Glass Tiger

by Joe Gores

Brendan Thorne, ex-Ranger, ex-sniper for the CIA, has foresworn violence when his presence is demanded at a top-secret meeting. Halden Corwin, legendary Vietnam sniper and mercenary, has vowed to assassinate the recently elected president of the United States, and the government’s computers have picked Thorne as the most likely person to find Corwin. Special agent Terrill Hatfield’s crack FBI team will take care of the rest.

But when the plan doesn’t go as described, Thorne discovers he’s been drawn into a web of lies, ambitions, and double-crosses that will force him to stand and fight.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Crime, Ebooks, American

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Joe Gores (1931-2011) was the author of the acclaimed DKA series of street-level crime and detection, as well as the stunning suspense novels Dead Man and Menaced Assassin.

He served in the U.S. Army - writing biographies of generals at the Pentagon - was educated at the University of Notre Dame and Stanford, and spent twelve years as a San Francisco private investigator. The author of dozens of novels, screenplays, and television scripts, he won three Edgar Allan Poe Awards and Japan's Maltese Falcon Award.

Reviews

[Mike Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Penultimate book of Madeira library reading stash. A good romp of a read with nice twists and turns. Two snipers with ex military backgrounds. The younger lured back from Africa to try and predict where the older man will try and assassinate the President.

I enjoyed the writing style and the characters. Never dragged just good entertainment.

[Thomas Edmund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before a flight I grabbed Glass Tiger from an ultra-cheap bargin bin, and correspondingly assumed that my literary world was not about to be turned over.

Now it really wasn't, but I will say that Glass Tiger was much much better than expected.

Sure the protaganist is just a bit too unbelievable, with their dark past but heroic drive, the political intrigue is strained to the point of scoffing and the prose is the action equivalent of purple BUT in the end the twists are well handled, the action is solid, and while I smirked I have to say I was never bored.

Glass Tiger mostly wins due to low expectations, but there are much worse political thrillers out there, so worth a look if you're in need of a low-thought-cost page-turner.

[Suzie Quint · Rating 5 out of 5]

This starts in a way I hate--short vignettes about the (unnamed) major players. Despite that, it quickly settled in to a story I found hard to put down. Every promise I made to read until the end of the chapter or until I saw how something in particular played out was broken. I very much liked the two main characters--the hunter and the hunted. I may have to look for more by Joe Gores.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hot. It's the end of September when it should be cooling down. There are flies and mosquitoes everywhere. I have a tonne of work to do, but I have a bag of weed and 5 litres of vino to hand. Given that scene, this book really hit the spot. It's far from well written , it's not clever, it's not even remotely plausible, but I enjoyed it. More dirty pleasure than literary gem.

[Lou · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some redeemable aspects about this book. I liked the fact that the main character and his opponent were almost equal and that their motivations were different. However, I hated the sexual descriptions. I found them vulgar and distasteful. However, I found interesting the book's plot.

[Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0-star, the protagonist sniper is arm-twisted by the White House to profile how a President-threatening sniper would likely plot an attack the country's leader. Several twists and turns for an interesting read. But this doesn't live up to other Joe Gores novels, particularly his DKA series.

[Jacob Chinchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't know what to make of this one. An ex-assassin is hired to kill the President of the United States. Or, more technically, to work out how someone would kill the President of the United States. Which he does. Quite quickly, all things considered. He's got it all worked out in no time, and then theres quite a bit of tedious slowness while he fails miserably to work out the other plot thread - concerning a buried secret, a corrupt FBI agent and the bizarrely accomodating friendliness of a succession of doctors - which is considerably easier than working out which bush a man with a rifle is hiding behind.

The final fifth of the book is quite good, though, as all the pennies drop - with massively loud thunks - but it felt like it took a hell of a long time to get there.

[Alisonpaddock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always been a big Joe Gores fan; have collected all the DKA stories and more. This book was not one of his best, I fear. The writing itself was great, good descriptions, very knowledgeable about wild life both in the US and Africa. BUT there were so few men in the entire story who had any sense of honor or integrity, and none in the government. Too maddening and simplistic. And I think the theme of an assassin being hoodwinked by the government agents is too similar to that of Stephen Hunter's Bob Lee Swagger books.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give this 3 and a half stars because yep i've read this book a hundred times but from different authors with different characters.
There's really nothing wrong with it at all, good story/good pace and goes along like you want from the ex government agent genre.
But after it i didn't really think about the characters.
I'd usually be thinking 'Oh i want a sequel or prequel, i want more of that character.
I just didn't feel that here, although it really is good for some reading and escapism fun.

[Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though the story was a bit far fetched, it was an extremely gripping read and I found it hard to put the book down. The main protagonist was a walking cliché (as actually were most of the characters), but likeable in its own way, he reminded me a little bit of Andrew Vachss' Burke.
The book could work really well as a TV series or movie, lots of plot twists that mostly aren't predictable, mixed with enough action and romance to satisfy everyone.

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stupid - some good stalking scenes but mainly stupid. Do not understand why Otto Penzler is seen as a big deal because as far as I can tell he is just associated with total dross. And Joe Gores I guess Hammett was an aberation.

[Kym Hamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. A gritty mystery - although it's a less a who-dunnit and more a how-dunnit - that keeps the pace and pressure up throughout and combines a swathe of interesting characters to great effect. Definitely off to find more Gores.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Action packed with an underlining plot.

[John Treanor · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK airplane read...

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very gripping. His description was amazingly detailed. The plot was convoluted, with bits being slowly brought to light. It was defintiely the kind of book that was difficult to put down.

[Hitomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

固い。硬い。堅い。
なので、読むのに時間がかかっちゃったよ。

[Nicki · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. Poorly written. Don't waste your time.

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast paced and a nice plot with enough twists to keep it moving, but I had figured out the main twist in the first thirty pages. Still an enjoyable few hours of reading

[Diego Del rio · Rating 3 out of 5]

buen libro, un poco predecible pero tiene buenos "twists" para mantenerte entretenido. lo que no me gusto fue q mi traducción estaba pesimamente echa pero pasando ese detalle me entrtubo.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm getting used to his style. This is my 2nd of his books (I think) and I liked it.

[Harmony Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read! A real page turner. I'll be reading more of Joe Gore in the future.