The Kill Clause: A Novel [Hardcover]

Gregg Hurwitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 19, 2003

A riveting and explosive novel, The Kill Clause is a brilliantly inventive tour de force by a powerful new master of suspense.

Tim Rackley is a dangerous man of honor, a deputy U.S. marshal who is very good at his job -- until everything he believes in is shattered by the brutal murder of his own daughter.

Betrayed by an imperfect judicial system, Rackley watches helplessly as the killer walks free on a legal technicality. Devastated, furious, and burning with a righteous need for vengeance, he is suddenly forced to explore his own deadly options -- a quest that leads him into a shadowy no-man's-land between justice and the law ... and into the welcoming fold of "the Commission."

A vigilante group made up of people like him -- relentless streetwise operators who have each lost a loved one to violent crime -- the Commission confronts the failings of a system that sets predators loose to hunt again, cleaning up society's "mistakes" covertly, efficiently, and permanently. But as he is dragged deeper into a deadly morass of hidden agendas and murderous justice, Tim Rackley discovers that playing God is an excruciating and fearsome task. When his new secret life starts coming unwound at an alarming speed, he is suddenly caught in the most terrifying struggle he has ever faced -- a desperate battle to save his marriage, his career, his life, his soul ... and everything left that's worth fighting for.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Kill Clause's opening pages will knot the stomach of even the most seasoned crime reader. U.S. Marshall Tim Rackley is expecting his daughter home for her seventh birthday party. Instead he finds a fellow cop at his door, bearing the news that little Ginny has been savagely dismembered, her remains recovered in a nearby creek. Only an hour or so later, reeling with shock and grief, Rackley learns that the perpetrator has been caught--and that some fellow cops have arranged a little one-on-one meeting for him at an isolated shack, complete with an untraceable gun. Rackley arrives, faces this monster, and...

But that would be giving too much away. Suffice it to say that this powerful opening launches a killer thriller, rich in both adrenaline-pumping action and thought-provoking issues of vigilantism, power, and the moral dilemmas of those sworn to uphold the law. Hurwitz's prose is muscular yet intelligent; he draws characters well, and he unrolls action scenes with amazing vividness (as well as treating us to lots of fascinating lore about lock picking, identity theft, and cell-phone technology). Occasionally his plot twists verge on the outlandish, and a few characters seem to exist only to speechify on a certain point of view. But these are minor flaws in this fine, intense, often un-put-downable tale. --Nicholas H. Allison

From Publishers Weekly

A motley crew of ex-cops and fringe characters, who have all lost loved ones and seen the villains walk, are organized into a vigilante hit squad by a media personality who sees this as a good launchpad for his books in this first thriller in a projected series by Hurwitz (Do No Harm; Minutes to Burn). The squad-or the Commission, as it calls itself-chooses as executioner Tim Rackley, a US marshal and former Special Forces muscle who is vulnerable to their offer, having just lost his only child in a gruesome attack ("her remains had required three biohazard bags to depart the scene"). Devastated, Rackley leaves his job and his wife, a county sheriff, to take the assignment, disappearing into the murk of L.A. to begin a series of high-tech hits on high-profile criminals who have slipped through the system's cracks-including the man who, Rackley believes, killed his daughter. But Rackley suspects the Commission of fuzzy logic after one unclear target assessment leads two of the Commission (a murderous pair of bulked-up ex-cop brothers called, none too subtly, the "Mastersons") to go on a rampage, invoking the Commission's "kill clause"-the immediate (and brutal) dissolution of the squad. Caught between his former law enforcement colleagues and the Mastersons' rising bloodlust, Tim must risk one more vigilante act to put justice back in the hands of the courts. The high gore level and farfetched premise give the novel a cartoonish edge, but Hurwitz's deft descriptions of Tim's methods of disappearing, breaking-and-entering, and stealing identities are convincing, and his fast-paced plotting will keep readers riveted. Tim is a promising series hero, with his multitude of skills and conflicted loyalties, and Hurwitz is off to a fine start with this first installment.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (August 19, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060530383
• ISBN-13: 978-0060530389
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,235,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gregg Hurwitz is the critically acclaimed, internationally bestselling author of The Tower, Minutes to Burn, Do No Harm, The Kill Clause, The Program, Troubleshooter, Last Shot, The Crime Writer, Trust No One, They're Watching, and coming soon, You're Next. His books have been nominated for numerous awards, shortlisted for best novel of the year by International Thriller Writers, nominated for CWA's Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, chosen as feature selections for all four major literary book clubs, honored as Book Sense Picks, and translated into twenty languages.

Currently a consulting producer on ABC's "V," he has written screenplays for or sold spec scripts to Warner Bros., Paramount, MGM, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, and ESPN, developed TV series for Warner Bros. and Lakeshore, written Wolverine, Punisher, and others for Marvel, and published numerous academic articles on Shakespeare. He has taught fiction writing in the USC English Department, and guest lectured for UCLA, and for Harvard in the United States and around the world. In the course of researching his thrillers, he has sneaked onto demolition ranges with Navy SEALs, swam with sharks in the Galápagos, and gone undercover into mind-control cults.

