What do you think?
Rate this book
Gideon Crew #2
Gideon's Corpse
A top nuclear scientist goes mad and takes an innocent family hostage at gunpoint, killing one and causing a massive standoff.
A plume of radiation above New York City leads to a warehouse where, it seems, a powerful nuclear bomb was assembled just hours before.
Sifting through the evidence, authorities determine that the unthinkable is about to happen: in ten days, a major American city will be vaporized by a terrorist attack.
Ten days. And Gideon Crew, tracking the mysterious terrorist cell from the suburbs of New York to the mountains of New Mexico, learns the end may be something worse--far worse--than mere Armageddon.
A plume of radiation above New York City leads to a warehouse where, it seems, a powerful nuclear bomb was assembled just hours before.
Sifting through the evidence, authorities determine that the unthinkable is about to happen: in ten days, a major American city will be vaporized by a terrorist attack.
Ten days. And Gideon Crew, tracking the mysterious terrorist cell from the suburbs of New York to the mountains of New Mexico, learns the end may be something worse--far worse--than mere Armageddon.
12 pages, Audio CD
First published January 10, 2012
853 people are currently reading
4281 people want to read
About the author
Douglas Preston
182 books13.5k followersDouglas Preston was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1956, and grew up in the deadly boring suburb of Wellesley. Following a distinguished career at a private nursery school--he was almost immediately expelled--he attended public schools and the Cambridge School of Weston. Notable events in his early life included the loss of a fingertip at the age of three to a bicycle; the loss of his two front teeth to his brother Richard's fist; and various broken bones, also incurred in dust-ups with Richard. (Richard went on to write The Hot Zone and The Cobra Event, which tells you all you need to know about what it was like to grow up with him as a brother.)
As they grew up, Doug, Richard, and their little brother David roamed the quiet suburbs of Wellesley, terrorizing the natives with home-made rockets and incendiary devices mail-ordered from the backs of comic books or concocted from chemistry sets. With a friend they once attempted to fly a rocket into Wellesley Square; the rocket malfunctioned and nearly killed a man mowing his lawn. They were local celebrities, often appearing in the "Police Notes" section of The Wellesley Townsman. It is a miracle they survived childhood intact.
After unaccountably being rejected by Stanford University (a pox on it), Preston attended Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he studied mathematics, biology, physics, anthropology, chemistry, geology, and astronomy before settling down to English literature. After graduating, Preston began his career at the American Museum of Natural History in New York as an editor, writer, and eventually manager of publications. (Preston also taught writing at Princeton University and was managing editor of Curator.) His eight-year stint at the Museum resulted in the non-fiction book, Dinosaurs in the Attic, edited by a rising young star at St. Martin's Press, a polymath by the name of Lincoln Child. During this period, Preston gave Child a midnight tour of the museum, and in the darkened Hall of Late Dinosaurs, under a looming T. Rex, Child turned to Preston and said: "This would make the perfect setting for a thriller!" That thriller would, of course, be Relic.
In 1986, Douglas Preston piled everything he owned into the back of a Subaru and moved from New York City to Santa Fe to write full time, following the advice of S. J. Perelman that "the dubious privilege of a freelance writer is he's given the freedom to starve anywhere." After the requisite period of penury, Preston achieved a small success with the publication of Cities of Gold, a non-fiction book about Coronado's search for the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola. To research the book, Preston and a friend retraced on horseback 1,000 miles of Coronado's route across Arizona and New Mexico, packing their supplies and sleeping under the stars--nearly killing themselves in the process. Since then he has published several more non-fiction books on the history of the American Southwest, Talking to the Ground and The Royal Road, as well as a novel entitled Jennie. In the early 1990s Preston and Child teamed up to write suspense novels; Relic was the first, followed by several others, including Riptide and Thunderhead. Relic was released as a motion picture by Paramount in 1997. Other films are under development at Hollywood studios. Preston and Child live 500 miles apart and write their books together via telephone, fax, and the Internet.
Preston and his brother Richard are currently producing a television miniseries for ABC and Mandalay Entertainment, to be aired in the spring of 2000, if all goes well, which in Hollywood is rarely the case.
Preston continues a magazine writing career by contributing regularly to The New Yorker magazine. He has also written for National Geographic, Natural History, Smithsonisan, Harper's,and Travel & Leisure,among others.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/dougla...
As they grew up, Doug, Richard, and their little brother David roamed the quiet suburbs of Wellesley, terrorizing the natives with home-made rockets and incendiary devices mail-ordered from the backs of comic books or concocted from chemistry sets. With a friend they once attempted to fly a rocket into Wellesley Square; the rocket malfunctioned and nearly killed a man mowing his lawn. They were local celebrities, often appearing in the "Police Notes" section of The Wellesley Townsman. It is a miracle they survived childhood intact.
After unaccountably being rejected by Stanford University (a pox on it), Preston attended Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he studied mathematics, biology, physics, anthropology, chemistry, geology, and astronomy before settling down to English literature. After graduating, Preston began his career at the American Museum of Natural History in New York as an editor, writer, and eventually manager of publications. (Preston also taught writing at Princeton University and was managing editor of Curator.) His eight-year stint at the Museum resulted in the non-fiction book, Dinosaurs in the Attic, edited by a rising young star at St. Martin's Press, a polymath by the name of Lincoln Child. During this period, Preston gave Child a midnight tour of the museum, and in the darkened Hall of Late Dinosaurs, under a looming T. Rex, Child turned to Preston and said: "This would make the perfect setting for a thriller!" That thriller would, of course, be Relic.
In 1986, Douglas Preston piled everything he owned into the back of a Subaru and moved from New York City to Santa Fe to write full time, following the advice of S. J. Perelman that "the dubious privilege of a freelance writer is he's given the freedom to starve anywhere." After the requisite period of penury, Preston achieved a small success with the publication of Cities of Gold, a non-fiction book about Coronado's search for the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola. To research the book, Preston and a friend retraced on horseback 1,000 miles of Coronado's route across Arizona and New Mexico, packing their supplies and sleeping under the stars--nearly killing themselves in the process. Since then he has published several more non-fiction books on the history of the American Southwest, Talking to the Ground and The Royal Road, as well as a novel entitled Jennie. In the early 1990s Preston and Child teamed up to write suspense novels; Relic was the first, followed by several others, including Riptide and Thunderhead. Relic was released as a motion picture by Paramount in 1997. Other films are under development at Hollywood studios. Preston and Child live 500 miles apart and write their books together via telephone, fax, and the Internet.
Preston and his brother Richard are currently producing a television miniseries for ABC and Mandalay Entertainment, to be aired in the spring of 2000, if all goes well, which in Hollywood is rarely the case.
Preston continues a magazine writing career by contributing regularly to The New Yorker magazine. He has also written for National Geographic, Natural History, Smithsonisan, Harper's,and Travel & Leisure,among others.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/dougla...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 906 reviews
November 21, 2017
I am a bit torn on this one. I would hate to ever feel like giving Preston and Child less than 4 stars, but the first 2/3 to 3/4 of this book was definitely 3 stars for me. However, the last part of the book they really ramped things up and definitely brought the overall rating to a solid 4 stars.
I still think if I wasn't so comfortable with the Pendergast series, I would give Gideon Crew more of a chance. Also, since it is the same genre, it's too easy to try and make comparisons. It's not like when J. K. Rowling came up with Robert Galbreath/Cormoron Strike and you couldn't really compare them to Harry Potter because they are so different. The Crew/Pendergast lines are so close they have already touched slightly in places and I am sure they will completely cross at some point.
So, what was it about the beginning of the book, you ask? Well, everything just seemed so far fetched and coincidental. It was like they wanted certain things to be the way they are and just said they were that way without trying to be believable for the reader. In the past when I have read Preston and Child, even the most far fetched things seemed plausible they way they spun them. Also, the plot drug a bit for me. I feel like usually P&C have high points in the action frequently enough there is never a lull, but this one lulled quite a bit for me.
But, that ending, though. Totally worth the pay off!
I still think if I wasn't so comfortable with the Pendergast series, I would give Gideon Crew more of a chance. Also, since it is the same genre, it's too easy to try and make comparisons. It's not like when J. K. Rowling came up with Robert Galbreath/Cormoron Strike and you couldn't really compare them to Harry Potter because they are so different. The Crew/Pendergast lines are so close they have already touched slightly in places and I am sure they will completely cross at some point.
So, what was it about the beginning of the book, you ask? Well, everything just seemed so far fetched and coincidental. It was like they wanted certain things to be the way they are and just said they were that way without trying to be believable for the reader. In the past when I have read Preston and Child, even the most far fetched things seemed plausible they way they spun them. Also, the plot drug a bit for me. I feel like usually P&C have high points in the action frequently enough there is never a lull, but this one lulled quite a bit for me.
