Thursday, January 6, 2011

Review: Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

At the tender age of twelve, Gideon Crew witnessed the brutal murder of his father, a scientist wrongly framed by the US government, and shot down by police during a hostage crisis.

More than twenty years later, Gideon finally gets his revenge and fulfills the promise that he made to his mother on her death bed to clear their family name.

He brings down the man who destroyed his father. But then a mysterious witness steps forward to confront Gideon on his crime - and to offer him the chance of a lifetime...

I look forward to the new Pendergast novel by Preston and Child every year and in 2011, they will have two new books to offer: Cold Vengeance, the next Pendergast, out in August; and Gideon's Sword, book one in a new series about a man named Gideon Crew.

Gideon is a genius and a retired art thief. He's also a con artist and a pretender and can become anyone in the wink of an eye. He has a legitimate job that he keeps for fun (and rent money) at the Los Alamos National Lab testing parts that are used in nuclear devices. He is not especially close to anybody.

Revenge takes up most of Gideon's time at the beginning of Gideon's Sword. His mother made him promise on her deathbed that he would make the man who murdered his father pay for it and also know who it was that hurt him. Afterward, Gideon is approached by a man with a request: come to NYC and listen to a proposal. A private company that does contract work for the government wants Gideon to retrieve some ultra-sensitive information from a Chinese national who is flying to the US against his country's wishes. Needless to say, the job becomes very complicated very quickly. Gideon enlists the help of an old acquaintance and a prostitute to complete his assignment.

Gideon's Sword reads like you're watching an action movie. There are car chases, international locales, government conspiracies, secret agents, and assassins. Exciting and, at times, unbelievable, this book is a lot of fun. The rights have already been bought by Paramount and Michael Bay so look for a movie in a few years.

Gideon's Sword will be released on February 22, 2011

3 comments:

Kristin said...

Ooooh...I've got this waiting in my TBR pile! Loved your review, can't wait to read it-I'm a HUGE Preston & Child fan!

Jen said...

Oh me too! Thanks for following!

Jack said...

I too got to preview this on NetGalley. I had high expectations having previously read several books in the Agent Pendergast series by the authors.

I almost completely enjoyed this book. It was a real page-turner but the ending seems to only partially resolve Gideon assignment.

So mine was sort of a mixed review. I enjoyed the book until the chapter which disappointed me greatly.

I just posted my review at:

http://www.chescopa.com/books/2011/02/12/review-of-gideons-sword-by-douglas-preston-and-lincoln-child/