The First 48

by Tim Green

A Fallen Hero. His Missing Daughter. 48 Hours to Save Her Life-And The Clock is Ticking... A former prosecutor on the rise, Tom Redmon is today a low-rent attorney mired in unwinnable cases and an alcoholic haze. No one believes in him except his daughter, Jane, a Washington Post reporter, and his one friend, reformed biker and P.I. Mike Tubbs. Then suddenly Redmon gets the ultimate wake-up call: his daughter is gone-kidnapped. Jumping into his old pickup with Tubbs, Redmon burns rubber on a frantic search that will take him into the labyrinth that is Washington...and dangerously close to the line that separates right from wrong. There's no time for mistakes: as an ex-cop, he knows that victims have only two days to be rescued before they're found dead.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller, Political Thriller

400 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 2, 2004

About the author

Tim Green, for many years a star defensive end with the Atlanta Falcons, is a man of many talents. He's the author of such gripping books for adults as the New York Times bestselling The Dark Side of the Game and a dozen suspense novels, including Exact Revenge and Kingdom Come. Tim graduated covaledictorian from Syracuse University and was a first-round NFL draft pick. He later earned his law degree with honors. Tim has worked as an NFL analyst for FOX Sports and as an NFL commentator for National Public Radio, among other broadcast experience. He lives with his wife, Illyssa, and their five children in upstate New York. Football Genius is his first novel for young readers. For more updates, visit www.facebook.com/authortimgreen

Reviews

[Norman LaVelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first novel I've read by Tim Green. I have to be honest I saw the title and thought of the television series and assumed it would be something similar to that. I was so wrong. This was a great read. Tom Redmon who was a decorated police officer, then a prosecutor on a rise is now a low budget attorney taking case where he can to stay afloat. Tom has a friend Mike Tubbs who works as his private investigator, a former motorcycle club thug, is the only one who believes him when he says that his daughter has been taken. She spoke to her father the night before about breaking a story about a senator who is into all sort of dirt. After her last call to him there was nothing. He knows from his years on the police force that after the first 48 hours have passed usually the cops will give up and not look as hard because usually the victims are dead. He set his watch from the time she last made contact and tells the local authorities in DC that he is on his way there. Once he and Mike arrive he learns that the DC police are not treating this as any really crime, they see that her place has been broken into and has also been ransacked, however they only see a burglary, not a kidnapping. Tom makes a fuss to the local cops in charge but Mike stops him and they realized that they are going to have to do this without the help of the local pd and by any means necessary. With 18 passed already it is now a race against the clock to find and rescue his daughter. This book is great. I am actually still finishing up the book as I'm typing this. If you like crime novels, then I suggest adding this to your reading list and I am going to finish these last few chapters. Hope you enjoy it also. - Norman LaVelle.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

We picked this up for a weekend car trip to Watertown, NY. Little did we know that the book was set in the area we were visitng, so there were several landmarks mentioned that we were familiar with. The audio book kept our interest, lots of action and plot twists. I will be reading more by this author.

[Deborah Robb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jane Redmond is a Washington Post reporter who digs too deep when writing a story about a powerful US Senator and ends up being kidnapped. Her father, Tom Redmond, a former NY cop turned lawyer, knows that if a victim is not found within the first 48 hours the odds of being found alive are slim. He teams up with a friend who is a private investigator and they set out to find Jane. Lots of improbable scenarios in this book in their journey to find Jane. I really did not care for the epilogue-it just ignored all the bedlam caused by the search for Jane and gave you the happily ever after spiel.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather to have given it 2 1/2 stars, but rounded up to 3. It was not a bad book. It was fast paced and the story line kept your interest. What made it not so great was the plot device of "The First 48", when someone is kidnapped the theory is that the police only have 48hrs to find the victim because, statistically, after that point they won't be found alive, if at all. The father of the victim, who used to be a cop before becoming a lawyer, is all too familiar with this rule. He straps on an Ironman watch and sets it to countdown the time left..always pushing the watch in peoples' faces to show time is running out and having to explain every...single...time to that unknowing person. It became ridiculous. There was also the constant quoting of military generals and martial arts philosphers between the father and his friend to justify every decision they made along the journey of tracking down his daughter.
The good parts of the book outweighed these things while listening to this book, but did not keep me from sighing when these irritations came up again and again.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not what I was expecting. I will admit the book was mostly boring but the end made it a lot better. The twist with Mark made me a little mad but at the same time it was bound to happen. After what they Mark and Jane did I wonder if Jane feels horrible. I would but I don’t think she does. I also wonder if Mark dies. I don’t think he did. I think he went to jail for who knows how long. I also wonder who the person that got sentenced life was in the epilogue. The last think I wonder is if Jane ever posted the report against Gleason and Gleason got punished for what he did.

