Spooker [Hardcover]

Dean Ing (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1995

The author of the best-selling thriller, The Ransom of Black Stealth One delivers a story of espionage and murder about a ring of killers that targets intelligence agents for their ""spooker"" survival kits. 35,000 first printing. $35,000 ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A "spooker," as explained in this absorbing new thriller from Ing, is a getaway kit prepared by a spy, to be used in the event he must disappear, even from his employers. The well-equipped spooker may contain jewels, cash, false ID and other kinds of treasure. When a spy and his spooker disappear, the assumption is that he has opted out-but maybe he's dead, a victim of a very specialized robber. When Gary Landis of the Drug Enforcement Agency becomes the target of a particularly malevolent team of criminals, his mentor, Swede Halvorsen, who's a retired LAPD cop, and Swede's granddaughter Janelle jump into the fray to set things right. Ing's earlier novels (Butcher Bird, etc.) imaginatively described the special world of experimental aircraft and weaponry. Here he enters new territory, both geographically (California's Central Valley from Bakersfield to Fresno, detailed with accurate local color) and thematically, proving that he is a master of ground-based spy novels as well as of high-in-the-sky techno-thrillers. The high-tech touches that do appear, including an intriguing ultra-light aircraft, are pure Ing, who seems to have relished creating the peculiar world of his two monstrous villains. Tinged with a sense that life is bittersweet, this is a welcome offering from an always entertaining author.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Dean (Butcher Bird, LJ 11/1/93) offers a fast-paced thriller about the murder of an undercover agent. In the intelligence community, we are told, an agent always maintains a well-hidden kit that contains false identification, money, and necessary papers in the event that he or she has to disappear quickly and without a trace. Is it possible that agents are being murdered by those who covet these kits, or "spookers"? When Gary Landis is murdered and no clues are forthcoming, the government agency for which Landis worked moves into high gear seeking a solution. Ing employs tautly written prose while keeping the pace flowing swiftly, smoothly, and with a maximum of suspense. His book is not for the squeamish, since there is much violence and depravity. However, if one perseveres, there is a well thoughtout story and conclusion. Recommended, with slight reservations, for larger fiction collections.
-?Erna Chamberlain, SUNY at Binghamton
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 317 pages
• Publisher: Forge; 1st edition (November 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312857403
• ISBN-13: 978-0312857400
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,292,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ing is in a class by himself, July 14, 2003

By 

Scott McDonald (Hazelwood, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spooker (Mass Market Paperback)

Ing pretty much created this gendre himself. I call it "tech fiction" and it's not for the week of heart or those looking for an "eye candy" read. Once you aquire the taste though, he's very difficult to put down.

"Spooker" presents some leading edge and extraordinary technological ideas. And as a spy thriller really goes the extra mile to keep it's ideas new and innovative.

Based on the premise that every *real* spy has a "spooker" or a kit that contains his get away money and identity change that will allow him to escape/retire if need be, Ing begins to entertain some extremely original ideas about those kits, and the people that would know about them, and how they could be exploited.

You haven't read anything like this before. I promise. If you value original story lines that haven't been beat to death by every other author and technological flights of fancy that really make you go "Hmmmmmmm....", then Ing is your man, and "Spooker" is the place to start.

It's incredibly unfair and more than a little dishonest to slam a book like this, and then admit you didn't finish it. If you can't keep up with/appreciate Ing's edgy originality, then perhaps you should stick with Coonts.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Did not live up to the cover blurbs...., October 14, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Spooker (Hardcover)

The book left a bit to be desired.. perhaps I am a softie, but I was really hoping for a better ending. Maybe something along the lines of "Wild Country"'s. Hopefully tho, Ing brings the main character back for a sequel. Missed the Post Script that he usually puts in too, that "rising crane shot at the close with the fade to black and the rolling of credits" that lets you see where things end up. (of course, I always wanted him to bring Baal back as well, but that is an 'odds so slim, they're anorexic' hope)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a Rare Bird, February 8, 2007

By 

John K. Wilson (omaha, ne United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spooker (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a rare bird, a RE-readable Thriller.

Rather than insights about technology and aviation, Mr Ing takes a new course.