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The Triggerman's Dance
When Rebecca Harris is murdered in front of the newspaper offices of the "Orange County Journal," she leaves behind friends and co-workers shocked by her violent death. But she also leaves behind two rivals who were in love with her -- passionate Joshua Weinstein, and FBI agent she was engaged to marry, and John Menden, the quiet newsman who was her lover. These men knew of each other's part in Rebecca's complex life, each hoping to be ultimately chosen by her.
Weinstein solves the murder but he can't get the evidence to make an arrest -- the only person who can do that is Menden. Working together in an uneasy alliance, the two men join forces to bring down Rebecca's killer. Weinstein, the lawman, guides Menden, the journalist into a powerful paramilitary organization where his every move will be scrutinized and vetted by dangerous men, and where his body and soul will be tested in the extreme.
"A jolting thriller...delivers more than a rush." -- The New York Times Book Review
"The Triggerman's Dance is a stunning work, so hypnotic and beautiful that when I finished it, I turned to page 1 and read it all over again." -- The Washington Post
"The Triggerman's Dance has the psychological and moral complexity of a good novel of the American dark." -- The New York Times
"His best work thus far." -- Bookpage
"The Triggerman's Dance is at once darkly disturbing and entertaining." -- Atlanta Journal Constitution
"A Gripping thriller from the author of such topnotch suburban angst items as Little Saigon and Laguna Heat." -- Chicago Tribune
About the T. Jefferson Parker is the author of nineteen crime novels, and a three-time winner of the Edgar Award. He lives in Southern California.
Weinstein solves the murder but he can't get the evidence to make an arrest -- the only person who can do that is Menden. Working together in an uneasy alliance, the two men join forces to bring down Rebecca's killer. Weinstein, the lawman, guides Menden, the journalist into a powerful paramilitary organization where his every move will be scrutinized and vetted by dangerous men, and where his body and soul will be tested in the extreme.
"A jolting thriller...delivers more than a rush." -- The New York Times Book Review
"The Triggerman's Dance is a stunning work, so hypnotic and beautiful that when I finished it, I turned to page 1 and read it all over again." -- The Washington Post
"The Triggerman's Dance has the psychological and moral complexity of a good novel of the American dark." -- The New York Times
"His best work thus far." -- Bookpage
"The Triggerman's Dance is at once darkly disturbing and entertaining." -- Atlanta Journal Constitution
"A Gripping thriller from the author of such topnotch suburban angst items as Little Saigon and Laguna Heat." -- Chicago Tribune
About the T. Jefferson Parker is the author of nineteen crime novels, and a three-time winner of the Edgar Award. He lives in Southern California.
579 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 1996
176 people are currently reading
217 people want to read
About the author
T. Jefferson Parker
101 books860 followersT. Jefferson Parker is the bestselling author of 26 crime novels, including Edgar Award-winners SILENT JOE and CALIFORNIA GIRL. Parker's next work is coming-of-age thriller, A THOUSAND STEPS, set for January of 2022. He lives with his family in a small town in north San Diego County, and enjoys fishing, hiking and beachcombing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
November 6, 2012
On a rainy day, Rebecca Harris is shot to death at long range in the parking lot of the southern California newspaper where she works as the assistant to a liberal columnist. It quickly becomes apparent that Harris was almost certainly not the intended target. Rather, it was the columnist herself who had antagonized large numbers of conservative readers with her outspoken opinions.
Rebecca leaves in her wake a tangled emotional mess, including her fiance, Josh Weinstein, an FBI agent, and her lover John Menden, a fellow newspaperman. At the time of her death, Rebecca was in the process of leaving Josh for Menden. Both men are devastated by her loss, and Weinstein is naturally further hurt and angered by her betrayal. Menden responds to the tragedy by quitting his job, withdrawing from society, and taking another job at a tiny newspaper out in the boondocks. Josh's response is to throw himself into the task of finding Rebecca's killer.
Weinstein ultimately concludes that the killer is the powerful head of a private security company--a former FBI agent himself who went off the rails when his son was killed and his wife critically injured in a shooting incident. The ex-agent was infuriated by a series of columns written by Rachel's boss suggesting that his son was a rapist, hence the botched attempt to kill her.
