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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
3.5 stars. The three letter agencies' wet dream, or nightmare, depending on their future budget prognosis.
There were certain things that were obvious about the story. Still enjoyed it though.
Content note: Islamaphobia,
This felt disappointingly obvious, in the vein of other thrillers post 9/11 - a low hanging fruit - until we hit the twist in the plot. Building on prejudices that have become more evident during recent elections and right wing media, Gideon's Corpse is an exercise in the hysteria and blindness that comes from something seeming the obvious answer to those in charge.
Was hard to put down when I really got into it: a race against the clock to prevent a nuclear weapon being unleashed on the American mainland, although the in-character Islamaphobia was a bit hard to stomach.
This felt disappointingly obvious, in the vein of other thrillers post 9/11 - a low hanging fruit - until we hit the twist in the plot. Building on prejudices that have become more evident during recent elections and right wing media, Gideon's Corpse is an exercise in the hysteria and blindness that comes from something seeming the obvious answer to those in charge.
Was hard to put down when I really got into it: a race against the clock to prevent a nuclear weapon being unleashed on the American mainland, although the in-character Islamaphobia was a bit hard to stomach.
Oh god.... what did I think? This is a pretty bad book. The logic is bad, the plot is bad. It's basically written for someone who won't be engaging their brain as they read. And for that it's pretty good; I got caught up in the plot in the middle for a while. But then a character got root access on the bad guy's BSD machine (why he's running BSD we'll never know) because the bad guy forgot to change the root password from "root" (even though he's supposedly a security nut). Having root access, the character then spends two pages trying to guess the bad guy's account password. Once he's "cracked" that by guessing a hard password (which I honestly think no-one has ever done, and certainly not in a few minutes) he finds a Word document (why he's running Word on BSD is not clear -- maybe it's actually a Mac?) which lays out his entire evil plan (with one ultimately irrelevant detail changed). It's so lazy!
That's about when I checked out of the book. You know when you're reading a good book you're completely immersed its world and you think about the characters and the plot as if they were real? I was at the opposite end of that spectrum, where while you're reading you're completely aware that these are just words on a page that some author has decided to write down, and the things that they describe are merely fabrications.
There was a low-speed Hummer/tank chase and some property got destroyed and some trees got blown up, and then everything ended, but not before setting up the next in this series. Which my mother will send to me and I will read. Good thing I'm a fast reader.
(I gave it two stars because there was that bit in the middle where I got caught up in the story.)
That's about when I checked out of the book. You know when you're reading a good book you're completely immersed its world and you think about the characters and the plot as if they were real? I was at the opposite end of that spectrum, where while you're reading you're completely aware that these are just words on a page that some author has decided to write down, and the things that they describe are merely fabrications.
There was a low-speed Hummer/tank chase and some property got destroyed and some trees got blown up, and then everything ended, but not before setting up the next in this series. Which my mother will send to me and I will read. Good thing I'm a fast reader.
(I gave it two stars because there was that bit in the middle where I got caught up in the story.)
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Islamophobia, Murder
Minor: Sexual content
See my review of Gideon's Sword - it's too painful for me to write the same review again here.
Gideon’s Corpse is the second book in Preston/Child’s Gideon Crew series. I read Gideon’s Sword (the first book in the series) late last year and was blown away by it. I was happy to finally get my hands on a copy of this book, so I could continue following along with Gideon’s story.
This book had everything I expected and more, based on my enjoyment of book one. There was action, many moments of disbelief, unexpected twists. You name it, Gideon’s Corpse had it. Preston & Child proved that once again they are some of the greatest writers in the genre.
I was already a fan of Gideon’s character from the first book, but I think by the end of book two that I really grew to appreciate just how bad ass he is. He’s a nuclear physicist, former art thief, master of disguise, and on top of all this he has gained some friends in high places. He’s not a trained James Bond type special agent. Gideon is closer to the average man than many “heroes” character’s I’ve read…keep in mind the average man doesn’t have his brains or experience in certain areas, but he is still believable and likable. He’s not over the top “I can get out of any situation because I’m perfect either.” I also enjoyed having Special Agent, Stone Fordyce along for the ride. This FBI agent surprised me many times during the book with his actions, both good ones and questionable ones. Together they made a great team.
I could go on and one about the twists and turns the plot took, but I’d just be giving everything away. I’ll say that it was well done in that it kept moving along at a great pace that wasn’t too fast and wasn’t too slow. It also wasn’t predictable for the most part. Obviously there won’t always be parts that come out of nowhere, but the real shockers, were just that. They really shocked me, and made me smile because I was caught off-guard.
If you’re a fan of a great thriller, with believable characters and a plot that barely touches on being impossible in real life, Gideon’s Corpse might be the book for you. Don’t forget to start with Gideon’s Sword though. I’d say that book 1 isn’t necessary to understand everything book 2 has, but I think knowing Gideon more will help with the enjoyment of this book.
This book had everything I expected and more, based on my enjoyment of book one. There was action, many moments of disbelief, unexpected twists. You name it, Gideon’s Corpse had it. Preston & Child proved that once again they are some of the greatest writers in the genre.
I was already a fan of Gideon’s character from the first book, but I think by the end of book two that I really grew to appreciate just how bad ass he is. He’s a nuclear physicist, former art thief, master of disguise, and on top of all this he has gained some friends in high places. He’s not a trained James Bond type special agent. Gideon is closer to the average man than many “heroes” character’s I’ve read…keep in mind the average man doesn’t have his brains or experience in certain areas, but he is still believable and likable. He’s not over the top “I can get out of any situation because I’m perfect either.” I also enjoyed having Special Agent, Stone Fordyce along for the ride. This FBI agent surprised me many times during the book with his actions, both good ones and questionable ones. Together they made a great team.
I could go on and one about the twists and turns the plot took, but I’d just be giving everything away. I’ll say that it was well done in that it kept moving along at a great pace that wasn’t too fast and wasn’t too slow. It also wasn’t predictable for the most part. Obviously there won’t always be parts that come out of nowhere, but the real shockers, were just that. They really shocked me, and made me smile because I was caught off-guard.
If you’re a fan of a great thriller, with believable characters and a plot that barely touches on being impossible in real life, Gideon’s Corpse might be the book for you. Don’t forget to start with Gideon’s Sword though. I’d say that book 1 isn’t necessary to understand everything book 2 has, but I think knowing Gideon more will help with the enjoyment of this book.