Remote Control (Alan Gregory) [Paperback]

Stephen White (Author)

Book Description

Series: Alan Gregory | Publication Date: March 1, 1998

In the midst of his most challenging and dangerous case, clinical psychologist Dr. Alan Gregory's wife-associate district attorney, Lauren Crowder-is arrested on suspicion of murder. Alan's desperate investigation will bring him face-to-face with true evil: a conspiracy fueled by human greed and bound by a deadly secret that someone will kill to keep.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In his fifth book about intrepid Colorado psychologist Alan Gregory, Stephen White zooms in on Gregory's wife, Lauren--an assistant district attorney who has multiple sclerosis. Protecting a friend targeted by anti-abortion terrorists, Lauren shoots at a man during a snowstorm and sets off a blizzard of recriminations. As usual, White makes the evolution of a convoluted plot as believable as the rocky landscape. Previous Gregory adventures available in paperback: Harm's Way, Higher Authority, Private Practices, Privileged Information. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

White (Higher Authority, LJ 10/1/94) wastes no time getting right to the action in this fast-paced, multilayered thriller. Opening with the shocking murder of the U.S. Surgeon General by a zealous right-to-lifer, this story shifts ahead to a mysterious shooting at the home of the surgeon's daughter, Emma. To complicate matters, the one holding the smoking gun is none other than Lauren Crowder, Boulder County deputy DA and Emma's friend. So why does Lauren risk jail to protect Emma's privacy and what does Emma have to hide? The seemingly cluttered cast of characters soon fall into place, with intriguing twists handled adeptly by best-selling author White. Reader Frank Muller adds just enough vocal nuance to differentiate characters without being overly dramatic. White's numerous fans will not be disappointed with this solid mystery. For most popular collections.?Susan McCaffrey, Sturgis Pub. Sch. Lib., Mich.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Signet (March 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451191692
• ISBN-13: 978-0451191694
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #589,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen White is a clinical psychologist and New York Times bestselling author of suspense novels, including Dead Time and The Siege. He lives in Colorado.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars shallow is as shallow does, June 18, 2008

By 

Julia M. Walker (NY Finger Lakes) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Remote Control (Alan Gregory) (Paperback)

Dr. Alan Gregory is a durable hero. He's been shot, stabbed, pushed off of cliffs, almost pushed off of cliffs, stalked, variously assaulted, and attacked by at least one wild animal. And yet he remains a mensch - tiresomely physically fit and over-addicted to healthy living, perhaps, but still a mensch. He admires his wife, cherishes his friends, and generally respects his patients. He loves his dogs, present and past. The supporting cast is equally attractive/compelling: Lauren Crowder's independent intelligence and relentless bravery, Sam Purdy's common sense and generosity, Adrienne Arvin's dementedly charming chutzpah, Diane and Raoul's wit and whimsy, all serve to anchor the series. And the presence of Grace in the later novels promises to develop into a great child character, possibly rivaling Lucy Karp in the early Gruber-authored Tanenbaums. The incidental characters are vivid and generally believable, almost without exception. Some authors are better at male characters than female, or the reverse, but White is excellent at people, all people. Most of the books are first-person narration by Gregory, but White can shift to third-person with aplomb.

Aside from the great characters, the plots of this series are outstanding. We learn about a private end-of-life corporation, cold-case volunteer groups, the Mormons, DB Cooper, the cult of personality, Grand Canyon adventures, and the fallout from the JonBenet case, all without stretching the seams of the community based in Boulder, CO. When the plots call for suspense, the books are literally terrifying, real white-knuckle reads. White is witty and insightful and the very best craftsperson of the English language I've read in years. His casually correct use of the subjective fills me with delight, as do his always-agreeing pronouns, and his elegant but unpretentious syntax. His prose is a pleasure to read.