[Kirk Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of the show "The First 48" on A&E which is based on the first 48 hours of a homicide investigation. In Green's book, it's the first 48 of a missing person, which the book summary will tell you is a female reporter. Her father, a former cop/detective, and his best friend embark on the mission to find her. A long road trip, a jet plane ride, a lack of sleep, and old age to not bring down their adrenaline, especially when closing in on her location before time expires.

[Msjodi777 · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book. Not really wonderful, but not bad. Fairly predictable, even to the point when you know characters are going to make bad choices and do things that are pretty stupid. Story gets 3 stars. Narration excellent, gets one star. I didn't hate it, but didn't really care that much for it. <><

[Ron Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

--- MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS ---
This has to be the one of most absurd books I have ever read. There is absolutely nothing credible about any of the characters, and the plot is simply ridiculous. Kidnapping and torturing a U.S. Senator, and not suffering ANY consequences? The fact that the Senator was a greedy and corrupt politician is beside the point; there is simply no way the way the "heroes" could plausibly get away with this.

Also, a leaving a LONG trail of bodies riddled with bullet holes and knife slashes, including more than one police officer, yet suffering not one tiny bit of consequences? In fact, being rewarded by being reinstated as an Assistant U.S. Attorney? Are you KIDDING me???

Yeesh. I'm sure Tim Green is a fine fellow. But he should stick to his day job, and stay FAR away from his word processor. According to the mini-bio on the flyleaf, he graduated at the top of his class from Syracuse with a degree in English. I'm at a loss to figure out how he managed that; his composition and character development skills are abysmal.

[Paula Galvan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Redmond, an investigative journalist for The Post in Washington, has already been nominated for a Pulitzer. So, when she gets an anonymous tip about a corrupt US Senator, she knows this is her chance to break a winning story. Then she goes missing. Her father, Tom Redmond, a retired cop, knows the first forty-eight hours are the most important in finding a missing person, so he and his best friend, Mike, a private investigator and ex-biker, go on the hunt to find Jane.

Tom’s martial arts training and Mike’s surveillance and computer skills serve them well as they track down clues, interrogate and kidnap Senator Gleason, and fly through a storm to a remote island to take on a pharmaceutical company with murderous employees and a diabolical plan for the people of New York. This book was entertaining and full of surprises—a great adventure.

[Laura Philips · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great plot idea—journalist daughter trying to follow a lead is kidnapped and her dad, a former cop, feels the need to find her before the first 48 hours expire and the chances of finding her alive diminish.

This would make a great action movie, but as a book it was choppy on plot and character development. I kept having a hard time remembering who was who and remembering where the last scene with a particular character left off. Several action scene add ins did not raise the level of excitement, but rather bored me with their predictability. Great action flick. Boring book. I round up from a 1 1/2.

[Audrey Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story definitely held my attention and I enjoyed the book. I didn't mind the jumping back and forth between the various characters, but in some cases there was a disconnect, like I missed a key piece of info but going back over a few pages, it wasn't there. Definitely a great read for those who love action packed novels.

[Cathy Becnel · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first book by Tim Green - Intrigued by book jacket & seemed like a good plot at first. But I ended up so disappointed. Chapters jumped back & forth too much at times. Unrealistic events and characters were too unbelievable. I enjoyed the first part of the book, but then it just got too wordy and improbable. I did not like the ending.