Hurwitz grew up in the Bay Area. While completing a BA from Harvard ('95) and a master's from Trinity College, Oxford in Shakespearean tragedy ('96), he wrote his first novel. He was the undergraduate scholar-athlete of the year at Harvard for his pole-vaulting exploits, and played college soccer in England, where he was a Knox fellow. He now lives in L.A. where he continues to play soccer, frequently injuring himself. Feel free to email him at [e-mail]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping and compelling, you won't be able to put this down!, September 6, 2003

By 

coachtim (Indiana, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kill Clause: A Novel (Hardcover)

Not usually given to superlatives, let me start this review by stating that Gregg Hurwitz' 4th novel, "The Kill Clause" is the best book that I've read in the past year! The plot takes off like a rocket from page one and never loses steam.

The story revolves around the brutal murder of the young daughter of law enforcement officers, Tim and Dray Rackley. As the Rackley's deal with a parent's greatest nightmare, things become even worse when the alleged murdered is set free because of a violation of his 4th Amendment rights during his arrest. Tim is so distraught over this turn of events, that he considers taking the law into his own hands. As he comtemplates this action, Tim is approached by an unusual band of vigilantes known as The Commission. Each member of The Commission has suffered a great personal loss along the lines of the Rackleys. And, in each of their cases as well, the perpetator has gone free because of some legal technicality.

Without giving away too much of the plot let me just say that the anguish that Tim feels over the loss of his daughter pales in comparison to the guilt that he begins to feel as he becomes the hit man for The Commission. This very human story tests the depths of many emotions, especially the relationship that a husband and wife have to deal with after a loss of this magnitude.

Hurwitz has done another outstanding job with his character development in this novel. The members of The Commission are unique in their own fashion and extremely interesting. There were a number of scenes throughout the book that I read at a blur because the action was so intense. Numerous graphic scenes definitely make this powerful book one that is not for the faint of heart.

Bravo to Mr. Hurwitz on his latest creation and attention all Hollywood execs: This would make a dynamite film! The screen play is practically written already. I can't wait to see what Hurwitz writes next!

HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't try this at home, August 27, 2003

By 

Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Kill Clause: A Novel (Hardcover)

THE KILL CLAUSE is one of those thrillers where I almost feel guilty not awarding a High Five.

U.S. marshal Tim Rackley lives in SoCal with his wife Andrea, a deputy in the local police department. On the very first page, the two learn that the dismembered body of their 7-year old daughter, Ginny, has been discovered. Shortly thereafter, the suspected perp, a convicted child molester named Kindell, is cornered. Before the man is taken in for booking, Tim is given an opportunity by the arresting officers to execute the suspect. Left alone with Kindell, the slimeball gives Tim the hint that there was an accomplice, so Tim allows him to be taken into formal custody hoping the subsequent investigation will yield more information. But it doesn't, and the court sets the accused free on a technicality. Soon thereafter, Tim is approached by The Committee, a vigilante group of five men and one woman proposing to act as judge and jury on seven high profile murder cases where the suspect has gone free. They want Tim to join their deliberations, and then execute those condemned. The bait is the seventh and last case, which is Kindell's. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time by all concerned.

There's much that author Gregg Hurwitz does right in this book. His prose skillfully depicts gritty and suspenseful action. The dialog is well constructed. (My pet peeve about too many potboilers is that all characters "sound" the same.) Rackley himself has a clever bag of tricks from years of military and law enforcement experience that makes him an eminently dangerous man. He knows how to booby-trap a .357 pistol so it blows off the shooter's hand, or pack an audio earpiece with explosive so it blows off a head. He can simulate infected needle tracks using a syringe full of Visine, Comet cleanser, and a crushed vitamin C tablet. He pulls metal fragments out of his body using nothing but Advil, hydrogen peroxide, and a tweezers. Don't try these parlor tricks at home.

My biggest problem with the novel, compelling me to shave off a star, is that I never felt more than indifference towards Rackley. Yes, the murder of Tim's daughter and the subsequent downward spiral of his marriage did inspire sympathy. Yes, I was riveted by his consummate and deadly resourcefulness. But there was nothing about the man that was particularly engaging. I think of other fictional action series heroes whose quirks make them endearing. Trouble-magnet Munch Mancini (by Barbara Seranella), who has a smart-mouth response to life in general. Ex-military cop Jack Reacher (by Lee Child), a rugged individualist so out of the mainstream that he hasn't a clue how to iron a shirt or manage a household budget. Or skip tracer Stephanie Plum (by Janet Evanovich), who's basically just a klutz. Even Eastwood's Dirty Harry persona had his catchy sayings ("Are ya feeling lucky, punk?") Rackley is nothing of the sort. And while this didn't prevent me from finishing the book, it would, oddly enough, keep me from buying other novels by the same author. A hero with a likability quotient means that much.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Star Chamber Redux, July 25, 2005

By 

Douglas De Bono - Author of No Safe Harbor (Minnetonka, mn United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kill Clause (Mass Market Paperback)

First of all, the writing is good. The author has talent and flair, but the story lacks cohesiveness. I liked the character development. I thought the main characters were well rounded and about as bright as a box of rocks.

This book is the STAR CHAMBER only with Deputy Marshals instead of judges. The main character Tim Rackley approaches apparent injustices in the criminal justice system by taking the law into his own hands and whacking the bad guys (it just isn't clear if there any good guys in this tale).

The initial enthusiam for vigilante justice degrades to what-have-I-gotten-into to something akin to I've-written-300-pages-and-how-do-I-end-this book. Personally, I would have killed off the main character rather than go through the strained, improbable and fixed ending.