Presidential Deal: A Novel [Hardcover]

Les Standiford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1998

Les Standiford, whom James Ellroy has hailed as "the unassailable newkingpin of the South Florida crime novel," serves up his most ambitious,irresistible tale yet. Presidential Deal propels buildingcontractor/sleuth John Deal into the center of a national crisis--theabduction of the First Lady--and drives him to levels of heroism andingenuity remarkable even for him.

As Deal sits uncomfortably in aMiami hotel, preparing to accept an award whose notoriety he'd just assoon avoid, chaos erupts. A bomb explodes on a plane at MiamiInternational Airport. Then, before Deal's eyes, terrorists interruptthe awards ceremony with machine-gun fire. As the assembled dignitariesfall under a shower of bullets, Deal grabs the ceremony's emcee, LindaBarnes Sheldon, wife of the President, and escapes. But Deal'sspontaneous bravery plays into the hand of a suavely masterful madman,and he and the First Lady are taken captive.

In a thrilling plotthat unfolds against the backdrop of a storm-tossed Caribbean, Deal andLinda Sheldon must struggle to escape the clutches of their captor, aonetime U.S. operative in Central America who now harbors a deadlyhatred for his former employers. At the same time, Vernon Driscoll,Deal's old friend and ex-Metro-Dade homicide detective, uncoversevidence of unthinkable treachery behind Deal's disappearance, evidencethat points to the very highest levels of our government.

Addevotees of Les Standiford's work will expect, Presidential Dealexcels on several fronts.

Its plotting is both intricate andpyrotechnic, its prose is gritty yet lyrical, and its characters aresimultaneously quirky and convincing. Throughout PresidentialDeal, Standiford shines a piercing light into humanity's deepestrealms, where both friendship and betrayal, and cowardice and heroism,are spawned.

Praise for Deal on Ice

"In the steamy literary sleaze of South Florida that's hometo Elmore Leonard, Paul Levine, James Hall, Edna Buchanan, and CarlHiaasen, there's no smoother or more substantial crime novelist thanMiami's Les Standiford...In the fourth and most sophisticated of his Deal thrillers, Standiford once again packs maximum mayhem per page...butStandiford never stops there, and by now he's expert at elevatingthrillers into art."
--San Francisco Chronicle (Editor'sRecommended Title)

" A tremendously scary and enjoyable ride...willlure a lot of new fans into Standiford's world and will immensely pleasethose who already feel at home there."
--MiamiHerald

"Excellent...John Deal jumps in with both fistsswinging."
--Seattle Times

"Florida is a state loaded withtalented mystery writers, but Standiford is the best of thelot."
--Detroit Free Press

"A top-notchthriller."
--Chicago Tribune

"Count on Les Standiford to heap on humor and drama in his wonderful novels featuring South Florida antihero John Deal."
--Washington Post

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

John Deal is no hero--he just happens to be in the right place at the right time, cruising in the Gulf of Mexico when a group of Cuban refugees are tossed overboard in a smuggling operation gone awry. Then, presidential politics, particularly the importance of the Florida vote to President Frank Shelton's reelection campaign, put Deal on stage in Miami for a Medal of Valor ceremony. In another case of bad timing, Deal is caught in the middle of a scheme by anti-Castro partisans who plan to kidnap the president and blame it on Cuba. But when at the last minute the First Lady stands in for her husband at the Medal of Valor ceremony, Deal finds himself an inadvertent hero again, abducted with Linda Shelton and taken away with her to a deserted island in the Bahamas. The problem is, nobody knows Deal's been snatched with the First Lady--nobody except for retired cop Vern Driscoll, Deal's closest friend. Flying into the eye of a hurricane to rescue Deal and the First Lady, he tries to accomplish what the FBI, CIA, and every other law enforcement agency under the president's command hasn't been able to. Meanwhile, it's up to Deal to uncover a plot against the president hatched from somewhere within the president's own administration.

