Gideon's Sword

Gideon's Sword
by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Grand Central, 2011. 342 pgs. Fiction.

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's thrillers have become so successful that Preston & Child has become the cover imprint and it's off to the races! Gideon's Sword introduces Gideon Cross, a man sworn to avenge his father who was framed and gunned down in a federal raid. You would think the quest for vengeance would take up the whole book. You would be wrong. Crew finishes that project up quickly and is then recruited by a dark ops outfit to do a job for the government--extract the plans for a new "weapon" from a Chinese scientist and turn them over to Effective Engineering Solutions, Inc. Easier said than done, as these things usually are--much mayhem ensues as Dr. Wu is killed and no one, bad guys or good, can find the plans. Gideon is soon being chased by a truly frightening assassin, Nodding Crane, who lays waste to everyone in his path without even breaking a sweat. Gideon and Nodding Crane's confrontation at the pauper's cemetery is incendiary, in more ways than one. Breezy and bloody, Gideon's Sword introduces a made-for-the-movies new action hero the more appealing because he has absolutely nothing to lose.

LW