The Tower [Kindle Edition]

Gregg Andrew Hurwitz (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The first several chapters of this psychological thriller offer a gripping rogue's gallery of psycho-killers and sociopathic behavior in a hellish setting from which no man escapes alive. The Tower is a maximum-security prison erected in San Francisco Bay to hold the nation's worst criminals. The worst of the worst, Allendar Atlasia (the weight of the novel is on his shoulders), executes a horrendous escape and creates a reign of terror in posh Bay Area neighborhoods. A purported genius, Atlasia delivers rhetorical gibberish in a highbrow diction aiming to mimic Hannibal Lecter's creepy intelligence but instead just sounding goofy. On Atlasia's trail is ex-FBI agent Jade Marlow (a man, despite his feminine moniker), who is teamed with the incredibly beautiful Agent Travers, who sports a blonde ponytail but is too hardboiled to have a given name. This arrangement is imposed by Wotan, the one-eyed, mysterious, fearless leader of the FBI. Jade is a Dirty Harry/Inspector Clouseau type, and while handsome and stout, he's a dull and dedicated misanthrope whose quite frequent cluelessness can be frustrating: a Phi Beta Kappa, he fails to recognize some of the most familiar lines of Shakespeare. He's bumbling as a super cop, setting up his own home as a target but posting no lookouts, losing his gun to his prey and stumbling into a tree when a pretty girl passes. Jade ultimately is the most inept yet conceited investigator since Maxwell Smart, although he seems to have superhuman strength even when the bones in his hips and legs are shattered. Though Travers gets short shrift in the chase, the reader might not miss her or any of the other crudely drawn secondary characters. This tale is mainly for those who enjoy graphic descriptions of grisly murders and who will believe the poorly delivered face-off between a monstrous criminal and his absurd nemesis.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Just offshore from San Francisco stands the Tower, an ultra-maximum-security federal prison. When Allander Atlasia escapes from the Tower, he kills everyone there except one inmate. The FBI calls in former agent and tracker extraordinaire Jade Marlow, who profiles and hunts felons thought to be impossible to catch. The story follows Marlow's efforts as he tries to ensnare his prey and in the process loses most of his humanity. First novelist Hurwitz has created two very powerful characters in Atlasia and Marlow, showing their similarities as well as their obvious differences. Hurwitz also delves into Freudian psychology in a subplot that addresses Atlasia's drive to kill his father. The disappointment here is Special Agent Jennifer Travers, who instead of being a foil for Marlow ends up as his doormat. The violence of the killings will upset some, but for the most part this is for collections where thrillers are popular.--AJo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Hts.
University Hts. P.L., OH
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 2152 KB
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (August 10, 1999)
• Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000FC0VRU
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,151 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Gregg Hurwitz is the critically acclaimed, internationally bestselling author of The Tower, Minutes to Burn, Do No Harm, The Kill Clause, The Program, Troubleshooter, Last Shot, The Crime Writer, Trust No One, They're Watching, and coming soon, You're Next. His books have been nominated for numerous awards, shortlisted for best novel of the year by International Thriller Writers, nominated for CWA's Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, chosen as feature selections for all four major literary book clubs, honored as Book Sense Picks, and translated into twenty languages.

Currently a consulting producer on ABC's "V," he has written screenplays for or sold spec scripts to Warner Bros., Paramount, MGM, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, and ESPN, developed TV series for Warner Bros. and Lakeshore, written Wolverine, Punisher, and others for Marvel, and published numerous academic articles on Shakespeare. He has taught fiction writing in the USC English Department, and guest lectured for UCLA, and for Harvard in the United States and around the world. In the course of researching his thrillers, he has sneaked onto demolition ranges with Navy SEALs, swam with sharks in the Galápagos, and gone undercover into mind-control cults.

Hurwitz grew up in the Bay Area. While completing a BA from Harvard ('95) and a master's from Trinity College, Oxford in Shakespearean tragedy ('96), he wrote his first novel. He was the undergraduate scholar-athlete of the year at Harvard for his pole-vaulting exploits, and played college soccer in England, where he was a Knox fellow. He now lives in L.A. where he continues to play soccer, frequently injuring himself. Feel free to email him at [e-mail]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not A Towering Achievement, March 26, 2002

By 

Chris MB "CMB" (Washington DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Tower (Mass Market Paperback)

Well written, well paced and well delivered, The Tower succeeds in being an above average thriller but there's little to differentiate it from the hundreds of other novels in the genre that saturate book store shelves. Hurwitz seems to go out of his way to avoid using those elements that might distinguish The Tower.

With Jade Marlow, Hurwitz creates a hero who's difficult (at best) to like. But at the same time we see his personal motivation, revealed through dreams and flashbacks, so his attitude is, for the most part, excusable. Plus, he gets the job done. But while the references to Jade's past help the reader understand what's driving him, they really don't add to the story and I was left wondering why they were included at all. Unfortunately, Hurwitz doesn't take full advantage of either character in the novel that seems to be able to stand Marlow - his best friend or the FBI agent with whom he only briefly begins an affair (yet another unresolved element of the plot).

The tower itself is perhaps the most under-utilized creation in this novel. It was an intriguing creation, although from a legal point of view I'd have a hard time seeing such a thing ever getting built - I think the whole `cruel and unusual' civil rights arguments would stop a project like this from getting any further than the drawing board but the tower and its residents were a relatively minor part of the entire novel.

The psychological and profiling aspects of the novel were interesting and displayed that Hurwitz had clearly done his research. While The Tower had a lot going for it, it had little to differentiate it from every other thriller on the market.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Completely engrossing!, February 2, 2000

By 

Joni Ruth (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tower (Hardcover)

This book is a thriller set in a maximum security prison in the San Francisco Bay Area, ala Alcatraz-style! The story follows not only the serial killer but also the detective determined to bring him to justice. You actually find yourself deep in the mind of the killer and the detective, seeing the situation from each perspective. I found myself completely absorbed in the characters as they made up the larger plot. The descriptions of the prison and surrounding area were so vivid and spell-binding, I felt like I was actually in "The Tower." I usually will only purchase paperbacks, but this book is well worth buying the hardback with its beautiful silver and red cover. To sum up this short review, I bought this book and read it cover to cover in 4 days because I literally couldn't put it down!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping, page turner. I read it in one sitting., April 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Tower (Hardcover)

What an impressive debut from first time author, Gregg Hurwitz. He takes us on a psychological thrill ride as we follow Allander Atlasia's escape from the Tower and his chase by ex FBI agent Jade Marlow. The book is filled with an excellent combination of action sequences and psychological undertones that help make it a compelling drama. These elements make the novel stand out from other books in this genre. Hurwitz is a very visually descriptive writer and I would love to see this on the big screen. Make sure you don't read it late at night, or if you do, leave the lights on.