The problem is that Josh does not have enough evidence to charge the killer and so, in a bizarre twist, he recruits Menden, Rebecca's lover, to go under cover and get it. The two men will put aside their feelings about each other in the larger interest of catching the man who killed the woman they both loved.
This is a very good book that keeps the reader on edge, particularly after John infiltrates the killer's inner circle. The tension rises not only over the issue of whether John will survive long enough succeed but also over the lingering question about whether Josh might still want to ultimately punish Menden for stealing Rebecca's heart. Another winner from T. Jefferson Parker.
Rebecca leaves in her wake a tangled emotional mess, including her fiance, Josh Weinstein, an FBI agent, and her lover John Menden, a fellow newspaperman. At the time of her death, Rebecca was in the process of leaving Josh for Menden. Both men are devastated by her loss, and Weinstein is naturally further hurt and angered by her betrayal. Menden responds to the tragedy by quitting his job, withdrawing from society, and taking another job at a tiny newspaper out in the boondocks. Josh's response is to throw himself into the task of finding Rebecca's killer.
Weinstein ultimately concludes that the killer is the powerful head of a private security company--a former FBI agent himself who went off the rails when his son was killed and his wife critically injured in a shooting incident. The ex-agent was infuriated by a series of columns written by Rachel's boss suggesting that his son was a rapist, hence the botched attempt to kill her.
The problem is that Josh does not have enough evidence to charge the killer and so, in a bizarre twist, he recruits Menden, Rebecca's lover, to go under cover and get it. The two men will put aside their feelings about each other in the larger interest of catching the man who killed the woman they both loved.
This is a very good book that keeps the reader on edge, particularly after John infiltrates the killer's inner circle. The tension rises not only over the issue of whether John will survive long enough succeed but also over the lingering question about whether Josh might still want to ultimately punish Menden for stealing Rebecca's heart. Another winner from T. Jefferson Parker.
December 25, 2014
Freaking BORING!!!!
May 30, 2021
"The only living things proximate to the event that remained truly unrippled were the eucalyptus tree and the poppies in the planter near where Rebecca, heart-shot and staggering, then heart-shot again, fell and died in the pouring rain."
A disappointment from one of my favorite crime authors: T. Jefferson Parker's thriller The Triggerman's Dance (1996) fails to deliver on the promise of its first chapters. The well-written beginning of the novel will captivate the reader. Alas, roughly after 100 pages, my interest in the plot began to weaken, to completely disappear towards the end of the book.
A brief synopsis of the setup: Costa Mesa, Orange County, California. Rebecca Harris, a young intern in the Orange County Journal, has been shot to death. It soon becomes clear that the bullets were meant for Ms. Baum, the newspaper columnist, for whom Ms. Harris worked. The initial investigation establishes that Ms. Baum's planned assassination would be considered a hate crime, because of her being a woman, Jewish, and promulgating left-wing views. Joshua Weinstein, an FBI agent, who also happened to be Ms. Harris' fiancé, is handling the investigation. The suspect is one Vann Holt, a very rich land- and business-owner, known for his right-wing views, extreme even for generally conservative Orange County. In yet another major twist in the setup, Mr. Weinstein recruits John Menden, a journalist, and Ms. Harris' lover, to help with the investigation.
I would have no problem with the contrived concept of the fiancé and the lover pooling their resources to find the killer of the woman they both adored if only it served some purpose in the novel. The unusual setup provides no literary payoff, though; the relationship dynamics between the two men are not shown with much psychological depth.
Yet the greatest disappointment for me is Mr. Parker's writing in The Triggerman's Dance. I like many of his novels for their economical, dispassionate, yet vivid prose, whereas at one point in this book the author even stoops to pretentious, capital-letter style:
Finally, why do we need 540 pages? Trimmed down to 300 - 350 pages, and cleaned of histrionics, it could be a great thriller, like many other novels by Mr. Parker are.
Two-and-a-half stars.
A disappointment from one of my favorite crime authors: T. Jefferson Parker's thriller The Triggerman's Dance (1996) fails to deliver on the promise of its first chapters. The well-written beginning of the novel will captivate the reader. Alas, roughly after 100 pages, my interest in the plot began to weaken, to completely disappear towards the end of the book.