But, that ending, though. Totally worth the pay off!
February 4, 2014
What the actual fuck? This is, hands down, one of the stupidest books I have ever read. And, if you've glanced at my reading history, you know that that's pretty damn impressive! I've read some extremely stupid books, but this one outdoes them all. I spent at least the last third of it coming up with snarky things to say about it instead of really listening, which wasn't a big deal, as the events are perfunctory and ridiculous anyway. I especially enjoyed (read: HATED) everything having to do with basically the only female character in the book, Alida. She initially reacts to Gideon with contempt and scorn (GOOD CALL, LADY), and then is kidnapped by him, so she really hates him (EVEN BETTER CALL), and then has sex with him because OF COURSE SHE DOES, and then she starts planning their beautiful future because ladies always do that after the sex, AMIRITE GUYS? Has either of these writers ever spoken to a woman? Ever?
In addition, Gideon is a physicist and ex art thief who is super great at "social engineering" because he's so good at reading people! Except for when the plot requires him to be betrayed by someone, and then he runs around like a total dumbass, all, "I knew I could trust you, random person who has every reason in the world to betray me!" And then he gets upset when they betray him. This happens repeatedly, by the way. Gideon is awful. I spent the second half of the book hoping someone would shoot him. Towards the end, he convinces this guy to help him by handing him back his loaded gun and being all, "If you don't believe that I'm one of the good guys, shoot me now!" Social engineering at work, people! And I was like, "YES, PLEASE SHOOT HIM NOW. DO IT. END THIS RIDICULOUS FARCE ALREADY AND SHOOT HIM." Needless to say, he does not shoot him. Coward.
Anyway, I picked up this book because the Pendergast series is actually pretty good. The more recent ones are starting to suck a little, but nothing like this shitshow. Do not, under any circumstances, read this book. Unless you have a compelling need to get dumber, I guess.
In addition, Gideon is a physicist and ex art thief who is super great at "social engineering" because he's so good at reading people! Except for when the plot requires him to be betrayed by someone, and then he runs around like a total dumbass, all, "I knew I could trust you, random person who has every reason in the world to betray me!" And then he gets upset when they betray him. This happens repeatedly, by the way. Gideon is awful. I spent the second half of the book hoping someone would shoot him. Towards the end, he convinces this guy to help him by handing him back his loaded gun and being all, "If you don't believe that I'm one of the good guys, shoot me now!" Social engineering at work, people! And I was like, "YES, PLEASE SHOOT HIM NOW. DO IT. END THIS RIDICULOUS FARCE ALREADY AND SHOOT HIM." Needless to say, he does not shoot him. Coward.
Anyway, I picked up this book because the Pendergast series is actually pretty good. The more recent ones are starting to suck a little, but nothing like this shitshow. Do not, under any circumstances, read this book. Unless you have a compelling need to get dumber, I guess.
May 10, 2023
I was disappointed by their last Pendergast book, [book: Two Graves, but I understand how it happened: a desire to keep adding to the mythology with each book, even if it starts to stretch credibility. But I don't know what the hell happened with Gideon’s Corpse. Gideon Crew is an ok character, and I liked the new FBI guy, Stone. But the plot was absurd. Completely absurd. At every turn. And the love story was predictable, and absurd. Very disappointing.
March 27, 2012
A frustrating read for those who know what these two authors are capable of. It seemed to have much potential but instead felt contrived and shallow. Seemed, unfortunately, to be a check list book...
We must make Gideon a complex character.
Nuclear scientist - CHECK
Art thief - CHECK
Social engineer - CHECK
Gourmet chef - CHECK
Traumatic death of parent - CHECK
One year to live - CHECK
FBI buddy must be by the book. And then not - CHECK
FBI buddy must trust Gideon, then not, then trust again - CHECK
FBI buddy must die - CHECK
Love interest must be beautiful and feisty - CHECK
Sex in a cave! - CHECK
Sex on a bearskin rug in front of a fire! - CHECK
She must not trust Gideon, then fall in love, then not - CHECK
Nuclear threat - CHECK
No, wait. Biological threat - CHECK
Fight the cult with chainsaws - CHECK
Plane crash - CHECK
Explosions, wilderness survival, mining handcart race - CHECK
Explosions, whitewater survival, kidnapping - CHECK
A huge theatrical climax - CHECK
Fill in the extra pages with stuff - CHECK
OK, I'll stop. It's easy to make fun of this book mainly because of their past work. You know the talent and potential is there; just not fully realized. It felt like it wasphoned in e-mailed in or maybe it was written in the cloud...
We must make Gideon a complex character.
Nuclear scientist - CHECK
Art thief - CHECK
Social engineer - CHECK
Gourmet chef - CHECK
Traumatic death of parent - CHECK
One year to live - CHECK
FBI buddy must be by the book. And then not - CHECK
FBI buddy must trust Gideon, then not, then trust again - CHECK
FBI buddy must die - CHECK
Love interest must be beautiful and feisty - CHECK
Sex in a cave! - CHECK
Sex on a bearskin rug in front of a fire! - CHECK
She must not trust Gideon, then fall in love, then not - CHECK
Nuclear threat - CHECK
No, wait. Biological threat - CHECK
Fight the cult with chainsaws - CHECK
Plane crash - CHECK
Explosions, wilderness survival, mining handcart race - CHECK
Explosions, whitewater survival, kidnapping - CHECK
A huge theatrical climax - CHECK
Fill in the extra pages with stuff - CHECK
OK, I'll stop. It's easy to make fun of this book mainly because of their past work. You know the talent and potential is there; just not fully realized. It felt like it was
March 5, 2016
The story went like this: Gideon on new mission. Gideon is set-up to take the fall. Gideon needs help, but is betrayed by his partner. Gideon trusts the daughter of one of the suspected terrorists. Ignores his gut because, well, the daughter is hot and she tells him her father is innocent. "Okay, sexy lady. I believe you."
From there everything gets more unbelievable and ridiculous by the page. We've got a MMA fight where teeth get knocked out, A jump down a "you're gonna die!" waterfall, a run through the forest with heat-seeking rays following your every move, helicopters being shot down, and the small pox virus being carried around in your pocket, which is, you know, so smart. You know it's bad when someone is about to shoot the main character in book 2 and you actually want/believe it can happen. LOL
A silly read that I listened to from the library. If I had spent my money on this, my review would have been pretty harsh.
Go! Read something interesting other than my awesome ramblings, for this book is not it.
From there everything gets more unbelievable and ridiculous by the page. We've got a MMA fight where teeth get knocked out, A jump down a "you're gonna die!" waterfall, a run through the forest with heat-seeking rays following your every move, helicopters being shot down, and the small pox virus being carried around in your pocket, which is, you know, so smart. You know it's bad when someone is about to shoot the main character in book 2 and you actually want/believe it can happen. LOL
A silly read that I listened to from the library. If I had spent my money on this, my review would have been pretty harsh.
Go! Read something interesting other than my awesome ramblings, for this book is not it.
November 9, 2025
Gideon's Corpse
by Preston and Child
Terrific book that started with a big bang! Gideon's co-worker has gone crazy and has his family as hostages. Then clues point to mass destruction, probably nukes. Now it was a race to stop it. It's fast paced and exciting story with other interesting side stories.
by Preston and Child
Terrific book that started with a big bang! Gideon's co-worker has gone crazy and has his family as hostages. Then clues point to mass destruction, probably nukes. Now it was a race to stop it. It's fast paced and exciting story with other interesting side stories.
November 1, 2018
Serviceable thriller with a few twists and turns, interesting villains and a whole lot of improbable action scenes.
This may not be my favorite Preston and Childs novel, and yet, it was a page turner... always fun to read.
This may not be my favorite Preston and Childs novel, and yet, it was a page turner... always fun to read.
August 6, 2020
4/5🌟
Me ha gustado mucho.
Ya de por si la historia está bastante bien e interesante y las cosas que van sucediendo a medida que va avanzando la historia te dejan con ganas de seguir leyendo para ver qué rumbo sigue la historia y como se va descubriendo todo. Sobre todo quién está detrás de todo esto.
Si es verdad que al final me imaginé quien era el culpable de todo. Lo que más me sorprendió en que hacía mucha gente involucrada gente que de verdad te hace pensar 🙈. A parte del motivo de porque lo planean todo🙈.
Pero esa sensación me gustó.
En cuanto al malo sigue el mismo camino de todos los villanos de los libros de estos autores, un villano que siempre pone entre las cuerdas al protagonista y que siempre parece que se puede salir con la suya. Esto hace que te enganche y le dé más emoción al libro.
