Manner of Death (Alan Gregory) - Hardcover

White, Stephen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0525944400 ISBN 13: 9780525944409

Publisher: Dutton Adult, 1999

Synopsis

Learning that he holds the key to solving a colleague's suspicious death, Alan Gregory and his old flame, Sawyer Sackett, uncover a sinister string of killings, linked to an unsolved mystery, that hits dangerously close to home. 40,000 first printing. Lit Guild, Doubleday, & Mystery Guild.

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Reviews

Dr. Alan Gregory, the Boulder psychologist whose previous six cases (Critical Conditions, p. 80, etc.) have all introduced him to murderers, becomes a killer's target himself. The news comes when Gregory travels to Denver for his old school acquaintance Dr. Arnold Dresser's funeral. A pair of retired FBI agents hired by Dresser's mother lay out an elaborate pattern of accidents stretching back ten years, all involving members of the 1982 Orange Unit on Eight East of the University of Colorado's Health Sciences Center. Long before Dresser froze to death after a mountain-climbing accident, Gregory's supervising psychiatrist died in a plane crash; his fellow residents have fallen victim to malfunctioning tanning beds, disappeared from cruise ships, and been slain in drive-by shootings. And now, the ex-Feebies tell him, it's his turn, since he and Dr. Sawyer Sackett Faire are the only surviving alumni of the 1982 Orange Unit. Gregory's terror is mixed with guilt and fascination, since he can't forget the torrid affair he and the beautiful, unapproachable Sawyer carried on during their residency. Now, when he does see her again, after replaying his memories of their earlier romance in unsparing detail, hell not only be able (under the direst possible circumstances) to get naked with her once more but will even find out secrets she was carrying around 17 years ago, though not before the killer booby-traps the renovation at Gregory's house, tampers with his furnace, and sends his wife, ADA Lauren Crowder, and their dog to the hospital. The murderer, Gregory feverishly realizes, could be anybody connected with Eight Eastthe ex-patient reborn as a CNN anchor, the chess-playing schizophrenic Gregory was forced to release, the man who offered to trade the identity of real-life airplane hijacker D.B. Cooper for his ticket off the floorand that wide set of choices is just the problem with this action-filled, unfocused suspenser. White is so good at pumping up menace that some readers will forgive the loose ends and high-energy, low-rationality windup. Not all of them, though. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

The invigorating twists and turns of practicing psychologist White's (Privileged Information) new Alan Gregory thriller drag readers over rugged Colorado terrain, past a gauntlet of eccentric characters spawned by the Rocky Mountain lifestyle, through the most intimate details of the protagonists' lives, leaving them gasping at the switchback ending of this chilling stalker novel. Attending the funeral of a former colleague, Boulder psychologist Alan learns from two quirky ex-FBI agents that this is the latest in a string of clueless murders targeting the entire group of students, supervisors and staff who shared Alan's clinical psychology residency some years earlier. Only Alan and his former lover, Dr. Sawyer Sackett, now survive, and they are undoubtedly next on the killer's hit list. Alan's wife, Lauren, a prosecuting attorney afflicted with multiple sclerosis, is threatened as well, but throws her considerable skills fully into the fray. Alan's friend on the Boulder police force, Detective Sam Purdy, provides police clout, FBI equalizing and protection for Lauren. The pros go after former patients, but Alan and Sawyer snoop best, tracing a lead involving legendary hijacker D.B. Cooper and some truly disturbed suspects. White conveys his love for Colorado and his profession while delivering an evaluation of the mental health industry. Martinet shrinks and caring analysts get equal billing, while both the promise and limitations of psychology are cleanly spelled out. A newly honed sense of humor adds zip to White's prose without detracting a mite from the menace and gore. Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club and Mystery Guild selections.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Dutton Adult
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0525944400
• ISBN 13: 9780525944409
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416