Hunting Season [Mass Market Paperback]

P. T. Deutermann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 17, 2002

Edward Kreiss is a retired FBI agent--a manhunter whose specialty is making rogue operatives disappear. When Kreiss's daughter vanishes in the backwoods of rural West Virginia, and the FBI has no leads to follow, Kreiss follows his own--with a vengeance. Exercising the lethal maneuvers that made him the best "sweeper" in the business, Kreiss plunges back into action--this time as the dangerous loner he was once trained to kill.

Unknown to Kreiss, corrupt agency brass have their own reasons for keeping the kidnapping low-profile--and making the job of eliminating Kreiss high priority. Called in to take him down is a deadly female assassin with a killer instinct that surpasses that of her prey. Now, as hunter becomes hunted, Kreiss finds himself and his daughter trapped in an elaborate game of political scandal and personal revenge. And whatever secret has been buried by Kreiss's elusive enemies is sure to trigger open season on anyone who discovers it.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Edwin Kreiss is a former FBI agent whose discovery of a Chinese espionage ring made him a lot of enemies and resulted in his early retirement. Now his daughter is missing, and nobody, least of all a junior G-woman named Janet Carter, is going to keep him from finding her. Browbeating the one clue to her disappearance out of a terrified college student, Kreiss follows his daughter's trail to a deactivated federal arsenal in southwestern Virginia, where a fanatic whose son was immolated at Waco is cooking up a plan to blow the ATF to bits.

Kreiss is uniquely qualified to play his role as hunter-in-chief. He's been trained as a "sweeper," a job title that refers to the cleanup of rogue agents and other enemies of the state, and he took a few high-tech search-and-destroy goodies with him when he was prematurely put out to pasture by his former employers. Now another sweeper wants to put him out of action, and Janet Carter's getting conflicting signals from her own superiors about just how much cooperation they're willing to give Kreiss as he sets out to rescue his daughter--and, incidentally, redeem his own troubled past.

P.T. Deutermann is a skillful writer who knows how to tell a story. This briskly paced thriller almost turns the pages by itself. Carter, the ostensible heroine of the novel, never quite extinguishes her ambivalence about either Kreiss or the agency she serves, an attempt at multidimensionality of character that's more confusing than revealing. The ending hints at a continued relationship between them, but it's Kreiss, rather than Carter, who engages the reader's attention and whose future we really care about. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Part action novel, part spy thriller, this explosive tour de force follows the adventures of aging superspy Edwin Kreiss, retired under a cloud, who sets Agency blood boiling when he steps out on his own to find his kidnapped college student daughter, Lynn, after the FBI stops looking. Rookie agent Janet Carter is informed of the spy's dark past, warned off when she digs for info, then ordered by creepy Agency and Justice drones with ulterior motives to keep tabs on Kreiss. Kreiss finds Lynn's cap near the Ramsey Arsenal, a dangerous mothballed toxic chemical complex in dense woods near Roanoke, and it's just a matter of time until he locates her captor, a fanatic who is making a bomb at the complex, intending to blow up ATF HQ in D.C. and avenge his son's death at Waco. Janet leads agents to the complex, but an explosion sends her to the hospital along with Lynn, who is pulled out of the rubble. The women flee the hospital, barely eluding Misty, a deadly female CIA assassin bent on grabbing Lynn in an attempt to settle an Agency score with Kreiss. The author exceeds his near-perfect Train Man with this ripped-from-the-headlines plot pitting a middle-aged Rambo with a small but deadly arsenal of spy gadgets against spine-chilling villains, corrupt Agency brass and powerful political forces. Deutermann never sounds a wrong note in this nonstop page-turner. (Mar. 19) Forecast: An excerpt from Hunting Season in the mass market edition of Train Man (St. Martin's, Mar.) will alert Deutermann's fans to the new book, while the novel's anti-government slant should satisfy their and other readers' seemingly insatiable appetite for tales of Washington corrupton. Expect vigorous sales; audio rights have been sold to Brilliance.
Copyright 2000 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: 528 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; 1st edition (June 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312979061
• ISBN-13: 978-0312979065
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #377,505 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter T. Deutermann
(P.T. Deutermann)


Peter Deutermann was born in Boston in 1941. His father was in the Navy, so he subsequently lived all over the United States and also in Argentina. He graduated from the naval academy in 1963 and served in the navy for 26 years, rising to the rank of Captain. While in the navy, he published one textbook on naval operations and several professional articles in navy-oriented journals. He held three commands: a Swiftboat in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam, a guided missile destroyer in the Atlantic Fleet, and a destroyer squadron based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. His last tour of duty was as the division director for chemical, biological, and radiological weapons arms control negotiations on the staff of the Joint Chiefs in Washington, DC.
He retired from active duty in 1989 and began his fiction-writing career. He has published fourteen novels since 1992, all with St. Martins Press, including the just-released World War II navy novel, entitled Pacific Glory. He is currently working on his next book, a thriller set at the historic mountain fortress of Masada in Israel.
In addition to a BS in naval engineering, Mr. Deutermann holds an MA in public administration from the University of Washington. He is also a Member of the Royal College of Defence Studies in London. He is married and has two children. Mr. Deutermann and his wife of 42 years live in Rockingham County, in the Piedmont of North Carolina, on their family pony farm.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A HIGH OCTANE DRAMA ABSORBINGLY READ, February 12, 2001

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hunting Season (Hardcover)

Sometimes angry, sometimes anguished, suspicious and stealthy, the voice of Dick Hill reveals all of these feelings as he renders this absorbing story of a father's search for his missing daughter.

Three college students are hiking around an abandoned military complex when presto - they disappear. The FBI soon chalks it up to a youthful runaway.

However, one father knows better, and he's not your typical parent-next-door. Edwin Kriess is a former member of a special CIA group that was trained to find and capture. He's determined to trace his daughter's abductors, and sets about doing so.

The FBI doesn't look kindly upon his investigations - he may have too much information, and what will he discover? Thus, the tracker becomes the tracked when the FBI dispatches someone to ferret out the truth from Kniess.

It's a trigger sharp, twisting yarn, and Dick Hill weaves it beautifully.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great read, February 23, 2001

By 

N. Gargano "nokegchris" (Waynesville NC and Bradenton, Fl) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hunting Season (Hardcover)

I just finished reading Mr. Deutermann's new novel, and it was great. I still get claustrophobic thinking about the scene in the cave! The book was hard to put down, and really really interesting in the details of the main character's actions. I hope though, that we see these characters again, I feel like there is so much more I want to know about the main character, I wasn't ready to let him go. If you are already a fan, read this book, you won't be disappointed. If you are new to this super author, this is a good one to start with, you will become a fan.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars not enough, November 1, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Hunting Season (Hardcover)

I read LOTS of books and I believe this is one of the absolute best I have ever read. Well written, plausable storyline, incredible thrills, and unusual twists. Great characters, both good and bad.Went to the library and checked out every book he has written that was available.
This review won't discuss the plot because you should read it without any prior information.I would offer one simple solution for you - buy it, rent it, get it. You will not be disappointed. A SLAM DUNK BOOK that should be at the top of any list of outstanding thrillers.