En cuanto a personajes Gideon me sigue pareciendo genial , aunque aquí el agente Fordyce le hace competencia. Me ha gustado la lealtad que tiene además que la relación con Gideon era bastante graciosa. Hubo momentos en los que me reí con ellos.
Sin duda destacó a estos dos personajes. Los demás me fueron bastante indiferentes. Están bien cumplen su misión pero no me llenaron como Gideon y Fordyce .
El final estuvo chulo y ya con ganas de leer el siguiente porque la siguiente misión de Gideon promete.
En conclusión es un libro con mucha acción que tiene escenas en especial una que es brutal. Un libro que se lee rápido porque no es muy pesado y no es muy largo. Y que si te gusta este tipo de novelas fijo que te engancha.
Me ha gustado mucho.
Ya de por si la historia está bastante bien e interesante y las cosas que van sucediendo a medida que va avanzando la historia te dejan con ganas de seguir leyendo para ver qué rumbo sigue la historia y como se va descubriendo todo. Sobre todo quién está detrás de todo esto.
Si es verdad que al final me imaginé quien era el culpable de todo. Lo que más me sorprendió en que hacía mucha gente involucrada gente que de verdad te hace pensar 🙈. A parte del motivo de porque lo planean todo🙈.
Pero esa sensación me gustó.
En cuanto al malo sigue el mismo camino de todos los villanos de los libros de estos autores, un villano que siempre pone entre las cuerdas al protagonista y que siempre parece que se puede salir con la suya. Esto hace que te enganche y le dé más emoción al libro.
En cuanto a personajes Gideon me sigue pareciendo genial , aunque aquí el agente Fordyce le hace competencia. Me ha gustado la lealtad que tiene además que la relación con Gideon era bastante graciosa. Hubo momentos en los que me reí con ellos.
Sin duda destacó a estos dos personajes. Los demás me fueron bastante indiferentes. Están bien cumplen su misión pero no me llenaron como Gideon y Fordyce .
El final estuvo chulo y ya con ganas de leer el siguiente porque la siguiente misión de Gideon promete.
En conclusión es un libro con mucha acción que tiene escenas en especial una que es brutal. Un libro que se lee rápido porque no es muy pesado y no es muy largo. Y que si te gusta este tipo de novelas fijo que te engancha.
February 8, 2012
This sequel to a book I considered bad (or at least sub par to the two authors' other series) is a bit of an improvement in one way but is actually worse than the previous book.
Again, I'm amazed that people who are familiar with the Pendergast series can read the Gideon books and say with a straight face that they are the same in quality and caliber. The writing here is a bit better than the previous book, though because this isn't exactly reinventing the escapist thriller that isn't quite the complement it might be otherwise. But escapist thrillers don't have to be written or plotted terribly---there is great, good, and bad with all genres, and this qualifies for the lowest ranking possible. This is undemanding fluff (as in lint) that doesn't bear up to much scrutiny, so it's a perfect way to kill time and brain cells, and maybe to even out any uneven leg on a chair or table.
Here's a laundry list of complaints:
-Gideon is still an unbelievable character. Unbelievable as in "Puh-leez!", not "Wow!". It's explained to us all over again his terrible childhood and how he turned himself around to earn a Ph.D. and all that. With his never witty remarks and snarky attitude, he comes across as a sullen teen and never as an accomplished adult. The authors try over and over again to present him as a rebellious adult but he's just an overgrown child. A snotty overgrown child is just as annoying as an actual snotty child.
-For having a Ph.D, Gideon sure is dumb. In fact, a lot of the characters are prone to ask stupid questions (What's going on? What's that? What does that mean?) when it's perfectly obvious what's going on, what that is, or what that means, but for some reason the authors feel it necessary to provide an unexciting and redundant info dump or explanation of the obvious. It gets boring fast when the characters are dumber than the reader.
-There is reference to the "love interest" of the previous book, who met a grisly end, and Gideon apparently still feels guilt about that. But then here comes another lady who initially can't stand Gideon, then after an appropriate number of pages falls head over heels in love with him, even so far as talking about marriage and living together forever only hours---hours!---after swearing to turn him in. It's so fake it's laughable. So is the inexplicable about face she does later, though it all makes sense when it falls under the "The Authors Need It To Happen" umbrella.
-Big Gaping Plot Problem: During Gideon's questioning of a couple of people about a certain group, one character says "Hmm, that group huh?" and the other character, fully hearing this conversation, says nothing. Much later on at a crucial point in the story Gideon again brings up the group, and that previously silent second character pipes up and says, "Oh, that group? Oh yeah, that other character was involved with that group. He loves that group. He's been involved with them for years!", etc. Of course everything hinges on this little fact but, within the context of the story and situations, there was absolutely no reason why this character wouldn't have said anything beforehand---there was no attempt at concealment or anything, and in fact this character volunteered other information at the previous questioning, so it becomes blatantly obvious with a little scrutiny that it didn't happen because the authors needed it to not happen or the story would be over too quickly.
And this is typical of the book. Lots of things that don't make sense happen because the story demands it, and it becomes frustrating and obvious because common sense flies out the window and the story becomes unbelievable. Sure, there's a certain amount of suspension of disbelief with any thriller, but here it's stretched till it bursts.
I would say I don't want to read the next book but since it apparently involves the theft of a highly renowned piece of art, I'm wondering if the authors will finally be injecting some of the smarts of their other series to salvage this terrible one. I won't know till it comes out, but I cannot say with enough emphasis:
This is a terrible book.
Again, I'm amazed that people who are familiar with the Pendergast series can read the Gideon books and say with a straight face that they are the same in quality and caliber. The writing here is a bit better than the previous book, though because this isn't exactly reinventing the escapist thriller that isn't quite the complement it might be otherwise. But escapist thrillers don't have to be written or plotted terribly---there is great, good, and bad with all genres, and this qualifies for the lowest ranking possible. This is undemanding fluff (as in lint) that doesn't bear up to much scrutiny, so it's a perfect way to kill time and brain cells, and maybe to even out any uneven leg on a chair or table.
Here's a laundry list of complaints:
-Gideon is still an unbelievable character. Unbelievable as in "Puh-leez!", not "Wow!". It's explained to us all over again his terrible childhood and how he turned himself around to earn a Ph.D. and all that. With his never witty remarks and snarky attitude, he comes across as a sullen teen and never as an accomplished adult. The authors try over and over again to present him as a rebellious adult but he's just an overgrown child. A snotty overgrown child is just as annoying as an actual snotty child.
-For having a Ph.D, Gideon sure is dumb. In fact, a lot of the characters are prone to ask stupid questions (What's going on? What's that? What does that mean?) when it's perfectly obvious what's going on, what that is, or what that means, but for some reason the authors feel it necessary to provide an unexciting and redundant info dump or explanation of the obvious. It gets boring fast when the characters are dumber than the reader.
-There is reference to the "love interest" of the previous book, who met a grisly end, and Gideon apparently still feels guilt about that. But then here comes another lady who initially can't stand Gideon, then after an appropriate number of pages falls head over heels in love with him, even so far as talking about marriage and living together forever only hours---hours!---after swearing to turn him in. It's so fake it's laughable. So is the inexplicable about face she does later, though it all makes sense when it falls under the "The Authors Need It To Happen" umbrella.
-Big Gaping Plot Problem: During Gideon's questioning of a couple of people about a certain group, one character says "Hmm, that group huh?" and the other character, fully hearing this conversation, says nothing. Much later on at a crucial point in the story Gideon again brings up the group, and that previously silent second character pipes up and says, "Oh, that group? Oh yeah, that other character was involved with that group. He loves that group. He's been involved with them for years!", etc. Of course everything hinges on this little fact but, within the context of the story and situations, there was absolutely no reason why this character wouldn't have said anything beforehand---there was no attempt at concealment or anything, and in fact this character volunteered other information at the previous questioning, so it becomes blatantly obvious with a little scrutiny that it didn't happen because the authors needed it to not happen or the story would be over too quickly.
And this is typical of the book. Lots of things that don't make sense happen because the story demands it, and it becomes frustrating and obvious because common sense flies out the window and the story becomes unbelievable. Sure, there's a certain amount of suspension of disbelief with any thriller, but here it's stretched till it bursts.
I would say I don't want to read the next book but since it apparently involves the theft of a highly renowned piece of art, I'm wondering if the authors will finally be injecting some of the smarts of their other series to salvage this terrible one. I won't know till it comes out, but I cannot say with enough emphasis:
This is a terrible book.
January 1, 2023
Exciting read
I enjoyed reading Gideon’s Corpse. The main characters were relatable, humorous, and a bit snarky. Great plot that held my attention from beginning to end. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
January 12, 2026
I liked this one more than the previous one. I liked how Gideon knows he’s a bit shitty lol.
There were tons of red herrings, but I was pretty sure who the bad guy was almost from the beginning. Still, I couldn’t have predicted the real plot.
