Eight stars
Returning to re-read Stephen White's great thriller collection after a number of years, this summer binge should be a great adventure. White keeps the reader hooked with another great novel, where Boulder PD Detective Sam Purdy takes the reins. He offers up some great insight into his own life and the adventures they entail. After some mysterious activity on campus at Yale, Sam is called to assist by a family whose daughter is being held by a mystery group. What looks like a potential kidnapping soon opens up a number of serious questions. Bodies and hostages emerge, leaving Sam to wonder how he will piece things together, alongside two federal agents. With Alan Gregory in the rear view mirror, it will be Sam Purdy who takes the lead and tries to help as the story comes together. White offers up a stunning alternate perspective from the usual in this series.
The Yale campus enjoys some great weather and many students are mingling around the various buildings between classes. However, there is something a great deal more troubling. Sons of both the Secretary of the Army and a Supreme Court justice have gone missing. Could it be a kidnapping or even some sort of terrorism? No one is quite sure. However, this does not go unnoticed with many of the federal government's alphabet soup agencies on the scene. The FBI and CIA find themselves on campus to investigate, but are not clear as to what is going on. A Hostage Rescue Team sets up, in hopes of finding out what's what and how they can help solve things before they escalate, whatever that might be.
Boulder PD Detective Sam Purdy has been suspended and finds himself looking for something to stimulate his mind. He ends up in New Haven, Connecticut, where things are unravelling quickly. While the local authorities believe that there might be a larger and more catastrophic plan in the works. Sam connects with two agents to crack things wide open. Sam may not have significant experience with hostage taking and negotiating, but his unique style could help solve things before too much bloodshed. The key to all this is right in front of everyone's faces, though it will take a spark to put the pieces together. White dazzle and impresses once more with a unique spin.
I remember discovering this series years ago, devouring many of the books in short order. When I chose to return, I decided that I would try a complete series binge, getting the full Alan Gregory experience. Stephen White uses many of his personal experiences as a clinical psychologist to pull on ideas and character aspects, which becomes apparent in this strong novel. This novel forces Alan to stand back and highlights the wonders of Sam Purdy and his stubborn Minnesota ideas.
White's writing usually explores his own personal situations as a clinical therapist, but this book keeps those views in the background as Sam Purdy's police views save the day. Strong perspectives and many zany views from this Minnesota native flavour the narrative effectively. The reader who is familiar with Sam will enjoy his views and how it helps to push things along. The narrative flow is like in any other novel, though darker and more numerous at times as well. As things flow, there are some great events that fuel the momentum increases, all leasing up with a stellar novel and surprises around every turn. Fewer returning characters and many new faces provide a perspective that White has not offered to this point, which is refreshing and kept me wondering as the story takes turns one might not expect.
Plot points drive the story in ways not typical in the series. Sam Purdy seeks the grittier perspectives and succeeds as he finds himself in Connecticut, where university campus politics and ideas mix. Violent acts and police techniques are layered between many of the surprises in the story, all of which are handled with great aplomb by Stephen White. I loved the contrast and kept wondering what else White might have in store, as Sam trips upon many things that could not be expected. I am eager to see how these latter novels will develop as the end of White collection is in sight. Where things will go I still a great surprise, which has me eager to tackle them all!
Kudos Mr. White, for such a rich and full story with more threads left to be handled.
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