Gideon's Corpse

By: Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

Narrated by: David W. Collins

Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

A top nuclear scientist goes mad and takes an innocent family hostage at gunpoint, killing one and causing a massive standoff.

A plume of radiation above New York City leads to a warehouse where, it seems, a powerful nuclear bomb was assembled just hours before.

Sifting through the evidence, authorities determine that the unthinkable is about to happen: in ten days, a major American city will be vaporized by a terrorist attack.

Ten days. And Gideon Crew, tracking the mysterious terrorist cell from the suburbs of New York to the mountains of New Mexico, learns the end may be something worse--far worse--than mere

©2012 Douglas Preston (P)2011 Hachette

This Narrator Stinks

honestly couldn't even get past a few chapters. this narrator is just awful. grating robotic voice. not sure if the book is even any good. preston and child are wonderful authors, but I just can't deal with a terrible narration.

Wonderful book, even though it made me cry.

Well cry I did. You never know where life is going to take you with Gideon Crew…I kept thinking I had it figured, only to discover, sadly that I was wrong, again and again and again. Enjoy the wild ride.

Exciting!

This is the second book in a series featuring Gideon, a man as resourceful as James Bond but without the support of the British spy agency. In fact, the agency hiring Gideon to solve incredibly complex and dangerous problems mostly leaves him out to dry. I enjoyed Gideon's Sword, Book 1, so much that I immediately purchased and listened to this installment. I realize I'm late to the game as these books have been available to the public for a decade, but I still want to add my review to the listeners who might decide to give this series a try. Gideon is super intelligent, and he's amazingly well versed in a number of useful talents, having spent early years stealing art, then having attended prestigious colleges to earn his PhD in nuclear physics, and having spent a number of years working at Los Alamos. He thinks quickly when action is needed, he reads people well and trusts his intuition about them, he plans well including disguising himself to fulfill a variety of roles. Gideon's medical diagnosis that confirms he has little time to live makes his humanity vulnerable, sad, and beautiful. And he's grown up in a life one can relate to.
As you might expect with a Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child collaboration, there's lots of political intrigue, military involvement, and situations requiring computer expertise. These two author's do their homework so the story line is relevant and authentic.
David Collins is the perfect narrator for these books!

Disaster is near and Gideon is on the case

Gideon Crew is back for another crazy out there adventure that defies all laws of probability.

Here we have Gideon Crew picking up where the last book left off. We learn Gideon has a friend holding people hostage and rambling like a maniac. The story unfolds into a massive threat to the United States. The pace is fast, the storyline interesting and the actions Gideon gets away with are absolutely ridiculous.

I gave this book three stars because I still like Crew and feel his character is very refreshing. Unfortunately, the whole book fell short for me toward the middle. The clues Gideon finds and how he connects the dots are such an incredible stretch, I had a hard time with it.

Getting past the dicey approach to crime solving, the real challenge to the reader will be the end of the book. I thing Douglas & Preston took a nice holiday and asked Michael Bay to pen the last few chapters as it gets absolutely ridiculous. Let's just say if you are a fan of big, unlikely action sequences in really expensive crappy movies you are just going to love the end of Gideon's Corpse!

As always, Douglas & Preston keep me entertained and I still liked the book I want Crew's actions to be brough back down to earth.

I listed to Gideon's Corpse in audiobook format and while David W Collins did a good enough job, I much preferred John Glover's performance in Gideon's Sword.

Popcorn Thriller

What did you love best about Gideon's Corpse?

Gideon's Corpse is fast paced and is filled with plenty of twists and turns. It's a good follow-up to Gideon's Sword.I think this story introduces some unique characters that interact well with Gideon and they all grow and evolve throughout the story.

What did you like best about this story?

I got a fast-paces story with some twists, expected and unexpected, and that's what I come to expect from this series.

Have you listened to any of David W. Collins’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

David Collins performed the first book in the series as well and both performances fit well with the characters and the narrative style of the book.

Any additional comments?

Don't come expecting a Pendergast novel, this is different. The tone, style and characters are much different than the Pendergast series. The writing is solid and while not everything is groundbreaking, it's a fun fast-paced listen.

Can't wait till the next one comes. Great listen

The book had a lot of twists that worked there way togeather to play a great story. I listen in the car, and went around the block many times in order to finish a chapter.

Gideon comes alive

This is the second Gideon book that I have listened to. I really enjoy these authors especially the Prendergast series so I tried Gideon. Truthfully I was undecided about Gideon in the first book I was not sure if I really liked him. But in this book Gideon comes alive for me. I felt all his emotions and understood his logic. This is a great story. Enjoy

Still not on par with Pendergast

Good, but slid backwards into blood and lust which usually covers a lack of sharp writing. Still interesting story though.

keep the good story, lose the sound effects

this is the second gideon story i’ve listened to, and sadly the annoying sound effects were there again. this engrossing story kept me engaged all the way to the end. but the jarring interruptions of sound effects ruin the flow of the story. if sound effects were done like old time radio, where all the sounds throughout the story are heard. then that would make sense and add to the story. but to insert sound effects intermittently takes away from the story. especially when the words written and imagination are all that are needed to travel to a new world. i took away a star (performance and overall) because of the sound effect issue, but the story is still 5 stars.

It’s not Pendergast and that’s ok

As stated in the title of the review this is nothing like a Pendergast book. This is another fun high octane thriller staring Gideon Crew. A fascinating character, filled with his own brilliance and flaws. Also what really pulled me in is Eli Glenn. He’s a major character in this series and his character fascinates me. Ever since The Ice Limit. Anyway. This is a thriller. Not a mystery and hell of a lot of fun.