I’m curious to see what happens next.
There were tons of red herrings, but I was pretty sure who the bad guy was almost from the beginning. Still, I couldn’t have predicted the real plot.
I’m curious to see what happens next.
March 23, 2012
A toss-up between entertainment and frustration
Gideon Crew is back. After a lukewarm reception from Preston & Child fans—and that’s putting it charitably—their new series here makes his second outing. Now, these gentlemen haven’t written a book I didn’t enjoy yet. Still, I do understand some of the frustration that other readers have been so vocally expressing. But first, a few words on the plot…
After reluctantly completing his job for Eli Glinn and Effective Engineering Solutions, Gideon wants nothing further to do with the man. Facing his own mortality, all he wants to do is head home for some R & R. Glinn has other ideas. The U.S. is facing “a national emergency of the highest order.” Reed Chalker, a former colleague of Gideon’s at Los Alamos has died violent and raving of radiation poisoning as the book opens. Per Eli, “It seems clear that Chalker was involved in preparing a terrorist attack with a nuclear device. During these preparations, something went wrong and the uranium went critical. Chalker was irradiated. It also appears likely to our experts that the remaining terrorists spirited off the bomb, leaving Chalker to die.”
Of course, Gideon is the only possible man to track down the missing nuke and disarm the threat. Except, Gideon doesn’t care. He wants a second opinion about his so-called terminal illness, and he doesn’t trust Eli as far as he can throw him. And he wants to believe that he doesn’t care about all of the endangered innocents, but he knows it isn’t true. He can’t turn his back.
And so another misadventure begins. I won’t reveal more because the fun is in the twists and turns within the plot. And Preston & Child are masters at plotting. Occasionally, there would be a stroke of genius. Unfortunately, almost as often, there would be some story element that would truly beggar credulity. There was a romantic subplot that just made me want to groan. Why? Why? Why do thriller writers shoehorn in ridiculous, utterly unbelievable romances into their novels? It’s painful. And there were other moments of frustration with the story-telling that can’t be discussed without spoilers. But these were balanced by a lot of fun, excitement, and a confoundingly convoluted mystery.
I still think that Gideon Crew is a character with potential, but I do wish the authors would hold his tales to the high standard of their other work.
Gideon Crew is back. After a lukewarm reception from Preston & Child fans—and that’s putting it charitably—their new series here makes his second outing. Now, these gentlemen haven’t written a book I didn’t enjoy yet. Still, I do understand some of the frustration that other readers have been so vocally expressing. But first, a few words on the plot…
After reluctantly completing his job for Eli Glinn and Effective Engineering Solutions, Gideon wants nothing further to do with the man. Facing his own mortality, all he wants to do is head home for some R & R. Glinn has other ideas. The U.S. is facing “a national emergency of the highest order.” Reed Chalker, a former colleague of Gideon’s at Los Alamos has died violent and raving of radiation poisoning as the book opens. Per Eli, “It seems clear that Chalker was involved in preparing a terrorist attack with a nuclear device. During these preparations, something went wrong and the uranium went critical. Chalker was irradiated. It also appears likely to our experts that the remaining terrorists spirited off the bomb, leaving Chalker to die.”
Of course, Gideon is the only possible man to track down the missing nuke and disarm the threat. Except, Gideon doesn’t care. He wants a second opinion about his so-called terminal illness, and he doesn’t trust Eli as far as he can throw him. And he wants to believe that he doesn’t care about all of the endangered innocents, but he knows it isn’t true. He can’t turn his back.
And so another misadventure begins. I won’t reveal more because the fun is in the twists and turns within the plot. And Preston & Child are masters at plotting. Occasionally, there would be a stroke of genius. Unfortunately, almost as often, there would be some story element that would truly beggar credulity. There was a romantic subplot that just made me want to groan. Why? Why? Why do thriller writers shoehorn in ridiculous, utterly unbelievable romances into their novels? It’s painful. And there were other moments of frustration with the story-telling that can’t be discussed without spoilers. But these were balanced by a lot of fun, excitement, and a confoundingly convoluted mystery.
I still think that Gideon Crew is a character with potential, but I do wish the authors would hold his tales to the high standard of their other work.
February 27, 2017
Book two of the Gideon Crew series picks up with Gideon having completed the assignment he took on for Effective Engineering Solutions, a top secret agency that subverts terrorism in the U.S.
Gideon is eager to return to his life as a nuclear scientist who likes cooking himself a nice meal after a long day of fishing. Unfortunately, things can’t be that simple. Gideon now lives with the knowledge that he has a rare brain aneurysm and has less than a year to live. The question is whether or not Gideon can rely on the source of this news, that source being Eli Glinn, the head of Effective Engineering Solutions. Did Mr. Glinn use the news of Gideon’s impending doom to manipulate him into doing the job? Gideon needs to know, so he seeks a second opinion.
Any plans Gideon might have about returning to his old life are also put on hold as he is manipulated into taking on another assignment. This time he is sent to assist the FBI in stopping former colleague Reed Chalker, who seems to have turned into a conspiracy theorist gone mad and has taken an innocent family hostage. He teams up with FBI agent, Stone Fordyce. The situation turns from bad to worse when Chalker dies and it is discovered that he had extreme radiation poisoning, the kind that comes from being in contact with a nuclear bomb.
Further investigation reveals that Chalker converted to Islam and was helping a group build the nuclear bomb in question. Now the real question becomes what happened to the nuclear bomb, where is it and when is it scheduled to detonate? Crew and Fordyce must race to find out before the unthinkable happens! This story has so many twists and turns you’ll hurt your neck!
This series is very different for devoted Preston & Child fans. Gideon has his hidden depths but he is not as deep and dark as their most well-known character, Aloysius Pendergast. Crew is a simply a likeable hero who has his heart is in the right place. Following Gideon around is a non-stop thrill ride in the tradition of Bruce Willis’s character, John McClane in Die Hard. He takes on the bad guys left and right, gets pretty banged up in the process and uncovers massive conspiracies that go way over his head. The only thing that might stop him is that nasty brain aneurysm.
Don’t take this stuff too seriously folks, just sit back and enjoy the ride! The Gideon Crew series is quick, light action-adventure reading that will leave you breathless!
Gideon is eager to return to his life as a nuclear scientist who likes cooking himself a nice meal after a long day of fishing. Unfortunately, things can’t be that simple. Gideon now lives with the knowledge that he has a rare brain aneurysm and has less than a year to live. The question is whether or not Gideon can rely on the source of this news, that source being Eli Glinn, the head of Effective Engineering Solutions. Did Mr. Glinn use the news of Gideon’s impending doom to manipulate him into doing the job? Gideon needs to know, so he seeks a second opinion.
Any plans Gideon might have about returning to his old life are also put on hold as he is manipulated into taking on another assignment. This time he is sent to assist the FBI in stopping former colleague Reed Chalker, who seems to have turned into a conspiracy theorist gone mad and has taken an innocent family hostage. He teams up with FBI agent, Stone Fordyce. The situation turns from bad to worse when Chalker dies and it is discovered that he had extreme radiation poisoning, the kind that comes from being in contact with a nuclear bomb.
Further investigation reveals that Chalker converted to Islam and was helping a group build the nuclear bomb in question. Now the real question becomes what happened to the nuclear bomb, where is it and when is it scheduled to detonate? Crew and Fordyce must race to find out before the unthinkable happens! This story has so many twists and turns you’ll hurt your neck!
This series is very different for devoted Preston & Child fans. Gideon has his hidden depths but he is not as deep and dark as their most well-known character, Aloysius Pendergast. Crew is a simply a likeable hero who has his heart is in the right place. Following Gideon around is a non-stop thrill ride in the tradition of Bruce Willis’s character, John McClane in Die Hard. He takes on the bad guys left and right, gets pretty banged up in the process and uncovers massive conspiracies that go way over his head. The only thing that might stop him is that nasty brain aneurysm.
Don’t take this stuff too seriously folks, just sit back and enjoy the ride! The Gideon Crew series is quick, light action-adventure reading that will leave you breathless!
February 5, 2012
With the introduction of Gideon Crew, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have created one of the most unique protagonists in modern fiction. First seen in the novel, GIDEON’S SWORD, Gideon Crew jumped off the pages with a background utterly unique. Not only is he a brilliant nuclear scientist but he also suffers from a rare form of brain aneurysm and has been diagnosed with less than a year to live.
Actually, it could be anywhere from a few months to a year. All Gideon knows is that when his time comes it will be sudden and extremely painful. Needless to say, Gideon has both a huge chip on his shoulder and the determination to do as much good as he can before his time is up. In GIDEON’S CORPSE, he is called into action immediately by his mysterious benefactor, Mr. Glinn. Glinn runs an organization in the meat-packing district of NYC known simply as Effective Engineering Solutions. This is an obvious front for a group that gets involved in some deeply important and underground stuff on behalf of the U.S. Government.