The settings are wondrously vivid - views, trees, coffee houses, the streets and walks of Boulder and environs. White brings food to the table and vistas to the eye. You can track his characters on GoogleEarth and see just what he describes. I fell into this series at a gruesome time for me, professionally, and reading them all in a period of a couple of weeks has been an exercise in staying sane. Some are, of course, better than others - Kill Me, The Program, Higher Authority, Manner of Death - and there are some weak links (Cold Case, Private Practices), but I can't imagine reading 15 books by any other contemporary author sans break and still wishing for more.

That said, this ties for my least-favorite of the series, along with Private Practices (second novels are often dire.) The focus of the plot is celebrity and the intrusive assumption that everyone has a right to a piece of a person who has caught our interest. White makes the point well - the point that it's an obscene paradigm - but this is one instance where his excellent character-building lets him down. Emma Spire is a shallow bitch. That wouldn't interfere with anything were not Lauren and Alan so consumed with admiring her. That's the piece that doesn't work here. For Lauren to risk so much for a person of such little value is inexplicable. Emma never thinks of anyone but herself. She usurps people's time and trouble as casually as she would "borrow" a Kleenex, appearing and disappearing with no regard for anyone's feelings. We are used to Alan being taken advantage of, but that Lauren never objects to this behavior is deeply troubling. Nothing about Emma - adjectives aside - comes close to justifying Lauren's uncritical devotion. (OK, that might be White's point, but I don't like Lauren looking stupid.)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better the second time around, August 28, 2001

By 

Carol Peterson Hennekens (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Remote Control (Alan Gregory) (Paperback)

As a long time White fan, I read this book shortly after it was released. I raced through it and my overwhelming reaction was "weird." I recently checked out the tape for my husband to read and decided to give the book a second chance. I suspect that the slower pacing of the tape forced me to pay attention to the many details that make this book make sense. The cyber part of the book is still pretty weird but now the mystery worked.

Alan Gregory's wife, Lauren Crowder, has center stage in this book. She's befriended Emma who has been blessed/cursed with Kennedy-like fame after the assassination of her father, the Surgeon General. Emma gets involved with a computer whiz and things start to turn ugly. The book is written in alternating chapters of present time and short-term flashback. In the present time, Lauren is standing outside of Emma's house during a blizzard. She fires her gun to warn off a stranger. The stranger is shot. Lauren is arrested -- and then goes into a medical emergency. Did Lauren shoot the stranger? What's going on in the first place?

This book is complicated. Alan and Lauren, who I normally love, are caught up in hiding too many secrets to be believed. Their refusal to confide in old friend, detective Sam Purdy, stretched their credibility considering all he's been through with them. Still, there are some truly page-turning moments and some good laughs along the way. The vision of the electric pink "bunny" on the snowplow is wonderful.

Bottom-line: This is definately NOT a book to read cold-turkey. Readers are strongly encouraged to have read at least two of the previous four Alan Gregory novels before attempting Remote Control. Then, my advice is to read this one slowly. It's not White's best work but can be a good read with the right approach.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Underappreciated writer, good book., July 19, 2001

By 

Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Remote Control (Alan Gregory) (Paperback)

Stephen White, Remote Control (Signet, 1997)

Remote Control is very much one of _those_ mysteries, the kind that makes you read a couple of paragraphs at every stoplight. (Please control the urge to read while driving.) By now, we should all be familiar with White's cast of characters (Remote Control is the fourth Alan Gregory, psychiatrist-turned-don't-wanna-be-detective, novel) and his method of dropping loads of bricks on us when we're not looking, and slipping the clues in while we're still rubbing our head and cursing the building contractors. This time around, White gives us a self-absorbed technowhiz entrepreneur, a law-student intern with a recently-dead Senator father who falls head over heels for him, his abrasive partner, and a parallel thread running through the novel at the end of everything, where Alan's wife Lauren is being interrogated for the shooting of an unidentified man. Problem is, no one, including Lauren, is sure she actually shot the guy.

Yes, it all comes together perfectly (think Memento, except that both threads are moving forward-- one just moves more slowly than the other). White is one of those guys who writes good, clean, fun mysteries that are on the level of the big guns, but never gets the press they do. If you haven't yet picked up a Stephen White novel, give him a shot next time the New York Times Bestseller types are between books. *** 1/2