[Cathie Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Action packed. Some good humor. Characters are interesting and well developed. Plot and storyline quite applicable to today's crazy nutty world. I wasn't especially pleased with the climax. But the ending was nice that Tom sees the light of day. Highly recommend.

[Christine O'Dell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Choppy story and just not very exciting.

[Brian O'Leary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two disappointing Tim Green's in a row

[Jerry King · Rating 4 out of 5]

2004

[Donn Lorber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bioterror good journalism and a fathers search for his daughter. It was ok, not great

[Brody]

hi

[Tiffany Dubois · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty intense

[Maureen · Rating 1 out of 5]

A credible basic plot, but an unrealistic, insane thriller that is part buddy story, part vigilante adventure. Not an author I will read again.

[S D · Rating 3 out of 5]

The novel quotes great people as though that in and of itself makes it great. It does not

[Paul Copcutt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average thriller/mystery/crime story.

[Rd · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a fan. Characters were too obnoxious.

[Lisa Lange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another masterful Tim Green page-turner!

[Hunter Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy suspense, you will like this one.

[Cody Fink · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first Time Green book I've read and I loved it. It was one of those books that in my opinion gets you hooked from front to back. Definitely will be reading more of his books.

[Carl Alves · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book made me want to put it down several times and other times made me want to keep reading. It had a little Jeckyl and Hide to it. It had sufficient tension and the plot moved along at a nice pace, but there were so many ridiculous aspects to it, that it was hard to read at times. For starters, the father of the girl who got abducted was wildly inconsistent. At first, he's a crazy drunk, and then at the flick of a switch, he becomes this no-nonsense tough guy. There was no progression to his character. His friend, Mike, a private investigator who seems to know how to do everything, can't hotwire a car. The villains in this story were just down right atrociously drawn out. And yet again the evil pharmaceutical conglomerate is the bad guy. You would think based on the work's of fiction writers that the primary interest of drug companies is to kill people off in order to push their products. This is so cliche it makes me ill every time I read it. Come on, get some imagination all ready. Not horrible but also not worth the time reading.
Carl Alves - author of Two For Eternity

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 STARS

"A Fallen Hero. His Missing Daughter. 48 Hours to Save Her Life-And The Clock is Ticking... A former prosecutor on the rise, Tom Redmon is today a low-rent attorney mired in unwinnable cases and an alcoholic haze. No one believes in him except his daughter, Jane, a Washington Post reporter, and his one friend, reformed biker and P.I. Mike Tubbs. Then suddenly Redmon gets the ultimate wake-up call: his daughter is gone-kidnapped. Jumping into his old pickup with Tubbs, Redmon burns rubber on a frantic search that will take him into the labyrinth that is Washington...and dangerously close to the line that separates right from wrong. There's no time for mistakes: as an ex-cop, he knows that victims have only two days to be rescued before they're found dead." (From Amazon)

A fabulous suspense novel.

[Kerry Clair · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was such a conundrum. I think it comes down to an immature writer. The story and plot were very good and moved at a fast pace, but there were so many absolutely ridiculous aspects to the story that just made you shake your head and say "oh give me a break". Parts were just so absurd and stupid and unrealistic that it ruined the good parts of the book. I definitely wouldn't recommend this book. I don't know a thing about the author or if they've written other books but I would hope this is an earlier book or a first book as I really feel the author is a good writer but he definitely needs some adjustments and experience in his writing style.

[Mare Kinley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh, ughhh. Random pick from the library. Liked the cover, the flap seemed OK. Quick, easy throw-away for the porch in the afternoon, right? I repeat: ughhhh.

Vague and undeveloped plot that didn't really make much sense. Characters unappealing, undeveloped, and unbelievable. I am pretty much convinced that Tim Green just has a bag with random plot, character, and setting elements printed on poker chips, and he just reached in, pulled out 12 or 15 of them and started writing--quite possibly without even looking at all of them until he ran out of ideas, then grabbing the next chip, reading the character or plot point and cobbling it in to what he'd already written.