Gideon’s latest assignment is simple --- infiltrate a hostage crisis taking place in Queens, New York. The alleged hostage taker is a former Los Alamos colleague of Gideon’s by the name of Chalker. Gideon enters a street scene filled with all forms of law enforcement and scientific teams who are on the ready to take down Chalker. As Gideon gets close enough to speak with Chalker through the front door of the Queens home, he finds the formerly mild-mannered scientist to be delusional, paranoid and screaming that he is ‘burning up’.
Gideon helps to eventually resolve the situation --- but Chalker is killed and the burning feeling he professed so loudly about was a fear of radiation poisoning. Everyone involved is quarantined and cleaned. Upon release, Gideon is teamed up with an FBI Agent named Stone Fordyce and put on the trail of a nuclear bomb. Where did this bomb come from? After examination of Chalker’s tiny basement apartment, it looks like Mr. Chalker may have built a nuclear weapon for a group of Islamic terrorists. It also appears that Chalker himself has converted to Islam and may have been part of a Jihadist sect.
With fear running rampant that a nuke will be set off in either NYC or the Capitol in D.C., Gideon and Fordyce must work quickly to find out where the bomb is and who else is behind it. By the diary found in Chalker’s apartment it seems like there are only 9 days until the terrorist attack. What occurs next is a race against the clock thriller that does not let up until the final page is turned. Gideon and Fordyce chase down all potential leads including a subversive militant group in the Midwest, a potential leak within Los Alamos and a famous fiction writer named Simon Blaine.
It is Simon Blaine who is the most confusing suspect as he is an internationally famous writer that Chalker seemed to read a lot of (even possessing several personalized signed volumes of his work). Gideon and Fordyce find it hard to see Blaine’s involvement in this mess. Additionally, Gideon finds himself entangled with Blaine’s daughter, Alida --- a feisty and headstrong young woman who teams with Gideon to clear her father’s name and help find the real culprits.
Things take a startling turn when Gideon is exposed by the U.S. Government as being involved with Chalker in the plans for the terrorist attack. A series of emails are discovered between Gideon and Chalker outlining their support of Islam and professing a destiny of Hellfire for all Muslim enemies. Gideon knows these are false --- but now has his own partner, Fordyce, on his trail. He also has Alida doubting his actions and faces a solitary battle to prove his own innocence, uncover the set-up that has been perpetrated against him at the highest level of government and stop the terrorist attack before time runs out.
It is during Gideon’s own crusade that he uncovers something far worse than a nuclear attack. What if that alleged attack was a smoke-screen hiding the true deadly intent of the villainous group behind this panic? A file called OPERATION CORPSE is found on author Simon Blaine’s laptop. It is the outline for a proposed novel about the release of the smallpox virus upon mankind and the devastation that could cause. Gideon realizes that someone is looking to turn fiction into reality and cause destruction on a global viral scale!
After reading and thoroughly enjoying the first novel in this series, GIDEON’S SWORD, I still longed for Preston and Child to return to their heralded Pendergast series. Now, with the completion of GIDEON’S CORPSE, I am more than happy to patiently await the continuation of the Pendergast series AFTER they finish up the saga of Gideon Crew. Gideon is a thoroughly engaging character who will instantly appeal to all readers fortunate enough to dive into his adventures and Preston and Child are masterful storytellers at the top of their game obviously enjoying uncovering the layers of their complex and driven new protagonist. Bravo!
Reviewed by Ray Palen for New Mystery Reader
Actually, it could be anywhere from a few months to a year. All Gideon knows is that when his time comes it will be sudden and extremely painful. Needless to say, Gideon has both a huge chip on his shoulder and the determination to do as much good as he can before his time is up. In GIDEON’S CORPSE, he is called into action immediately by his mysterious benefactor, Mr. Glinn. Glinn runs an organization in the meat-packing district of NYC known simply as Effective Engineering Solutions. This is an obvious front for a group that gets involved in some deeply important and underground stuff on behalf of the U.S. Government.
Gideon’s latest assignment is simple --- infiltrate a hostage crisis taking place in Queens, New York. The alleged hostage taker is a former Los Alamos colleague of Gideon’s by the name of Chalker. Gideon enters a street scene filled with all forms of law enforcement and scientific teams who are on the ready to take down Chalker. As Gideon gets close enough to speak with Chalker through the front door of the Queens home, he finds the formerly mild-mannered scientist to be delusional, paranoid and screaming that he is ‘burning up’.
Gideon helps to eventually resolve the situation --- but Chalker is killed and the burning feeling he professed so loudly about was a fear of radiation poisoning. Everyone involved is quarantined and cleaned. Upon release, Gideon is teamed up with an FBI Agent named Stone Fordyce and put on the trail of a nuclear bomb. Where did this bomb come from? After examination of Chalker’s tiny basement apartment, it looks like Mr. Chalker may have built a nuclear weapon for a group of Islamic terrorists. It also appears that Chalker himself has converted to Islam and may have been part of a Jihadist sect.
With fear running rampant that a nuke will be set off in either NYC or the Capitol in D.C., Gideon and Fordyce must work quickly to find out where the bomb is and who else is behind it. By the diary found in Chalker’s apartment it seems like there are only 9 days until the terrorist attack. What occurs next is a race against the clock thriller that does not let up until the final page is turned. Gideon and Fordyce chase down all potential leads including a subversive militant group in the Midwest, a potential leak within Los Alamos and a famous fiction writer named Simon Blaine.
It is Simon Blaine who is the most confusing suspect as he is an internationally famous writer that Chalker seemed to read a lot of (even possessing several personalized signed volumes of his work). Gideon and Fordyce find it hard to see Blaine’s involvement in this mess. Additionally, Gideon finds himself entangled with Blaine’s daughter, Alida --- a feisty and headstrong young woman who teams with Gideon to clear her father’s name and help find the real culprits.
Things take a startling turn when Gideon is exposed by the U.S. Government as being involved with Chalker in the plans for the terrorist attack. A series of emails are discovered between Gideon and Chalker outlining their support of Islam and professing a destiny of Hellfire for all Muslim enemies. Gideon knows these are false --- but now has his own partner, Fordyce, on his trail. He also has Alida doubting his actions and faces a solitary battle to prove his own innocence, uncover the set-up that has been perpetrated against him at the highest level of government and stop the terrorist attack before time runs out.
It is during Gideon’s own crusade that he uncovers something far worse than a nuclear attack. What if that alleged attack was a smoke-screen hiding the true deadly intent of the villainous group behind this panic? A file called OPERATION CORPSE is found on author Simon Blaine’s laptop. It is the outline for a proposed novel about the release of the smallpox virus upon mankind and the devastation that could cause. Gideon realizes that someone is looking to turn fiction into reality and cause destruction on a global viral scale!
After reading and thoroughly enjoying the first novel in this series, GIDEON’S SWORD, I still longed for Preston and Child to return to their heralded Pendergast series. Now, with the completion of GIDEON’S CORPSE, I am more than happy to patiently await the continuation of the Pendergast series AFTER they finish up the saga of Gideon Crew. Gideon is a thoroughly engaging character who will instantly appeal to all readers fortunate enough to dive into his adventures and Preston and Child are masterful storytellers at the top of their game obviously enjoying uncovering the layers of their complex and driven new protagonist. Bravo!
Reviewed by Ray Palen for New Mystery Reader
March 20, 2012
I really wish you could do half stars...because this would be 2.5 if I could. I am feeling generous today.
I know that it is sometimes necessary for a character to do "something stupid" in order to advance the plot. But something-stupid should not be relied upon as a regular plot device as it was here. It especially shouldn't be relied on to such an extent when your character is supposed to be quite intelligent.
Also I like my thrillers with a whiff of reality to them and a sprinkling of logic. I think this is missing both whiff and sprinkle. Just because James Patterson and his syndicate churn out plot outlines with half-a-novel's worth of fleshing out doesn't mean everyone should...especially the authors of such great and intricate thrillers as "Cabinet of Curiosities" and "Still Life With Crows." I was hoping that the second volume would not so obviously resemble the screenplay it was originally pitched as the first Gideon volume did...sigh...
I probably won't follow Gideon on his next adventure...but I am definitely looking forward to the next Pendergast.
I know that it is sometimes necessary for a character to do "something stupid" in order to advance the plot. But something-stupid should not be relied upon as a regular plot device as it was here. It especially shouldn't be relied on to such an extent when your character is supposed to be quite intelligent.
