Perfect Killer [Hardcover]

Lewis Perdue (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 25, 2005

A new thriller by the New York Times bestselling author of The Da Vinci Legacy

No fear. No conscience. No mistakes.

For over seventy years, Project Enduring Valor has sought the Holy Grail of combat medicine: a drug that would turn ordinary soldiers into ruthlessly efficient killers. Now, after decades of secret trial and error, Enduring Valor is ready to be implemented on a massive scale--despite devastating side-effects.
Neurosurgeon Bradford Stone is being hunted by the Project’s director, a retired war hero turned presidential candidate. To get back his life and expose the truth, Stone must penetrate the very heart of the conspiracy before a sociopathic “killing machine” permanently damaged by the drug becomes President of the United States.

Perfect Killer is an engrossing and original thriller that probes the very nature of the human mind.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Not many thrillers end with a bibliography of several dozen actual nonfiction books, but Perdue's prodigious and intriguing new novel (after 2004's Slatewiper) has one—plus appendixes that are probably fiction because they include quotes from the novel's star players. Dr. Bradford Stone, "legendary Marine recon operative turned healer and scientist," makes it his business to find out who's behind a massive secret plan to turn the drug Xantaeus loose on a reduced but much more effective army in places like Iraq—especially after the love of his life, a black activist in the Mississippi Delta country, is killed by a female sniper involved in the conspiracy. Stone and the murdered activist's daughter are credible characters; the plot's premise stands up to scrutiny; and Perdue brings the Delta geography to vivid life. Even though the writing occasionally slips into some awkward phrasing ("Gabriel had paid scant attention and given no real thought to those critics, preferring to believe the day of the nondepleting neurotrop would never come"), this is an exciting novel.
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Review

"Packed with action and controversy, Perfect Killer is that rarity among thrillers-it sets your pulse racing while it makes you think."--David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of The Brotherhood of the Rose on Perfect Killer

"Brilliance that only Perdue could master."--Mark Burnett, creator of the television series Survivor on Perfect Killer

"Fast as a hollow-point bullet, Perfect Killer by Lewis Perdue explodes across decades and continents in a titanic and memorable adventure story. From national politics to war, quantum physics to racism, Perdue peels back the complex layers of today's world with scalpel-like surety."--Gayle Lynds, New York Times bestselling author of The Coil on Perfect Killer

"A smart, entertaining, and fast-paced thriller."--Lisa See, author of Dragon Bones on Perfect Killer

"Perdue has written a book that deserves wide attention, not only for its literary excellence, but for the important ethical questions it raises for today's soldier. The book well deserves to be in the running for one of the best books of the year."--Richard A. Gabriel, author of No More Heroes: Madness and Psychiatry in War  on Perfect Killer

"Once again Perdue comes through again with a credible plot that makes us wonder whether this is a thriller or a documentary."--Craig Dirgo, author of The Einstein Papers on Perfect Killer

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; 1st edition (August 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0641831862
• ISBN-13: 978-0765301109
• ASIN: 0765301105
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,669,781 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I studied physics and biology in college and have written 20 published books which have sold more than 4 million copies. My most recent novel is Perfect Killer, published in Sept. 2005. Other novels include The Da Vinci Legacy and Daughter of God. A complete list of my books can be found at LewisPerdue.com I have taught journalism at UCLA and Cornell, founded four companies including a wine company a magazine and two technology firms and been a top aide to a U.S. Senator and a governor, run political races for Congress, worked as a Washington correspondent (Ottaway/Dow-Jones, States News Service), a columnist for Gannett, The Wall Street Journal Online, CBS Marketwatch and TheStreet.Com. I write book reviews for Barron's. I received my B.S. (1972) with distinction from Cornell.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun if you ignore what irritated me, October 18, 2007

By 

Mark Alfred "http://markssuperblog.blogspot.com/" (Oklahoma City, OK) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Perfect Killer (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a fun, fast read, obviously with the intent to force mass-market readers to think about Perdue's issues of free will, pharmaceutically-enhanced soldiers, and such.

But, TWO things got in the way of my "total experience."

1) It is very disconcerting for the reader when the story jumps back and forth between first-person and third-person narrative like a volley ball on Spring Break. There's no discernable reason to have a first-person POV when so much of the story has to be told by an omniscient narrator. There's not even the pretense of "this is what I found out later about this."

2) After the FOURTH repetition of describing the female lead as having "a Mona Lisa smile," I was starting to want to time-travel and kill da Vinci before he could paint the thing! The fact that Jasmine has a "Mona Lisa smile" is shorthand for "as the author, I'm too untalented to describe what I mean." I mean, come on! This UNDESCRIPTIVE description appears probably TEN TIMES in this book. For heck's sake, just say, "her mysterious smile made me wonder what she was really thinking," or "her expression drove me crazy trying to figure her out," or SOMETHING that's not repeated over and over.

Other than that, this is a pretty involving, fun read. I would have enjoyed it more had these two things not slapped me (metaphorically) in the face, jolting me out of the story and back to "Oh, yeah, I'm reading a book."

What do YOU think?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting premise, but story falls flat, April 27, 2007

By 

Orion1 (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Perfect Killer (Mass Market Paperback)

The premise of the chemical soldier was really promising for this novel. But the story just really didn't go anywhere. There were a lot of great descriptions of life in the south, but how did that tie in with the story? And the love story between Stone and Jasmine... completely unbelieveable. The last 50 pages started to pick up but then the story ended abruptly. Overall, disappointing.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! His best book yet., August 31, 2005

By 

M. Mills "libraryangel" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Perfect Killer (Hardcover)

This had got to be Perdue's best book yet. The characters are complex without getting in the way of the incredible military conspiracy story. It gives me chills to think that our government could actually be trying to create a Perfect Killer through drugs. Where does he come up with this stuff? Definitely a "got to read" book. I actually read it twice back to back!