartment is trashed, the diary stolen and Maggie murdered, he soon discovers that nobody at the publishing house has any knowledge of the book deal. Branded the main suspect in Maggie's death, Carl goes on the lam, and with his Washington, D.C., ex-girlfriend Amanda Mays, tries to uncover the deadly conspiracy. The mess gets increasingly complicated, as the president commits suicide and the political climate is ripe for the First Lady to bid for the executive position. A homosexual priest, a British billionaire, an elderly midwife who knows all and a killer in disguise figure in the labyrinthine plot. Andrews is a pseudonym for Peter Gethers (The Dandy; The Cat Who Went to Paris) and David Handler (Kiddo): the ghostwriting angle is one of Handler's trademarks (he's the author of the popular Stewart Hoag mysteries). Dead-on publishing in-jokes are a lagniappe (Gethers is the former publisher of Villard); Carl has ghostwritten a series of Kathie Lee Gifford mysteries. Though saturated with winning details, however, the narrative, with its endless twists (blackmail, childhood secrets, love affairs) winds up with several complications too many, and this plethora of side plots dilutes the lucid, cumulative pleasures a good thriller is designed to evoke. $250,000 ad/promo; BOMC and QPB selections; author tour; audio rights: Brilliance Corp.; foreign rights sold to U.K., France and Holland. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (June 6, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345434781
• ISBN-13: 978-0345434784
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.1 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (92 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,147,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute cracker, June 14, 2000

By 

D. Brown (Surrey, UK.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gideon (Mass Market Paperback)

A great thriller, that keeps you guessing. I'm looking forward to "Russell Andrews" writing more books. I'm usually a Tom Clancy / Dale Brown reader, and this was every bit as good as anything by those two. The characters have a wonderful depth, and even though you know who the bad guys are early on, it still keeps you guessing until the end. Straight into my top 5 all time books. Good work Peter Gethers and David Handler, or should I say Russell?

The other reviews tell you what it's about so I won't bother. Instead I'll just say buy it, you won't regret it.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A NON-STOP,COMPULSIVE READ, June 8, 2000

By 

Nick G - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gideon (Mass Market Paperback)

Carl Granville is the writer hired to take the pages of an old diary and turn them into bestselling fiction. The identity of Gideon is a secret and all the names and locations in the diary are blacked out...Granville will be fed bits of information as the novel progresses. The deeper Carl becomes involved with this project, the closer he gets to danger, resulting in several deaths, information being stolen and his apartment ransacked.

With Carl the main suspect in the murders, he must run for his life to prove his innocence and bring together the secrets and identity of Gideon. His race will bring him to need the help of ex-girlfiend, journalist, Amanda, and together the two will discover a chilling, cover-up.

"Gideon" is so fast-paced, you will be likely to finish it in one sitting. The novel does not give much information until the end, and what an ending it is! You will be guessing from the first page all the way to the end.

Russell Andrews has written a novel that teases you with plot twists, and intricately twists and turns them to the shocking climax.

A great summer read.

A MUST read!

Nick Gonnella

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars To use an overused cliche...it kept me turning the pages, June 23, 2000

By 

R. Rosenkranz "Eno" (near Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gideon (Mass Market Paperback)

It's been a while since I've read a straight out thriller, and I didn't regret reading this one. To be honest, I'm the kind of reader who tends to "lurch" through books...read 50 pages, set book down for a few days, read another 50, etc. Gideon had me turning the pages and coming back every day until I finished it, so I must say that I found it engrossing.

The plot had some good twists but wasn't so complicated that I needed 3x5 cards to figure out what was going on. There were a few memorable characters, good villians, decent hero...if a bit stereotypical. Good action, high body count. Overall, I think most people would find it very entertaining.

One other opinion...the identity of the Closer was laughable. Still makes me chuckle when I think about it.