Also I like my thrillers with a whiff of reality to them and a sprinkling of logic. I think this is missing both whiff and sprinkle. Just because James Patterson and his syndicate churn out plot outlines with half-a-novel's worth of fleshing out doesn't mean everyone should...especially the authors of such great and intricate thrillers as "Cabinet of Curiosities" and "Still Life With Crows." I was hoping that the second volume would not so obviously resemble the screenplay it was originally pitched as the first Gideon volume did...sigh...
I probably won't follow Gideon on his next adventure...but I am definitely looking forward to the next Pendergast.
May 10, 2012
Gideon's Corpse (pub. Jan 2012) is the second book in the 'Gideon' series by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. It is the best page-turner the brilliant team have written in the past couple of years, IMO. I read it in big chunks in less than two days.
The story blazes nonstop with all the stuff we love in our thrillers: high tension, crazy fast pace from page one, things blows up, guns and chases; but it also brings more character-intense scenes to the table than the standard thriller formula.
Although the story line might be considered a bit shopworn, Preston Child applied their master strokes and it shines with new twists, top-notch writing (had me running to the dictionary three times) and a truly gripping ending. You will want to read every page.
The only thing that held me back from giving it all 5-stars was a twinge that the authors were stretching things a bit too far in a couple spots. But those were minor blips compared to the enjoyment of the story and their writing style bring.
The story blazes nonstop with all the stuff we love in our thrillers: high tension, crazy fast pace from page one, things blows up, guns and chases; but it also brings more character-intense scenes to the table than the standard thriller formula.
Although the story line might be considered a bit shopworn, Preston Child applied their master strokes and it shines with new twists, top-notch writing (had me running to the dictionary three times) and a truly gripping ending. You will want to read every page.
The only thing that held me back from giving it all 5-stars was a twinge that the authors were stretching things a bit too far in a couple spots. But those were minor blips compared to the enjoyment of the story and their writing style bring.
January 14, 2021
no dudaba que este libro iba a llevarse 5 estrellas, porque asumía que terminaría de forma increíble y eso esperaba... y así mismo fue.
Preston y Child lo han vuelto a hacer, y tras su primer libro, Venganza, no hubo bajón de ritmo para el siguiente, todo lo contrario. Mientras tenía su buen inicio con el asunto terrorista y de las radiaciones con lo que pasa con Reed, fue una carrera para Gideon al intentar descubrir qué era lo que estaba sucediendo. conspiraciones, trampas, acción y adrenalina en todo momento... y un nuevo agente del FBI en escena. (admito que quería que apareciera pendergast, pero en el fondo sabía que era algo imposible jaja). Hasta ciertto momento me llama la atención saber en qué punto cronológico de los acontecimientos de estos libros era lo que pasaba en su otra serie con Pendergast, D'Agosta y los demás.
Y hasta aquí lo dejo, creo no puedo decir más, salvo recomendar muchísimo estos libros. no tendrán el mismo sabor a la serie pendergast, pero no les tienen que envidiar a ellos.
Preston y Child lo han vuelto a hacer, y tras su primer libro, Venganza, no hubo bajón de ritmo para el siguiente, todo lo contrario. Mientras tenía su buen inicio con el asunto terrorista y de las radiaciones con lo que pasa con Reed, fue una carrera para Gideon al intentar descubrir qué era lo que estaba sucediendo. conspiraciones, trampas, acción y adrenalina en todo momento... y un nuevo agente del FBI en escena. (admito que quería que apareciera pendergast, pero en el fondo sabía que era algo imposible jaja). Hasta ciertto momento me llama la atención saber en qué punto cronológico de los acontecimientos de estos libros era lo que pasaba en su otra serie con Pendergast, D'Agosta y los demás.
Y hasta aquí lo dejo, creo no puedo decir más, salvo recomendar muchísimo estos libros. no tendrán el mismo sabor a la serie pendergast, pero no les tienen que envidiar a ellos.
November 16, 2025
While not on par with the Pendergast books, I still find the Gideon Crew books quite fun despite some ludicrous plotlines and supporting characters. A guilty pleasure when life gets a bit much to deal with I just needed a somewhat mindless and thrilling read.
November 19, 2012
By Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. Gideon Crew #2. Grade: C
I still can't believe it took two, not one, very talented writers to pen down this particular piece of disaster.
A top nuclear scientist goes mad and takes an innocent family hostage at gunpoint, killing one and causing a massive standoff.
A plume of radiation above New York City leads to a warehouse where, it seems, a powerful nuclear bomb was assembled just hours before.
Sifting through the evidence, authorities determine that the unthinkable is about to happen: in ten days, a major American city will be vaporized by a terrorist attack.
Ten days. And Gideon Crew, tracking the mysterious terrorist cell from the suburbs of New York to the mountains of New Mexico, learns the end may be something worse--far worse--than mere Armageddon.
Gideon Crew is a brilliant nuclear scientist who suffers from a rare form of brain aneurysm and has been diagnosed with less than a year to live. All he wants to do is go back home for some R&R, but his boss has a tricky hostage situation that only Gideon can solve. The person who has taken an innocent family of four hostage in their own homes is an old co-worker of Gideon, and Gideon is sent to calm him down. As often the case is in novels, things are not what they seem. The scientist is killed in the showdown and is found to be radioactive. Everyone involved is quarantined and cleaned.
A recent conversion to Islam raises some red flags, and a conspiracy is pieced together: nuclear attack on Washington in the next ten days. Gideon is asked to pair up with a by-the-book FBI agent Fordyce, and asked to uncover the truth. There is also a romantic subplot. (Why? Why? Why do thriller writers shoehorn in ridiculous, utterly unbelievable romances into their novels? It’s painful.)
To sum up, I found the entire book absolutely overdone, contrived, and ridiculous.
First of all, if these are the kind of officers that are in charge in case of a nuke attack, I'd be seriously worried for myself. Gideon chases down an absolutely flaky lead (which of course turns out to be the antagonist later) mainly because the daughter is cute. Yep, that's what your priority should be when you know the world is about to end in nine days.
There were a lot of unnecessary scenes, and in an effort to make Gideon look interesting, he has been given the following traits: brilliant nuclear scientist, an untraceable art thief, a tragic past, witnessing the death of his own father, and exactly one year to live. Yawn. The scenes were out of a computer game, or a bad Hollywood movie.
Fight the cult with chainsaws? Check.
Near Plane crash which they mysteriously survive? Check.
A heart-racing mine-cart ride, hurtling into oblivion? Check.
Lots of explosions, fire rings, and a movie set? Check.
Bad. Really bad. It was painful to finish. Please don't waste your money on this. Go check out the duo's Pendergast Series instead.
Originally reviewed at: http://vaultofbooks.com/
I still can't believe it took two, not one, very talented writers to pen down this particular piece of disaster.
A top nuclear scientist goes mad and takes an innocent family hostage at gunpoint, killing one and causing a massive standoff.
A plume of radiation above New York City leads to a warehouse where, it seems, a powerful nuclear bomb was assembled just hours before.
Sifting through the evidence, authorities determine that the unthinkable is about to happen: in ten days, a major American city will be vaporized by a terrorist attack.
Ten days. And Gideon Crew, tracking the mysterious terrorist cell from the suburbs of New York to the mountains of New Mexico, learns the end may be something worse--far worse--than mere Armageddon.
Gideon Crew is a brilliant nuclear scientist who suffers from a rare form of brain aneurysm and has been diagnosed with less than a year to live. All he wants to do is go back home for some R&R, but his boss has a tricky hostage situation that only Gideon can solve. The person who has taken an innocent family of four hostage in their own homes is an old co-worker of Gideon, and Gideon is sent to calm him down. As often the case is in novels, things are not what they seem. The scientist is killed in the showdown and is found to be radioactive. Everyone involved is quarantined and cleaned.
A recent conversion to Islam raises some red flags, and a conspiracy is pieced together: nuclear attack on Washington in the next ten days. Gideon is asked to pair up with a by-the-book FBI agent Fordyce, and asked to uncover the truth. There is also a romantic subplot. (Why? Why? Why do thriller writers shoehorn in ridiculous, utterly unbelievable romances into their novels? It’s painful.)
To sum up, I found the entire book absolutely overdone, contrived, and ridiculous.
First of all, if these are the kind of officers that are in charge in case of a nuke attack, I'd be seriously worried for myself. Gideon chases down an absolutely flaky lead (which of course turns out to be the antagonist later) mainly because the daughter is cute. Yep, that's what your priority should be when you know the world is about to end in nine days.
There were a lot of unnecessary scenes, and in an effort to make Gideon look interesting, he has been given the following traits: brilliant nuclear scientist, an untraceable art thief, a tragic past, witnessing the death of his own father, and exactly one year to live. Yawn. The scenes were out of a computer game, or a bad Hollywood movie.
Fight the cult with chainsaws? Check.
