Preston and Child's Gideon's Sword: Worth a trip to the bookstore?

From Fantastic Fiction—

Introducing Gideon Crew: trickster, prodigy, master thief

At twelve, Gideon Crew witnessed his father, a world-class mathematician, accused of treason and gunned down.

At twenty-four, summoned to his dying mother's bedside, Gideon learned the truth: His father was framed and deliberately slaughtered. With her last breath, she begged her son to avenge him.

Now, with a new purpose in his life, Gideon crafts a one-time mission of vengeance, aimed at the perpetrator of his father's destruction. His plan is meticulous, spectacular, and successful.

But from the shadows, someone is watching. A very powerful someone, who is impressed by Gideon's special skills. Someone who has need of just such a renegade.

For Gideon, this operation may be only the beginning . . .


Woohoo!!! Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child are BACK!! I’ll admit it, I’m a big fan of these guys, both solo and together, but the last couple Pendergast books seemed a wee bit, well, forced. Pendergast is still a freaky cool guy, but I’m glad the writing duo has decided to step away from him for a while and pursue another character. And what a character they have in Gideon Crew. Crew may not be as elegant and sophisticated as our Agent Pendergast, but he’s a much more approachable guy. He’s got his foibles, and lots of baggage, but we can see a wee little bit of ourselves reflect back at us through him. I loved the book, it's a great start to an "e-ticket ride" of a series. (e-ticket reference will be understood by anyone over 45, who went to Disneyland as a kid...ask yer mom!)

But--and you know if I'm annoyed by something there's going to be a "but"....

Spoiler alert here* Head down to the last sentence if you’ve not read the book yet….Still here?

Okay…Spoiler follows: There is a plot device that is farfetched, and drove me nutty. Gideon’s “rare and previously undiagnosed and uncurable disease that is going to kill him soon anyway so he might as well risk his life for the big payoff.” Umm….I’m not buyin’, this just seemed so incredibly dopey, that I decided that in the next book, once our adrenalin loving hero has been completely sucked into the program, we’ll find out it was all a big manipulation. I mean, it’s a series, right? And how long can a series last if the hero croaks of a rare disease in a year or so? My mental post-it note said “Lame” on that particular page of the book.

Overall, Gideon’s Sword is a slam-dunk action/thriller.

(Galley provided by the publisher via NetGalley)

My Rating: