P.T. Deutermann's latest is a topnotch
topical thriller bursting with the expected expertise and insider
knowledge he picked up as a Navy captain and arms control
specialist. It's also something else: an unexpectedly resonant
portrait of people, good and bad, who have been chewed up and spit
out by military bureaucracies. Both the hero (an unlucky military
investigator named David Stafford, whose career has been
short-circuited by whistle-blowing and whose personal life is a
disaster area) and the heavy (a career Army bean counter and petty
thief, Wendell Carson, who suddenly gets the chance to move up and
almost blows it at every occasion) are carefully drawn and fully
credible. So are the underlings, officers and FBI agents who thread
through their lives. This becomes especially important when
Stafford--trying to track down a container of deadly biological
nerve gas that Carson has stolen from an Army base in
Georgia--crosses paths with a young girl who seems to have psychic
powers. In less skilled hands, this kind of rogue element could
send a vehicle skittering. But Deutermann quickly gives the girl
and her keepers (a mysteriously intriguing woman teacher, a
protective small-town policeman) such a strong presence that they
become vital to the story's exciting and moving conclusion. Other
of his excellent thrillers available in paperback include *The Edge
of Honor*, *Official Privilege*, *Scorpion in the Sea*, and
*Sweepers*. *--Dick Adler*
### From Publishers Weekly
Deutermann's latest (after Sweepers) is a
topnotch topical thriller bursting with the expected expertise and
insider knowledge he picked up as a Navy captain and arms control
specialist. It's also something else: an unexpectedly resonant
portrait of people, good and bad, who have been chewed up and spit
out by military and government bureaucracies. Both the hero (an
unlucky military investigator named David Stafford, whose career
has been short-circuited by whistle-blowing and whose personal life
is a disaster), and the heavy (bumbling Army bean-counter and petty
thief Wendell Carson) are carefully drawn and fully credible. So
are the underlings, officers and FBI agents who thread through
their lives. This becomes especially important when Stafford?trying
to track down a container of a deadly biological nerve gas that
Carson has stolen from an Army base in Georgia?crosses paths with a
young girl who seems to have psychic powers. In less skilled hands,
this rogue element could send the vehicle skittering. But
Deutermann quickly gives the girl and her keepers (a mysteriously
intriguing woman teacher, a protective small-town policewoman) such
a strong presence that they become vital to the story's exciting,
moving conclusion. Author tour. Agent, Nicholas Ellison; editor,
George Witte.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
### Amazon.com Review
P.T. Deutermann's latest is a topnotch topical thriller bursting with the expected expertise and insider knowledge he picked up as a Navy captain and arms control specialist. It's also something else: an unexpectedly resonant portrait of people, good and bad, who have been chewed up and spit out by military bureaucracies. Both the hero (an unlucky military investigator named David Stafford, whose career has been short-circuited by whistle-blowing and whose personal life is a disaster area) and the heavy (a career Army bean counter and petty thief, Wendell Carson, who suddenly gets the chance to move up and almost blows it at every occasion) are carefully drawn and fully credible. So are the underlings, officers and FBI agents who thread through their lives. This becomes especially important when Stafford--trying to track down a container of deadly biological nerve gas that Carson has stolen from an Army base in Georgia--crosses paths with a young girl who seems to have psychic powers. In less skilled hands, this kind of rogue element could send a vehicle skittering. But Deutermann quickly gives the girl and her keepers (a mysteriously intriguing woman teacher, a protective small-town policeman) such a strong presence that they become vital to the story's exciting and moving conclusion. Other of his excellent thrillers available in paperback include *The Edge of Honor*, *Official Privilege*, *Scorpion in the Sea*, and *Sweepers*. *--Dick Adler*
### From Publishers Weekly
Deutermann's latest (after Sweepers) is a topnotch topical thriller bursting with the expected expertise and insider knowledge he picked up as a Navy captain and arms control specialist. It's also something else: an unexpectedly resonant portrait of people, good and bad, who have been chewed up and spit out by military and government bureaucracies. Both the hero (an unlucky military investigator named David Stafford, whose career has been short-circuited by whistle-blowing and whose personal life is a disaster), and the heavy (bumbling Army bean-counter and petty thief Wendell Carson) are carefully drawn and fully credible. So are the underlings, officers and FBI agents who thread through their lives. This becomes especially important when Stafford?trying to track down a container of a deadly biological nerve gas that Carson has stolen from an Army base in Georgia?crosses paths with a young girl who seems to have psychic powers. In less skilled hands, this rogue element could send the vehicle skittering. But Deutermann quickly gives the girl and her keepers (a mysteriously intriguing woman teacher, a protective small-town policewoman) such a strong presence that they become vital to the story's exciting, moving conclusion. Author tour. Agent, Nicholas Ellison; editor, George Witte.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.