Customer Reviews

The Sixteenth Man

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a mystery novelist with my debut novel in initial release, I make numerous promotional appearances around the country. Recently, I was in Dallas, and THE SIXTEENTH MAN'S author Thomas Sawyer was also on the same convention program. During some free time, Tom suggested I take my daughter to the Sixth Floor Museum, a Dallas museum concerned with the JFK assassination, as is Mr. Sawyer's novel THE SIXTEENTH MAN. My daughter and I enjoyed the museum, and I have since enjoyed Mr. Sawyer's novel. It is a fascinating tale of two interlocking stories. In 1963, PI Charlie Callan, while working a domestic surveillance case, finds his life endangered when he is linked to a certain murder-conspiracy. In time present, sixteen male skeletons are discovered by researcher Matthew Packard. Fifteen are ancient, more ancient than any human remains ever before found in North America. The sixteenth is recent, and Packard finds himself suddenly plunged into a dangerous world of fast-paced action and life-threatening twists, surprisingly linked to the JFK assassination. Mr. Sawyer has written a terrific thriller.

Fast-paced, sexy, full of action, vivid, uncommon characters and surprising twists, The Sixteenth Man plays out in two parallel, interwoven stories that come together in an exciting climax on a desolate ledge high above Moab, Utah.

In late 1963, Reno Private Investigator Charlie Callan embarks on a routine domestic surveillance case. When it sends him instead into a labyrinth of deception, mortal danger - and the murder-conspiracy of the last century, Charlie is faced with moral and personal decisions for which there are no right answers.

In present time, in the mountains near Moab, Archaeologist Matthew Packard unearths an ancient tomb containing sixteen male skeletons. Fifteen of them are dramatically older than any human remains ever found in the Americas. But it's the more recent, anonymous sixteenth skeleton that triggers alarms from D.C. to Langley to New Orleans - plunging Packard into a web of vicious killers and long-hidden secrets. He finds himself falling in love with a beautiful young woman, and to save her life and his own, Packard must solve the mystery of the Sixteenth Man and it's astonishing connection to the murder of President John F. Kennedy.

This political thriller caught and held me all the way from cover to cover. Mr. Sawyer skillfully weaves two main characters and two timelines, one in the present and the other in 1963, with hair raising results. A must read for those interested in the JFK conspiracy theory and for those who just like a fast paced ride!

Having topnotch credentials certainly helps in the writing biz, and Thomas B. Sawyer ranks among the best, having been a former writer and producer of "Murder She Wrote." Sawyer brings his considerable talents to his first mystery, and folks, it's a humdinger! Mr. Sawyer also co-authored PLOTS UNLIMITED and is co-librettist of JACK, an opera about who else but John F. Kennedy. Sawyer has both Edgar and Emmy nominations under his belt.

Packard, as he is referred to during most of the story, is an archaeologist whose "dig of a lifetime" has eluded him. Bored and discouraged, he goes for a dangerous joyride on his new Suzuki and, of course, takes a big dive. In the process he stumbles upon an old cave filled with bones and skeletons that look to be the find of the century. But there is something else there...a skeleton with modern day fillings which sets it off from the rest:

"He'd been staring at nothing in particular. But then he saw it. Another skull- somehow different from the first one. Packard reached down, brought it up to eye-level, dusted the rear surface. 'Okay, I'm examining another cranium. This one doesn't appear to be as-wait a minute...' He had turned it so that he was looking into its face. 'This one, there are a few hairs attached. And the teeth-Christ, they got SILVER fillings.'"

And that's just the beginning. Mr. Sawyer skillfully juxtaposes the modern day story of Packard investigating the Kennedy-era story of who the skeleton is to come up with a gripping and thoroughly plausible tale, replete with larger-than-life characters, a plot that transports the reader to the scene, and a denouement that makes the reader squirm with pleasure. There is romance galore, a touching family story, and general page-turning scenes.

Several words come to mind which easily apply to this novel: blockbuster; a story that absolutely must be made into a film (with Viggo Mortensen as Dr. Packard); a tragedy that fits in with the assassination of JFK; a historical mystery; the list goes on and on. Mr. Sawyer is a master who has graced us with a thriller/mystery that is eminently entertaining. I didn't want it to end, and can only hope he continues with this genre.

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer

Title: The Sixteenth Man
Author: Thomas B.Sawyer
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0-595-14544-2
Rating 4.5

A dirt bike accident by Dr. Matthew Packard an archaeologist results in a discovery of human bones in a shaft that is partially covered by a huge boulder. Fifteen of the male human remains were almost one hundred thousand years old. The sixteenth male skeleton, however, is much more recent, less forty years old and embedded in his scapula is a 30 calibre steel jacketed bullet. Who is he? Why was he in the shaft with the ancient remains?

While Packard searches for the identity of the sixteenth man, his archaeological team is murdered and he finds himself embroiled in the most profound true crime mystery of the past century. As the tension continues to mount and the body count increases, Packard find his own life in danger.

Thomas Sawyer has written a fine thriller complete with a complex plot and a stunning ending. His story is a hard-boiled private eye exploit, a suspenseful thriller and a chase that leaves you gasping. It is fast paced, and excellently structured,. The only reason that I gave the book a 4 instead of a 5 was the changes in the type font that I found distracting and hard to get used to. This is a promising debut novel by a talented author

"The Sixteenth Man," rocks! Thomas Sawyer takes you on the conspiracy thriller ride of your life. He also takes you back to that bleak and sad day when the dreams of an entire generation were blown out like so many candles. If you like taut, literate, exciting fiction (which may not be as far from fiction as we might like to think) then this is the book for you!
Dave Beaty

The 40th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's murder sent me back to THE SIXTEENTH MAN for a third reading. This is one novel that will be as timely in another 40 years as it is now, and one that grabbed me from the first page and wouldn't let go.

In alternating chapters, Thomas B. Sawyer tells two stories separated by more than 30 years in time.

First story, set in 1963: Tracking an errant wife whose husband wants evidence for divorce, a private eye accidentally photographs a small group of men with rifles, one of whom is a dead ringer for Lee Harvey Oswald.

Second story, set in present time: A dirt bike accident dumps an archaeologist near a rock fissure that leads him to a pile of skulls and bones. Fifteen sets of bones appear to be thousands of years old. The sixteenth skull still has some hair attached, and there are silver fillings in the teeth.

Sawyer weaves these stories together so smoothly that hair on the back of my neck stands up when the story threads cross. The ending is a knockout.

Sawyer writes: "Random events. Causes. Effects. Paths crossing, tangents briefly met, then curving away. All of it so incredibly random, and yet -- what -- fated?"

I think: It's fiction. That didn't happen. But what if? What if?

Pat Browning, author of FULL CIRCLE, A Penny Mackenzie Mystery