A brief synopsis of the setup: Costa Mesa, Orange County, California. Rebecca Harris, a young intern in the Orange County Journal, has been shot to death. It soon becomes clear that the bullets were meant for Ms. Baum, the newspaper columnist, for whom Ms. Harris worked. The initial investigation establishes that Ms. Baum's planned assassination would be considered a hate crime, because of her being a woman, Jewish, and promulgating left-wing views. Joshua Weinstein, an FBI agent, who also happened to be Ms. Harris' fiancé, is handling the investigation. The suspect is one Vann Holt, a very rich land- and business-owner, known for his right-wing views, extreme even for generally conservative Orange County. In yet another major twist in the setup, Mr. Weinstein recruits John Menden, a journalist, and Ms. Harris' lover, to help with the investigation.
I would have no problem with the contrived concept of the fiancé and the lover pooling their resources to find the killer of the woman they both adored if only it served some purpose in the novel. The unusual setup provides no literary payoff, though; the relationship dynamics between the two men are not shown with much psychological depth.
Yet the greatest disappointment for me is Mr. Parker's writing in The Triggerman's Dance. I like many of his novels for their economical, dispassionate, yet vivid prose, whereas at one point in this book the author even stoops to pretentious, capital-letter style:
"He craved Clarity and disliked the anger of the Red Zone.[...] But Clarity brought steadfastness to his vision and his limbs. Clarity allowed his eyes to see and his mind to work. You could ride Clarity, like a good machine, through thickets of confusion and rage."Or my least favorite phrase from the novel:
"They run. They shoot. They run. They fight."which is repeated several times, with different pronouns. This stylistic device reminds me of the adolescent male prose of Mr. Palahniuk's Fight Club.
Finally, why do we need 540 pages? Trimmed down to 300 - 350 pages, and cleaned of histrionics, it could be a great thriller, like many other novels by Mr. Parker are.
Two-and-a-half stars.
June 21, 2021
I am finished is a good view on this book. I like Parker most of the time but not this time around. I don't like reading about cops who lower themselves to the level of the criminals they are after. Plus when they killed the dog, that was one of theirs, I quit.
February 9, 2013
Unless you are into excessive and ridiculous violence this novel is awful. 0 of 10 stars
August 11, 2021
This was a very entertaining book with an addictive, compelling style that continues to reinforce my opinion of T. Jefferson Parker as an outstanding author. While the plot does stretch credulity more than I prefer at times, the nature of the writing, the plot, and the excellent interplay between the principal characters outshines any such weaknesses.
The tension between the two main male characters is delicious. Josh Weinstein, an FBI agent is bent on arresting the SOB that mistakenly shot his former fiancee. Ironically, he ends up both detesting and needing John Menden, the man for whom said fiancee left Josh, who is similarly heartbroken over her untimely murder. These two, rather different men, must join forces in order to infiltrate the killer's very secure compound and, ultimately, bring justice for their lost love. John reluctantly agrees to go undercover, despite having no legal law enforcement standing.
The story fleshes out several tracks, including John's meeting and falling in love with the daughter of the killer, innocent of any knowledge concerning her father's crime. Their budding relationship will help John move on from the emotional limbo he's been suffering since the death of his lover, but is destined to be, well, complicated.
Parker has done a masterful job creating interesting characters to orbit Josh and John, and manages to keep tension on the boil while John endeavors to collect incriminating evidence within the very secure compound, where he is a guest of sorts. In addition, there is someone who seems to be "on to" John's true identity, but Parker keeps the reader guessing while pressing his advantage by hinting at danger for John at every turn. Josh, on the outside, is frustrated by his superior's political and budgetary concerns, tightening the leash on his operation and causing even greater tension within his sphere.
All in all, this is a great ride, and I highly recommend it, along with many other books by this author.
The tension between the two main male characters is delicious. Josh Weinstein, an FBI agent is bent on arresting the SOB that mistakenly shot his former fiancee. Ironically, he ends up both detesting and needing John Menden, the man for whom said fiancee left Josh, who is similarly heartbroken over her untimely murder. These two, rather different men, must join forces in order to infiltrate the killer's very secure compound and, ultimately, bring justice for their lost love. John reluctantly agrees to go undercover, despite having no legal law enforcement standing.
The story fleshes out several tracks, including John's meeting and falling in love with the daughter of the killer, innocent of any knowledge concerning her father's crime. Their budding relationship will help John move on from the emotional limbo he's been suffering since the death of his lover, but is destined to be, well, complicated.
