White House [Hardcover]

David Hagberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1999

A terrorist bomb explodes at a Georgetown restaurant, killing CIA operative Kirk McGarvey's French girlfriend and wounding his daughter. The bomb was meant for him, but the terrorists have made a fatal mistake -- attacking McGarvey's family -- and he goes after them with a vengeance.

At the same time, McGarvey must struggle with an escalating crisis in the Far East, where a mysterious underground nuclear explosion has destroyed a power station off the coast of North Korea. U.S. intelligence fears the worst. Because if Kim Jong II, its controversial strongman, has nuclear weapons, he may just be crazy enough to use them.

From the corridors of power in Washington to the Japanese space launch center at Tanegashima, Kirk McGarvey must track a terrorist operation with its sights on both his family and the White House itself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A nuclear showdown in the Far East becomes the backdrop for Hagberg's latest installment in the Kirk McGarvey series, which begins when the CIA operative is nearly wiped out by a terrorist bomb while dining in a Georgetown restaurant. The bomb does kill McGarvey's erstwhile girlfriend and severely injures his daughter. He soon discovers that the purpose of the attack was to keep him from accepting a promotion to become the head of CIA operations. As McGarvey assumes his new duties, an underground nuclear explosion off the coast of the Korean peninsula becomes the focal point of a confrontation between China, Japan and North Korea, and McGarvey quickly traces an intelligence leak to a wealthy Asian businessman who exerts a powerful influence over a variety of high-powered legislators and the U.S. president himself. As an American nuclear submarine battles to keep the potential combatants in the Far East apart, the focus of the intrigue shifts from the North Koreans to the president and finally to Japan when McGarvey discovers some suspicious behavior surrounding a major Japanese space launch that eventually results in the murder of a U.S. astronaut. Hagberg's premise of a potential nuclear meltdown is frighteningly plausible, and he deftly juggles several well-researched subplots involving the commander of the American submarine, the American astronauts assigned to the space mission and the hyperactively heroic McGarvey, who must defend his family from another attack before embarking on a one-man mission to stop the launch. While his climactic mission stretches credibility to the breaking point, Hagberg delivers a powerful payload of action, suspense and political intrigue in the meantime. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This is Hagberg's eighth novel about superspy Kirk McGarvey. The fun begins with two seemingly unrelated incidents. The first is the destruction of a North Korean nuclear weapon site by Japanese commandos. The second is an attempt to murder McGarvey by bombing a Georgetown restaurant. Kirk's French girlfriend is killed and his daughter wounded in the explosion. With Washington worried about North Korea, Japan, and China--who's likely to do what to whom, when and how?--McGarvey puts aside his desire to resign from the CIA and instead takes on the job of deputy director of operations. Guided by a computer whiz who lives on Twinkies, he deals with a president preoccupied with campaign funds, an Asian money man who has slept in the Lincoln bedroom, and an assortment of villains on both sides of the globe. A nifty nonstop-action tale that deserves comparison with Clancy, Cussler, and the other lords of technological mayhem. Budd Arthur

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Forge; 1st edition (August 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312866828
• ISBN-13: 978-0312866822
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,366,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

DAVID HAGBERG is a former Air Force cryptographer who has traveled extensively in Europe, the Arctic, and the Caribbean and has spoken at CIA functions. He has published more than twenty novels of suspense, including the bestselling Joshua's Hammer, Soldier of God, and Allah's Scorpion. He makes his home in Sarasota, Florida.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All I can say is: WOW!, October 19, 2000

By 

Jeff Edwards "RadioJeff" (Twin Falls, Idaho) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: White House (Hardcover)

I've been a reader of Hagberg's since on a whim I picked up a copy of 'Critical Mass' several years ago and thought it was a darned good action/adventure novel. Well I never once saw this book at ANY bookstores...I found out about it by accident while browsing through Amazon...so I went out and tried to find it at one of the 3 major bookstores in my area, and NONE of them had it. I had to resort to the public library, which thank heavens had it...with that said, I have to admit this is Hagberg's best work to date. MUCH better than 'Assassin' and light years ahead of 'High Flight'. There seems to be new strength to Hagberg's writing here. From the opening pages you will find it hard to pause long enough to take a breath and dive back in for more. For a couple of days before I finished it, the first thing on my mind when I woke up was 'White House' and what was going to happen next. Now THAT is MY personal measuring stick for how good a book is: If it's the last thing on my mind when I go to bed and the 1st thing I think of when I get up, I KNOW it's a good book. From the brink-of-war situation between Japan and North Korea to rockets taking satellite's to the new International Space Station to chase scenes worthy of the best Bond film, Hagberg is to be commended on breathing new life into Kirk McGarvey. The last couple of McGarvey stories had been getting a little dull, but in 'White House' Hagberg totally redeems himself with a great story, incredible speed, and everything in between that makes action/adventure/intrigue all worth your time.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exciting thriller, June 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: White House (Hardcover)

Loner Kirk McGarvey is a maverick who left the CIA due to an incident. Still he works as a free-lance operative for the agency killing individuals who threaten democracy. His wife divorced him, but his daughter Elizabeth wants to be a chip off the old block by accepting a CIA trainee slot.

Kirk and his lover come to DC to see Elizabeth, but a passing car opens fire on the restaurant where the McGarvey party is eating. Kirk's mistress is dead and Elizabeth is injured. An angry Kirk accepts the position of acting Deputy Director of Operations for the agency. Meanwhile, in North Korea, a nuclear bomb explodes in an underground site. The intelligence community feels that North Korea possesses four more bombs that could cause havoc on Seoul and Tokyo. Someone does not want McGarvey involved even if it means killing him or abducting his former spouse and their daughter. Kirk goes into field knowing his life is on the line but willing to risk it because something very sinister is happening in Asia.

The tortured Kirk McGarvey is a classic antihero who somehow gains the attention and fond attachment of the readers simply because the audience simply likes this obstinate person. However, Kirk is no comic book Bond. The triangular love exchanged between him, his ex-wife, and their daughter bring forth a humanity that keeps him from totally going out in the cold. The story line chills the bones of the audience as the scenarios seem to have the potential of happening. Unlike most sub-genre tales where the action rules, the characters add depth to WHITE HOUSE and pumps the readers, adrenaline readings off the scales. David Hagberg puts the Thrill in a thriller.

Harriet Klausner

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a keeper!, February 5, 2000

By 

John R. Linnell (New Gloucester, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: White House (Hardcover)

Since reading High Flight, I have been looking forward to the return of Kirk McGarvey as he continues to "do his thing" in getting rid of the bad guys and saving the world for the rest of us. I was not disappointed with White House. One sometimes thinks that McGarvey's escapes border on The Perils of Pauline and his accomplishments would make James Bond green with envy. The characters are well drawn, the plot is stimulating, and, at the end of the day, the evil have been dealt with, the corrupt have been weeded out and most of the good guys are still standing. The trip to there is worth the effort.