Quantico [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

Greg Bear (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 16, 2007

It’s the second decade of the twenty-first century, and terrorism has escalated almost beyond control. New weapons are being spawned in remote basement labs, and no one feels safe. In North America, the FBI uses cutting-edge technology to thwart domestic terrorists. The War on Terror has reached a deadly stalemate. The FBI has been dispatched to deal with a new menace. Like the Anthrax threat of 2001, a plague targeted to ethnic groups has the potential to wipe out entire populations. But the FBI itself is under political assault. There’s a good chance that agents William Griffin, Fouad Al-Husam, and Jane Rowland will be part of the last class at Quantico. As the young agents hunt a brilliant homegrown terrorist, they join forces with veteran bio-terror expert Rebecca Rose. But the plot they uncover-and the man they chase-prove far more complex than anyone expects. Quantico is a selection of: Book-of-the-Month Club, Science Fiction Book Club, Military Book Club, Mystery Guild, American Compass Book Club, and Quality Paperback Book Club.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This thought-provoking near-future thriller from bestseller Bear (Dead Lines) focuses on two young FBI agents: William Griffin, the son of a legendary FBI lawman, struggles through training; Fouad Al-Husam, who expects suspicion for his heritage and Muslim faith, finds himself instead sent on super-secret missions to the Middle East. Playing a minor supporting role is their Quantico classmate, Jane Rowland. When a quiet man with mismatched eyes starts telling certain fanatics that he can make gene-keyed anthrax to destroy their hereditary enemies, Griffin and Al-Husam form an unlikely team, headed by veteran agent Rebecca Rose, to handle the threat. Bear's near-future science is, as always, eerily plausible, and while he doesn't stint on sharp criticism of political infighting and its potential to hinder antiterrorism efforts, his would-be terrorists become surprisingly sympathetic as the complex details of their true plan are slowly (sometimes too slowly) revealed. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Veteran science-fiction author Bear proves here that he is as comfortable in the near future as he is centuries or millennia down the road. Just a handful of years from today, global terrorism has escalated out of control. In Jerusalem, a sacred religious site is destroyed. Another attack on U.S. soil has taken the lives of thousands. New killing technologies are being developed in secret labs around the world. America is losing the war on terror. Enter three young FBI agents, raw recruits whose hunt for an American terrorist could either save the world or destroy it. This chillingly plausible story displays Bear's storytelling gifts to their fullest: his ability to extrapolate from current technologies and political trends; his knack for creating flesh-and-bone characters; his capacity for keeping us on the edges of our seats. His legion of fans will be lining up for this one, and the novel's cross-genre appeal should guarantee it an even wider readership than usual. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 326 pages
• Publisher: Vanguard Press (April 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593154453
• ASIN: B000XKIF3G
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,623,424 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Greg Bear is the author of more than thirty books, spanning thrillers, science fiction, and fantasy, including Blood Music, Eon, The Forge of God, Darwin's Radio, City at the End of Time, and Hull Zero Three. His books have won numerous international prizes, have been translated into more than twenty-two languages, and have sold millions of copies worldwide. Over the last twenty-eight years, he has also served as a consultant for NASA, the U.S. Army, the State Department, the International Food Protection Association, and Homeland Security on matters ranging from privatizing space to food safety, the frontiers of microbiology and genetics, and biological security.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Terrifying, May 4, 2008

By 

Rabid Reader (Near Niagara Falls, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quantico (Hardcover)

Thrillers are one of my staple diet of mind candy & I grew up reading the hard core, science-oriented SF of the 1960's/70's. Mr. Bear has here combined the two with a fast-paced SF police procedural that I picked up on a Friday night and literally did not set down until I had finished it.

Bear's writing is unmuddied, and his plot is clipped to the exact pace of law enforcement officers under the gun (of time). His characters are amazingly well-fleshed for such a novel.

In a political thriller, it is often difficult to let the reader know which characters are trustworthy, which not, and which are conflicted without stirring so many red herrings into the mix that the reader is unable to enjoy the unfolding of the tale. There is no such problem here.

I also give him credit for his several allusions to the SF masters (for whom such times as ours would undoubtedly have produced many novels like this)and for maintaining the correct balance between too much and not enough science background. He makes the probability of bioterrorism seem too real and too possible and too terrifying to ignore--which is just what a near-future thriller ought to do. A very good job overall.

30 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-thought-out near-future SF thriller, May 6, 2007

By 

Louise Marley "Louise" (Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quantico (Hardcover)

Bear combines a Crichton-style thriller with some damned good science to scare the pants off readers with this near-future story of bioterror, global politics, and heroic FBI agents. QUANTICO would make--and probably will make--a great movie, with a pace that rockets to the finish, and characters who should pop off the screen. One of Greg Bear's particular talents is to tell a hard science story with characters who live and breathe, and QUANTICO is no exception to the rest of his powerful bibliography. It's not for the faint of heart! But it's a most rewarding read.

37 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Smart, Plodding and Heavy, June 4, 2007

By 

David Arndt (Grand Rapids, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quantico (Hardcover)

To the author's credit, he knows his stuff. This is definitely targeted at people who want intelligent ideas in their novels. I think the writing is pretty good, too, but I have two complaints.

1) The quote on the top of the dust jacket loudly proclaims "an adrenaline-amped thriller that will scare the hell out of you." I would disagree with this. It may have picked up momentum at the end, but the start of the book was definitely plodding. It was interesting, but it hardly "scared the hell out of me."

2) The book is positively dismal in tone. There is no lightness, no optimism. You have to alternate dark and light moods or the book becomes too heavy too enjoy. Maybe that was what the author intended, but if so, it was too depressing for me.