The Standoff

Special Agent John Banish is embroiled in a deadly battle of wits with Glenn Ables, a cunning, twisted fugitive, during a standoff confrontation between law enforcement and the criminal, barricaded with his family in a secluded Montana cabin

Calling up chilling images of the hostage fiasco in Waco, Tex., this beautifully paced debut opens with a bang, as white supremacist (and federal fugitive) Glenn Ables, holed up on a Montana mountaintop with his wife and five children, ambushes local law officials who have come to serve an eviction notice. Through a computer blunder, former crack FBI hostage negotiator John Banish, recently discharged from alcohol addiction treatment, is assigned to handle this hostage situation-and attendant media circus. The ensuing struggle between Ables and Banish forms the nub of this tension-filled tale, peopled with compelling-albeit somewhat stereotypical-characters and crackling with true-to-life bureau-babble about politics and turf wars on both local and national levels. Hogan's primitive frontier setting boils with an ill-assorted array of religious fanatics, arms-bearing zealots and skinhead neo-Nazis. (A trigger-happy, African American U.S. marshall and a Native American sheriff add to the potent mix.) A heart-tugging subplot, about Banish's hope to reunite with a wife and daughter estranged because of his violent past, brings an added edge of humanity to this finely crafted and compelling read. BOMC feature selection; major ad/promo; film rights to New Line Cinema; BDD audio.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Lucky Chuck Hogan. He's only 26, but he's written what's being hyped as "one of the most talked-about novels of the year"; he sold the manuscript for big bucks in a "heated auction" involving five publishers; the book is a featured selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club; and he's already adapting the story for New Line Cinema. Heady stuff for a former video store manager. But the hype is well justified. While his writing won't send the needle off the top of the highbrow-ometer, Hogan knows what it takes to write commercial fiction: a rugged but sympathetic hero (picture Clint Eastwood), a suspense-filled plot, and plenty of mile-a-minute action. At the heart of the novel is burned-out FBI agent John Banish, whose superb skills at hostage negotiation are overshadowed only by his stunning ability to drink himself into oblivion. Having lost his nerve, his family, and his job, Banish now has one last chance to show he's not a complete failure: talk white supremacist Glenn Ables off the Montana mountain where Ables is keeping his wife and kids hostage. Ables is cunning, devious, and stubborn, but then, so is Banish. In the end, it's a standoff between two men who have everything--and nothing--to lose. A completely unexpected conclusion packs the perfect final punch. Wow! Emily Melton