The Program [Paperback]

Gregg Hurwitz (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co. (2004)
• ASIN: B000PUVH16
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)

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

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quietly terrifying and suspenseful, September 3, 2004

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Program: A Novel (Tim Rackley Novels) (Hardcover)

Several years ago I met a woman who was married to a gentleman with a controlling personality. To say that he had his own way of doing things would be an understatement. The man, according to his wife, would give her instructions about how to do things on a daily basis. These included everything from the proper way to vacuum to the preferred method for turning the twist-tie on an open loaf of bread. I am not making this up. It was with foreknowledge of such individuals that I picked up THE PROGRAM by Gregg Hurwitz. Whatever chills had been raised by my acquaintance's account of her domestic situation returned with my reading of this harrowing tale of mind and behavioral control.

THE PROGRAM, for the most part, is not awash in explosions and karate; Hurwitz is a dramatist, and a fine one. He is able to create more suspense and terror out of a few sentences of dialogue than many Hollywood film directors can with a two-hour celluloid canvas. Hurwitz's boogie man in THE PROGRAM is Terrance Donald Betters, known as The Teacher, who purports to run a behavioral institute that is, in practice, an extortion mill.

When Leah Henning, a young college student with familial issues, falls under Betters's sway, her parents come to Tim Rackley for assistance. Rackley has been summarily drummed out of the U.S. Marshal's office for methods that, while brutally effective, are too over-the-top for a visible government agent. Will Henning, a Hollywood movie producer with friends in the highest of places, is able to get Rackley reinstated for the purpose of getting Leah away from Betters.

Rackley, however, is nobody's puppet. When he goes underground to investigate Betters's program, he finds that Leah is a more sympathetic character than her stepfather and that, while Betters is a dangerous con artist, Leah may have had her reasons for seeking him out, even if those reasons were not good. Rackley insinuates himself deeply into Betters's organization in order to protect Leah and assist her in what will hopefully be a voluntary extrication. Doing so, however, puts Rackley personally and professionally in terrible danger. Isolated in every possible way, Rackley finds himself in the position of once again crossing the line that jeopardized his career once before.

Hurwitz combines yeoman's research with his ever-developing writing abilities to create a first-rate tale. Cults range in size from Jim Jones's ill-fated Jonestown group to the infamous Manson family. THE PROGRAM gives the reader a front-row view of the personalities that lead, and follow, in such groups. This is a quietly terrifying work that will strongly resonate with any and all who read it.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific novel..., September 4, 2005

By 

Detra Fitch (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Program: A Novel (Tim Rackley Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

The character of Tim Rackley is also seen in a previous novel, "The Kill Clause". Tim returns to service with the US Marshals and goes deep undercover of a cult to locate Leah Henning. This cult is into mind control, which can be (and normally is) a nightmare!

Tim goes in as a willing participant. What he witnesses makes him determined to shut The Program down once-and-for-all. To do so, Tim must face his own horrible past and fears. It is the only way to convince the leaders of the cult that he is sincere. But one thing is certain: Tim will either shut down The Program or die trying.

***** You will stay up a few extra hours reading this psychological tale. Each character is masterfully detailed and I could not help but sympathize, especially with Tim Rackley. I can only hope that there are a few real officers out there with Rackley's morals. Gregg Hurwitz's writing is down right engrossing. *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing, January 25, 2006

By 

B. Schaefer (Omaha, NE United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Program: A Novel (Tim Rackley Novels) (Hardcover)

I devoured this book. What a disturbing insight into a "cult" and how quickly people become "reprogrammed." I have not read any other novels by Hurwitz, but if they are anything like this, I won't hesitate. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!