Near Plane crash which they mysteriously survive? Check.
A heart-racing mine-cart ride, hurtling into oblivion? Check.
Lots of explosions, fire rings, and a movie set? Check.
Bad. Really bad. It was painful to finish. Please don't waste your money on this. Go check out the duo's Pendergast Series instead.
Originally reviewed at: http://vaultofbooks.com/
January 18, 2012
Phew! What a stinker.
January 12, 2019
How can one smart guy, that seems such a dufus still manage to survive?
I was on the edge of my chair several times.
I was on the edge of my chair several times.
October 12, 2024
Entertaining, action, suspense, radiation, guns, some asshats, some good and evil. Good listen liked the first book better but, will keep going as it's entertaining.
January 10, 2012
*Rating* 3.0
*Genre* Thriller
*Review*
Gideon Crew is back working for the Effective Engineering Solutions and its enigmatic leader Eli Glinn. Glinn asks Grew to attempt to try to resolve a dangerous hostage situation with one of his former colleagues Reed Chalker. Chalker, it seems, believes he has been held as a lab experiment, exposed to dangerous levels of radiation, and set up to take the fall for a nuclear attack on this country. Of course, nobody believes the rants and ravings of a mad man holding a gun to children’s heads.
Gideon ends up working with FBI Special Agent Stone Fordyce in an attempt to defuse the situation before it gets out of hand or anyone else gets seriously hurt in the process. Crew and Fordyce discover that Chalker may be involved in nefarious activities IE terrorism after it’s discovered that he worked on a nuclear bomb after converting to Islam.
*Note* I don’t believe all Muslims are terrorists. I do, however, believe that they need to stand up, speak out, and fight against the insanity that is bred into mosques by out of control Imams and those who want to destroy this country from within. Maybe then we can live in peace and harmony and direct our anger elsewhere.
This, of course, leads to a mad scramble in the post-9/11 USA where every terrorist threat or incident is supposed to be investigated thoroughly by the FBI and other agencies. Naturally, the calm rapidly descends into chaos and the country is on edge about a possible nuclear bomb going off in either NYC, or Washington, DC.
For Crew and Fordyce, their adventures have just begun. They will encounter stiff opposition in their search for the truth. There are traitors in the military, as well as in high level of government agencies such as NEST and the Los Alamos Testing Labs who are guiding the direction of the investigation as they see fit and stopping it when Crew and Fordyce get too close to the truth.
On a personal level, Gideon has been lead to believe that he has only a year, or less remaining to live because of a brain condition known as AVM. For Gideon, this means a change in the way he lives his life and how he takes things day by day. It also means not trusting what he’s been told by Glinn and discovering the real truth behind his so called condition.
Thoughts:
I normally find the writing dual of Preston & Child to be a decent read and thus when a new book comes out, I borrow it from the library, or get an ARC from a publisher. They seem to take the time to research the storyline they are writing about and not jumble their way through the story.
In this case, it is about a serious plot against the US via a terrorist threat with a nuclear weapon but with a major twist that I didn’t see coming until Crew discovers the truth. After several starts and restarts along the way--including nearly dying in a plane crash--Gideon realizes that something is seriously wrong and ends up at the right place at the right time to stop the threat. We really see a different side of Crew this time around who goes beyond what is expected of him when the crap is about ready to hit the fan.
This story truly is a plausible scenario that could actually happen. Unfortunately, you don’t want to say that out loud for fear of being held against your will by the FBI, or another 3 letter government agency with too much power at arresting American citizens without proof. You don’t believe me? Look at the latest law that was passed by Congress giving the President unlimited abilities to arrest ANY American citizen at any time without a warrant or the ability to protect yourself.
ARC Recvd 12/23/2011 - January 10th 2012
*Genre* Thriller
*Review*
Gideon Crew is back working for the Effective Engineering Solutions and its enigmatic leader Eli Glinn. Glinn asks Grew to attempt to try to resolve a dangerous hostage situation with one of his former colleagues Reed Chalker. Chalker, it seems, believes he has been held as a lab experiment, exposed to dangerous levels of radiation, and set up to take the fall for a nuclear attack on this country. Of course, nobody believes the rants and ravings of a mad man holding a gun to children’s heads.
Gideon ends up working with FBI Special Agent Stone Fordyce in an attempt to defuse the situation before it gets out of hand or anyone else gets seriously hurt in the process. Crew and Fordyce discover that Chalker may be involved in nefarious activities IE terrorism after it’s discovered that he worked on a nuclear bomb after converting to Islam.
*Note* I don’t believe all Muslims are terrorists. I do, however, believe that they need to stand up, speak out, and fight against the insanity that is bred into mosques by out of control Imams and those who want to destroy this country from within. Maybe then we can live in peace and harmony and direct our anger elsewhere.
This, of course, leads to a mad scramble in the post-9/11 USA where every terrorist threat or incident is supposed to be investigated thoroughly by the FBI and other agencies. Naturally, the calm rapidly descends into chaos and the country is on edge about a possible nuclear bomb going off in either NYC, or Washington, DC.
For Crew and Fordyce, their adventures have just begun. They will encounter stiff opposition in their search for the truth. There are traitors in the military, as well as in high level of government agencies such as NEST and the Los Alamos Testing Labs who are guiding the direction of the investigation as they see fit and stopping it when Crew and Fordyce get too close to the truth.
On a personal level, Gideon has been lead to believe that he has only a year, or less remaining to live because of a brain condition known as AVM. For Gideon, this means a change in the way he lives his life and how he takes things day by day. It also means not trusting what he’s been told by Glinn and discovering the real truth behind his so called condition.
Thoughts:
I normally find the writing dual of Preston & Child to be a decent read and thus when a new book comes out, I borrow it from the library, or get an ARC from a publisher. They seem to take the time to research the storyline they are writing about and not jumble their way through the story.
In this case, it is about a serious plot against the US via a terrorist threat with a nuclear weapon but with a major twist that I didn’t see coming until Crew discovers the truth. After several starts and restarts along the way--including nearly dying in a plane crash--Gideon realizes that something is seriously wrong and ends up at the right place at the right time to stop the threat. We really see a different side of Crew this time around who goes beyond what is expected of him when the crap is about ready to hit the fan.
This story truly is a plausible scenario that could actually happen. Unfortunately, you don’t want to say that out loud for fear of being held against your will by the FBI, or another 3 letter government agency with too much power at arresting American citizens without proof. You don’t believe me? Look at the latest law that was passed by Congress giving the President unlimited abilities to arrest ANY American citizen at any time without a warrant or the ability to protect yourself.
ARC Recvd 12/23/2011 - January 10th 2012
January 26, 2019
I only chose to read this because I had to spend a considerable amount of time in hospital lounges last week. The ever present commotion ensured I selected something out of my library that required very little effort to follow. In other words I expected it to be stupid and it still failed to meet my bottom of the barrel expectations.
In Gideon's Corpse the plot has more holes than perforated cheese. Take a sheet of paper, douse it in water till it is soaking wet and punch straight through it. The plot of this book still has more holes than that piece of soggy paper you are left holding in your hand.
The eponymous protagonist is tasked to save a major American City from an impending nuclear attack. Every law enforcement agency in the country is coordinating to find the terrorists responsible but somehow the man with no intelligence background is going to the savior. (Ok let's run with it). In spite of all these agencies working together, no one except Gideon thinks of investigating the past of the dead terrorist, the only tangible lead they have got. (Getting wacky but still giving the benefit of doubt). Gideon is soon framed as a terrorist and his boss who was connected enough to insert Gideon prominently in the midst of the most high profile investigation ever won't help him beat the obviously bogus charges. (Getting really preposterous). Honest FBI agent starts shooting at innocent civilian simply because Gideon has taken her hostage in order to escape the bum rap (Jumped the shark here). Said civilian decides to stay with Gideon, fall in love with him, dream about becoming the mother of his children even though she hated Gideon before he kidnapped her and almost got her shot. (WHAT!!!)
There is a late twist which I would try to explain via an analogy. A man wants to kill his local Congress man, he has got a coconspirator in the Congressman's immediate circle. He has the means to flee the country and never worry about being caught once the deed is done. So what does he do? He drops a bomb in front of the White House and promises to kill the President after seven days. All in the hope the whole country would be busy protecting the President and he would have a clear shot to the Congressman. Again WHAT!!!!
The nadir of the book is the love story. There is a sex scene that is too cheesy to be included in well written erotica or well made porn. The female love interest seems to be written by a couple of horny 15 year olds who had never even kissed a girl instead of a couple of 50 something professional authors. The action scenes become increasingly improbable, one of them might have been good in the climax but I was numbed by their continuous procession.
