Parallel Lies - Hardcover

Pearson, Ridley

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786865644 ISBN 13: 9780786865642

Publisher: Hyperion, 2001

Synopsis

Ridley Pearsons latest novel brings together all his incomparable talents and more in a riveting story about a grieving mans mission to bring down the railroad company he blames for his wife and childrens deathsno matter who else dies in the process. Tyler, the ex-cop who is looking to redeem himself after being suspended from the force, will stop at nothing to catch the perpetrator. Packed with action, laced with romance, brimming with heart-stopping suspense, and marked by the intelligence and humanity that make Pearsons novels stand apart from others in the genre, Parallel Lies will give reviewers and readers yet another reason to hail him as the best damn thriller writer on the planet (Booklist).

About this title

About the Author

Ridley Pearson is the award-winning co-author, along with Dave Barry, of Peter and the Starcatchers, Peter and the Shadow Thieves, Peter and the Secret of Rundoon, Peter and the Sword of Mercy, Escape From the Carnivale, Cave of the Dark Wind, Blood Tide, and Science Fair. In addition to Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark, Kingdom Keepers: Disney at Dawn, Kingdom Keepers: Disney in Shadow, and Kingdom Keepers: Power Play, he is also the author of the young adult thrillers Steel Trapp: The Challenge and Steel Trapp: The Academy. He has written more than twenty best-selling crime novels including Killer View and Killer Weekend. He was the first American to be awarded the Raymond Chandler/Fulbright Fellowship in Detective Fiction at Oxford University.

Reviews

Pearson forsakes his franchise character, Seattle police detective Lou Boldt, for a railroad thriller that wobbles on its tracks. The hero here is Peter Tyler, a former Washington, D.C., homicide cop who was fired many say unjustly for beating a child-abuse suspect. Desperate for money, Tyler gets thrown a bone by an old friend who handles investigations for the National Transportation Safety Board. Handed a three-day contract, Tyler is assigned to check out a messy murder aboard a boxcar on a Northern Union Railroad line in rural Illinois. Nothing about the murder makes sense, but more intriguing to Tyler are the persistent rumors about why so many NUR trains have derailed in the past year. When Tyler turns up a suspect not only for the murder but also the derailments, he quickly finds that his services are no longer needed. Helped only by a railroad security officer, the lovely Nell Priest, Tyler follows the trail to New York City. That's where he believes the murderous vandal, who's seeking revenge for the railroad-related deaths of his wife and twin daughters, plans to sabotage the grand opening of NUR's most ambitious project: a bullet train connecting New York with the nation's capital. Pearson (Middle of Nowhere) keeps up his usual breakneck pace, and for excitement alone, his latest is good fun. But the story is marred by several false notes, imponderable plot twists and a clumsily executed love affair giving a squishy feel to an otherwise hard-edged thriller. Of greater concern, however, is Tyler. He simply never emerges as a character of substance or distinction. (July)Forecast: Despite Pearson's bestselling clout, a major/ad promo campaign and an eight-city author tour, tepid reviews and weak word of mouth may limit sales of this lackluster, Boldt-less effort.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Pearson (No Witnesses, etc.) has written another terrific thriller, this time without Lou Boldt and company. Two years after his family was killed when a train collided with their car, Umberto Alvarez is still grieving. Knowing that the train company is at fault but unable to prove it, he decides to take revenge. Shortly before a new high-speed commuter line is unveiled, derailments start plaguing the railroads. Ex-homicide detective Pete Tyler, who is determined to redeem himself after being dismissed from the force, takes on the case as a temporary hire for the National Transportation Safety Board. As this fabulous novel progresses, the lines of good and evil blur. Another essential acquisition from Pearson, this is highly recommended for all public libraries. Jeff Ayers, Seattle P.L.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

One of Pearson's previous stand-alone thrillers, Hard Fall (1992), concerned terrorists who target airlines; this time it's railroads. Determined to expose a railroad company's malfeasance in the deaths of his wife and child, Umberto Alvarez has rigged the derailment of multiple freight trains (without loss of life), and now he plans a similar fate for the maiden voyage of the company's new bullet train. Tracking Alvarez is Peter Tyler, a freelance investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board. The two engage in an elaborate cat-and-mouse game that, typical for Pearson, features fascinating forensic detail. Complicating matters is Tyler's dawning realization that he, like Alvarez, is a victim of the railroad's cover-up. Both the thriller plot and the human drama seem just a bit more predictable than in the author's recent Lou Boldt-Daphne Matthews novels, but that is only to say that even Pearson has his hands full meeting the expectations of his previous work. Lesser Pearson remains near the top of the genre and is sure to draw a crowd at the reserve desk. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Hyperion
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0786865644
• ISBN 13: 9780786865642
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384