58 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"He's looking for ways to bring us down. Cripple us. Bleed us to death. Starve us of oxygen...Us. America. Us, U.S.", August 4, 2009
On a fine Saturday morning in April, the Yale campus is suddenly jolted by terror. More than two dozen students have gone missing in the past thirty-six hours, many of them the children of parents prominent in industry and government, and most of them recently "tapped" for one of Yale's secret societies. Some of these societies own elaborate Greek edifices on campus, the most prominent architectural feature of which is the complete lack of windows. Inside these "tombs," the societies' secrets remain absolute. All the attention this morning is on the tomb of Book and Snake, where, it appears, the missing students are being held hostage.
When Jonathan Simmons emerges from inside the tomb to face the assembled police, he yells, "I'm a bomb. I...am...a bomb. Stay where you are." Like an automaton, he answers no questions, and ticks off the minutes until his own expected death, as a New Haven Police hostage negotiator tries to gain time by engaging him in conversation. While this is happening in New Haven, suspended Boulder, Colorado, police detective Sam Purdy is meeting Ann Summers Calderon at her son's engagement party in Florida. At one point, Ann tentatively suggests a private meeting with Purdy and swears him to secrecy. She has received a bizarre note--from someone unknown, who demands nothing, but threatens her with unspecified consequences if she tells anyone she has received this message. Within twenty-four hours, she learns that her daughter, a junior at Yale, is one of the missing.
In a third plot line, Deirdre, a CIA agent at a Washington area conference, meets with FBI agent Christopher Poe, someone with whom she has been close since 1995. Poe works as a one-man department for the FBI, investigating low-probability, high-risk terror scenarios brought to the FBI's attention by (usually wacko) private citizens, and he has developed a "feel" for how these odd details sometimes contribute to bizarre, but plausible terror plots.
With this as background, author Stephen White uses his formidable background as a clinical psychologist to create one of the most nail-biting thrillers I have ever read. He has structured the novel so that the action rotates among the three subplots but is never resolved at the end of each scene, leaving something important up in the air, some question unanswered, an unexpected new drama unfolding. His psychologically vulnerable characters behave in plausible fashion, often sharing their emotional wounds with the reader and inspiring great empathy. The level of tension never wanes. White is a master craftsman creating a unique story with innumerable clever and unusual twists--and constant surprises. There is nothing formulaic about this book, and the resolution is a real tour de force, one that I never expected. Most importantly, it is this conclusion which moves the novel beyond the immediate and local, and elevates it into a grander commentary on our foreign policy and international reputation. A terrific thriller! n Mary Whipple
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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I've got good news and better news, August 11, 2009
Stephen White is an excellent writer. (For what it's worth, I say this as a professor of English.) He never writes "a person . . . they" and always uses the subjunctive correctly. His descriptions are vivid, sometimes lyrical, but never over-wrought.
But White's a genius at character. In less than a half-page, we get a sense of Ann Summers Calderón that carries us through the entirety of the novel. We get the history, the aesthetics, and the dietary quirks of the hostage negotiator, even though she turns out to be a minor player. White switches his reader among three separate set of protagonists, but there's no confusion, no impulse to flip back to identify. Once he gives us a character, the person is real.
This isn't an Alan Gregory novel, but Sam Purdy steps onto center court with the aplomb of a Wimbledon champ. Sam could carry a series in his own right.
The sliding chronology is a little irritating and really unnecessary, but it untangles about halfway through. The primary tension derives from what's not there: any info about the bad guys. We are as in the dark as all of the law enforcement players and this works wonderfully well. We get enough background about Yale to make the place come to life, but White spares us the massive down-loads of data that some writers substitute for plot and character development.
The book comes as a surprise to long-time White fans, but it's a great surprise.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A what if book that will send chills down your spine!, August 16, 2009
This is Sam Purdy's book and it's a good one. Sam is now engaged to the mother to be of his baby, Carmon Reynosa and she is on bed rest in California. Carmon's daughter, Dulce is engaged to Andrew Calderon and the engagement party is being held in Miami Florida. Carmon sends Sam in her place, since at the moment he is on suspension from the Bolder Police Department and free to travel. Sam thinks he is just going to do a little getting to know you and shake hands, show support for Dulce and then go home. Boy is he wrong. Ann Summers Claderon, Geophysicist and mother of the groom asks for Sam's help. He must keep quiet and not tell anyone not even Ronaldo Angel Calderon the father of the groom what is going on. It seems Jane Claderon was "Tapped" for a secret society at Yale and then kidnapped along with several others that were also "Tapped". They are all high profile kids, with parents that range from Sectary of Army, Supreme Court Judge to a woman that is a manager of a coffee shop. If they breath a word to the police, one of the hostages will die. In the note he has sent the parents of these young people he tells them if they see Blue he is content if they see Orange he is disappointed and bad things will happen. For the first time the terrorists are smarter than or at least as smart as the people trying to stop them. They have covered all bases, they have chosen victims that will cause the most publicity and they aren't asking for any thing. This is the worst case scenario that FBI Agent Christopher Poe and CIA analyst Deirdre Drake have feared and now it is coming true. This is a book rich in back story and rich in plot. It will keep the reader guessing and it will send chills up your spine when you think about the "What Ifs" that are presented in this book. Stephen White has out done himself with this one and if you have never read a Stephen White book then this is the one that will make you a fan.
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