6 Days

by Brendan DuBois

A week is a long time in politics, but six days can destroy democracy... It should be the happiest days for former special forces agent Drew Connor. Out walking in New Hampshire's White Mountains with his girlfriend Sheila Cass, he has butterflies in his stomach and an engagement ring in his pocket. Then a thunderstorm hits, and they take shelter in what Sheila thinks is a relay station for a state utility. But when Drew enters the building, he realizes they have stepped into something far more sinister. Bullet-proof checkpoints. Telephone hotlines. A sign by a map that reads INTERNMENT CENTERS. And on a whiteboard a large, handwritten CASE ON 9/19 WE TAKE HER BACK! Drew's instinct is to get Sheila out as quickly as possible, and when they stop at a general store, and the police open fire without asking questions, his worst fears are confirmed. Someone wants them dead for what they have seen. And as Drew and Sheila discover, they have stumbled on a plot to kill the president and overthrow the American government, a plan that is to take place in just six days time. With the conspirators claiming they are terrorists on the run, Drew knows it is going to be hard enough just to stay alive, let alone put a stop to this most deadly of political schemes... By the award-winning author of RESURRECTION DAY and TWILIGHT, SIX DAYS is a 'what-if' thriller of chilling credibility, a terrifying tale of what can happen when power games are mistaken for politics, and paranoia for patriotism. REVIEWS "The whole shebang is as American as apple pie and handguns in the classroom. Of course there's an almighty conflagration at the climax, but DuBois shapes a tight sentence and the plot crackles along." -- Sunday Age newspaper "A well-paced, exciting "what-if" thriller." -- Irish Independent newspaper "...DuBois injects such pace into his writing that the story rips breathlessly along." -- Birmingham (UK) Post

Genres: Thriller, Fiction

416 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Brendan DuBois of New Hampshire is the award-winning author of twenty novels and more than 150 short stories. His novel, "Resurrection Day," won the Sidewise Award for Best Alternative History Novel of the Year.

In addition to his thrillers, Brendan DuBois is the author of the Lewis Cole mystery series.

He is currently working on a number of writing projects with New York Times bestselling author James Patterson,

He is also a one-time "Jeopardy!" gameshow champion, and a co-winner of the trivia gameshow "The Chase."

His short fiction has appeared in Playboy, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Analog, and numerous other magazines and anthologies including “The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century,” published in 2000 by Houghton-Mifflin. Another one of his short stories appeared in in "The Year's Best Science Fiction 22nd Annual Collection" (St. Martin's Griffin, 2005) edited by Gardner Dozois

His short stories have twice won him the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and have also earned him three Edgar Allan Poe Award nominations from the Mystery Writers of America. Visit his website at www.BrendanDuBois.com.
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Reviews

[Elaine and Tess the Springer. I won’t be on GR for a bit. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for the first time on 2002 and absolutely loved it so I decided to read it again and somehow it isn’t as interesting and exciting as it was then. I think we have so many different genres now that conspiracy theories are not as out there as they were.

[Elaine and Tess the Springer. I won’t be on GR for a bit. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this first 20 years ago and at that point it was amazing. I absolutely loved it and could see how everything could have happened. I was disappointed that it didn’t hold me in the same way. Sorry.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in the not to distant future where the American dream has soured.

What would happen if the lunatics tried to take over the asylum.

Good story, characters and moral tale.

[Tansy Hepton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wonder if I would have rated this higher if I'd read it when it was written (in 2001). Then it was prescient; now it just feels like an exaggeration of reality. It's rather cliched but some interesting aspects too, especially some of the peripheral alternative history snippets that have happened elsewhere in the world. Resurrection Day is better.

[Cliona Neill kelch · Rating 1 out of 5]

Storyline was great premise and good storyline but ithe overwhelming misogynistic views portrayed completely negated any good writing or storyline. I have never not finished a book but with this one it’s going directly into the bin, not even worth recycling

[Martin Snr · Rating 4 out of 5]

My reading time was a bit distracted during the Holidays, but finished the book at least. I'm not fond of any form of documentation on militias but I enjoyed the structure of the book and the climax. Definitely not my last Brendon du Bois thriller.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible.

[Emma Jorgenson · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars, the story is intriguing but I wasn’t reading as often as I thought I would’ve with this book.

[Midge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't believe how some things never change. !!!!
Sad truth, this could be today !!!
A " wow " book for me.

[Rachelle Bransgrove · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy the way DuBois writes and this book was action packed as well!

[Russell Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best book I've ever read. 'Six Days' took me six MONTHS to get through; partly because I had other distractions and also because I found it very hard to sink my teeth into. Political thrillers are normally not my thing but, as I was stuck for something to read, I raided my brother's bookshelves and decided to give this a go.

The plot is entirely plausible but the story itself unfortunately suffers from prolonged strands of narrative where nothing of any significance actually happens, which makes for an arduous read. The book tackles issues surrounding love, both real and unrequited, divided loyalty and commitment to a country. There is also an over-abundance of political and government related terminology here which, unless you're up on your politics, again kind of detracts from the rest of the book.

I was unfamiliar with Dubois' work before picking up this book and, after this one, I'm in no hurry to seek out any more.

[David Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

with a slow start and an initial hint of political conspiracy where one man, with military skills ,stands against the conspiratorial machine... I nearly gave up after 50 - 100 pages. I chose to go along for the ride and got involved with the interweaving characters and plot. The pace picked up and easily carried me through the last quarter of the book.
parts were disjointed and it felt like the plot lost it's way sometimes but came through as a reasonably well written nov

[LJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

SIX DAYS – Okay—
Dubois, Branden – Stand Alone
I have long been a fan of his Lewis Cole series, but this “what-if” thriller was hard for me to get through, mainly because I found the female character annoying and often TSTL I skimmed far more of this book then I actually read. I’ll wait for the next Lewis Cole.

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars for this conspiracy thriller set slightly in the future. It was definitely compelling reading, but I rated it slightly down because of the subject matter: many of the characters seemed to be stereotypes, and although the conspiracy plot itself was intriguing the story bogged it down with political charades.

In short, a fun read but not one I'd keep to read again.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book the reason it's not got 5 stars is there is room for improvement! There are some great twists and turns in it but some parts I was able to predict and bits where he referred to magazines as clips that really let him down! On the whole though great! Action adventure thrills and spills page after page!

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took a little getting into, but once the story got rolling this was hard to put down. A finely woven web of government deceit, secret services and citizenship. Good suspense, believably futuristic and thoroughly enjoyable.

[L J]

Get it from VB library

[Mieczyslaw Kasprzyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this (almost cliche) thriller about corruption in high places, conspiracy and pursuit.

[Jan]

Location read: Buffelsbaai

[Jim A · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite DuBois novel.

[Cat · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually didn't finish this book and don't plan to. After I Am Pilgrim and a couple shots at others I've determined that spy/secret government/innocent protagonists just aren't my thing.