Jericho Point [Hardcover]

Meg Gardiner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 19, 2004

When a young woman tumbles dead onto the beach, the police identify the body. It's Evan Delaney. Except that Evan is very much alive. It's her identity that has been stolen. And the thief has compromised more than just Evan's bank account. She has been scamming money from rich Hollywood wannabes -- including a vicious drug boss. He wants his money back. From Evan. Soon she finds herself harassed by drug runners and suspected of murder. She must save herself -- but to do that must escape a web of deceit that threatens to destroy not just her, but her boyfriend Jesse.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Meg Gardiner dishes out the gripping plot in tense helpings. Short, punchy chapters keep the pace flowing fast and you'll find it impossible to reach a resting point, even just to make a re-charging cuppa. Definitely a book for the holiday suitcase.' -- Glasgow Evening Times, Peterborough Evening Telegr 'Fast-paced, immediate and imaginative ... Evan is a great tough but tender heroine and we are with her all the way' -- Sherlock Praise for MISSION CANYON: 'a rattling good read, with an unexpected twist at the end.' -- Sunday Telegraph '... fiction at its finest. There are so many nail-biting moments and hand-wringing twists that Mission Canyon makes exhausting reading. But that's a compliment.' -- Peterborough Evening Telegraph '... very well written, racy and witty' -- Tangled Web

About the Author

Originally from Santa Barbara, California, Meg Gardiner previously practised law and taught at the University of California. She lives with her family near London. To find out more about her novels, visit Meg's website at www.meggardiner.com

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Hodder Hb (July 19, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340829354
• ISBN-13: 978-0340829356
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,586,825 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Meg Gardiner writes thrillers set in California. The Evan Delaney novels, featuring a Santa Barbara freelance journalist, include 2009 Edgar Award winner China Lake. The Jo Beckett series features a San Francisco forensic psychiatrist. The Dirty Secrets Club won the RT Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Procedural Novel of 2008 and was chosen one of the year's Top Ten Mysteries and Thrillers by Amazon.com. Originally from Oklahoma, Gardiner practiced law in Los Angeles and taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She lives near London.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you appreciate good thrillers, read Meg Gardiner's books!, March 26, 2007

By 

Shanon C. Carey (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jericho Point (Paperback)

I, like everyone else, read the EW article by Stephen King. That is why within a week I received and read Meg Gardiner's first three books: China Lake, Mission Canyon and Jericho point. I can't put them down! I love the Stephanie Plum series but these are darker, much more complex and thrilling.

I can't wait to read the other two that are being shipped and released! I wish Meg Gardiner had an american publisher and that everyone was reading her books.

Fun, fun, fun! These are great summertime, read on vacation or next to the pool books! Get them now!!!!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This time the person Evan Delaney is trying to protect is herself, March 27, 2007

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Jericho Point (Paperback)

By the time you get to "Jericho Point," the third of the Evan Delaney thrillers penned by Meg Gardiner, the review of her work that Stephen King put in "Entertainment Weekly" has disappeared from our rear view mirrors. If you started at the very beginning with "China Lake" and then consumed "Mission Canyon" as well, then all you really need to know is that "Jericho Point" is more of the same. The front cover promises "Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll. And Murder," and that is exactly what we get. On a dark and stormy night Evan shows up to a wild party, summoned by some stranger because it seems her boyfriend has locked himself in a bathroom. But it turns out the sad drunk on the floor is not Jesse Blackburn, but his brother PJ, who says that some girl went off the balcony, over the edge, all the way down into the waves. Things get considerably worse from there and I really do not want to give away more of the story because you should just read the book and find out for yourself. There is a really great hook for this story, but I never bothered to look at the back cover because I did not need to be persuaded to buy this one and I think you should enjoy discovering it as you read it.

What I can say is that whereas "China Lake" was about Evan getting in the way of people out to get her brother Brian and her young nephew Luke, and "Mission Canyon" was about people going after Jesse, this time around it is Evan herself who is the target for a whole lot of people. Gardiner really puts her heroine through the wringer this time and hopefully this is as bad as things ever get for Evan on a personal (and physical) level, because I do not know if I can take much more. That is without even taking into account the constant turmoil that is her love life with Jesse, especially since Marc Dupree is back again as part of the cavalry. As always the action is pretty much nonstop as Gardiner finds a way of adding fuel to the fire in virtually every chapter of the book. Just be careful not to start reading any of her books in bed at night because you might have trouble finding a chapter where you can feel comfortable stopping.

I have been mulling over the idea that "Jericho Point" is the best of the trio of Evan Delaney thrillers I have read so far, but I do not really have a sense that it is noticeably better than its predecessors. Certainly the fact that the risk to our heroine makes this one even more personal than the previous two books is part of the equation, but overall I think Gardiner is just on top of her game. These have all been great reads, not only because they are fast paced but also because of her wicked sense of humor (e.g., Evan whole "Flaming Asshole" routine when she interrupts a lunch at the San Ysidro Ranch). One of the things I love about these books is that only Gardiner's readers know how funny Evan is, because she thinks all of her funny stuff rather than saying it outloud. Plus the "Star Trek" panties are just so damn endearing. Now the only problem I have is to wait patiently for the fourth book to be delivered to hold me over until the fifth one is published in paperback this spring.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strong thriller, August 7, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jericho Point: An Evan Delaney Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Free lance attorney Evan Delaney runs to where her lover's brother PJ Armstrong is partying after receiving his distress call. When she arrives, he locks himself in the bathroom before she persuades him to tell her what is wrong. As he talks she realizes he is stoned, but insists he saw a woman fall off the balcony. When she goes to call the police, he stops her saying he is not sure whether his imagination ran wild.

At the law firm where she works part time, her boss shows her checks made out to Evan Delaney from Datura, Inc. The client is willing to look the other way if Evan returns the money. The only problem is that she never received the checks to cash them. When she looks up her finances and credit statements, she finds checks and credit card bills she never used to buy merchandise. Evan knows someone stole her idtntity and then the body of Brittany surfaces with credit cards in Evan's name. Creditors are after the real Evan and the law is looking into her allegedly passing bad checks. Finally a drug kingpin demands she pay back with interest the money he lent her. As much as she loves Jesse, evidence mounts that his brother was involved.

An Evan Delaney novel is always a treat to read as the heroine knows when to be tough but also shows her fears especially if she or someone she cares about is going to be hurt. Her inner strength enables her to face ugly truths and nasty people while doing something to rectify the mess. The story line is fast-paced but driven by the heroine as she goes about cleaning up a mess while Meg Gardiner strongly warns readers that identity theft does not always denote stranger as it also can be an inside job.

Harriet Klausner