The Watchmen (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "FINNEY'S BREATH caught in his throat..." (more)
Key Phrases: ghost wind, sleeper cells, Thomas Warren, Susan Franklin, James Hawthorne (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When captured al-Qaeda operative Ali Zattout proves less than forthcoming with his CIA interrogators, they subject him to the manipulations of regretful psychiatrist Louis Finney, who tries everything from mellow conversation to electroshock-induced "de-patterning" and "psychic driving." Meanwhile, Zattout is being stalked by a nameless assassin, alumnus of an Asian temple cult of assassins, whose hypno-meditative regimen makes him so stealthily lethal that he is shudderingly referred to as the "ghost wind." Altman (A Gathering of Spies) excels at taut psychological confrontations, engrossing procedural and nerve-wracking action set pieces, replete with the theory and practice of mind control, interrogation techniques, cryptanalysis and murder. But the intrigue and mayhem spring from recognizable human motives. Like the Americans here, Altman's terrorists have affecting backstories and a sense of duty and payback that explains their acts, and they feel misgivings at the brutality they inflict. Orientalist clichés are off-loaded onto the assassin, a representative of the "True East," whose violence, unlike that of Muslims and Westerners, is not a tragic product of ideology and history but a mystic pathway to enlightenment, though even he is plagued by doubts and depression. Altman's blend of suspense, action, psychological depth and moral murk makes this a wonderful espionage thriller for a Code Orange age.
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Review

If there are thriller writers better than [John Altman], I'd like to know who they are. -- Jack Higgins --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult (August 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399151737
• ISBN-13: 978-0399151736
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,698,722 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, August 12, 2004

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Dr. Louis Finney has not been in the game for over two decades, ever since he saw the results of his mentor Dr. Arthur Noble's research on people that were expendable like mentally ill human beings. Their research was instrumental in creating the techniques used today to get a spy to open up their minds and spill their secrets without breaking them entirely.

Unexpectedly, Noble calls on Finney to observe the techniques that are used on Ali Zattout, a terrorist in the Al Qaeda organization. Noble is rushed to the hospital leaving Finney to be the only watcher to judge the effectiveness of the techniques. There is a mole in the unit that the prisoner is in and when he is killed, Dr. Finney takes over the interrogation. Louis has more to worry about than breaking one terrorist for Al Qaeda is worried about the secrets he could reveal. They send over an assassin who systematically kills everyone in the prison's terrorist cell before he makes a daring move on the command center where Zattout is held

John Altman fills the place that John Le Carre has held for so many years and has made it uniquely his own. The prose is stark and gritty reflecting the claustrophobic cell in the compound. The actions takes place on two levels: the authorities try to run the assassin to ground while the doctors need to break the subject mentally so he can spill their secrets. THE WATCHMAN is a spy story for the twenty-first century.

Harriet Klausner

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BOMC says " I adored John Altman's The Watchmen", August 8, 2004

By	Quote master - See all my reviews

'.... For years, I've waited for a thriller with the depth and texture of John Le Carre's Little Drummer Girl. Now, I've found it.... This is perfect pleasure. Altman has not had a bestseller for reasons I can't fathom. But you will love him. Yes, I've said this before, about The Way the Crow Flies and The Enemy. I meant it then, and I mean it now. It's the texture of The Watchmen (see page 6) that gets me. The terrorist at the center is so well drawn, you almost root for him (God forbid). There's a scene with the daughter of a motel owner that is simply one of the most affecting and terrifying scenes I've ever come across. The people in Altman's world are three-diminsional, original, completely outside the stereotypical cardboard of most suspense these days. So, once again, if you like the occasional thriller, if you long for something that will not insult your intelligence as it fixes you to the edge of your seat, read The Watchmen....' Victoria Skurnick, Editor-in-Chief, Book of the Month Club

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars LIKE HIS ASSASSIN, MR ALTMAN IS A MASTER, December 18, 2004

By	Michael W. Kennedy "insane book lover" (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

How many countless thrillers have been written about Nazi villans and how few about Communist evildoers? Which shows the leftist slant of our literatti. To my knowledge THE WATCHMEN is the first novel about Al Qaeda so I was eager to read it. Despite a slow start, THE WATCHMEN did not disappoint. The writing is taut, spare, gritty and tough, the mood shadowy. Mr. Altman tries his best to give a human face to the Al Qaeda characters yet he remains on the American side of the fence. "Men sleep peacefully in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." George Orwell, had he written that today, could have been talking about the the interrogators or watchmen who are necessary to gain information in the fight against radical Islam which would destroy the West. Some of the philosophical conflict in THE WATCHMEN concerns appropriate or ethical interrogation techniques. But mostly THE WATCHMEN is a straight line thriller about an assassin hired to kill an Al Qaeda prisoner kept in a safehouse in the cold and wet American Northwest, a safehouse that is more fortress than house. And the assassin is no ordinary assassin but a master of the dark art, skilled at stealth and the blade. If you're a guy you'll love the action and no-nonsense plot. There is little romance or love interest here to soften the story for the ladies but the characters have dimension within their job descriptions at least. The fast-moving plot doesn't allow much tarrying to flesh out full lives but THE WATCHMEN is thriller genre, after all. Like his assassin, Mr. Altman is a master, so hang on for a good ride.