I have rated around 350 books here and only given 1 star to about 10 of them, so I usually refrain from extreme opinions. But it is not hyperbolic to say that this is one of the worst books I have ever read and easily the worst book I have read this year. Almost didn't complete it and wish I hadn't. Because GR doesn't allow zero stars my rating - 1/5.
In Gideon's Corpse the plot has more holes than perforated cheese. Take a sheet of paper, douse it in water till it is soaking wet and punch straight through it. The plot of this book still has more holes than that piece of soggy paper you are left holding in your hand.
The eponymous protagonist is tasked to save a major American City from an impending nuclear attack. Every law enforcement agency in the country is coordinating to find the terrorists responsible but somehow the man with no intelligence background is going to the savior. (Ok let's run with it). In spite of all these agencies working together, no one except Gideon thinks of investigating the past of the dead terrorist, the only tangible lead they have got. (Getting wacky but still giving the benefit of doubt). Gideon is soon framed as a terrorist and his boss who was connected enough to insert Gideon prominently in the midst of the most high profile investigation ever won't help him beat the obviously bogus charges. (Getting really preposterous). Honest FBI agent starts shooting at innocent civilian simply because Gideon has taken her hostage in order to escape the bum rap (Jumped the shark here). Said civilian decides to stay with Gideon, fall in love with him, dream about becoming the mother of his children even though she hated Gideon before he kidnapped her and almost got her shot. (WHAT!!!)
There is a late twist which I would try to explain via an analogy. A man wants to kill his local Congress man, he has got a coconspirator in the Congressman's immediate circle. He has the means to flee the country and never worry about being caught once the deed is done. So what does he do? He drops a bomb in front of the White House and promises to kill the President after seven days. All in the hope the whole country would be busy protecting the President and he would have a clear shot to the Congressman. Again WHAT!!!!
The nadir of the book is the love story. There is a sex scene that is too cheesy to be included in well written erotica or well made porn. The female love interest seems to be written by a couple of horny 15 year olds who had never even kissed a girl instead of a couple of 50 something professional authors. The action scenes become increasingly improbable, one of them might have been good in the climax but I was numbed by their continuous procession.
I have rated around 350 books here and only given 1 star to about 10 of them, so I usually refrain from extreme opinions. But it is not hyperbolic to say that this is one of the worst books I have ever read and easily the worst book I have read this year. Almost didn't complete it and wish I hadn't. Because GR doesn't allow zero stars my rating - 1/5.
January 7, 2012
This is the second book in a series about Gideon Crew. I read the first book, Gideon's Sword, and was immediately hooked, so I was thrilled to get my hands on this book. Though this book is an excellent thriller, it's not quite as good as the first book in the series.
Gideon has a top secret position with the government. He also works for a shadowy company that serves as a subcontractor for the government. When he is summoned by the subcontractor to go help the police with an urgent hostage situation, Gideon is surprised to find that the hostage taker is a mild mannered government coworker. Thus begins the next installment in the series where conspiracies and a terrorist plot become Gideon's next assignment as well as his own personal nightmare.
Told almost entirely from the viewpoint of Gideon Crew, we are drawn into the character's life and grow to care about Gideon and the characters. The book is well written and edge of your seat enough, especially toward the climax, that you may do what I did - read non-stop until the ended. Preston and Child write so seamlessly that you would never think for a moment that the story is written by two authors; they also recap just enough to let us know what demons haunt Gideon, so if you haven't read book one first, it wouldn't be disastrous.
That all said, when Gideon is teamed up with an FBI agent, there were parts that seemed downright goofy and left me shaking my head. This section just wasn't up to par with the rest of the Preston and Child's writing. Still, on the whole, this is an excellent thriller with twists and turns that will keep you reading way past bedtime.
Gideon has a top secret position with the government. He also works for a shadowy company that serves as a subcontractor for the government. When he is summoned by the subcontractor to go help the police with an urgent hostage situation, Gideon is surprised to find that the hostage taker is a mild mannered government coworker. Thus begins the next installment in the series where conspiracies and a terrorist plot become Gideon's next assignment as well as his own personal nightmare.
Told almost entirely from the viewpoint of Gideon Crew, we are drawn into the character's life and grow to care about Gideon and the characters. The book is well written and edge of your seat enough, especially toward the climax, that you may do what I did - read non-stop until the ended. Preston and Child write so seamlessly that you would never think for a moment that the story is written by two authors; they also recap just enough to let us know what demons haunt Gideon, so if you haven't read book one first, it wouldn't be disastrous.
That all said, when Gideon is teamed up with an FBI agent, there were parts that seemed downright goofy and left me shaking my head. This section just wasn't up to par with the rest of the Preston and Child's writing. Still, on the whole, this is an excellent thriller with twists and turns that will keep you reading way past bedtime.
January 14, 2012
For a while now, Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston have been a pair of some of the most reliable authors I have ever read. Whenever I can't decide what to read or if I ever want to get out of a chain of three and two-star reads, I find a book by the pair and easily break into the wonderful world of good ratings. For some reason, the first Gideon Crew novel didn't seem to make much of a splash for readers, but I enjoyed it quite a lot. With the release of Gideon's Corpse, however, Child-Preston have really created another excellent series that I will always follow eagerly. It can not really be compared to the Pendergast novels because the two protagonists are so different, but Gideon's Corpse is as good as the better Pendergast reads. It starts off with a lot of wild action and random comedy but, after a bad-ass cattle prod battle and one on one chainsaw fight, the seriousness of the plot sinks in along with the sadness of Gideon's illness which almost promises a bitter end to the series. The tone of this book seems to be light-heartedness standing up against the darkness of being alone and it contrasts nicely and shows a rare type of characterization. I highly recommend this novel. If you have read these guys before, you should already trust them. If not, Gideon's Corpse is an excellent place to start and you don't even have to read the good but very anti-climactic Gideon's Sword to know what is going on in this one. Also, I learned something while reading this one. Monkeys find pussy in the rain. Want to know what it means? Read the book.
January 13, 2022
Have to agree with a few on the ratings. I totally love the Pendergast series, that it was hard for me to look at Gideon in the same light, which was probably where I'd gone wrong reading this one.
For the love of my fave book character, given this one a 3.5 stars. I felt the ending of the book was the best, but felt bored and a little cheated.
For the love of my fave book character, given this one a 3.5 stars. I felt the ending of the book was the best, but felt bored and a little cheated.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 13, 2019
I enjoyed Gideon's books. Good plot with believable terror threat. Why does he have that disease?! I'm so bummed about it because he had the prognosis again at the end of the book.
August 11, 2019
Dr. Gideon Crew is a unique combination of con man, ex-art thief, and brilliant physicist. Recruited by a mysterious and powerful organization to run interference in impossible situations he routinely lands in a melting pot of danger. In Gideon’s Corpse, Crew finds himself acting as a liaison to the FBI when a former colleague and top nuclear scientist takes a family hostage at gunpoint. The outcome leads to a terrorist plot to vaporize a major American city in ten days—and the clock is ticking.
I remembered very little about the first in the series but had zero difficulty falling into the story without feeling lost. It starts off with a bang (the hostage situation) and moves at a blistering pace. Gideon pairs up with a strait-laced FBI agent. Much of the fun of the novel is watching the two work together, gaining respect for the other’s methods and for each other.
Clues build in a clever, twisty manner but just when you think you know where the plot is headed it does a complete 180 leading to an explosive, action-packed conclusion.
If you like your characters with a mix of trickster and quick-thinking brilliance, Gideon Crew is your man. He has a good heart, sometimes makes stupid mistakes, but somehow always manages to land on his feet. I will definitely be reading the rest in this series. Preston and Child once again deliver the kind of intelligent thriller that has become their trademark.
I remembered very little about the first in the series but had zero difficulty falling into the story without feeling lost. It starts off with a bang (the hostage situation) and moves at a blistering pace. Gideon pairs up with a strait-laced FBI agent. Much of the fun of the novel is watching the two work together, gaining respect for the other’s methods and for each other.
Clues build in a clever, twisty manner but just when you think you know where the plot is headed it does a complete 180 leading to an explosive, action-packed conclusion.
If you like your characters with a mix of trickster and quick-thinking brilliance, Gideon Crew is your man. He has a good heart, sometimes makes stupid mistakes, but somehow always manages to land on his feet. I will definitely be reading the rest in this series. Preston and Child once again deliver the kind of intelligent thriller that has become their trademark.
July 12, 2021
I normally enjoy the works of the author but not so much this time.
I got through about 70% of the audio narrative and stopped. The romance was not entirely believable and juvenile. The investigative side was so-so.
MY GRADE: C
I got through about 70% of the audio narrative and stopped. The romance was not entirely believable and juvenile. The investigative side was so-so.
MY GRADE: C
Displaying 1 - 30 of 906 reviews