John Deal is an antihero in the best tradition of existential mystery fiction, and in Standiford's capable hands, he's grown into a more complex character with every new adventure. And, while Frank and Linda Shelton bear a striking resemblance to Bill and Hillary Clinton, it may be more than a coincidence--Standiford clearly knows what goes on in Washington, especially where relations with Cuba and Miami are concerned. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly

Standiford again proves he has the right stuff with this fifth?perhaps breakout?episode in the ongoing misadventures of unassuming, dilemma-prone Miami builder John Deal (Deal on Ice, etc.). Overnight, Deal achieves national hero status when he and ex-cop sidekick Vernon Driscoll save a boatload of Cuban refugees from drowning in Biscayne Bay. Modestly protesting the ordinariness of his act, Deal is awarded the Presidential Medal of Valor. As a campaign gimmick, the president moves the presentation ceremony to Miami, and the accidental hero is unwittingly caught in a sinister web of high-level chicanery. In what is staged to look like a Latino terrorist attack, hosts of innocent dignitaries and bystanders are gunned down, and the First Lady and Deal are taken as hostages to a tiny isolated tropical island. Despite flak from the tightly wound spook in charge, Driscoll uses his underworld connections to locate the small-time hood who supplied the contraband weapons to the terrorists and embarks on a hairy rescue mission, which leads to Nassau and back to the Keys. The indomitable Deal manages to survive a hurricane, turn the tables on the world-class terrorist leader and save the First Lady before he ultimately exposes the malevolent mastermind in the White House. For all the baroqueness of the plot, Standiford builds a tight narrative with credibly flawed characters and a powerful sense of place. Author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 290 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; 1st edition (August 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060186550
• ISBN-13: 978-0060186555
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,350,714 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars RAT-A-TAT ACTION - A WALLOPING GOOD READ, February 7, 2004

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: Presidential Deal (Mass Market Paperback)

For those who like their adventure dark, their plots ingenious, and action rapid rat-a-tat, Les Standiford has shown he's your man. He doesn't disappoint in his sixth time out - Presidential Deal.

In this pulse-pounding Miami based thriller builder/detective John Deal again takes center stage, this time finding himself the hapless victim in high-level terrorism so audacious that it burdens acceptance. Yet, despite the author's far-out premise, he draws his characters so credibly and paints scenes with such an authentic brush that it is all scarily believable.

When Deal and his pal, retired homicide detective Vernon Driscoll, are peacefully cruising Biscayne Bay in a "forty-five-foot Bayliner with a flying bridge and a patched up hull," they spy what appears to be masses of bobbing debris. It is human flotsam - some 20 Cuban refugees tossed overboard by the scuzzy pirates they've paid to ferry them to the United States and freedom. For rescuing them Deal is to be awarded a National Medal of Valor.

Rather than a Rose Garden ceremony, the presentation is moved to Miami so that President Frank Sheldon, in a reelection move, can meet with Jorge Vas, leader of the Florida emigre community. At the last minute, Linda Sheldon is called upon to substitute for her husband in presenting medals to Deal and the other awardees.

Rather than a stars-and-stripes event to which the nation can look with pride, the country is shocked by a blood bath as terrorists disguised as Miami policemen strafe the honorees and the audience. When the smoke clears and the bodies are counted, the First Lady and John Deal are both found missing, an abduction planned by Angel Salazar, a soulless sadist whose loyalties are up for grabs but at the moment bought by " a group without a history, without a face."

Spirited to an unknown tropical island the pair are tossed into a dirty raw cinderblock structure with a corrugated tin roof. Once there, the brutality they endure at the hands of their captors is not enough, the island is soon slapped by a tree crushing hurricane. Although earlier on Deal had said, "Tell them I'm not Arnold Schwarzenegger," he exhibits strength's that would surpass Arnie's as he saves Linda and himself from the storm.

While all military and civilian investigators are searching for the First Lady, it seems that nobody cares about Deal save for Driscoll, who is convinced his friends and Linda Sheldon are being held captive together. Driscoll tries to track the suppliers of the contraband police uniforms by calling in some chits and using force on some underground characters he once knew. They, especially Ray Brisa, are standout characters, rendered with sharp and knowing pen.

Of course, Deal and the First Lady are going to make it but what they have to go through to get there makes a first-rate thriller. Disturbing, frightening, grippingly suspenseful, Presidential Deal packs a walloping good read.

- Gail Cooke

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing throughout., August 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Presidential Deal: A Novel (Hardcover)

This novel contains unlikely characters, weak dialog, and unexplained plot twists. Illogical events occur throughout which are never explained. This was a frustrating read in that I hoped it would get better while I continued to read. It didn't. My advice is "Don't bother."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not his best!, July 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Presidential Deal: A Novel (Hardcover)

Standiford is one author whose books I await anxiously. John Deal is one of my favorites along with Dirk Pitt and Spencer.

I've read all the Deal novels. Most are great. This one is a little weak. Wait for the paperback.