Parker has done a masterful job creating interesting characters to orbit Josh and John, and manages to keep tension on the boil while John endeavors to collect incriminating evidence within the very secure compound, where he is a guest of sorts. In addition, there is someone who seems to be "on to" John's true identity, but Parker keeps the reader guessing while pressing his advantage by hinting at danger for John at every turn. Josh, on the outside, is frustrated by his superior's political and budgetary concerns, tightening the leash on his operation and causing even greater tension within his sphere.
All in all, this is a great ride, and I highly recommend it, along with many other books by this author.
May 17, 2023
The beginning of the novel was quite good, raising tensions and starting an interesting storyline. A normal guy who has to train with an FBI agent and work together to catch the murderer of a woman they both loved. So far so good. But then the book became weirder and weirder.
The protagonist complains in grief about his lover being taken from him, while he hooks up with the daughter of the killer and then proceeds to kill her father on his own (Overcome grief by causing equal grief?).
And so it goes on and on… The “good guys” start raging in a bloody vendetta against the supposed to be vengeful culprit. To illustrate this, here is a brief list of the crimes committed by the villain, and on the other hand our protagonists:
The «villain»:
- Shot a civilian, mistaking her for a harasser who he made responsible for the death of his son and the insanity of his wife.
- (Being racist?)
The “policemen”: - arranged a rape in the public just to get the “villain” to trust their conspirator.
- Deliberate, mapped out shooting of a dog to emphasise the realness of said rape.
- Arson: Destroying the home of the protagonist so he could infiltrate the house of our antagonist.
- Trespass and fierce burglary in private properties.
- Murder of an innocent security man to hide their crimes.
- Abduction and deprivation of liberty of a civilian to deliver her to the villain as a bait.
- Shooting another security man.
- Killing the antagonist without even trying a non-fatal shot.
- Even one more murder.
At some point in the book, you just can’t bear anymore hearing the protagonist fussing about how dangerous it is, in the mansion of the murderer, while he goes rogue, he is the only one who kills, and impregnates the daughter of our villain (the act is descripted in great detail) and is the sole true gangster of the book. But he has some cute dogs. Who wouldn’t like him in that case?
The protagonist complains in grief about his lover being taken from him, while he hooks up with the daughter of the killer and then proceeds to kill her father on his own (Overcome grief by causing equal grief?).
And so it goes on and on… The “good guys” start raging in a bloody vendetta against the supposed to be vengeful culprit. To illustrate this, here is a brief list of the crimes committed by the villain, and on the other hand our protagonists:
The «villain»:
- Shot a civilian, mistaking her for a harasser who he made responsible for the death of his son and the insanity of his wife.
- (Being racist?)
The “policemen”: - arranged a rape in the public just to get the “villain” to trust their conspirator.
- Deliberate, mapped out shooting of a dog to emphasise the realness of said rape.
- Arson: Destroying the home of the protagonist so he could infiltrate the house of our antagonist.
- Trespass and fierce burglary in private properties.
- Murder of an innocent security man to hide their crimes.
- Abduction and deprivation of liberty of a civilian to deliver her to the villain as a bait.
- Shooting another security man.
- Killing the antagonist without even trying a non-fatal shot.
- Even one more murder.
At some point in the book, you just can’t bear anymore hearing the protagonist fussing about how dangerous it is, in the mansion of the murderer, while he goes rogue, he is the only one who kills, and impregnates the daughter of our villain (the act is descripted in great detail) and is the sole true gangster of the book. But he has some cute dogs. Who wouldn’t like him in that case?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 20, 2020
His fifth book... enjoy watching his progress and setting up of twisted and imaginative story lines, check out the blue plate special near the end.
Vengeance is the theme again, but from several perspectives (right and wrong) for several characters
Vengeance is the theme again, but from several perspectives (right and wrong) for several characters
October 12, 2017
Not bad. Interesting story line. Interesting characters. Rubbish blah ending. Worth a read if youre stuck at the airport or waiting room somewhere.
February 21, 2018
This is a great story. Highly recommended.
