Gideon

By: Russell Andrews

Narrated by: James Daniels

Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Carl "Granny" Granville is a young, talented writer who is given the chance of a lifetime: a contract to ghostwrite a sure-fire best-selling political thriller. The inside source will be known only as Gideon. His real identity will never be revealed. But the information Granny receives - and then turns into a book - will change the course of history.

Then the murders begin - first his editor, then the gorgeous neighbor with whom he's been having an affair. The mysterious go-between has disappeared. And his publisher has never heard of Gideon or Granny. Suddenly Carl Granville is a man alone, on the run, and wanted for murder.

©2000 Russell Andrews (P)2008 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This political psycho-thriller will chill you to the core....Daniels's emotional reading takes the listener right to the edge." ( AudioFile)

Surprising. Worth The Time. Terrific Production

Yes it's a political novel. But... don't be too quick to judge Andrews' ideology. He is not preaching here... and yet until the end you will be pretty certain he is. I don't care if you're politics run to Vince Flynn or Stephen King - Andrews will bother and then reward you.

That said, Andrews creates the kind of minimally dimensional characters that good thriller fiction needs, and... no.. no.... I think that James Daniels creates them in his reading. But... no... they're a team and the production is winning.

That said, this is well plotted, briskly paced, and perfect for the gym, the long drive, the morning run, bike ride, or a summer beach or backyard relaxing.

I wanted to listen to more Andrews after listening to Gideon... Unfortunately I went backward to start with his first audio novel, Icarus. I wish I hadn't but rather had worked forward. You can tell by looking at my Icarus review.

Gideon

First of all, the whole premise of this story was far fetched. The positive aspect was that the main character was likeable and his efforts at solving the mystery were pretty good. However, it was too wordy and had too many murders. It kept me occupied when I had little else to listen to, but that's about all. I was glad when I finished it.

You can't forget your roots

What did you love best about Gideon?

I loved "Granny"! This was a fast adventure mystery. Note: I do use the new 1.25x speed to match the author's intent.

What did you like best about this story?

It had a lot of twist and turns which were entertaining and kept me glued to the story.

What does James Daniels bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

JD is one of my very favorite readers. See him in Robert Crais The Watchman. He is Pike and a very great Elvis Cole. Ethan Black's All the Strangers were Dead. Nora Roberts midnight Bayou. Rumor was that Mr Danials went on to law school. If so we wish you well. You are missed in the audio world from devoted listener fans.
He is in the league of Jonathan Davis, Scott Brick and my all time fave Victor Selzak who reads Sandra Brown mysteries.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Story was well told. Great use of imagination and characters. Author gave you development on characters that kept you glued to the story.

outdated

dis jointed plot. the plot may have been unbelieveable in 1990. in 2024, this would not cause anyone to think twice.
However, narration was entertaining and professional.

Hard to describe

This book seems written so that you're supposed to be sucked in by the mystery of it all, but it's kind of ham-handed.

The main character is a self-important but unpublished author, and really, he just comes across as one-dimensional, whiny and annoying.

That's just the start of the slipshod character development; a ton of time was devoted to giving back stories to characters who would only live for a few chapters, but very little time was given to developing the two main characters into likable protagonists.

The story itself is moderately interesting, and there are two "twists" at the end; one is actually a decent surprise, and the other is so obvious that you can see it coming for about half the book.

Meh, if you have extra credits and time to kill, go ahead.