May 6, 2018
Two men – a newspaper reporter and an FBI agent – join forces to take down the right-wing head of a security company who killed the woman they both loved. The undercover plot element is a little far-fetched and I'm not sure the backstory chapters added that much, but T. Jefferson Parker is a pretty reliable thriller writer and, as usual, he has Southern California’s Orange County setting down pat. Nice page-turner with a satisfying finish; not as good as one of his two Edgar winners, “California Girl,” but better than the other, “Silent Joe.”
September 8, 2018
Audiobook performed by David Colacci
March 12, 2020
very intense-great read.
April 8, 2020
A book that halfway through,discovered I had read before
June 1, 2020
Good story about love, loss, and revenge set on a ranch in California of orange trees and security, immigrants, and the FBI. Good one!
June 19, 2020
Interesting plot, but not a great thriller. The plot is predictible; it lacks tension.
May 6, 2021
Read in 1996. A story of pain, loss and revenge.
September 15, 2021
The wrong woman is murdered by an assassin bent on revenge. The FBI elicits the help of the man who loved her to infiltrate and get evidence to prove that a wealthy man was the trigger man.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 31, 2022
Not TJP's best but still a solid story about what vengeance looks like from many perspectives.
June 5, 2025
Not one of Parkers best. The storey is long, and boring at times. I plugged through it though and it was an interesting end.
August 23, 2025
He's capable of so much more than this. I would take a pass on this one.
June 26, 2024
Parker got a lot right in this book, more than he could have known at the time considering what is happening right now in America. That said, this won’t make the top of my list of favorites for several reasons, too long, too complicated an ending, there’s no happy ending, not really an ending at all, though there is a conclusion to the story. It was over written, in my judgment with too many moving pieces though he did a fine job of trashing bureaucracy and making law enforcement look very bad, which may or not be true. Again, themes from this book appear in later works I enjoyed a lot more, for a large part of this one, I just wanted to get through it. Not a good feeling when reading an author you really admire, but it happens. If you’re going to read them all, you shouldn’t leave this one out but it’s a slog in many ways. Fortunately that is very much not true with most of his work.
January 2, 2015
I've read most of Parker's novels and loved every one of them. Readers can always count on familiar southern California settings, plots rooted loosely in real places and events and characters complex enough to be interesting and unpredictable. In this case we have a hero with some significant flaws and a quite sympathetic villain. The players in this story are mainly driven by the burning need to avenge some grievous wrongs they have suffered, and that plot typically does not interest me, because they never end well. Still I was fascinated to watch the conflict unfold with some well-paced action, and I cared enough about those that survived that I hope I see them in new Parker novel sometime soon.
August 18, 2008
This is by far the best and most complex of Mr. Parker's books. Of course I don't know what's to come: I'm reading them in chronological order; this one was written in 1996, and there are still more than 10 years and probably 10 books to go. It's about a murder victim who was engaged to one man (a Jewish FBI agent) and was the lover of another man (a newspaperman). The FBI man knows who killed her, so he sent the lover undercover into the compound of a wealthy Orange County security company owner to flush out the murderer. Once again, the book is replete with geographical descriptions and analyses of the thoughts of the main characters. I'm looking forward to the rest of the books.
August 18, 2014
Vintage T. Jefferson Parker. There's something about the way he describes things that really grabs me. And, since I was raised in Orange County, I am familiar with the setting of this novel. I didn't like the way the book ended, but I suppose it had to turn out like that. I don't think justice was entirely served (just like in real life) and I object to Susan Baum being described as an innocent woman. The sex scene could have been a little (a lot actually) more subtle, and I also thought the Mormon angle was kind of skewed. Nevertheless, a gripping story, well told.
July 15, 2011
This was an entertaining book. I'm sure that I have read other books by T. Jefferson Parker. There is a goodly amount of action. I skipped over the bird killing and few sex scenes. The characters have a little cookie cutterness about them--evil villain once an FBI agent, brain damaged wife, beautiful daughter, noble agents seeking revenge while the evil villain wants it as well. 540 pages in paperback.
Read
April 14, 2008Thriller
July 3, 2009
Well-written and suspenseful. I cared about what happened to the characters, and was satisfied with how things worked out.
December 10, 2010
It had been a while since I read one of his books, and it was good to find him again. He writes a good mystery with characters that have a lot of depth.
Read
July 7, 2011Did not like this one, very dry, too long, unsatisfying ending.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews